This qualitative case study examined a rural school district where many of the students live in poverty. The purpose of the study was to develop a deeper understanding of the learning disability (LD) identification process as implemented in a high-poverty rural setting. Analysis of the data revealed the prevalence of some stereotypical beliefs…

Research suggests that early identification of developmental dyslexia is important for mitigating the negative effects of dyslexia, including reduced educational attainment and increased socioemotional difficulties. The strongest pre-literacy predictors of dyslexia are rapid automatized naming (RAN), phonological awareness (PA), letter knowledge,…

School psychologists continue to play a critical role in the identification of students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in schools. However despite decades of research and debate, the field continues to lack consensus on best practice methodologies. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization in 2004 increased…

Experts claim that individual differences in children's formal understanding of mathematical equivalence have consequences for mathematics achievement; however, evidence is lacking. A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted with a diverse sample of 112 children from a midsized city in the Midwestern United States (M[subscript age] [second…

Objective: Learning disabilities (LD), executive function (EF), and psychopathology were investigated to clarify their relationships in 595 children with ADHD. Method: Standard instruments for IQ, achievement, EF, and parent and teacher ratings of psychopathology were obtained at the time of outpatient evaluation. Results: Comparisons between the…

A debate exists in the research community about replacing the traditional IQ/achievement discrepancy method for learning disability identification with a "response-to-intervention model". This new assessment paradigm uses a student's level of improvement with small-group or individual programming to determine a possible need for…

The catalyst for this study emerged from the unprecedented number of Ghanaian students with reading difficulties, in an environment where school counselors are generally unavailable, funding is limited, and most educators do not recognize learning disabilities as true disabilities. Based on the limitations of the IQ-achievement discrepancy model…

Early presidents of the American Educational Research Association were leaders in the testing movement. Their intentions were to improve education by means of testing, which included both IQ and achievement tests. Early measurement experts acknowledged in scholarly articles that IQ tests could not measure inherited ability of groups with vastly…

(This study examines the directionality of the associations among cognitive assets (IQ, academic achievement), motivational beliefs (academic self-concept, task values), and educational and occupational aspirations over time from late adolescence (Grade 10) into early adulthood (5 years post high school). Participants were from a nationally…

This study examined whether a large group of postsecondary students participating in a support program for students classified as having learning disabilities (LD) met criteria for five objective diagnostic models for LD: IQ-achievement discrepancy (1.0 SD, 1.5 SD, and greater than 2.0 SD) models, a "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of…

This study examines the relationship between perceived stress, nonverbal cognitive functioning, and statewide academic scores in both Latinx and European American elementary students in rural school districts. A total of 44 third graders participated in the study, including 13 Latinx students and 31 European American (EA) students. Perceived…

When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act in 2004 (IDEIA 2004), local educational agencies (LEA) were permitted to use a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) approach for identifying children with possible learning disabilities for special education. Furthermore, IDEIA 2004 no longer required LEAs to establish an…

Researchers consider the underrepresentation of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students is largely due to the use of traditional methods of identification (i.e., IQ and standardized achievement tests). To address this concern, researchers created novel nontraditional identification methods (e.g., nonverbal tests, student portfolios,…

This study examined the characteristics of 14 English Language Learners classified as having learning disabilities (LD) who were also identified as having speech and language impairments (SI) prior to, at, or after initial identification as LD. Data were collected under the auspices of a longitudinal study, Bilingual Exceptional Students:…

Previous "selective" meta-analyses of the literature relating to the IQ-achievement discrepancy model of specific learning disability identification have concluded that "underachieving" and "low-achieving" poor readers do not differ in any educationally meaningful way. Underachievers are those poor readers who qualify as learning disabled using an…