Academic Problems
Many school children have academic problems. We describe contemporary methods for assessing learning difficulties and properly identifying remediation strategies. Evidence-based treatment approaches include procedures for motivating student performance an
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James K. Luiselli ∙ Derek D. Reed ∙ Brian K. Martens
Abstract: Many school children have academic problems. We describe contemporary methods for assessing learning difficulties and properly identifying remediation strategies. Evidencebased treatment approaches include procedures for motivating student performance and eliminating conditions that are associated with academic failure. The chapter reviews basic clinician competencies such as conducting consultation with educational personnel, performing curriculum-based measurement, and implementing functional behavioral assessment. Our discussion about expert competencies centers on an understanding of the social influences on consultation, developing expertise in brief experimental analysis, and acquiring advanced skills through post-graduate education, professional activities (speaking, writing), and peer supervision.
19.1 Overview Each year millions of children enter the American educational system hoping to acquire the academic skills needed to become productive members of the society. Although the majority of these children demonstrate sufficient mastery of the curriculum to succeed at each grade level, many students do not. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2004) reported that approximately 37% of the nation’s fourth grade students and 26% of eighth graders were below the basic level in reading. These percentages were higher for African American and Hispanic children (60% and 56%, respectively) and for children who qualified for free/ reduced-price lunch (55%; Martens et al., 2007). Percentages were also high with respect to mathematics, with 23% of fourth graders and 32% of eighth graders being below the basic level. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress scoring rubrics, the category “below basic” means that children lack even “partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade” (NCES, 2004). Most children who exhibit academic problems in school are neither formally identified with a disability nor receive special education services. Rather, these children (referred to as low achievers) benefit from regular class instruction just enough to avoid special class placement. Over time, however, low achievers fall farther and farther behind their peers as gaps in their skills accumulate and demands of the curriculum increase. In the absence of an effective intervention, at some point, low achievers fall far enough behind their peers to qualify for special education services as students with disabilities. This situation has been termed “the problem of cumulative dysfluency” (Binder, 1996, p. 183), and explains in part why placement in special education has been criticized as a “wait to fail” model that delays services and reduces their effectiveness (Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003). While a small percentage of students receiving special education services are classified as severely disabled (between 1% and 2% of the school-age population; Reschly, 1988), approximately 10
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