Esther Ritva Lindström

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at University of Illinois Chicago

Background Growing evidence supports the efficacy of multicomponent, explicit, phonics-based reading instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, little is known about the implementation of such instruction. Aims The purpose of this observation study was to describe the content and quality of reading in...

Engagement in early childhood has been linked with later achievement, but the relation between these variables and how they are measured in early childhood requires examination. We estimated the overall association between academic engagement and achievement in children prior to kindergarten entry. Our systematic literature search yielded 13,521 re...

This observation study documents the amount and quality of mathematics instruction provided to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through second grade in self-contained special education settings. We observed six special education teachers and their students (N = 12) during a total of 967 min allotted to early...

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) were particularly vulnerable to the school closures that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to obtain a baseline understanding of the instructional experiences of students with IDD before March of 2020 to assess the nature and degree of the pandemic’s impact. We recruited...

Reading intervention sessions are most effective when students are engaged. Combined interventions that target both reading and engagement may produce stronger outcomes in both domains than separate interventions for each goal. They also have advantages of being efficient, thus requiring fewer resources. However, planning and executing combined int...

Reading skills are important to the academic success and long-term self-determination of individuals with disabilities. Teachers’ theoretical orientations toward reading instruction are relevant to their implementation of interventions that may be more or less effective in addressing students’ needs. Whereas reading instructional orientation has be...

Background and Aims Students with intellectual disability benefit from high‐quality instruction in reading and mathematics. Methods This Theoretical Paper outlines the need for effective, evidence‐based instructional practices for this population and the potential for observation research to inform such advancements. We report our systematic proce...

Background: Special education teachers require foundational reading content knowledge (e.g., phonemic awareness, phonics) to teach early reading skills. Though many measures have been developed to measure such knowledge, none have examined item-level differences attributed to teacher characteristics (i.e., experience, degree, instructional time use...

This article presents guidance for researchers planning school-based mixed methods research studies involving students with extensive support needs. The purpose of the article is to briefly summarize previous research in this area, identify common challenges inherent to research on this topic that reflect the contexts in which this research can occ...

Rural elementary special education teachers primarily working with students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) may have less training in foundational reading content. We report results of a foundational reading knowledge assessment administered to a national sample of 220 special education teachers working in various locales. On...

Open access to research findings, syntheses of research, and papers providing guidance on implementing research-based practices is critical for informing policy and practice in special education and related fields. Yet most published articles are behind paywalls and cannot be accessed freely by many practitioners, policymakers, individuals with dis...

Over the last decade, there has been ample evidence reporting the lack of high-quality and compliant Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in the United States. This problem has many consequences, including poor student outcomes and failure to follow legal due process. Despite these consequences, research has not thoroughly examined the perspect...

In this study we tested the usability, feasibility, social validity, and effectiveness of Engaged Learners, a behavior support program designed to be integrated into small group reading interventions. Participants included eight Grade 3 to 5 students with co-occurring reading difficulties and inattention. A concurrent multiple-baseline design was u...

Addressing decoding difficulties with students in Grades 6-12 presents challenges, but ongoing intervention remains important in secondary grades. This article draws from research to outline a multistep process and provide resources for administering informal diagnostic assessments and forming intervention groups. Using these recommendations and to...

This systematic review and synthesis summarizes intervention research for Grade K-12 students with a reading difficulty and co-occurring inattention to identify (a) the relevant intervention literature base, (b) the student, study, and intervention characteristics of these studies, (c) the effects of these interventions on reading and behavior outc...

Although quality guidelines for single-case intervention research emphasize the importance of concurrent baselines in multiple-baseline and multiple-probe designs, nonconcurrent variations on these designs persist in the research literature. This study describes a systematic review of special education intervention studies ( k = 406) between 1988 a...

Reading development is a complex cognitive process, and instruction must be guided by the science of what works, for whom, and under which conditions. Students with learning disabilities (LD) in reading require high-quality reading instruction and, often, intensive intervention delivered by knowledgeable teachers. Yet, many teachers enter the field...

Reading disability (RD), which affect between 5-17% of the population worldwide, is the most prevalent form of learning disability, and is associated with underactivation of a universal reading network in children. However, recent research suggests there are differences in learning rates on cognitive predictors of reading performance, as well as di...

Although quality guidelines for single-case intervention research emphasize the importance of concurrent baselines in multiple-baseline and multiple-probe designs, nonconcurrent variations on these designs persist in the research literature. This study describes a systematic review of special education intervention studies (k = 406) between 1988-20...

