Charles Alan Hughes

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Emeritus Professor of Special Education at Retired from Pennsylvania State University

The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of explicit instruction in the curriculum area of science where non-explicit approaches (e.g., discovery learning) are often used. While there has been a relative paucity of research on explicit instruction in science classrooms, we argue that explicit instruction, particularly when it is embedded w...

Writing standards and objectives outline complex skills for narrative essay writing at the secondary level. Students with disabilities often produce disorganized narratives with fewer narrative elements than their peers without disabilities. A multiple-probe design was used to examine effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development for the Pick my g...

This study examined the effectiveness of the ANSWER Strategy (Hughes, Schumaker, & Deshler, 2005) in improving the essay composition skills of post-secondary students with developmental disabilities. The six-step strategy incorporated analyzing essay prompts, creating an outline, generating an essay response, and reviewing the answer. The students...

This meta-analysis reviews experimental and quasiexperimental studies in which upper-elementary, intermediate, and secondary students with learning disabilities learned from graphic organizers. Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified design criteria, 55 standardized mean effect sizes were extracted from 16 articles involving 80...

This article presents a meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies in which intermediate and secondary students with learning disabilities were taught science content through the use of graphic organizers (GOs). Following an exhaustive search for studies meeting specified selection criteria, 23 standardized mean effect sizes were...

This article proposes that how learning strategies are taught to students with learning disabilities (LD) is as important as the strategies themselves. Moreover, the preponderance of existing research supports an explicit approach for designing and delivering lessons for teaching students with LD to learn and use task-specific learning strategies....

This article proposes that how learning strategies are taught to students with learning disabilities (LD) is as important as the strategies themselves. Moreover, the preponderance of existing research supports an explicit approach for designing and delivering lessons for teaching students with LD to learn and use task-specific learning strategies....

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an instructional framework through which schools can provide early intervention for students experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties. It is also promoted as an alternative to the IQ-discrepancy model for identifying students with learning disabilities. Most states have developed, or are developing, models...

Research was conducted to ascertain if an essay-writing strategy was effective at improving the achievement on essay tests for 7th- and 8th-grade students with reading and writing disabilities. Students were assigned via a stratified random sample to treatment or control group. Student scores were also compared to students without learning disabili...

The purpose of this review was to analyze the content of Learning Disabilities Research & Practice to identify prevalent topics and types and proportions of articles published from 1991 through 2007. Also analyzed was the nature of the research reported including designs, participants, interveners, and settings. Analysis indicated that the three mo...

This review summarizes field studies of responsiveness to intervention (RTI) models. Eleven studies were located that met inclusion criteria. Studies were classified as either district/state implemented or researcher implemented. Outcomes demonstrated improved academic performance and a slight overall decrease in special education referral and plac...

This article has no abstract.

This study was conducted to ascertain if repeated reading or question generation was more effective at improving reading fluency and comprehension of fourth- through sixth-grade students with learning disabilities or reading problems. Adult tutors trained by the investigator conducted the interventions. Instructional components and training within...

In order to gain access to services at universities and colleges, students with learning disabilities must provide documentation of their disability. However, secondary schools are not required by law to provide the documentation often requisite at the postsecondary level. Also, it appears that secondary schools may collect even less psychometric d...

This chapter presents a quantitative and qualitative review of research on the use of behavioral self-management (BSM) procedures with adolescents with learning disabilities or behavioral disorders (LD/BD). These procedures included self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-reinforcement, self-instruction, and packages containing two or more BSM techn...

The most frequently requested accommodation among students with learning disabilities (LD) in postsecondary settings is extended test time. The frequency with which this accommodation is requested and granted compels disability service providers to become knowledgeable about the factors that influence the need for, and appropriateness of, the accom...

Most adolescents with learning disabilities spend the majority of their school day in general education classes and are expected to meet most, if not all, of the academic requirements of these classes. This review of the literature describes interventions shown to positively impact academic performance of students with learning disabilities in midd...

Homework is an important activity in the lives of school-aged children, including students with learning disabilities (LD). Characteristics often associated with LD (e.g., poor organizational skills) may adversely impact the rate and quality of homework completion. In this study, a multiple-probe across-students design (Horner & Baer, 1978) was use...

The researchers conducted a comprehensive review of the literature on technology-based practices for secondary students identified as having learning disabilities (LD) involving instruction and/or assessment that measured some aspect of performance on a general education task or expectation (i.e., test). Technology-based practices included computer...

Students with disabilities are entering teacher education programs in expanding numbers; yet, they are experiencing varying degrees of success. Factors impacting students' with disabilities participation and achievement in teacher education programs are presented and federal legislation affecting their involvement in teacher preparation programs is...

We investigated the effects of an instructional strategy within a graduated teaching sequence (i.e., concrete, semiconcrete, abstract) on the representation and solution of problem-solving skills encompassing integer numbers for secondary students with learning disabilities. Students advanced through three levels of instruction: (a) concrete applic...

Efficacy of teaching a learning strategy designed to help students with learning disabilities benefit from using a spellchecker

This study investigated the effect of five proofreading conditions on the spelling performance of 12 college students with learning disabilities on a composition activity. The proofreading conditions investigated were handwriting with no additional assistance, handwriting with a conventional print dictionary, handwriting with a handheld spelling ch...

We investigated the impact of integrated proofreading strategy training, combining the use of a computer-based spelling checker and student strategies, on the proofreading performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). Three high school students with LD were taught to apply a 5-step proofreading strategy with controlled materials and in a...

A review of 21 research studies on computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in mathematics with students having learning disabilities found that drill and practice formats have predominated over game, tutorial, or simulation formats. Overall, CAI was found to be an effective medium for mathematics instruction. Suggestions for further research and for us...

