This study examined intervention fidelity (IF) and the extent to which this essential feature of response to intervention (RtI) was included within artifacts (laws and guidance documents) for states requiring RtI for specific learning disability (SLD) identification. Intervention fidelity is defined as the degree to which an intervention is…

Many practitioners and state education agency staff would likely agree that the accuracy and consistency of specific learning disability (SLD) eligibility decisions is in need of improvement. One component of the SLD definition particularly controversial in the identification procedures is the evaluation of cognitive processes, primarily due to a…

We provided a multicomponent academic vocabulary intervention to six English learners with learning difficulties in a fifth-grade general education setting. A multiple probe design across word sets and replicated across students evaluated the effects of the intervention on students' use of expressive language to read and define content-specific…

The present study seeks to evaluate a hybrid model of identification that incorporates response to instruction and intervention (RTI) as one of the key symptoms of reading disability. The 1-year stability of alternative operational definitions of reading disability was examined in a large-scale sample of students who were followed longitudinally…

Unlike other special education categories defined in U.S. law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the definition of specific learning disability (SLD) has not changed since first proposed in 1968. Thus, although the operational definition of SLD has responded to new knowledge and understanding about the construct, the formal definition…

Problems with restricting learning disabilities to a range of mild handicaps are noted and five areas of controversy affecting severely learning disabled students are addressed: definitions, student characteristics, identification criteria, educational methods and technology, and educational services. (CL)

Analysis of 113 studies revealed that researchers most often selected their learning disabled sample on the bases of academic, age and sex, and intelligence components. Less than half used the process or exclusion components or included a description of grade placement. (CL)

After initial efforts to maintain the traditional posture toward learning disabilities in the rewriting of the Rehabilitation Comprehensive Services and Developmental Disabilities Amendments of 1978 (P.L. 95-602), the Rehabilitation Services Administration yielded to a new conceptualization which will now allow the severely LD access to…

The development of a new definition of learning disabilities accepted by organizations comprising the National Joint Committee for Learning Disabilities in 1981 is reviewed including reasons for a new definition, procedures followed in its development, the Committee's intended meaning for each phrase, and the current status of the definition. (DB)

Two position papers by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) present (1) the core competencies needed by regular and special education teachers who work with children with learning disabilities, and (2) recommendations for operationalizing the five constructs underlying the NJCLD definition of learning disabilities for…

The authors describe a research effort funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention which is addressing the hypothesized link between learning disabilties and juvenile delinquency. (SBH)

The use of the processing component for learning disabilities (LD) definitions is discussed by examining its theoretical basis, large-scale implementation, and researched classroom effectiveness. Results indicate the processing definition of LD does not differentiate students with LD from low achievers, is inconsistently implemented, and does not…

This article reviews problems in identification of learning disabilities and considers proposed alternatives to present procedures. It argues that the major problems of over identification, variability, and specificity, can be eliminated by increasing specificity and consistency of state criteria and strict adherence to identification criteria on…

A survey of 51 state departments of education (including Washington, DC) regarding their definitions of learning disabilities, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures showed the continued effect of the 1977 federal definition and criteria, while revealing variations in state definitions and criteria. The impact on prereferral…

Problems with the current definition of learning disabilities (LD) include its misinterpretation, failure to recognize the developmental nature of LD, and lack of statement about etiology. The definition offered by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities is presented. (CL)