Growing numbers of students are educated in charter schools, including students with disabilities (SWD). Prior research suggests that charter schools educate a smaller percentage of SWD than traditional public schools, leading to a special education gap between sectors. We used data from a large urban district to examine how choice, mobility, and…

Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a lifelong condition that when impacting educational performance is identified and serviced through U.S. schools as outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. A few examples of educational categories that refer to DLD are (a) speech or language impairment (S/LI) and (b) specific…

This brief, co-produced by the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) and Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), provides important information about students with dual sensory loss who also have significant cognitive disabilities, as well as recommendations for identification and implications for instruction. The…

All but seven U.S. states have laws that govern some aspects of dyslexia screening, intervention, or teacher training in public schools. However, in the three states that mandate child-level reporting, data indicate lower than expected rates of dyslexia identification when compared with commonly accepted dyslexia prevalence rates. To better…

In Study 1, 85 percent of 248 third-, fifth-, and twelfth- grade students identified as normal could have been classified learning disabled (LD). In Study 2, 88 percent of a low achieving fourth grade sample could have been identified as LD, with 4 percent not meeting any criteria for classification. (Author/CL)

Classification of arithmetic disorders is predicated on neuropsychological features and associated learning disabilities. Assesses the compatibility of these classifications on a nonreferred, population-based cohort of children (N=139) with developmental dyscalculia. Concludes that children with dyscalculia and disabilities in reading and/or…

The article points out the risk of erroneous classification and inequitable treatment for students who are difficult to teach and manage. Analysis of child count data highlights variability in identification and referral processes and suggests that attempts to tighten eligibility standards, especially for mildly handicapped students, is…

This paper reviews research on the classification of students with learning disability (LD). It first examines the evolution of LD definitions and the evidence for three components of LD classification: discrepancy, heterogeneity, and exclusion. It suggests that classification hypotheses involving discrepancy and exclusion have weak validity and…

This article discusses the inclusion of high functioning individuals in the learning disability category. It argues that extending services to individuals without significant academic impairments may deplete resources for others in greater need, distort the normal processes by which individuals select careers, and diminish the credibility of the…

Outlines problems related to defining and classifying children with learning disabilities and describes the pitfalls of current assessment procedures, particularly the problems with discrepancy scores. Presents dynamic assessment as an alternative to classification procedures and reviews the results of two studies evaluating dynamic assessment.…

Presents evidence to show variability across states in the use of the severe-emotional-disturbance designation for students and the frequency of comorbid and trimorbid cases being classified as learning disabled. Findings are presented from ongoing projects to illustrate differential profiles for comorbid children. (Author/CR)

This article provides the American Psychiatric Association's definition of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and then gives an overview of ADD by considering the three types of ADD, the developmental impact of ADD, factors contributing to ADD, identification and assessment of students with ADD (emphasizing multimethod and consideration of…

This article reviews the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Forth Edition-Text Revision" and compares and contrasts the diagnostic criteria for individuals with autism with the educational requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Problems with using a dual classification system are…

This reprint of one chapter from the 1975 text, "Issues in the Classification of Children" by Nicholas Hobbs and others, addresses the theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues involved in the "labeling" approach to the sociology of deviance. It examines the social process of classification, the use of classification in social agencies,…

Specific reading disability/dyslexia is examined as the one type of learning disability for which research results are consistent enough to suggest a model. The implications of this model are considered and three types of learning disabilities are discussed: specific language impairments, specific reading disability/dyslexia, and specific math…