Academic and Behavioral Characteristics of Learning Disabled Children and Average Achievers: Longitudinal Studies

Abstract

Longitudinal research in the area of learning disabilities has been lacking for some time. The study reported here is an attempt to chart the development of newly identified LD children over the early elementary school years while they are receiving LD services in the public school. This paper includes initial behavioral and academic data for a large sample of 6- and 7-year-old LD and normally achieving students, and charts the progress of about half the children over a 3-year period using teacher rating scales, a classroom observational system, and an achievement test. Results of the study over the three years show that LD children fall progressively further behind their normal peers in reading comprehension. In math, they stay relatively the same distance below their peers. The LD subjects' behavior relative to that of their peers is suboptimal for classroom learning in the first year of the study, with less on-task and more off-task behavior — a pattern which continues over the three-year period. This portrait of learning disabled children suggests that learning disabilities are difficult to remediate, and that we may need to rethink our pattern of services to these students if we want them to function successfully in the regular classroom.