DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF SLOW LEARNING

FOR TEACHERS

Characteristics of slow learners:

1. Functions at ability but significantly below grade level.

2. Is prone to immature interpersonal relationships.

3. Has difficulty following multi-step directions.

4. Lives in the present and does not have long range goals.

5. Has few internal strategies (i.e. organizational skills, difficulty transferring, and generalizing information.)

6. Scores consistently low on achievement tests.

7. Works well with "hands-on" material (i.e. labs, manipulative, activities.)

8. Has a poor self-image.

9. Works on all tasks slowly.

10. Masters skills slowly; some skills may not be mastered at all.

 Interventions to meet the needs of the Slow Learner

Environment Materials AssignmentManagement Techniques

Miscellaneous

change seating

use a variety: calculators, typewriters, learning games, etc.

simplify and/or shorten

employ direct, positive contact

refer to the Student Study Team for alternative ideas

reduce distractions (e.g. study carrels)

incorporate all learning styles (auditory, visual, kinesthetic)

make individual contracts

provide immediate feedback

discuss ideas with other school personnel

 use parent volunteers

use materials available from Chapter I and other sources

try alternative instructions and testing (e.g. art work, use of tape recorder, verbal vs. written

circulate around the room

review cum folder

responses, "show me" techniques, mapping and clustering)

cross-age tutors, aides, and peer-tutors

incorporate computers as a tool for instructions, drill, and reinforcement

require shorter tasks

call student's name or touch them before giving directions

restructure expectations

allow for grouping with other classes

use advance organizers

give specific instruction

write directions on board or give each student a sheet of directions

compensate for physical problems of classroom

use heterogeneous grouping

have student repeat assignment directions orally

provide opportunity for built-in success

reduce the length of school day

use cooperative grouping

give the student time out of his seat to let off energy

provide guided practice for skills taught

cross-classroom grouping

 

WORKING WITH SLOW LEARNERS

Reduce distractions by providing a quiet, private place to work. Emphasize strengths. Use lots of praise and reinforcement frequently. Make lessons short. Limit the working time and have several short

work periods rather than one long one. Add variety to the academic routine. Do active things and use

educational games, puzzles, and other techniques as much as possible. Work on material that is somewhat challenging but allows success.

Work that is too hard or too easy is a turn-off. Make learning fun and comfortable. Your positive attitude is very

important.

Encourage your child to talk to you. Ask what he did in school. Ask what was the best part of his/her day. Ask questions about the TV shows he/she watches. Talk about what he/she has heard, done, and plans to do. Communicate with your students.

Go over his/her daily work to reinforce the learning. Slower learners need repetition.

Provide meaningful, concrete activities rather than abstract. Give short specific directions and have your child repeat them back to

you. READ! Set an example by reading yourself. Read to your child and

have your child read to you. Work closely with the teacher to help strengthen academic areas that

are weak in school. Stress the importance of education. Encourage your child to explore areas of interest to him/her. Career

opportunities often come from these interests.

(Source: Material supplied by University of Central Florida, School Psychology/Counselor Education Programs--Dr. Carl Balado.)

 

Proven ideas to help slow learners

Provide a quiet place to work, where the child can be easily observed and motivated.

Keep homework sessions short. Provide activity times before and during homework. Add a variety of tasks to the learning even if not assigned, such as

painting a picture of a reading assignment. Allow for success. Ask questions about the assignment while the child is working. Go over the homework before bed and before school. Teach how to use a calendar to keep track of assignments. Read to the child. Use my “Three Transfer” form of learning, in which the student must

take information and do three things with it beside reading.  For example, read it, explain it to someone else, draw a picture of it, and take notes on it.

Be patient but consistent. Do not reward unfinished tasks.

Challenge the child

Have the child do the most difficult assignments first and leave the easier ones to later. Call it the dessert principle.

Don’t be overprotective. Students whose parents frequently intercede at school are teaching that they do not respect their child’s abilitites.  If you do call a teacher, make sure you seek a positive outcome.  Remember most teachers have worked with numerous slow learners and have plenty of

experience.  However, sharing your child’s strengths and weaknesses could make the school year more beneficial for all concerned.

