This article positions the core-selective evaluation process (C-SEP), a pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW) model of identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD), within guidelines and best practices recommended for assessing English learners. C-SEP is a broad approach that utilizes multiple sources of data to establish underachievement,…

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…

There are still many unanswered questions regarding the application of response to intervention (RTI) to making eligibility decisions for specific learning disabilities (SLD). Both U.S. federal regulations and research support that students identified with SLD using RTI should be deficient in both level of academic functioning and rate of growth…

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how learning disabilities (LDs), in combination with accommodations, affect the performance of a decision-tree to predict the stability of academic behaviour of undergraduate engineering students. Additionally, this study presents several examples to illustrate how a college could use the resultant model to…

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…

Ongoing research has demonstrated that culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students may be disproportionately represented among students with learning disabilities (LDs). The main aim of this research was to identify groups of CLD students at risk for LDs using the achievement criterion. To that end, 158 students participated in the…

Prior reviews of evidence for the impact of formative assessment on student achievement suggest widely different estimates of formative assessment's effectiveness, ranging from 0.40 and 0.70 standard deviations in one review. The purpose of this study is to describe variability in the effectiveness of formative assessment for promoting student…

Success in our 21st century schools is linked with students' mastery of a wide range of academic and technological skills that rely heavily on executive function processes. This article describes a theoretical paradigm for understanding, assessing, and teaching that emphasizes the central importance of six executive function processes: goal…

The renewed interest in the dynamic assessment of specific domains has led to reconsideration of this theory and the technique's contribution to the learning-teaching process. In this article, we analyze some elements concerning the internal structure of a dynamic assessment device of processes involved in reading tasks, establishing some of the…

Considerable government-funded efforts in school districts to train veteran teachers in the science of reading have been formed in response to the continuing difficulties and failure of nearly 40 percent of all American children (Walsh, Glaser, & Wilcox, 2006). A high percentage of the population of poor readers in this country is comprised of…

This article provides an overview of the empirical effects of students' academic choices on academic performance (e.g., amount, quality, and rate of work). Twenty-nine separate experiments within 26 publications were included in the review. The choices involved performance goals and standards, the nature of assignments, instructional support…

No matter how one formally define response to intervention (RTI), most definitions contain common components: scientific, research-based instruction; the use of learning rate and level as the basis for determining effectiveness of intervention; and decisions about intensity and duration of interventions based on a student's response to…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe and evaluate the experience of 5 general education teachers from a northeastern urban middle school as they integrated differentiated instruction with students who have specific learning disabilities. Educators are challenged to implement instruction that engages students with specific…

The paper discusses the rationale for conducting an ecological assessment of learning disabled students, provides a model for conceptualizing ecological assessment data, notes factors affecting student performance, gives sources of ecological assessment data, and draws implications of such data for the teacher. (Author/DB)