Thus, the problem the strategy is designed to address and what students perceive as problems in their environments must match. Some teachers target a strategy for instruction in anticipation of future problems their students will encounter. Although preparing students for future problems may seem prudent, our experience has shown us that unless LD students perceive an immediate need for the strategy, their commitment to learn it, as well as their subsequent generalization of it, will be minimal. In addition, effective learning of the strategy requires that students have ample opportunities to experiment with its utility on real problems. If these opportunities are not provided, the strategy often will have to be retaught when students enter settings where the strategy is needed.
Effective strategies address demands that are encountered frequently over an extended time.
Because strategy instruction is necessarily intensive and extensive, the relative cost-benefit ratio plays an important role in the effectiveness of strategies. Naturally, the more opportunities students have to apply the strategy, the more readily students will perceive its benefits, attribute success at the tasks to using a more effective strategy, and habitualize its use. Although the strategy has to meet current demands, it also should be powerful enough to have long-term utility and benefit the individual in the near future as well as into adulthood. Effective strategies can be applied across a variety of settings, situations, and contexts . These types of strategies usually have limited value in other situations and settings.