The identification of students with specific learning disabilities has evolved since the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) in 2004. This reauthorization gave state agencies parameters that disallowed using the severe discrepancy model for identification as a stand-alone method. In response to…

The Idaho State Department of Education (SDE) recently revised its SLD identification policy to include a requirement to document a student's response to intervention coupled with a comprehensive evaluation. To implement this policy, the SDE is using multiple implementation drivers. In this article, we describe how and why the new policy was…

Reviewed are medical and educational procedures in the evaluation of a child with a learning disorder in the state of Mississippi. (IM)

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

This study found that states with low percentages of students identified as learning disabled (LD) used a diagnostic method for determining a severe discrepancy, whereas few states identifying the most students used such a method. Use of a method to determine a severe discrepancy may reduce inappropriate labeling of students as LD. (Author/JDD)

Designed by the Bloomfield Hills (Michigan) multidisciplinary evaluation team, the document suggests procedures and enabling activities to implement the assessment and identification of learning disabled students. Individual sections address five areas (ability, achievement, severe discrepancy, exclusionary clause, and need for special education…

Characteristics of 718 students labeled as learning disabled before implementation of Indiana's statewide guidelines were compared with characteristics of 790 students identified after guideline implementation. After implementation, students identified had more severe academic problems and severe ability/achievement discrepancy, though one-third…

The manual is designed to assist local New York State Committees on the Handicapped in the identification of learning disabled (LD) children and in the development of recommendations for the provision of special education programs and services in the least restrictive educational setting. The manual provides information on: the most currently…

The study compared states identifying either many or few students as behaviorally disordered on the variables of (1) average per pupil expenditure, (2) size of minority population, (3) number of students identified as learning disabled. No significant differences between the two groups of states were found for the three variables. (Author/DB)

Presented is the report of the Region 9 (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont) invitational caucus of the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Children with Learning Disabilities which met in March of 1976. Focused on is the process for identifying children with learning disabilities…

Surveys of the 106 California community colleges resulted in a summary of services for learning disabled students including student evaluation and instruction, core services, and program evaluation. Findings indicated the most critical barrier to equitable services is the variability of identification criteria among campuses. (DB)

A study investigated ways that each of the 50 states serve preschool children (ages 3-5) with specific learning disabilities (SLD), the impact of the preschool-specific/noncategorical label, and the quantitative criteria used for eligibility. Although all states reported that preschoolers with SLD could receive services, different eligibility…

Investigated were the perceptions of programs for children with specific learning disabilities (SLD) expressed by 127 directors of special education programs, supervisors of SLD programs, and principals having SLD classes located in large, medium sized, or small Florida school districts. The administrators were queried regarding the…

A study reviewed recent trends, issues, and changes within the states related to the use of discrepancy formulas and other approaches for determining eligibility of students with learning disabilities (LD) for special education and related services. A survey of the 50 states and the District of Columbia found they all have a statement in their…

This collection of five case studies reveals how screening programs for preschool and kindergarten children are currently being implemented in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Programs in a variety of communities--large and small, rural, urban and suburban--are portrayed. The screeners interviewed were chosen in part because they also vary in…