cond experiment wasthe study of different teaching approaches and which one worked better in teachinglearning disabled students spelling. The two programs uses were the Spelling MasteryProgram and the Laidlaw Spelling Program. The Spelling Mastery program “teachesstudents to use spelling rules in a direct, uncompromising way, and the LaidlawSpelling Program is a traditional that utilized writing activities based on word families,practice in spelling words, and motivational activities” (Darch, Kim, Johnson, James20). 30 students were used in this study and were separated into two groups, one forthe Spelling Master Program and one for the Laidlaw Spelling Program. Each groupmet 12 times for instruction and then took a post test after they met for the last time. 4“The results demonstrate the superiority of rule-based spelling instructional program (Spelling Mastery Program) when compared to theeffectiveness of a instructional program that relies on the use of motivational spelling activities and intensive practice writing words andsentences without systematic introduction of spelling rules with carefullysequenced practice. The students taught with the rule based programbecame more proficient spelling words” (Darch, Kim, Johnson, James21).As these results show, students with learning disabilities are not able to use theappropriate rules based spelling strategies. This study also shows that students withlearning disabilities learn better when teachers use rule-based strategies that areintensive and skill-directed, and that provide practice and certain correctionprocedures.Westminster College proposes the following teaching strategies for children withspelling disabilities, “individualized spelling instruction, self-correction, dialoguejournal, word prediction, speech synthesis, and games.” An example of individualizesspelling instruction would be the teacher making an ...
