Instructional Practices that Promote Acquisition and Generalization of Skills by Learning Disabled Adolescents

Abstract

While most efforts in programming for learning disabled adolescents have been directed to the content of instructional offering, the authors identify procedures to promote acquisition and generalization of skills . Exemplified within a learning strategies model, the procedures outlined here stress acquisition of specific strategies through learning it in isolation and then applying it to controlled materials. The real effect of the instruction, however, is the degree to which the student can generalize the acquired strategy to the materials used in the regular classroom and to maintain the strategy over time. Specific procedures to promote generalization across settings and over time are identified and described. The acquisition and generalization procedures presented herein are currently being investigated by The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.