To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require methods for quickly and accurately identifying those students in need. One method for identifying those students is through universal screening. Assessments such as oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze reading comprehension are commonly used as…

Concerns about the ability-achievement discrepancy method for specific learning disability (SLD) determination led to alternative research-based methods, such as failure to respond to intervention. Neither of these "regulatory" methods address the "statutory" SLD definition, which explicitly includes a deficit in "basic…

Examined long-term predictive validity of Learning Disabilities Index (LDI) as it relates to achievement outcomes for learning-disabled children. Results indicated that successive LDI scores at ages 7, 10, and 13 were capable of differentiating among children who had been identified as good, moderate, and poor outcome groups at age 13. (Author/NB)

Examined the concurrent validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Childen (K-ABC) with 47 students referred for learning difficulties. Data analysis indicated that the K-ABC Achievement global scale was the only significant predictor of the PPVT-R. Implications for practitioners are…

The Key Math Diagnostic Arithmetic Test was administered to 82 learning disabled adolescents. An analysis of the performance of these children revealed that mean LD performance peaked at approximately the fourth grade level of difficulty and there was marginal variation in performance across the 14 subtests. (Author)

Tests of the validity of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition Arithmetic, Coding, Information, and Digit Span (ACID) profile among 612 students with learning disabilities revealed that the ACID profile does not efficiently separate children with disabilities from those without disabilities. No ACID cutting score significantly…

WISC-R (Wechsler Intelligence Scale in Children-Revised) Verbal and Performance scores were correlated with WRAT-R Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised scores. The verbal score was found to predict reading, spelling, and arithmetic. The performance score did not add significantly to the predictions. Results were consistent with earlier studies.…

Black (N=95) and White (N=52) low socioeconomic children assigned to special education classes were initially given the Stanford-Binet and, three years later, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Correlations between Stanford-Binet and WISC-R Full Scale IQs were significant in both ethnic groups, with r=.60 for the total…

Results indicate that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) is a valid predictor of achievement for children referred for learning disabilities. The verbal Scale IQ, and the Freedom from Distractibility IQ proved especially useful predictors of academic achievement. (JAC)

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Comprehension, Arithmetic, and Object Assembly and McCarthy Quantitative and Memory Indices were most sensitive to learning disabled students' achievement. Conversely, the WISC-R Similarities and Arithmetic and the McCarthy Verbal Index were most sensitive to achievement of nonlearning…

The use of regression equations to predict the expected achievement levels of five- and six-year-old children on the Wide Range Achievement Test are discussed. Problems are found in identifying underachievement for children in the lower primary grades. Implications for the early identification of specific learning disabilities are described.…