A Survey of Ten Years of Academic Intervention Research with Learning Disabled Students: Implications for Research and Practice

Abstract

The notion of researchers providing practitioners with a data-base to use for instructional planning and decision making is long-standing and promulgated in the literature. Practitioners, on the other hand, often view the research base as contributing little to the day-to-day practices of classroom instruction. The major thrust of this survey is to provide both researchers and practitioners in the field of learning disabilities with a systematic review of what has been studied, from 1978 through 1987, with regard to academic interventions for students identified as learning disabled. Startlingly, the area of academic intervention with this population has received scant attention by researchers, constituting less than 4% of the published articles in eight major special education journals. Variables related to intervention research are discussed. In addition, underresearched and unresearched areas that merit careful and thorough investigation are identified.