The epistemological underpinnings of the best instructional programs for at-risk children with learning disabilities differ depending upon the focus of the training. Efficacious comprehension programs tend toward a strong form of endogenous constructivism; efficacious instructional programs in the domain of word recognition, however, have many characteristics that are antithetical to the stronger forms of constructivism. The ideas that self-discovery is the most efficacious mode of learning, that most learning can be characterized as “natural,” and that cognitive components should never be isolated or fractionated during the learning process have been useful as tenets for comprehension instruction, but are markedly at variance with what is now known about the best ways to develop word recognition skill. Research has indicated that explicit instruction and teacher-directed strategy training are more efficacious and that this is especially true for at-risk children, children with learning disabilities, and for children with special needs.
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