The Special Needs Action Program (Coventry, England) endeavors to support special needs students in regular primary and secondary schools by providing resource information, a variety of inservice courses, dissemination of materials, and advice and help. Early identification, teacher involvement, practical content, and staff support are major…

Results of synthesis of 1007 studies on the nature of learning disabilities using indicators in the linguistic, achievement, neuropsychological, and social-behavioral domains, indicated that 75% of learning disabled Ss could be differentiated from normal Ss but only 40% of the variance could be explained. Findings suggest the need for a…

Questionnaire data from 349 directors of special education and state implementation plans were analyzed to determine which professionals were most often included on multidisciplinary evaluation teams for diagnosing mental retardation. The data revealed variations in type and number of personnel comprising these teams; however, team size…

The study compared 10 learning disabled and 10 non-learning disabled limited English proficient Mexican American elementary grade children. Six tests were identified as predicting learning disabilities including the Prueba de Lectura y Lenguaje Escrito and the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence. (Author/DB)

Although formal assessment of children with severe disabilities raises many problems of measurement, evaluation by "standard rulers" is still essential. This article examines the role of the school psychologist in the measurement process and identifies issues related to the assessment of developmentally disabled children. (Author/EGS)

An unadjusted low-achievement criterion was compared with a regression-discrepancy criterion for identifying learning disabled children. The use of an unadjusted achievement raw score criterion resulted in misdiagnosing many children as learning disabled, while failing to identify many others. Different sets of predictor variables were associated…

The article reviews the phenomenon of learning disabilities existing along with giftedness, discusses clinical impressions of LD gifted students, offers guidelines for identification and intervention (acceleration and enrichment), cites existing model programs, and notes the importance of counseling and training for parents. (CL)

Eight commonly used discrepancy formulas were applied to the IQ and achievement scores of a sample of 92 potentially learning disabled children, 7 to 12 years old. The formulas yielded strikingly disparate results in terms of the number of children identified as learning disabled by each. (SW)

Examined the diagnostic utility of two patterns of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised in differentiating 64 emotionally impaired children (ages 5 to 18) from 290 controls. Data analysis showed neither the high similarities-low information or verbal-performance discrepancy patterns yielded a useful rule for diagnosing emotional…

This Bulletin reports the results of a study that used the Voice DISC, a computerized, self-administered version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), to screen for psychiatric disorders in youth newly admitted to juvenile assessment centers. The Voice DISC offers the following advantages for use in the juvenile justice system:…

This monograph, one of a series on youth with disabilities and the juvenile justice system, reviews current data on disabilities requiring special education and related supports. Statistics on the prevalence of juvenile crime are followed by statistics on the prevalence of special education disabilities in the system, specifically specific…

This report discusses the outcomes of a project that examined the social and contextual factors that underpin the identification of elementary students as having learning disabilities. Data were collected in a primary education classroom in Queensland, Australia. Initially the teacher was interviewed on teaching practices, the literacy curriculum,…

This guide for administrators addresses the problem of the frequent over-identification of African American students as disabled resulting in over-representation of this population in special education programs. The guide focuses on preventive strategies--specifically, how administrators may use the prereferral intervention process, school…

Intended for parents of children with reading and learning disabilities, this publication provides basic information and identifies related organizations and other resources. The first section is an article titled, "A Look at Learning Disabilities in Children and Youth" (Larry B. Silver). This article reviews types of learning disabilities (based…

Drawing on his work in the Schools Council Compensatory Education Project, the author outlines the development of an educational profile for school entrants and its application as an instrument for identifying children ar risk'' of educational handicap. (Author/JM)