FOSTERING LITERACY LEARNING IN SUPPORTIVE CONTEXTS

Young children with learning disabilities typically encounter difficul ty with academic tasks requiring intentional effort and effective use of metacognitive skills-qualities that competent readers and writers p ossess. In response to these difficulties, special educators often mod ify literacy instruction, isolating the "basic skills" of literacy (su ch as decoding and penmanship) from meaningful reading and writing act ivities. Such instruction contributes to impoverished notions of liter acy and exacerbates problems of metacognition. The two research progra ms reported here challenge the conventional literacy instruction provi ded to many young students with LD. The programs are rooted in develop mental and cognitive theory and research, as well as emergent literacy theory. The social nature of learning is emphasized, with a focus on the role of the teacher, the form of discourse, and the role of text i n literacy instruction. Results show that children with learning disab ilities benefit from strategy instruction occurring within classroom c ultures that support collaborative discourse, the flexible application of comprehension strategies, and appropriate, meaningful opportunitie s for reading and writing.