Contact the teacher if there is a concern.  Calling an administrator solves nothing, as the teacher is the sole legal judge of academic success. 

Take your child to exciting places where they can see academic success is important.  A trip to a local university or community college, a walking tour of city hall, a visit to the fire station or a behind-the-scenes tour of a zoo are highly motivating.

Examples of interventions for slow learners

Environment: Reduce distractions, change seating to promote attentiveness, have a peer student teacher, and allow more breaks.

Assignments: Make them shorter and with more variation, repeat work in various forms, have a contract, give more hands-on work, have assignments copied by student, have students use “three transfer” method.

Assessment: Use shorter tests, oral testing, redoing tests, short feedback times, don’t make students compete.

What to avoid: Don’t use cooperative learning that isolates the student and places him or her in a no-win situation or standardized tests.  Definitely don’t ignore the problem.

What to encourage: Grouping with a patient partner. Learning about the child’s interests. Placing the student in charge.  Mapping, graphic organizers, and hands-on work. Using Bloom’s taxonomy of tasks to make the assignments more appropriate.

A child can be considered an underachiever in school and can be grouped under a generalized classification much too easily. One child cannot be grouped with a group of underachievers and be placed under one certain classification and this happens much too often in our schools. A teacher needs to be able to be aware of very specific and very personal problems that can cause a child to be considered an underachiever or a slow learner.

The confusion on this topic needs to be reduced in our schools. Some teachers are just too quick to identify and also to attempt to correct learning disabilities without the proper training or knowledge on the subject.

There are general categories into which most teachers will tend to group each child who is a slow learner. The classifications will be made according to the likeness of a child with each group.

First, we need to realize that all children who are performing under their grade level are not necessarily underachievers. A lot of schools feel that all children should be exactly at the same level in each class and this is not true. Sometimes they will think that the children in this classification of slow

learners are not capable of achieving at their chronological grade level. Sometimes, from the first grade on to other higher grades, a child just hasn't mastered the basic skills of learning. These children can get frustrated and even convince themselves that they cannot learn. In this instance teachers need to work with these students to teach the basic skills necessary for learning at the rate of normal student for his age.

There are some children that have problems with language development. A lack of language development can cause a child to be a slow learner. It is of much importance to see if a child has grown in the art of language and reading achievement, if not teachers need to work with these students to bring up their language levels so that they can reach maximum achievement in their class.

Some children have cultural disadvantages as they may come from homes where, for example, the parents are not speaking English and are speaking another language. They can be known as culturally disadvantaged as they do not have essentials necessary for learning. In this instance teachers

need to work with the students so that they can achieve and not be doomed to a failed and frustrated attitude. If this is left undone, then as the years pass there will be more and more problems in learning coming from cultural disadvantages in the home.

There may not be enough challenges in the particular classroom to hold some chhildren's interest and they become bored and don't reach their potential. A lack of challenge can bring a child down to below the level of the classrooms. Teachers need to be on the alert for this type of classification of underachiever as they will need to provide work that will stimulate them.

Other children may be of average capacity and be expected to achieve at a higher level of learning in the classroom. These children at times are incapable of achieving past a certain level for a child their age and this can lead to frustration and failure in the classroom. Teachers need to be aware of these children and not try to push too much on them in the way of learning in the classroom.

Children sometimes can be considered and classified as reluctant learners as these children will make good grades on tests but cannot function daily in the atmosphere of the classroom. Sometimes these children will not be motivated to learn and teachers need to be able to draw out these children and just get them motivated. Remedial help is sometimes used to get them motivated and to learn to the level of the others in their grade level.

Students needs to be identified that can profit from remedial and corrective teaching. Sometimes teachers will not provide this remedial and corrective teaching in their classroom and this needs to be changed. If professional judgment indicates that this special remedial and corrective teaching is necessary then a child should have this provide to help him.

¨     How is “learning disability” defined?

