Learning-Styles-Based Differentiating Instruction for At-Risk Students

This chapter offers an overview of learning-styles-based differentiating instruction for at-risk students. First, the authors place the Dunn and Dunn model of learning styles in the larger context of style research and acknowledge and respond to the scholarly criticism that has been evoked by the model. Based on the Dunn and Dunn model, the authors identify eight considerable challenges educators face and offer a rationale for using learning-style-responsive instruction in kindergarten–12th grade (K–12) schools by synthesizing seminal research conducted with the model. After three research-based learning-style assessment tools are introduced, several school-based alternative approaches to working with at-risk students are outlined. The authors conclude that many at-risk students might not need special education services if their diverse learning needs were accommodated.