Differences in Learning Styles Between Successfully and Unsuccessfully Mainstreamed Violent and Assaultive Youth

The purpose of this research was to examine the statistical relationship between learning styles of violent and assaultive youth and their success or failure in being mainstreamed into public schools. The Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude (DTLA) was the diagnostic measure used to assess a student's learning style. The research hypothesis was that specific learning domains associated with the DTLA may contribute to differences between successfully or unsuccessfully mainstreamed students. Uncorrelated t-tests indicated that verbal as compared with nonverbal composite quotients differentiated significantly between the two groups. It was concluded that for violent and assaultive youth attending a specialized day-treatment facility, verbal ability was the single most powerful indicator of successful mainstrearning. Unsuccessfully mainstreamed students had lower, whereas successfully mainstreamed students had higher verbal composite quotients.