Can genetic screening be used to personalize education for students? Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) screen an individual's DNA for specific variations in their genome, and how said variations relate to specific traits. The variations can then be assigned a corresponding weight and summed to produce polygenic scores (PGS) for given traits.…

The problem was general and special educators' perceptions of educational accomplishments and disability needs in twice-exceptional (2e) children may have possible drawbacks for referral admittance into the gifted program curriculum. Little research had been undertaken regarding the teacher perceptions of 2e on the identification process, creating…

Federal law defines eligibility for English learner (EL) classification differently for Indigenous students compared with non-Indigenous students. To be EL-eligible, non-Indigenous students are required to have a non-English primary language. Indigenous students, by contrast, can be English-dominant or English monolingual. A critical question,…

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent roughly five percent of U.S. public school students aged 3-21. Current federal policy outlines guidelines for identification of SLDs, while ultimately leaving specific procedures to the determination of state and local education agencies. Research into how the method used in…

Epidemiologic research suggests a gap between prevalence estimates of students with emotional or behavioral problems and the actual number of students identified under the federal category of emotional disturbance (ED). To better understand issues related to the identification gap, we investigated the academic and behavioral functioning,…

With the shift from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), accountability models are being changed. Given the past 15 years of reporting on student subgroups and 10 years using various growth models, accountability systems can now be better informed. In this study, we analyze identification and services of students with…

The current paper describes the process used for developing the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Assessment of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Learning Disabilities-Consensus Statement and Supporting Documents, and the rationale for some of the decisions. The guidelines were developed by a cross-sectoral working group of psychologists who…

The relationships between response to intervention (RTI) data, cognitive ability, academic achievement, identification methods, and specific learning disability (SLD) identification have been studied extensively in recent years; however, an empirically supported method of identifying a learning disability has yet to be agreed upon. Without a…

One in five children experiences a diagnosable mental disorder. However, adolescents have been overlooked in programming and policy responses to mental health issues. Mental health issues contribute to poor academic performance, lower rates of high school graduation, disrupted development, increased health risk, role transition from adolescent to…

It is important to identify cognitive and achievement characteristics that differentiate students who are twice exceptional because they are gifted and have a learning disability (2e-LD) from gifted and average ability peers because this information informs empirically-based identification and support systems for this population. In this study, I…

From the first mention of impairments in attention in the scientific literature by the Scottish physician Alexander Crichton in 1798, the correlation between educational attainment and learning has been persistently noted. Since then, the impact of attention deficits on school achievement has been a central component in a significant portion of…

Background: Children with hearing impairment may be at risk of not achieving the necessary school readiness because of the link between hearing impairment and academic achievement. However, early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) can improve potential outcomes for these children. Aim: As part of a bigger study titled 'Communication and…

To ensure students with disabilities receive the services they need to support their learning, the U.S. Congress reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004. IDEA requires that each state: (1) implement IDEA with fidelity; (2) sustain special education programs that meet IDEA's educational standards; and (3) monitor…

Many researchers report risk ratios of White students to Black students with disabilities to show disproportionality and draw the conclusion discrimination exists. Risk ratios, upon further inspection, have methodological and philosophical problems which challenge the usefulness. A qualitative literature review provides a framework for…

The present study performed a systematic comparison of DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria for reading disability. We quantitatively investigated the consequences of using DSM-5 or ICD-11, and of the different ways of implementing each diagnostic criterion on the prevalence of reading disability. We did so in a representative sample of the…