Planning, developing, implementing, and sustaining organizational change, such as Response to Intervention (RTI), is a complex endeavor. This brief is designed to give practitioners guidance based on the implementation activities of middle school practitioners across the country. The authors recognize that secondary schools must consider many…

This bestselling work provides practitioners with a complete guide to implementing response to intervention (RTI) in schools. The authors are leading experts who explain the main components of RTI--high-quality instruction, frequent assessment, and data-based decision making--and show how to use it to foster positive academic and behavioral…

Some young children show signs that they may not be learning in an expected manner, even during the prekindergarten (PreK) years. These children may exhibit learning challenges in areas such as developing language, counting objects, hearing differences in letter sounds, paying attention during story time, or learning how to write. Teachers,…

An economical procedure for identifying the dyslexic child is described using a parent questionnaire, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (particularly noting behavioral idiosyncrasies), a brief sentence reading test, a brief spelling test, and lateralty tests. Procedures for synthesizing the evaluation information are considered.…

The article contains suggestions for assessing and instructing culturally and linguistically different students with special emphasis on ways to distinguish the learning disabled from students who differ due to cultural and linguistic background and the need to focus on students' strengths and previously gained knowledge. (Author/DB)

Paraprofessional training in administration and scoring of educational and psychological tests for learning disability diagnosis is examined, and it is concluded that projected disadvantages outweigh advantages, indicating caution in adopting the practice. (Author/CL)

The article addresses assessment of the young handicapped child and describes development of the Competency Assessment Profile. Journal availability: see EC 133 846. (Author)

The Interactive Diagnostic Model, intended to facilitate disability interaction between teacher and clinician on behalf of the young language handicapped child, is described. Four levels of interaction are discussed: identification, diagnosis, management, and follow-up. (JW)

The paper explores several issues which effect the accurate assessment of language and reading disorders and, thus, of discrepancy between expected potential and actual achievement. For related information see EC 132 758-768. (Author)

This guide is designed to assist in providing appropriate educational services to secondary students who exhibit behavior problems. The guide discusses what is known about adolescence, as a basis for understanding secondary students. It examines methods of identifying students with behavior problems and proposes two courses of intervention based…

The article covers the following areas: language acquisition, development, and disorders in bilingual individuals; instruments to assess first- and second-language skills of bilingual students; determination of a language disorder in a bilingual population; and intervention techniques such as the author's experience working with Puerto Rican and…

The article reviews the literature on the quantification of achievement-aptitude differences in learning disabled students, outlines and discusses criteria for new and more adequate procedures, and presents step-by-step procedures that can be routinely followed. (Author/DLS)

This article provides the American Psychiatric Association's definition of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and then gives an overview of ADD by considering the three types of ADD, the developmental impact of ADD, factors contributing to ADD, identification and assessment of students with ADD (emphasizing multimethod and consideration of…

A three-stage identification process is recommended for students suspected of having learning disabilities. This process examines discrepancy, causality, and the need for special education, and it complies with legal requirements. (Author)

This article discusses effective preassessment team procedures for identifying students with special needs, including collecting comprehensive information about the student, documenting the student's problems, developing specific and detailed intervention plans, identifying support personnel to help implement the intervention plan, and…