Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behavior

Synopsis

This new edition is the ideal text for teaching pre-service educators and specialists to understand how specific developmental, behavior, and academic problems influence school success. In this totally updated and revised second edition of their bestselling book, Mather and Goldstein provide educators with all of the information they need to understand learning disabilities and challenging behavior and demonstrate an innovative framework to help teachers understand why students struggle. The authors identify 10 building blocks important to learning success, divided into three levels: the foundational level, the symbolic level, and the conceptual level. Educators first complete the Building Blocks Questionnaire to identify a student's strengths and limitations. Corresponding chapters then provide educators with the research and information they need to understand the issues, cultivate the student's strengths, address weaker areas, and develop appropriate accommodations and instructional interventions. Readers get effective intervention strategies both to improve outcomes for individual students and to ensure successful classroom management. And this guide is also flexible enough to be used as a classroom resource; busy teachers can complete the Building Blocks Questionnaire for individual students and then immediately turn to the appropriate chapters to get the information and strategies they need to help the student succeed. In the new edition, the authors have added additional information about school environment and elementary grades, and devote separate examination of emotional and behavioral issues.