Specific Learning Disability State Eligibility Criteria Update to Idaho Special Education Manual (Fall 2009)
Specific Learning Disability I. Federal IDEA 2004 Definition: Specific Learning Disability (SLD) means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Specific Learning Disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of cognitive impairment, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. Only children within the age range of legal Kindergarten to age 21 years may be identified as a student with a specific learning disability. II. Eligibility Criteria: In determining whether a child has an SLD, the child must meet at a minimum, the following criteria: A. The student does not make sufficient progress in response to effective, evidencebased instruction and intervention for the child s age or to meet state-approved gradelevel standards in one or more of the following areas: a. Oral expression; b. Listening comprehension; c. Written expression; d. Basic reading skills; e. Reading comprehension; f. Reading fluency g. Mathematics calculation; or h. Mathematics problem solving, B. The student demonstrates low achievement in the area(s) of suspected disability listed above as evidenced by a norm-referenced, standardized achievement assessment. For culturally and linguistically diverse students, the preponderance of evidence must indicate low achievement. C. The student demonstrates a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in psychological processing skills that impact learning. 2
D. The student s lack of achievement is not primarily the result of: a. A visual, hearing, or motor impairment; b. Cognitive impairment c. Emotional disturbance d. Environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage e. Limited English Proficiency f. A lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including the essential components of reading; g. A lack of appropriate instruction in math. E. The disability adversely impacts the student s educational performance and the student requires specially designed instruction. III. Evaluation Procedures: In order to demonstrate the eligibility criteria, the following procedures must be followed. 1. The evaluation for determining SLD eligibility and requirements for parent notification and involvement shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures detailed in Section 3, Chapter 4 of the Idaho Special Education Manual. 2. The evaluation must address the eligibility criteria as listed in Section 2. LD Eligibility Criteria (see above). To meet these criteria, the following information is required: A. Evidence of insufficient progress in response to effective, evidence-based instruction and intervention indicates the student s performance level and rate of improvement are significantly below that of grade-level peers. This is documented/demonstrated with the following data: i. Data that helps establish that the core curriculum is effective for most students. The most recent whole grade performance data to verify appropriate instruction in the area(s) of concern may include results from the standards-based assessment system. If the referred student belongs to a population of students whose performance is regularly disaggregated, whole grade data for the disaggregated group should also be reviewed and considered. ii. Information documenting that prior to, or as part of, the referral process, the student was provided appropriate instruction in general education settings. Appropriate instruction includes consideration of both child specific information and whole grade performance data. Child specific data regarding appropriate instruction may include: (1) verification that core (universal) instruction was provided regularly; (2) data indicating that the student attended school regularly to receive instruction; (3) verification 3
that core instruction was delivered according to its design and methodology by qualified personnel; and (4) verification that differentiated instruction in the core curriculum was provided. iii. Data-based documentation of student progress during instruction and intervention using standardized, norm-referenced progress monitoring measures in the area of disability. iv. A record of an observation of the student s academic performance and behavior in the child s learning environment (including the general classroom setting) has been conducted by an evaluation team member other than the student s general education teacher. The purpose of the observation is to document how the areas of concern impact the student s performance in the classroom. The observation should also document the name and title of the observer and the site, date, and duration of the observation. The team must decide to: 1. Use information from an observation in routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the child s performance that was conducted before the child was referred for an evaluation or; 2. Have at least one member of the team conduct an observation of the child s academic performance in the educational environment after the child has been referred for an evaluation, and parental consent has been obtained. B. Evidence of low achievement in one or more of the suspected area(s). These include: a. Oral expression; b. Listening comprehension; c. Written expression; d. Basic reading skills; e. Reading comprehension; f. Reading fluency g. Mathematics calculation; or h. Mathematics problem solving This evidence must indicate performance that is significantly below the mean on a cluster, composite, or 2 or more subtest scores of a norm-referenced, standardized, achievement assessment in the specific academic area(s) of suspected disability. There are cases when the use of norm-referenced assessment is not appropriate, for example, students who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Refer to guidance documents regarding procedures on evaluating students who are culturally and linguistically diverse and the use of preponderance of evidence. C. Evidence of a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in psychological processing skills that impact learning.. 4
An assessment of psychological processing skills is linked to the failure to achieve adequately in the academic area(s) of suspected disability and must rely on standardized assessments. These assessments must be conducted by a professional who is qualified to administer and interpret the assessment results. The student s performance on a psychological processing assessment demonstrates a pattern of strengths and weaknesses that help explain why and how the student s learning difficulties occur. Such tests may include measures of memory, phonological skills, processing speed as well as other measures which explicitly test psychological processing.. D. The following criteria must be considered when evaluating the student s low achievement. The team must determine that the student s learning difficulty is not primarily the result of: a. A visual, hearing, or motor impairment b. Cognitive impairment c. Emotional disturbance d. Environmental or economic disadvantage e. Cultural factors f. Limited English Proficiency 5