Curricular Interventions for Teaching Higher Order Thinking to All Students: Introduction to the Special Series

Abstract

Editor's Comment: The articles in this special series on curriculum make significant contributions, first, by proposing that the curriculum employed for all students, including those with learning disabilities, should emphasize thinking, problem solving, and reasoning, a point few would disagree with, given the complexities of life in this postindustrial-information age. The authors also provide some evidence that students with learning disabilities can learn and apply sophisticated concepts, rules, and strategies. Furthermore, the authors describe one instructional process that emphasizes higher order thinking, that is, "sameness analysis." This process facilitates the integration of concepts, rules, strategies, schema, systems, heuristics, and algorithms. The authors believe that sameness analysis fosters a holistic understanding of a content area. Over the last several years this journal has contained numerous articles that cogently argued for a more holistic approach to education. Sameness analysis is one that lends itself to the holistic approach. Finally, the series of articles quite appropriately addresses the importance of efficient teaching. Some recent research indicates that students with learning disabilities may be receiving less instruction than their nonhandicapped peers-this despite the fact that they have problems in learning. Efficient teaching takes on increased importance with the recent call (by some) for increased or total integration of students with learning disabilities into general classrooms.---JLW