Virginia W. Berninger

This book discusses the theoretical rationale for the research on reading and writing from a developmental neuropsychological perspective. It reviews current research on the structural and functional development of the brain with respect to reading and writing acquisition.

This book discusses the theoretical rationale for the research on reading and writing from a developmental neuropsychological perspective. It reviews current research on the structural and functional development of the brain with respect to reading and writing acquisition.

This revised edition is a resource for pre- and in-service educators and covers four types of learning disabilities that require differentiated instruction: dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and oral and written language learning disability.

This comprehensive, landmark guide presents an evidence-based approach to assessment and instruction in K- 2 education that takes into account individual differences in students. The guide identifies the developmental skills to be assessed and taught in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, and it provides principles for tailoring assessment and intervention to individual students, who exhibit sizable developmental, individual, cultural, and language differences. Importantly, it also explains how to facilitate communication and collaboration among interdisciplinary teams in education-professionals who are legally required to work together yet have such different training and disciplinary expertise that they seem to amp ldquo speak different languages. amp quot

Although educators are expected to bring about functional changes in the brain--the organ of human learning--they are given no formal training in the structure, function or development of the brain in formal or atypically developing children as part of their education. This book is organized around three conceptual themes: First, the interplay between nature (genetics) and nurture (experience and environment) is emphasized. Second, the functional systems of the brain are explained in terms of how they lead to reading, writing and mathematics and the design of instruction. Thirdly, research is presented, not as a finished product, but as a step forward within the field of educational neuropsychology. The book differs from neuropsychology and neuroscience books in that it is aimed at practitioners, focuses on high incidence neuropsychological conditions seen in the classroom, and is the only book that integrates both brain research with the practice of effective literacy, and mathematics instruction of the general and special education school-aged populations.