Learning disabilities is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical skills.

These disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction, and may occur across the life span. Problems in self-regulatory behaviors, social perception, and social interaction may exist with learning disabilities but do not, by themselves, constitute a learning disability.

Although learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other disabilities (for example, sensory impairment, mental retardation, serious emotional disturbances) or with extrinsic influences (such as cultural differences, insufficient or inappropriate instruction), they are not the result of those conditions or influences (National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, 1990).

¨     Can you translate that please?

Learning occurs in 5 steps:

§         acquiring information through the senses

§         determining what the information means

§         storing the information in memory

§         retrieving the information appropriately

§         using the information effectively

Someone with a learning disability has a glitch in one of those steps. (Warner, 1988). This glitch may also underscore related problems (e.g. inappropriate or absent social skills, sensory or physical deficits). These related problems are not part of the learning disability, but may accompany it. (Brinckerhoff, Shaw, &

McGuire, 1993).

The question “What is a learning disability?” may actually be a different question for different faculty members, but

remember that learning disabilities are NOT hypothetical constructs, they are REAL and last a lifetime.

§         Individuals with learning disabilities have at a minimum, average potential

§          Impairments exist in their learning processes, NOT in their learning potential.

§         Because of the heterogeneity of LDs, and that individuals may react to their disabilities in different ways, performance may be poor in some classes yet quite good in others (Vogel & Adelman, 1993).

¨     What does the law say?

There are two laws that were developed to protect the rights of people with disabilities.

1.   Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states that no otherwise qualified individual with a disability be denied access to the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination, under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

2.   The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)(effective since Jan 26, 1992) is very similar except that the ADA applies not only to institutions, but in most cases, to any private or public university.

§         According to the law, then, faculty are not volunteering to help students with learning disabilities, but fulfilling an obligation. The term “otherwise qualified individual” means that the student DID meet admissions requirements for the college or university, and the institution is now committed to making reasonable accommodations (Vogel & Adelman, 1993).

§         Reasonable accommodations may encompass specific teaching mechanisms or evaluation standards that enable success without compromising the standards of the coursework.

Unfortunately, regulations and guidelines regarding who is eligible for services differ from state to state and are prone to change, depending upon funding. So although the law says that the LD must be documented, how a learning disability is defined and how that documentation is compiled may be quite different in different colleges and universities.

¨      Types of learning disabilities

Broadly categorized, learning disabilities include

§         Language-based disabilities

dyslexia (reading)

dysgraphia (writing)

dyscalculia (calculations and math facts)

language deficits (difficulties in articulation, recalling expressive words, elaborating similarities and differences, or identifying and using appropriate verb tenses)

§         Sensory-perceptual disabilities

Visual (e.g., judging distance from an object, visually determining the difference between two objects, identifying figure against competing background--including reading a line of text in a book, copying information from the board, etc.)

Auditory (e.g., detecting sounds over background noise, processing verbal instructions, sequencing, fatigue from listening to lecture material)

§         Executive and cognitive disabilities

Attention deficits (e.g., inability to concentrate, remain on task, budget time)

Memory deficits (e.g., inability to engage in rote memorization such as facts, tables, dates, etc.)

Reasoning deficits (e.g., unorganized or non-logical thinking, inability to properly prioritize tasks, difficulty with application of new material)

Spatial organizational difficulties (e.g., problems with compass directions, right and left, up and down, ahead and behind, over and under, etc.)

           

§         Defective social skills

Discriminating visual cues and other forms of body language.

Comprehending the emotional content of speech (prosody).

Deciphering the meaning of constructive criticism, sarcasm, or other types of humor.

(Based on information from Project T.A.P.E., College of Education, Northern Illinois University)

¨     What ISN’T a learning disability?

There are a number of other developmental problems that can be confused with learning disabilities.

§         Slow learners might look as if they have learning disabilities, but in reality, their less-than-average learning ability doesn’t qualify as a true learning disability.

Slow learners generally have difficulty in all or most aspects of learning. On the other hand, their ability is high enough that slow learners can be easily distinguished from individuals with mental retardation.

