Strategy Instruction in Mathematics and Reading for Elementary Students With Learning Disabilities

Students with learning disabilities (LDs) often have a limited repertoire of effective learning strategies (Reid et al., 2013). When teachers use strategy instruction, they provide students with tools to conceptualize and execute a multistep process. We define strategy instruction as instruction on how to use a research-validated plan or procedure that helps students complete a mathematics or reading task effectively and efficiently. Strategy instruction may be focused on learning strategies (e.g., rereading a mathematics word problem or paragraph), cognitive strategies (e.g., summarizing content that has just been read), metacognitive strategies (e.g., planning and monitoring learning), or management or motivational strategies (Donker et al., 2014). Often, conversations about strategy instruction revolve around self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), which combines strategy instruction in academic content with a focus on self-regulation strategies. SRSD has proven beneficial for students with LDs in both mathematics and reading (Cuenca-Carlino et al., 2016; Harris et al., 2019; Losinski et al., 2019). In this article, we focus on a general approach for strategy instruction.