Programs for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

Eligibility

Proposed Criteria for the Identification of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities and Significant Developmental Delays:
Proposed Rule - Fiscal Note - Hearing Notice (7/12/07)

• Criteria Resources, e.g. Evaluation Guide, Checklists
• Specific Learning Disabilities Criteria Review - PowerPoint Presentation
• Information on the Use of SLD Criteria, Email from Stephanie Petska, March 1/2006
• Dyslexia and Specific Learning Disabilities, a memo from Stephanie Petska to Special Education Directors, 11/9/2006
• A Guide to Reading Fluency and the Assessment of Specific Learning Disabilities in the IDEA 2004, DRAFT - Webcast - PowerPoint
• Notes/Guidance to Assist IEP Teams in Completion of DPI Sample Special Education Form ER-2, Additional Documentation Required When Child is Evaluated for Specific Learning Disabilities, DRAFT February 2007 - Webcast - PowerPoint

Specific learning disability (SLD) means "a severe learning problem due to a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in acquiring, organizing or expressing information that manifests itself in school as an impaired ability to listen, reason, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical calculations, despite appropriate instruction in the general education curriculum." PI 11.36(6), Wis. Admin. Code. Federal SLD criteria is found at 34 CFR.540-543.

Students with SLD have severe trouble learning or demonstrating academic skills in one or more of the following areas: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, and mathematical reasoning. Although the students often do well in some school subjects, they usually have extreme difficulty with certain skills such as decoding (reading) words, calculating math facts, or getting their thoughts into writing. As a result, they lag significantly behind their peers in these skills. Specific learning disabilities are believed to be caused by problems the child has processing information. In other words, while students with SLD almost always hear and see normally, they have trouble understanding or using what they see or hear.

When someone suspects a student has a SLD, a referral for a special education evaluation is made. A team, which includes the child's parents, conducts the evaluation and decides if the child meets state and federal eligibility criteria for special education. Each of the following criteria must be considered and met in order for the child to be determined to have a SLD.

1. A severe delay in classroom achievement, AND
2. A significant discrepancy between intellectual ability and academic achievement, AND
3. A processing deficit that is linked to the delay(s) in classroom achievement and significant discrepancy.

The IEP team may not identify a student as having SLD if the student's achievement problems are primarily the result of other disabilities, insufficient instruction, lack of English proficiency, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

In addition, the IEP team must decide that the child needs special education (PI 11.35) in order to address the child's learning problems. If interventions or modifications can be provided within general education to allow the child to access the curriculum and meet the standards that apply to all students, the student may have the impairment of SLD, but is not eligible as a "child with a disability" who needs special education.

Programming

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent one of the largest disability areas in the state. Almost half of the special education population has been identified as having a specific learning disability. The December 1, 2004, child count indicates that there are 46,890 children with a primary disability of SLD in Wisconsin. This represents 4.69% of the total PK-12 student population in the state.

Students with SLD are educated using a variety of approaches including individual, small and large group instruction. Special education and related services often consist of specialized instruction in academic compensatory skills as identified by a student's IEP team. The majority of students with SLD receive most of their instruction in the general education setting with supplemental specialized instruction and support provided by certified special education teachers. Collaboration between general and special educators is critical to the success of these students.

Training

April 8, 2008, PST Meeting Registration

Resources

• A Guide to Reading Fluency and the Assessment of Specific Learning Disabilities in the IDEA 2004 - DRAFT
• Learning Disabilities Association of Wisconsin (LDA-WI)
  
  P.O. Box 14690
  Madison, WI 53708-0690
  Toll Free # (866)-LDA-WISC OR (866) 532-9472
  e-mail: info@LDAwisconsin.com
• Learning Disabilities Association of America
• Specific Learning Disability Assessment and Decision-Making Technical Assistance Guide  - (2/03)
• Transition Planning for Students with SLD (DPI PowerPoint presentation) - 4/18/02
• Opening Doors: Postsecondary Education & Training Brochure - Information, Schools, Rights & Responsibilities, and Contacts
• Powerpoint-Recent Brain Research Findings in Reading
• Core Concepts of Response to Intervention, National Research Center on Learning Disabilities
  
• IDEA 2004 Highlights: Early Intervening Services, SLD evaluation guidelines
  
• IDEA 2004--Implications for educators who work with students with SLD-Selected Excerpts - powerpoint presentation
• WDLD Executive Committee Members
• Response to Intervention Information
  
• A selection of links to other information about learning disabilities

For questions about this information, contact Kathleen A. Laffin (608) 266-2841

Last updated on 4/18/2008 12:30:35 PM