The effects of direct instruction method on the development of reading comprehension skills of students with learning disabilities

In this study, the effect of reading comprehension instruction provided with the Direct Instruction Model on students who has learning disability, comprehension of single-event stories organized according to the story schema and on improving their reading comprehension skills besides increasing their reading accuracy percentages was researched. In addition, in the event of students with learning disabilities increased their reading comprehension skills and reading accuracy percentages, follow-up data on the maintenance of these comprehension and reading accuracy percentages after 15, 30 and 45 days were included. Four students diagnosed with learning disabilities and attending the fifth and sixth grades of secondary school participated in the study. The data for the social validity of the research were collected from the parents of the students and the teachers who teach the students' lessons using semi-structured interviews using the subjective evaluation technique. In the study, the "multiple probe between subjects model", which is a form of the multiple baseline model, one of the single-subject research methods, was used. The findings of the study show that the reading comprehension instruction provided with the direct instruction model was effective in helping students with learning disabilities comprehend single-event stories organized according to the story schema, improve their reading comprehension skills and increase their reading accuracy percentages, besides they maintained their reading comprehension skills and reading accuracy percentages in the follow-up sessions held 15, 30 and 45 days later. In the social validity data obtained at the end of the study, it was found that the parents and teachers of the students expressed positive opinions about the study and found the research very useful in reading and reading comprehension skills.