Study Skills Strategies:
Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities
Presented by
Frank A. Shaffer and Phyllis Seeba

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Students learn best when they know their learning and personality style.
Students become proactive in their learning when they know how to learn.
Student confidence and self esteem increases with study skills interaction.

Learning difficulties will affect a student’s ability to self design and independently apply study skills strategies.

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Metacognition is used in education to describe the learning process.
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Students learn how to learn!

• Students earn points for participation, assignments, & materials.
• Students earn points for following school rules and attendance.
• Students earn points for independent & cooperative learning.
• Students earn points for being responsible for themselves.
A = 90 - 100%
B = 80 - 89%
C = 70 - 79%
D = 60 - 69%

These learning difficulties affect study skills
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Weak attention controls
Reduced remembering
Deficient output
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Chronic misunderstanding
Delayed skills acquisition
Poor adaptation

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Classroom strategies that minimize distractions and maximize information equal higher learning.
Study skills foster self esteem and promote social success which promotes scholastic success.

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If kids know what they are to learn, and get specific feedback, they can increase learning by 37%.
Standards have to drive instruction.

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A study skills class is valued by kids in high school and college settings alike.
Common expectations are reinforced.
Organize for multiple intelligence.

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The primary goal is to equip students with the tools that enable them to become independent learners.
Course objectives meet the
Alaska Content Standards.

Students will demonstrate:
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Knowledge of learning strategies and how people learn
Ability to set short term and long range goals
Techniques to build retention and comprehension

Students will demonstrate:
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Note taking for reading and listening
Comprehend a basic vocabulary and skills
Skills in following directions

Students will demonstrate:
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Identify information in library/media center
Communicate ideas using instructional technology
Knowledge of higher level thinking skills

Students will demonstrate:
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Ability to speak and write for a variety of purposes
Think logically and reflectively while taking a test

Study Skills can be taught in a
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Resource Room
Special
Education class
General
Education class
Collaborative
Team
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Self Contained class
Remedial class
Inclusion Model
Workshop
Tutorial

Study skills can also be taught
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By parents at home
Or in a summer program

To ensure that students learn and apply study skills
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Orientation
Activation
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Maintenance
Study skills are most effective when taught as they are needed.

Students learn best when they know their learning and personality style.

A student’s success in school depends directly on their ability to listen, as it is the main channel of classroom instruction.

Show students the connection between their goals and their study efforts

The most important skill for writing papers may be the ability to form and follow a writing plan.

Students need to make the transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.

Note taking encourages students to process information and put it in their own words.

Students taking charge of their education.

Memory strategies are building blocks to a firm foundation to support academic goals.

Improvement in one’s mathematical ability is in part due to collecting, organizing, analyzing, interpreting and formulating questions about data.

Test taking consists of two phases: preparing for the test and taking the test.

Students must be taught how to judge the importance of incoming information.

Helping students independently apply organization skills by explaining the rationale behind the skills.

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I hear and I forget;
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
• Chinese Proverb

Teaching students to organize their own supplies enable them to learn more complex organizational skills.

• Linguistic (in words)
• Logical-Mathematical (by reasoning)
• Spatial (in images and pictures)
• Bodily-Kinesthetic (hands-on-learning)
• Musical (via rhythms and melodies)
• Interpersonal (social gathering)
• Intrapersonal (self-paced projects)
• Naturalist (access to nature)

Visual Learners (You have to see it to believe it)
Auditory Learners ( If you hear it, you remember it)
Tactual Learners (If you can touch it with your hands, you will remember it)

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Use a document or checklist
Read each statement
Answer if it applies to you
Score it - find out about your study habits and attitudes
Apply the information in learning new material

• Maintain a three-ring binder with dividers
• Notebook checklist
• Daily/weekly progress reports
• Weekly planners
• Personal evaluation checklist
• Assignment completion

• Learning Style
• Record Keeping
• Organization
• Time Management
• Library/Research
• Listening
• Note Taking
• Memory Skills
• Test Taking
• Oral Reports
• Reading For A Purpose
• Writing
• Math
• Self Advocacy

Study Skills Strategies:
Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities
Presented by
Frank A. Shaffer and Phyllis Seeba