The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHCA) was legislated in 1975 in part to provide funding to states, parent centers, and research centers, for supporting access to public education for students with disabilities. In 1975, the intent of EHCA was to find children with disabilities and ensure that children were evaluated, identified,…

What is the nature of latent predictors that facilitate diagnostic classification? Rupp and Templin (this issue) suggest that these predictors should be multidimensional, categorical variables that can be combined in various ways. Diagnostic Classification Models (DCM) typically use multiple categorical predictors to classify respondents into…

Discusses the importance of diagnosing and ameliorating dyslexia when students are very young. (FL)

The epidemiological approach, as elaborated to accomodate multiple-causation of chronic disease, is suggested as appropriate for the size and the nature of the failure-to-learn problem faced by educators. The epidemiological approach begins with an examination of the health status of an area's population. Major problems are identified with respect…

The article discusses the advantages of the term "Attention Deficit Disorder" (ADD) as a diagnostic category for some children not labeled learning disabled. (DB)

Confusion, misinterpretations, and conflicting theoretical beliefs seem to be characteristic of language assessment practices. Much of the confusion and misrepresentation are due to the great variety of terms used in the language assessment process and to incomplete definitions of these terms and their operations. In an attempt to clarify the…

Part 2 of a two-part series, the article highlights research relevant to learning disability (LD) diagnostic practices, summarizes a study of current diagnostic practices related to learning problem referrals, and contrasts three ethical perspectives used in judging the appropriateness of such activity. (See EC 120 477 for Part 1.) (Author/DLS)

Questions use of value-added assessment of student achievement to solve problems of accountability. Discusses three problems associated with value-added assessment: (1) limited accuracy of testing to measure student gains; (2) factors other than teacher or school quality possibly attributable to gains; and (3) lack of gain comparators for students…

Theoretical, diagnostic, and remedial issues related to polyglot dyslexia (i.e., difficulties in reading experienced in both languages spoken by bilinguals) are considered. Theoretical causes of dyslexia, research done with neuropsychological and neurolinguistic aspects of bilingualism, the literature on polyglot aphasia, and theoretical concerns…

In the first of two articles, the author discusses purposes of and problems involved in diagnosing learning disabilities (LD). Sections focus on three topics: the relationship between LD diagnosis and other assessment activity, the objectives of diagnostic classification, and specific conceptual concerns regarding the LD label. (Author/SBH)

Problems in the application of traditional process-oriented approaches to diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities suggest a need to alter the manner in which these basic processes are conceptualized and measured. (Author)

Health educators are warned not to overlook the relationships among the academic, emotional, and social problems of a learning disability. (MM)

Discusses learning disabilities in light of Gerald Cole's book "The Learning Mystique: A Critical Look at Learning Disabilities" and in the humorous guise of being diagnosed by a learning disabilities expert as having a neurological dysfunction due to a lack of interest in watching football. (RS)

This article presents an operational, inclusionary definition of dyslexia constructed by the Orton Dyslexia Society Research Committee and others. Each clause of the definition is explained in terms of relevant research findings. The definition attempts to identify unique factors of reading disability, independent of its common association with…

States that, although many students are classified as learning disabled (LD), few have verifiable neurological deficits. Asserts that understanding the historical context and evaluating LD research provided by Gerald Coles in "The Learning Mystique" will be important to college learning center staffs working with students who are labeled as…