Enhancing Spelling Performance of Students with Mental Retardation: Comparative Effects of Three Remediation Procedures

Abstract

We examined the comparative effects of three specialized remediation procedures on the spelling accuracy of students with moderate mental retardation. In the first experiment, we compared directed rehearsal and imitation training against a no-training control condition, in an alternating treatments design. Both procedures were more effective than a no-training control condition, and imitation training was marginally more effective than directed rehearsal. In the second experiment, we investigated further the effectiveness of imitation training by comparing its effects against interspersal training and a no-training control condition in an alternating treatments design. Although both procedures were more effective than no training, there was little difference between the two procedures, in terms of the students’ rate of learning new words. This study showed that these three specialized remediation procedures can be used to increase the spelling proficiency of students with moderate mental retardation.