Based on a systematic search of literature published from 1988 to 1995, 20 math interventions for secondary students with learning disabilities were identified and analyzed. Effective methods include teacher-directed instruction, instructional design curriculum variables, three-term contingency trials, strategy instruction, self-monitoring strategi...

We reviewed 27 published studies on spelling instruction for students with learning disabilities (LD) and coded them for the following variables: (a) student characteristics, (b) instructional activities, (c) nature of materials to be learned, and (d) criterial tasks (Jenkins, 1979). Most of the studies investigated the impact of instructional acti...

The notes of 30 university students with learning disabilities (LD) and 30 nondisabled university students were compared on the number of cued and noncued information units recorded and the number and type of abbreviations used. Results showed that the university students with LD performed significantly lower on all variables. Implications for prac...

This study investigated the effectiveness of self-monitoring on the on-task behavior and vocational production rates of 5 elementary students with moderate mental retardation during biweekly pre-vocational workshop sessions. They were taught to use a recording form to monitor their behavior and were cued to monitor by audiotaped tones. A multiple-b...

Many secondary students with EBD are mainstreamed in regular classes and are required to take tests in those classes to demonstrate their competence with regard to their mastery of the content. Unfortunately, these students often do not use strategies that would help them meet this critical classroom demand. The purpose of this study was to develop...

Until the past few years, language characteristics of students receiving services for mild/moderate behavior disorders (BD) have been neglected for research on the language of the more severely disturbed population. However, recent investigations of the language characteristics of mild/moderately BD students have produced sufficient evidence to war...

Self-management training has been advocated for exceptional students as a means of increasing academic and study skills, motivation, independence, and generalization of behavioral gains, while decreasing the need for external direction and supervision. This review of the literature represents an analysis of data-based studies dealing with self-mana...

Notetaking is the primary method used by secondary and postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) to acquire lecture information. The literature on notetaking was reviewed to obtain an empirical base for designing effective notetaking programming and identifying critical areas for future research. Results include the benefits of recordi...

The purpose of this investigation was to design and evaluate the effects of teaching a comprehensive test‐taking strategy to adolescents with learning disabilities. The strategy, which comprised a carefully sequenced set of cognitive and overt behaviors designed for the test‐taking task, was taught to six secondary students using a seven‐stage inst...

This study assessed whether self-monitoring of on-task behavior would increase time on task and rates of prevocational task production for 3 students (ages 10, 10, and 9), with moderate mental retardation in a school setting. Results showed overall improvements on both variables. (Author/DB)

In the present study, 100 seventh— and tenth-grade tests across several content areas were examined for the presence of six types of test-wiseness cues. Questions addressed included: (a) What is the frequency of each type of cue, (b) is there a difference in the frequency of cued items between teacher-made and publisher-provided tests, (c) which ty...

Students with learning disabilities frequently experience difficulty on reading tasks. This difficulty is heightened for adolescents with learning disabilities who are responsible for reading and understanding materials written at several grade levels above their reading ability. Word identification becomes an increasingly important skill for these...

Despite growing numbers of learning disabled students in college classes, few empirically validated strategies for use by faculty when lecturing these students have appeared in the professional literature. The effect of a pausing procedure (three 2-minute pauses spaced at logical breaks during videotaped lectures) on students' performance of three...

The literature pertaining to college students with learning disabilities was reviewed to arrive at a summary of empirical reports on the academic achievement and cognitive ability of this population. Of the more than 100 articles published over a 20-year time span, less than one third were data based and reported academic and cognitive performance....

Self-management procedures have been promoted in the professional literature as effective in producing, maintaining, and generalizing behavior changes in behaviorally disordered students. Additional purported advantages are increased student involvement in the behavior change process with a concurrent decrease in teacher involvement. The present re...

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the language skills of a group of 38 mildly to moderately behavior-disordered students. At issue was whether such students suffer from language disorders as has been reported for Children with more severe behavior disorders such as autism. The results from the Test of Language Development-Inte...

The article presents guidelines for teaching self-management strategies to improve mildly handicapped elementary students' independent work habits. Applying the skills of self-recording, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement to math seatwork involves providing a rationale, modeling the strategy, and providing practice with feedback. Field test re...

Parental involvement in their handicapped child's education is generally promoted by the field and protected by legal mandates. To determine the nature and extent of parent-teacher interactions, a questionnaire was sent to 1,418 special education teachers across the country. A total of 904 (64%) teachers responded. Overall frequency of contacts and...

To determine the effect of a pausing procedure (three 2-minute pauses spaced at logical breaks during lecture presentations) on two dependent variables (free recall of facts and performance on objective tests), a separate 2 (class) x 2 (procedure) factorial analysis of variance was used. Seventy-two undergraduate students enrolled in either a cours...

To determine teachers' perceptions regarding the nature and extent of aggression in settings where behaviorally disordered students are served, and to determine strategies utilized in dealing with aggressive students, a questionnaire was completed by 178 public school special education teachers of behaviorally disordered students. Additionally, dur...

Editorial comment: Before intervening with aggressive student behavior, teachers should consider what safe action can be taken to ensure the safety of the student, other students, and the teacher himself/herself. This article provides a close examination of these issues up through the first approach with an aggressive, potentially assaultive studen...

Teachers working in settings serving emotionally handicapped (EH) students are frequently confronted with incidents of student aggression. Little is known about the teachers' confidence in their ability to cope with these incidents or the nature and extent of their previous training to deal with interpersonal violence. Survey questionnaires sent to...

The purpose of this article is to discuss the component of universal screening within a Response-to-Intervention (RTI) model. The goal of this article is to assist the reader in making informed decisions about the nature of universal screening measures. To that end, the article is divided into the following sections: What is universal screening? 1....