his book is about teaching. It provides practical, research-based

methods of instruction for teaching the learning disabled (LD). It

is offered as a state-of-the-art approach to instruction. All of the inter-

ventions suggested are data-based (controlled studies and systematic

classroom analyses provided the data) and theoretically sound. We fully

expect the next few years of research to further our knowledge, and, as

with all applications derived from ongoing research, teachers will need

to stay abreast of important developments and revise their intervention

practices accordingly.

Most textbooks designed to teach prospective and in-service teachers

methods for instructing the LD adhere to either an underlying abilities

or behavioral model of intervention. The first advocates the remediation

of fundamental processes thought crucial to effective learning (e.g., mem-

ory, attention, perception), while the second focuses on the direct instruc-

tion of academic skills without regard for psychological processes.

Our cognitive developmental approach, in contrast, is based on infor-

mation processing theory (rather than specific abilities or behavioral

models) and has the advantage of being able to treat the processes of

learning as a fundamental concern without changing the instructional

goals of learning to read, write, problem solve, and calculate.

The cognitive developmental approach of this book is unique in that

it treats learning problems as representative of a point on a continuum

of learning abilities and disabilities. One impact of this approach is that

the content area chapters, whenever appropriate, begin with a section on

development prior to schooling, which discusses what children usually

learn about the topic (e.g., language, reading, writing, or mathematics)

before coming to school. This information is central to a cognitive ap-

proach for two reasons. First, since the cognitive orientation to instruction

advocates that teachers build on children's strengths, background knowl-

edge, and experience, teachers must learn what children already know.

Second, many children will not have had (or will not have learned from)

experiences commensurate with those of their peers. In such cases, the

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