Though there is evidence autism identification has been inequitable for populations who are culturally and linguistically minoritized, there is limited research that explains the issue of disproportionality and factors contributing to its occurrence, especially within an educational setting. To explore contributors to racial/ethnic disparities in…

Due to lack of consistency among diagnosis practices of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) in the state of Texas, as well as other legal matters regarding diagnoses of SLD, there is a divide among eligibility criteria for students around the state. Currently, the three models that have received the most attention of SLD…

This report includes guidance, considerations, and resources for state staff and local practitioners who are determining Part C eligibility remotely. As a result of COVID-19, many states are having to determine a child's eligibility for Part C services remotely using a variety of approaches such as teleconference, videoconference, and sharing…

There is often confusion about the terms used to label or describe a reading problem. Clinicians and researchers use different terminology than the schools. For example, medical professionals, psychologists, and other practitioners outside of the school often use the term "dyslexia," "reading disorder," and "specific…

Consideration of cultural and linguistic features is mandated by law and one of the most important contributors to the appropriate placement of diverse learners for special education services. This article describes the results of a pilot project designed to assist rural educators to deliver an equitable and unbiased assessment process for English…

This guide was developed by the Louisiana Department of Education to help parents navigate the complex system that oversees special education in Louisiana's public schools. Each school year, local education agencies (LEAs) are required to provide parents a copy of the procedural safeguards. These safeguards are used to inform parents of the…

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,…

This concept paper was developed to address policies and practices for using developmental delay as a category of eligibility for young children. These policies and practices have evolved in response to changes in federal legislation and recommended practices in the field of early intervention and early childhood special education. The purpose of…

This review examines published hearing/review and court decisions concerning autism eligibility in educational settings in relation to empirically supported best practices in the assessment of autism. Thirteen cases were identified for inclusion in the review. In general, results indicated that hearing/review officers and judges neither relied…

In the context of legal requirements that postsecondary students provide documentation of any learning disability, this article discusses components of a comprehensive learning disability evaluation at the postsecondary level with examples of actual documentation submitted to two institutions. Emphasis is on diagnosis based on multiple data…

In this introductory article, a response-to-instruction approach to learning disabilities (LD) identification is discussed. An overview of the promise and potential pitfalls of such an approach is provided. Benefits include identification of students based on risk rather than deficit and early identification. Questions concern the integrity of the…

This article describes the two basic versions of the responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) approach for identifying learning disabilities, the problem solving model and the standard-protocol approach. It reviews evidence on effectiveness and feasibility and concludes that more needs to be understood before RTI may be viewed as a valid…

This brief paper offers general guidelines for the documentation of a learning disability in students at the postsecondary level as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The guidelines are organized into four areas: (1) qualifications of the evaluator; (2) recent nature of the…

The Student Descriptor Scale (SDS) was developed as a validation measure to determine whether students described and counted by states as "severely handicapped" were, indeed, students with severe disabilities. The SDS addresses nine characteristics: intellectual disability, health impairment, need for toileting assistance, upper torso motor…

This briefing paper reviews the special education evaluation process for children with disabilities. It discusses the purpose of an evaluation and who is involved in an evaluation. An explanation of the steps of the process includes: (1) using what is known about a child by looking at a child's school file and recent test scores; (2) collecting…