https://doi.org/10.1177/0731948719864417 Learning Disability Quarterly 1–14 © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0731948719864417 journals.sagepub.com/home/ldq Original Research In the transition from elementary to secondary school lit- eracy demands on students increase as texts become more complex and students are expected to gain information through reading (Lee & Spratley, 2010). Seventy one per- cent of eighth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) score below basic in reading, compared to 18% of students without disabilities, making it difficult for them to gain content knowledge from texts (Horowitz, Rawe, & Whittaker, 2017). Thus, students with LD are more likely to fail a class, they lag behind the national average for graduating with a regular diploma (70.8% vs. 80.4%; Horowitz et al., 2017), and they are less likely to complete postsecondary education than the general population (Newman et al., 2011). To be successful in secondary con- tent courses, students with LD need skilled teachers who support them to learn both grade-level content and literacy skills (Kennedy & Ihle, 2012). Teaching content to sec- ondary students requires teachers to understand the con- tent deeply; furthermore, they must also understand how students learn, how students learn in the content area, and how to communicate that content effectively to students (Ball, Thames, & Phelps, 2008). To effectively teach sec- ondary students with LD, content teachers must also understand how to teach literacy. Yet, studies indicate secondary teachers often resist incorporating literacy instruction into content classes, and they seldom provide the instruction or accommodations in literacy skills that would help students with LD learn con- tent (Cantrell, Burns, & Callaway, 2009; Hall, 2005). For example, in a synthesis of findings from four research grants (funded by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the 1990s) examining secondary content teachers’ planning and instruction for students with disabilities, researchers found teachers’ planning focused on group rather than individual needs, rarely made accom- modations for students with disabilities, and rarely sup- ported students when accommodations were made (Grossen, 1995). Schumm et al. (1995) found that during instruction teachers would often “check in” with students, believing it 864417LDQ XX X 10.1177/0731948719864417Learning Disability QuarterlyLauterbach et al. research-article 2019 1 University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA 2 University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 3 Boston University, MA, USA Corresponding Author: Alexandra A. Lauterbach, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst, S168 Furcolo Hall, Amherst, MA 01003- 9329, USA. Email: alauterbach@umass.edu Expert Secondary Content-Area Teachers’ Pedagogical Schemas for Teaching Literacy to Students With Learning Disabilities Alexandra A. Lauterbach, PhD 1 , Mary T. Brownell, PhD 2 , and Elizabeth A. Bettini, PhD 3 Abstract Secondary content-area teachers seldom use research-based practices for students with learning disabilities (LD), and prior research indicates they often conceptualize instruction in ways that align poorly with research about effective instruction for students with LD. However, prior research has focused on typical secondary content-area teachers, and we know little about how expert secondary content-area teachers think about instruction for students with LD. We used hermeneutic phenomenological methods to explore expert content-area teachers’ pedagogical schemas for teaching literacy to secondary students with LD. We found teachers’ pedagogical schemas were shaped by their goals for students and the role they believed learning difficulties played in achieving those goals. This led them to integrate literacy and disciplinary instruction to support students’ learning. The findings extend and support existing research on teachers’ expertise, and have implications for future efforts to develop secondary content-area teachers’ expertise in teaching students with LD. Keywords content area instruction, instructional strategies, qualitative methods, research design or utilization, reading, writing