California Association of School Psychologists (CASP) adopted a Position Paper in March, 2014 intended to support school psychologists in California in electing to use a process known as Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses (PSW) as one of three methods specified in IDEA 2014 and California Code of Regulations, Title 5, to identify students being…

Mathematical learning disability (MLD) research often conflates low achievement with disabilities and focuses exclusively on deficits of students with MLDs. In this study, the author adopts an alternative approach using a response-to-intervention MLD classification model to identify the resources students draw on rather than the skills they lack.…

Through a review of the literature on mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) and low achievement in mathematics (LA) we have proposed a model classifying mathematical skills involved in learning mathematics into four domains (Core number, Memory, Reasoning, and Visual-spatial). In this paper we present a new experimental computer-based battery…

Response to Intervention (RTI) models of diagnosis and intervention are being implemented rapidly throughout the schools. The purposes of invoking an RTI model for disabilities in the schools clearly are laudable, yet close examination reveals an unappreciated paucity of empirical support for RTI and an overly optimistic view of its practical,…

This study examined the consequences of classifying postsecondary students as learning disabled (LD) using five objective sets of criteria: IQ-achievement discrepancies (1.0 to 1.49 SD, 1.5 to 1.99 SD, and greater than or equal to 2.0 SD), DSM-IV criteria, and chronic educational impairment beginning in childhood. The participants were 378…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is an instructional framework through which schools can provide early intervention for students experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties. It is also promoted as an alternative to the IQ-discrepancy model for identifying students with learning disabilities. Most states have developed, or are developing,…

When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act in 2004 (IDEIA 2004), local educational agencies (LEA) were permitted to use a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) approach for identifying children with possible learning disabilities for special education. Furthermore, IDEIA 2004 no longer required LEAs to establish an…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

As a school leader, what do you need to know about Response to Intervention (RTI) and your role in leading instruction for struggling learners? In this article the authors offer guidance about the content of the RTI initiative based on policy, research, and practice. They provide a brief history of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

Surveyed 83 Montana school psychologists concerning use of computer-based regression discrepancy model for learning disability identification. Of respondents, 89 percent used model; 62 percent used model regularly. Nonuse was related to less agreement with model assumptions, lower perception of model's value, difficulty in locating input data,…

Described is a diagnostic-prescriptive model for teacher observation of learning disabled students. It is explained that through observation, teachers should be able to answer questions in seven areas, including the existence of a real learning disability; the student's functioning level in reading, arithmetic, and writing; the student's learning…

The paper reviews research, largely inconclusive, on diagnostic-prescriptive teaching and proposes a model for use with learning disabled students using neuropsychological test data to infer relevant learner aptitudes. Studies are cited to support the validity of strength-matched teaching and the use of compensatory teaching with severe learning…

The pupil personnel worker's role in assessing learning disabled students is examined. The functions of the evaluation team are delineated, as are individual roles of the school psychologist, classroom teacher, educational assessor, social worker, school counselor, attendance officer, and speech and language pathologist. Contents of the report are…

An instructional and mainstreaming model for programming severely learning disabled (LD) elementary students is described, in which students receive instruction for one half of the school day in an LD classroom and are successfully mainstreamed in general education for the remaining part of the day is described. It is explained that components of…