Philosophy and Theoretical Basis

• most students with learning difficulties make only small gains in learning and classroom performance in their middle years of schooling; and
• the academic achievement gap between students with learning difficulties and their peers widens year after year.
(Cawley, Fan Yan, & Miller, 1996; Hempenstall, 2005; Swanson & Hoskyn, 2001)

The need for effective interventions to support middle school students with learning difficulties is clear. The QuickSmart intervention and research program attempts to fill some of the identified gaps in research and practice regarding middle-school students with persistent learning difficulties related to literacy and mathematics.

The QuickSmart program combines a theoretical perspective incorporating a hierarchical view of students' learning of academic skills and the role of automaticity in learning (La Berge & Samuels, 1974) with examples of basic research and practical applications.

The structured approach of the QuickSmart program, with its use of technology and emphasis on practice and strategy, is very much in tune with how many researchers consider students with learning difficulties can be most usefully supported (Ellis, 2005; Hay, Elias, & Booker, 2005; Swanson, 2000).

Cawley, J. E, Fan Yan, W., & Miller, J. H. (1996). Arithmetic computation abilities of students with learning disabilities: Implications for instruction. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 11, 230-237.

Ellis, L. A. (2005). Balancing approaches: Revisiting the educational psychology research on teaching students with learning difficulties. Australian Education Review 48. Camberwell, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Hay, I., Elias, G., & Booker, G. (2005). Schooling issues digest: Students with learning difficulties in relation to literacy and numeracy. Canberra: Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training. Retrieved April 16, 2006, from http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/schooling_issues_digest/schooling_issues_digest_learning_difficulties.htm

Hempenstall, K. J. (2005). How might a stage model of reading development be helpful in the classroom? Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities, 10(3-4), 35-52.

La Berge, D., & Samuels, S. J. (1974). Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading. Cognitive Psychology, 6, 293-323.

Swanson, H. L., & Hoskyn, M. (2001). Instructing adolescents with learning disabilities: A component and composite analysis. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 16, 109-119.

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