Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent roughly five percent of U.S. public school students aged 3-21. Current federal policy outlines guidelines for identification of SLDs, while ultimately leaving specific procedures to the determination of state and local education agencies. Research into how the method used in…

Specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification has consistently been shown to be problematic; however, research has largely focused on SLD identification using test scores only. The present study, therefore, examined SLD identification decisions across identification methods and student evaluation data levels, including test scores,…

Learning disability (LD) identification has long been controversial and has undergone substantive reform. This study examined the consistency of school psychologists' LD identification decisions across three identification methods and across student evaluation data conclusiveness levels. Data were collected from 376 practicing school psychologists…

The number of students identified under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) with an emotional disturbance (ED) has remained remarkably stable over the last 30 years. During this time, approximately 1% of the school-aged population has been identified as disabled under the criteria set forth in IDEA (Kim, Forness, & Walker,…

Response to intervention began as a way to identify and teach struggling readers and special education students. It's fast becoming a way to change schooling for everyone. This special report examines the many forms the approach is now taking, its research base, its influence on the educational marketplace, and the federal regulations that both…

Educators in the Chula Vista Elementary School District determined what kind of instruction students needed through a "response to intervention" (RTI) process, which provides extra help to struggling students with an aim of reducing the number of referrals to special education. As RTI catches on throughout the country, the district is on…

This resource guide designed for families and educators provides information on how attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is identified and treated. The resource includes sections on legal requirements, treatment options educational and medical evaluations, how ADHD affects school performance, and helpful evidence-based hints on how to…

Explains the rationale, methodology, and advantages of the regression equation approach to quantifying academic discrepancy, an aspect of learning disability. Variations of the expectancy formula and IQ-achievement difference approach produce serious errors of including too many above average children and too few below average. (JAC)

A zone of quotients from 81 to 90 was identified as a borderline region, below which readers are designated as "disabled" and above which they are designated as "normal" readers. Journal Availability: J. B. Lippincott Co., East Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19105. (Author/CL)

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)

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) firmly insists that performance analyses use disaggregated scores. Disaggregation, according to NCLB, involves measuring and reporting achievement for separate subgroups of children so that achievement problems in any one subgroup are not disguised when averaged or aggregated with higher achieving children in…

Provides background information on how curriculum-based measurement (CBM) was developed, how CBM integrates traditional and classroom-based observational approaches to assessment, and how CBM has been used. Describes an alternative framework for incorporating CBM into an identification process that focuses on treatment validity and student growth.…

This article takes a critical look at methods used to identify learning disability (such as use of ability/achievement discrepancy formulas and medical/neurobiological diagnosis) and presents an alternative method that adds assessment of the psychological processes of memory and learning to current practices of assessing intelligence and…

This article argues that the regression-based discrepancy method used in the diagnosis of learning disabilities is invalid because it is inconsistent with the underlying underachievement concept of which it is intended to be the operationalization. It is mathematically demonstrated that the regression-based discrepancy method largely reflects…

This article evaluates conclusions in Van den Broeck's article (2002) that argue the regression-based discrepancy method (RDM) used in learning disabilities diagnosis is invalid because it is inconsistent with the underlying underachievement concept of which it is intended to be the operationalization. It concludes acceptable models support the…