This observation study documents the amount and quality of mathematics instruction provided to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through second grade in self-contained special education settings. We observed six special education teachers and their students (N = 12) during a total of 967 minutes allotted to e...

Special education researchers have contributed in innumerable ways to the knowledge base we call the “science of reading.” In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the history of special education research to provide context for the field’s focus on scientific inquiry and problem-solving to understand the effectiveness of instructional methods...

In this article we respond to the recent recommendation of Slocum et al. (2022), who provided conceptual and methodological recommendations for reconsidering the credibility and validity of the nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design. We build on these recommendations and offer replication and randomization upgrades that should further improve the s...

Reading intervention sessions are most effective when students are engaged. Combined interventions that target both reading and engagement may produce stronger outcomes in both domains than separate interventions for each goal. They also have advantages of being efficient, thus requiring fewer resources. However, planning and executing combined int...

This study describes a systematic review and synthesis of high-quality intervention research for Grade K-12 students with or at risk for reading difficulties and co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (SWRD+ADHD) to identify (a) the literature base for high-quality single-case design studies for SWRD+ADHD in grades K-12, (b) the stud...

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of three different instructional routines and a no-feedback control condition on the acquisition of high-frequency word reading for elementary students with intellectual disability. The three conditions were whole-word feedback, letter-name feedback, and letter-sound feedback. The primary depende...

Dyslexia is a common learning disability that affects processing of written language despite adequate intelligence and educational background. If learning disabilities remain untreated, a child may experience long-term social and emotional problems, which influence future success in all aspects of their life. Dyslexia has a 60% heritability rate, a...

Educators use reading comprehension assessments to summarize academic achievement, make decisions in diagnostic evaluations, and identify intervention needs. A challenge, however, with using different assessments in practice is that student performance may change depending on which assessment is administered. This article guides educators in evalua...

This study investigated the dependability of reading comprehension scores across different text genres and response formats for readers with varied language knowledge. Participants included 78 fourth-graders in an urban elementary school. A randomized and counterbalanced 3 × 2 study design investigated three response formats (open-ended, multiple-c...

There is a lack of research on effective interventions to improve the early numeracy skills of children with severe disabilities---autism spectrum disorder, developmental disability, and intellectual disability---and complex communication needs. While preliminary research suggests the Early Numeracy curriculum is effective for teaching children wit...

These studies examined the contribution of text, activity, and reader to variance in reading comprehension test scores. Study 1 focused on multiple-choice and open-ended item responses, whereas Study 2 examined retell. Both studies included 79 fourth-grade students (age M = 9.72; SD = .34). Each student read six passages from the Qualitative Readin...

This presentation provides findings from multiple syntheses investigating the impact of reading and/or behavioral interventions on reading and behavioral outcomes for students with behavioral difficulties. Additionally, presenters will discuss how to implement cross-age tutoring models as interventions for this student population, as well as the re...

Immersive virtual reality (VR) is a learning technology that is emerging in secondary schools. We have designed and developed a prototype immersive VR learning game for urban students to learn about local features in the Lehigh River watershed in Pennsylvania, USA. We used a series of design principles to engage students who are unmotivated to lear...

Students with severe and persistent academic or behavioral challenges may benefit from data-based individualization (DBI). Starting with an evidence-based standard protocol and systematic progress monitoring, teachers can evaluate growth and implement individualized interventions to meet students’ needs. Specifically, this article addresses the sys...

Researchers have increasingly investigated sources of variance in reading comprehension test scores, particularly with students with reading difficulties (RD). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine if the achievement gap between students with RD and typically developing (TD) students varies as a function of different reading comprehens...

Models of irregular word reading that take into account both child- and word-level predictors have not been evaluated in typically developing children and children with reading difficulty (RD). The purpose of the present study was to model individual differences in irregular word reading ability among 5th grade children (N = 170), oversampled for c...

Dynamic assessment (DA) of word reading measures learning potential for early reading development by documenting the amount of assistance needed to learn how to read words with unfamiliar orthography. We examined the additive value of DA for predicting first-grade decoding and word recognition development while controlling for autoregressive effect...

Comprehensive models of derived polymorphemic word recognition skill in developing readers, with an emphasis on children with reading difficulty (RD), have not been developed. The purpose of the present study was to model individual differences in polymorphemic word recognition ability at the item level among 5th-grade children (N = 173) oversample...

Executive dysfunction occurs in many clinical conditions and has significant impact on multiple facets of life. This book summarizes executive function and dysfunction for practitioners, researchers and educators, covering lifespan development, assessment, impact and interventions. Drawing together clinical, neurobiological and developmental viewpo...