School psychologists are well served to stay up to date on trends in special education law, particularly with respect to determinations when school teams' decisions are challenged. This allows them to focus on proactive best practices that foster accurate specific learning disability (SLD) identification and active collaboration with parents. This…

This article provides a concise and objective synthesis of the federal legislation, regulations, and agency policy interpretations; state laws; and case law, including hearing officer and complaint investigation decisions, concerning specific learning disability (SLD) identification since the 2006 IDEA regulations. The results reveal wide latitude…

Professionally, and ultimately legally, the definition of "specific learning disabilities" (SLD) has been "a long-standing source of controversy, conflict, and crisis." Yet students with SLD continue to be more numerous by far than any other group receiving special education services. The long-time controversy concerning the…

Touted as a more effective approach to determining eligibility for specific learning disability (SLD) than establishing a severe discrepancy between ability and achievement, response to intervention (RTI) represents various models that share these common characteristics: (a) multiple tiers of scientific, research-based interventions; (b)…

North Carolina has educated children with disabilities in its public schools since 1949-50, but it was not until 1977 that the General Assembly passed a law which required the state's public schools to provide special education for all children with disabilities. This law is Article 9, Special Education, of the North Carolina General Statutes,…

This article reviews transition as it relates to students with learning disabilities (LD). Specifically, it provides a discussion of transition planning for individuals with LD, an overview of state and federal mandates and initiatives that influence transition practices, and a discussion of transition practices. (Author/DB)

The report discusses preparing secondary teachers to work with learning disabled (LD) students, and describes a secondary teacher preparation program in learning disabilities at Cardinal Stritch College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Aspects considered include the role of the secondary LD teacher, the period of adolescence, "survival"…

This document updates "Accommodations: Assisting Students with Disabilities. A Guide for Educators," published by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) in 2003. This document is written to assist school district personnel and parents when making decisions about the use of accommodations by students with disabilities in instructional…

Current attention to the inclusion of handicapped persons, both the physically impaired and the adult learning disabled, into the total college structure provides an overdue focus on the services necessary to allow equal participation in the college experience. Although this participation, mandated by law, is expensive, it is in keeping with the…

Major state legislative actions affecting higher education in Virginia are summarized. Subjects of the bills include: tuition assistance grant and loan program, sales tax on textbooks, engineering study, National Guard tuition grants, the Freedom of Information Act, committees supervising faculty experiments, approval of institutions to operate in…

In response to Senate Concurrent Resolution 83, the Texas Education Agency studied methods for screening all students upon entry to school for significant developmental lags that could lead to learning disabilities. The resulting report includes: (1) identification of screening techniques; (2) methods currently in use and validated for treatment…