§         Attention Deficit Disorder (with or without Hyperactivity) also may be confused with a learning disability. However, students with ADD are more likely to be restless, disorganized, easily frustrated, and so on. These behaviors might interfere with learning, but they are not the result of a learning disability.

§         Students with traumatic brain injury may resemble students with learning disabilities so much that it is almost impossible to distinguish the difference. However, there are likely to be other conditions that are concomitant (health, emotional, or physical disabilities).

Teaching Strategies that Work

What MUST a faculty member do?

When necessary a faculty member must:

¨      Permit a student extra time on an exam, and/or permit a student to take the exam at an alternate location.

¨      Assist a student in finding a student who will volunteer to take notes

¨      Allow a student to use auxiliary aids in class such as a sign language interpreter, a laptop computer to take notes, or a calculator for math

¨      Allow any accommodation that the Disability Specialist at your institution deems necessary for an individual student

What should a faculty member NOT do?

¨      Provide special accommodations to students who have not provided documentation for their disability

¨      Provide accommodations not required by the student’s disability

¨      Grade students with disabilities differently, or expect lower quality work

¨      Disclose a student’s disability to other faculty or students

¨      Directly ask students to disclose a disability (unless they are directly asking you for accommodations)

What CAN a faculty member do to help students with Learning Disabilities (and everyone else)?

¨      Include a statement in your syllabi inviting students who need accommodations to contact you

Why?

§         Students who need accommodations will feel more comfortable approaching you if they have been invited to do so

¨      Provide all students as much time as they need to complete exams

Why? 

§         Students who suffer from test anxiety perform better without time constraints

§         Students with disabilities may be able to take the exam with the rest of the class if there are no time constraints

§         It encourages accuracy and careful work

¨      Teach study skills specific to the textbook and format of the class

Why?

§         Many students have never been taught how to study

§         Students often ignore textbook aids like chapter summaries and tables because they assume they aren’t helpful

§         Students will better understand what skills will help them succeed in your class

¨      Allow students to tape your lecture

Why?

§         Students who have trouble keeping up with notes can pay attention during class, and then take notes on the taped lecture later

¨      Provide variety within each class period (lecture, overheads, videos, voice inflection, moving around, personal experiences, discussion, questions)

Why?

§         Students with attention problems need variety to keep them focused

§         All students will be more interested in the material and retain it longer

§         Note:  Be careful not to jump around or get off track in your efforts to keep students interested—organization is critical

¨      Ask questions that assume that some people need more explaining (How many people want to hear this a second time?  Which parts need more explaining?  What questions do you have about this?) and allow plenty of time for students to respond

Why?

§         Students often assume they are the only ones who don’t understand

§         Students with disabilities benefit from repetition

¨      Provide both oral and written instructions for assignments, and ask them which parts need more explaining

Why?

§         Many students are stronger at auditory  processing, others are stronger at visual processing

§         Some learning disabilities are specific to auditory or visual or reading

§         All students benefit from hearing it more than once

¨      Ask students to write down their own example or a definition in their own words, then walk around and provide immediate feedback

Why?

§         Coming up with their own example makes the information more meaningful and concrete

§         It gives students time to process the information

§         It gives immediate feedback to the instructor and to the student

¨      Teach definitions for words used in textbooks and in lecture—including those you think they should already know—by writing, explaining, and reviewing

Why?

§         Some disabilities may result in below-average vocabulary

§         Many students may have only a vague idea of what some words mean

§         Students will understand what they are reading/hearing much better

¨      Provide multiple means for student participation (asking questions in writing as well as verbally, participating in on-line discussions, etc)

Why?

§         Some students cannot form questions or comments quickly enough during class discussions

¨      Preview your lecture/class material with an outline, and make connections to previously presented information

Why?

§         It aids students in note-taking

§         It helps students anticipate important points

§         Students may not intuitively make connections, even those that may seem obvious

Do not expect less of students with learning disabilities, do not have a special grading scale for them! The primary ingredient to success is respect.