Differences in socioeconomic status (SES) correlate both with differences in cognitive development and in brain structure. Associations between SES and brain measures such as cortical surface area and cortical thickness mediate differences in cognitive skills such as executive function and language. However, causal accounts that link SES, brain,…

This secondary analysis of data from a randomized control trial of an early mathematics intervention, ROOTS, explored whether patterns of intervention response were best categorized by the typical response/non-response binary or a more complex framework with additional response profiles. Participants included kindergarten students at risk for…

Since their emergence in public schools, specific learning disability (SLD) identification practices have been controversial in both research and practice. The purpose of this special issue is to present contemporary research on various models of SLD identification as well as issues associated with their implementation. Each of the articles in…

"Printing Like a Pro!" is a free program to help primary-grade students to print legibly. This pre-test post-test study aimed to evaluate the preliminary effectiveness of this program used in a teacher-taught printing club with occupational therapy support. Eleven students in grades 2 and 3 with persistently poor legibility attended the…

The development of beginning decoding and encoding skills is influenced by linguistic skills as well as executive functions (EFs). These higher-level cognitive processes include working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and individual differences in these EFs have been shown to contribute to early academic learning. The present study…

This paper updates a review of dynamic assessment in education by the first author, published in this journal in 2003. It notes that the original review failed to examine the important conceptual distinction between dynamic testing (DT) and dynamic assessment (DA). While both approaches seek to link assessment and intervention, the former is of…

The California Association of School Psychologists (CASP) responds to a critique of the Association's Position Paper: "Specific Learning Disabilities and Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses" (2014, March. Available: http://casponline.org/about-casp/publications/) by McGill and Busse. The CASP offers corrections to McGill and Busse's…

The development of beginning decoding and encoding skills is influenced by linguistic skills as well as executive functions (EFs). These higher-level cognitive processes include working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility, and individual differences in these EFs have been shown to contribute to early academic learning. The present study…

New mothers undergo dynamic neural changes that support positive adaptation to parenting and the development of mother-infant relationships. In this article, I review important psychological adaptations that mothers experience during pregnancy and the early postpartum period. I then review evidence of structural and functional plasticity in human…

Although research suggests that certain cognitive functions predict the likelihood of intervention response for students who receive Tier 2 instruction through a response to intervention framework, researchers know less about cognitive predictors of response to Tier 3 instruction. This study measured 2nd and 3rd graders' performance on 7 cognitive…

Learning disabilities are conditions that are associated with difficulties in knowledge and skill acquisition to the level expected of same-age peers. The current book is an international examination of assessment methods, preventative measures, intervention, and research with those individuals with learning disabilities obtained from authors in…

The rise in popularity of Response to Intervention (RTI) as a method of identifying Learning Disabilities (LD) is partially due to the psychometric and theoretical issues inherent to the use of IQ tests in the once popular discrepancy method of identification. However, both RTI and discrepancy theories have their shortcomings, and criticisms…

The current national implementation of response-to-intervention frameworks has intensified the debate regarding underlying causes of student deficits and how to best assess and intervene for them. If cognitive measures are useful to intervention planning, then experimental research should be able to demonstrate that use of cognitively focused…

Learning disabilities (LDs) have long been presumed to be a neurological disorder resulting from a deficit in 1 or more cognitive processes. Although the emphasis on cognitive processing disorders has been included in the definition since the term was coined, and although it arguably represents the key distinguishing characteristic of LDs, it also…

Few empirical investigations have evaluated learning disabilities (LD) identification methods based on a pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses (PSW). This study investigated the reliability of LD classification decisions of the concordance/discordance method (C/DM) across different psychoeducational assessment batteries. C/DM criteria were…