Presenting major advances in understanding learning disabilities (LDs) and describing effective educational practices, this authoritative volume has been significantly revised and expanded with more than 70% new material. Foremost LD experts identify effective principles of assessment and instruction within the framework of multi-tiered systems of…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be considered an everyday practice in many parts of the United States, whereas, in Finland, only recently has a new framework for support in learning taken shape. Choosing Finland as the comparative partner for this policy paper is justified as its educational system has been widely referenced on the basis of…

Response-to-intervention (RTI) models incorporate a screening process to identify students who appear to be at risk for learning disabilities (LDs). The purpose of this position article is to incorporate what is known about screening into a flexible, yet comprehensive screening system to help school psychologists and other school administrators in…

In this introductory article, a response-to-instruction approach to learning disabilities (LD) identification is discussed. An overview of the promise and potential pitfalls of such an approach is provided. Benefits include identification of students based on risk rather than deficit and early identification. Questions concern the integrity of the…

We respond to the comments of Batsche, Kavale, and Kovaleski (this issue), on Response To Intervention (RTI) and learning disabilities. Historically, discrepancy between IQ and achievement has been used by many as a criterion for identification of learning disabilities. Recently, RTI is considered as a practice for identifying consistent and…

This article examines a 1995 treatment validity model as a framework for identifying learning disabilities. This model: (1) examines both student performance and responsiveness to instruction; (2) delays special education referral until the effects of individual student adaptations in the regular classroom have been explored; and (3) verifies that…

Responsiveness to intervention (RTI) is proposed as a valuable construct for schools because of its potential utility in providing appropriate learning experiences for all students as well as the early identification of students as being at risk for academic failure. RTI can be conceptualized as providing a framework for systemic reform directed…

This article first describes two types of assessment (problem solving and standard treatment protocol) within a "responsiveness-to-instruction" framework to identify learning disabilities. It then specifies two necessary components (measures and classification criteria) to assess responsiveness-to-instruction, and present pertinent findings from…

This article provides an overview of identification of appropriate testing accommodations for students with learning disabilities (LD). First it defines the concept of testing accommodations and review research on test accommodations commonly used with students with LD. Next it examines the validity and fairness in accommodations, as well as the…

Response to intervention (RTI) models for identifying learning disabilities rely on the accurate identification of children who, without Tier 2 tutoring, would develop reading disability (RD). This study examined 2 questions concerning the use of 1st-grade data to predict future RD: (1) Does adding initial word identification fluency (WIF) and 5…

Evidence based and comprehensive, this important work offers a new approach to understanding and intervening with students with learning disabilities. The authors--leading experts in neuropsychology and special education--present a unique model of learning disabilities that integrates the cognitive, neural, genetic, and contextual factors…

On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004). The revised law is different from the previous version in at least one important respect. Whereas practitioners were previously encouraged to use IQ-achievement discrepancy to identify children with learning disabilities…

This paper reports the results of a study that investigated the reading differences between students who were low achieving, both with and without the label of learning disabilities (LD). Seventy-nine studies were chosen to calculate reading performance differences between low achievers with and without the LD label. The substantive and…

This article explores conceptual and technical issues associated with options for specifying three assessment components for implementing an intervention responsiveness approach to the identification of learning disabilities: the timing of the measurement of student response to intervention; the criterion for demarcating learning as inadequate;…