Parents are encountering a new system that addresses struggling learners. This system is called "response to intervention" or "RTI." Schools are using this philosophy and process to direct choices about school curriculum, ongoing assessment procedures, and decisions about special education services. One positive result of the RTI system is that…

The purpose of this study is to examine the social and self-perceptions of twice-exceptional "students", those students who meet criteria for being identified as both gifted and learning disabled. In particular, we focus on how twice-exceptional students are similar to, or different from, students with only a learning disability or who…

Our article describing the characteristics of gifted students with a specific learning disability (SLD) in written language was criticized for emphasizing an ability achievement discrepancy as an indication of a written language disability and for not ruling out alternative explanations for the observed difficulties. The three primary alternative…

The educational community has raised several concerns regarding the identification of students with disabilities. Growing numbers of students classified in the Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) category have prompted much discussion. Available research on SLD classification raises issues regarding the traditional ability/achievement discrepancy…

Response to Intervention provides a continuum of instruction across intensity levels through multitiered intervention models. A lot of work to date has been devoted to how to configure tiers to ensure the appropriate increases in intensity. Much less work has been devoted to making adjustments "within" tiers to attempt to forestall the need for…

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…

The study was conducted to look at differences between children who outgrew and did not outgrow an early diagnosis of mathematical learning disorder (MD; n=13), and peers without MD (n=13). Children were tested at 5, 6, 7 and 10 years of age. About 54% of the children with an early diagnosis of MD still experienced mathematical difficulties at the…

Federal legislation allows local education agencies to use a student's response to scientific research-based interventions as a method of identifying specific learning disabilities. As a result, educational leadership is challenged to implement response to intervention (RTI). Despite increased literature addressing RTI, no consensus on…

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) strongly supports comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities by a multidisciplinary team for the identification and diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive assessment of individual students requires the use of multiple data…

Recent changes in legislation (IDEA) have implications for the changing role of the school psychologist, specifically in the evaluation of students with learning disabilities. There is a need to examine the attitudes and practices of school psychologists regarding specific learning disability identification as there is little consistency in how…

The number of English language learners (ELL) in schools continues to rise. However, statistics reveal that the majority of classroom teachers have no training in working with ELLs (NCES, 2011). Because of this, it is critical to understand how teachers can be successfully prepared to teach ELLs. Through in-depth inquiry, this study explored what…

This book is a scholarly overview of the modern concepts, definitions, and theories of intellectual giftedness, and of past and current developments in the field of gifted education. The authors consider, in some detail, the roles of intelligence, creativity, and wisdom in giftedness and the interaction between culture and giftedness, as well as…

Background: In order to fully specify the profiles of risk and protective factors of developmental disorders, a better understanding of the conditions under which they co-occur is required. So far, empirical evidence on comorbidities of specific learning disorders in arithmetic, reading and spelling is scarce. Methods: Prevalence and gender ratios…

Identifying which K-12 English Learners (ELs) should receive special education services has historically been challenging and fraught with error. Educators are commonly puzzled as to whether an EL student's academic difficulties are the result of insufficient academic English language, inappropriate instruction, or an intrinsic learning…

This White Paper project was undertaken to address the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) concerns regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 statutory and regulatory requirements for the identification of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), and the subsequent U. S. Department of…