An examination was conducted to address issues concerning the assessment of students with learning disabilities (LD) in English speaking Canadian postsecondary institutions. These issues concern the nature of appropriate and evidence-based assessment and whether there is fair access to academic accommodations for students with LD. Access to…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; P.L. 108-446) is the primary source of federal funding to states for the identification and education of children with disabilities. The majority of IDEA appropriations are allocated to states by formula to carry out activities under Part B, which covers 14 disability categories. Each state is…

The regression-based discrepancy definition of learning disabilities has been suggested by Rutter and Yule as an improvement of the well-known and much criticized achievement-intelligence discrepancy definition, whereby the examinee's predicted reading attainment is substituted for the intelligence score in the discrepancy expression. Even though…

This paper reviews current proposals concerning the definition of dyslexia and contrasts it with reading comprehension impairment. We then discuss methods for early identification and review evidence that teacher assessments and ratings may be valid screening tools. Finally, we argue that interventions should be theoretically motivated and…

Learning disabilities (LDs) are associated with underachievement in one or more areas such as reading, spelling, writing and/or mathematics. In general, it is assumed that LDs are neurological in origin, permanent in nature and resistant to intervention. Moreover, LDs are not considered the result of intellectual, physical or sensory disabilities,…

The author examines implications of the P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) definition of learning disability, and cites two cases to illustrate two basic problems: that the definition is both overinclusive and underinclusive, and that it does not consider underlying causes. (CL)

The study is an evaluation of an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at a southeastern technical college. Thousands of adults who enroll in ESL programs are individuals who appear to be intelligent. They have worked diligently for a year or more to learn to speak, read, write, listen and improve English comprehension skills. However, some…

Several definitions of learning disabilities are reviewed, and the problem of identifying learning disabilities in a Catholic Elementary School is examined. Described are identification instruments, methods of reporting pupil progress, and followup procedures used in the project. (CL)

Criticized are existing methods of identifying learning disabled children, and suggested are three objective conditions thought to be more appropriate. (DB)

This article takes issue with the diagnosis of a group of students as learning disabled as presented in a previous article that focused at learning disabilities in the context of second-language learning. (JL)

This article discusses issues of classification and identification, while evaluating some of the continuing controversies about learning disabilities (LD) related to those topics. The author suggests that many problems have to do with confusion between the two. Despite years of effort and an extraordinary increase in the number of individuals…

A recent overview of the field of learning disabilities (Torgesen, 2004) laid out several issues that will likely consume the field for the foreseeable future, including problems of definition and etiology, differentiation of learning disabilities from other disabilities, and issues in identification and service delivery. It has been approximately…

The exclusion of culturally disadvantaged students from the general classification of students with learning disabilities is questioned. (Author)

Discussed is early identification of children having special educational or developmental needs, with emphasis on the use of screening to identify the potential high risk learner. Terms are defined and criteria to help select a screening instrument are given. The Zeitlin Early Identification Screening (ZEIS) is described as an example of a…

Examined three definitions of learning disabilities (LD), ability-achievement discrepancy, low achievement, and scatter, to determine common variance among 48 LD children and 96 non-LD children. Factor analysis resulted in two distinct groupings of LD students; low achievement accounted for over four times as much variance as ability-achievement…