ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the program, the rationale for its design, and reports the results of its effects in educational practice. Teachers often find it difficult to provide the necessary time and practice experiences to children with learning disabilities, especially in general-education schools. Educational software in the Netherlands has evolved quickly over the past few decades, and more and more interactive and adaptive computer programs are appearing on the market. Leesladder is a computer program for poor readers, including dyslex-ics, in the first three grades of general primary school and children in special education schools. Agents support the interactivity and adaptivity of the program. The aim of this chapter was to assess the effectiveness of the first CD-ROM of an adaptive computer program. In all cases, improved phonological decoding ability is important to decode new or unknown words and will help to expand vocabulary.
