Abstract
Research problem. Special education programs to serve mild to moderately learning disabled students are costly and have not resulted in significantly more academic progress than students could be expected to make in a regular classroom setting. The purpose of the study was to compare the reading and mathematics achievement of learning disabled students in the traditional Resource Room pull-out model and a more integrated Collaborative Consultation model. Methodology. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, mixed factorial design was utilized for this study. The independent variable of primary concern was the service delivery model utilized to provide special education assistance for the students. The Collaborative Consultation Model was the experimental treatment, and the traditional Resource Room model was utilized with the nontreatment group. Eight variables were identified as possible moderator variables: age, gender, socioeconomic level, language proficiency, intelligence, IQ mode, additional help, and additional exposures to the experimental treatment. After a seven-month treatment period, achievement gains in reading and mathematics were compared. Results were compared using ANOVA of Repeated Measures, ANACOVAs, t-tests, and regression analyses. Major findings. Students made significant gains in reading achievement, without regard to treatment setting. Students also made significant achievement in mathematics; however, the students in the Collaborative Consultation model made significantly higher mathematics gains than students in the Resource Room model. In addition, the experimental treatment for mathematics favored those students with stronger verbal abilities, according to their WISC-R scores, as compared to students with higher performance abilities as tested by the WISC-R. None of the moderator variables significantly influenced student achievement in mathematics or in reading. Conclusions. The Collaborative Consultation model appears to be an effective service delivery model for children with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Students with significant deficits in their verbal abilities do not progress well in either the Resource Room or the Collaborative Consultation model, and they appear to require a fundamentally different program.