The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE, 2005) defines response to intervention (RTI) as the practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention based on a student's needs, changing instruction and/or goals through frequent monitoring of progress, and applying the student response data to important…

"Diagnostic classification models" (DCM) are frequently promoted by psychometricians as important modelling alternatives for analyzing response data in situations where multivariate classifications of respondents are made on the basis of multiple postulated latent skills. In this review paper, a definitional boundary of the space of DCM…

The literature suggests that children who struggle with communication during social interactions, called "pragmatic language" in the field of speech language pathology, have fewer opportunities to engage in social practices that promote learning because of inadequate skills in interacting with others. Children with even subtle difficulties in…

Pragmatic language skills are important for developing relationships with others, and for communicating with a range of interlocutors in a variety of contexts, including preschool and elementary school classrooms. Pragmatic language difficulties frequently are a primary area of disability for children diagnosed with autism, Asperger's syndrome,…

This paper presents the development of the fusion model skills diagnosis system (fusion model system), which can help integrate standardized testing into the learning process with both skills-level examinee parameters for modeling examinee skill mastery and skills-level item parameters, giving information about the diagnostic power of the test.…

Discussed are the relative merits of two currently popular models of assessing children--the ability assessment and task analysis models. (CL)

Available from: Council for Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091. The article describes an "ecological" or "total" model for the assessment of learning disabled children and youth which considers the interaction of all relevant factors, including deficits or strengths within the student, teacher variables, the…

Considers that children exhibiting frequent problems with inattention, impulsivity, and overactivity in classroom settings may be at risk for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Describes four-stage model for school-based assessment of ADHD which includes screening techniques, multimethod assessment, interpretation of results, and…

The Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP) was initiated to determine the cost effectiveness of providing comprehensive diagnostic and educational services for 285 very young children and their parents. The primary goal of the program is to bring the family, the school, and the medical profession into a working relationship early in the child's…

The Structure of Intellect approach for assessing and treating learning disabilities is presented, including a behavior checklist and suggested home and school learning activities. The Meeker paradigm identifies three areas of student functioning: cognitive/academic, social/emotional, and physio-neurological. Procedures are outlined for using the…

A three-stage model to diagnose and treat learning difficulties is presented. The three stages include: status assessment; cause estimation; and treatment recommendations. This paper concentrates on the first part of the second stage--that of generating likely causes for the learning difficulties in a given case. A list of questions is offered to…

The Motoric-Perceptual-Conceptual/Behavioral (MPC/B) model, a developmentally eclectic approach to evaluating and remediating learning disabilities in children, is described. The model is explained to view learners and the learning process on three educational levels (preschool, elementary school, and high school/post school), on three subject…

This paper examines the history of approaches to diagnosis in education and in medicine--a profession with concentrated attention to the conceptual and mathematical underpinnings of diagnosis. Presented is a comprehensive model of diagnostic testing in education and a summary of the results of four studies, one from each of four separate…

The medical, psychological and educational models for assessment, intervention and evaluation strategies for learning disabled and behavior disordered children are discussed. (MS)