L. Specific Learning Disability

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 calculation, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Disorders/Conditions Not Included:
Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional/behavioral disorder or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

A student must not be determined to have a specific learning disability if the determinant factor is any of the following:

Lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including the essential components of reading instruction as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension);
Lack of appropriate instruction in math; or
Limited English proficiency.

Eligibility Committee (EC) Membership for SLD Determination:
Districts shall use a process based on the student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention in accordance with the timelines listed below:

Elementary Schools - Reading July 1, 2009

Elementary Schools - Mathematics July 1, 2010

Middle Schools July 1, 2011

High Schools July 1, 2012

Eligibility Committees using either a student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention decision process, or the severe discrepancy formula while it remains authorized, must draw upon information from a variety of assessment tools and strategies and may not rely on any single procedure for determining eligibility for special education and related services. Examples of sources include formative and summative assessments, ongoing progress monitoring, aptitude and achievement tests, cognitive assessments, parent input, and teacher recommendations as well as information about the student’s physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior. The EC must also ensure that information obtained from all of these sources is documented and carefully considered.

ELIGBILITY DETERMINATION: SUPPORT FOR PERSONALIZED LEARNING
Definition. Support for Personalized Learning (SPL) is a framework of multiple supports for all students and includes the process referred to as response to intervention (RTI). SPL includes: 1) Providing high quality instruction matched to student needs; 2) screening all students for academic and behavior concerns; 3) continuous monitoring of student performance; and 4) using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions. It is a systematic multi-level approach for supporting the diverse needs of students in both academic and behavioral domains through differentiated instruction and targeted and intensive interventions based on ongoing assessments of student performance. This process is characterized by procedures aligned with the steps of problem solving and documents a student’s response or non-response to general education instruction and the student’s academic performance in comparison to grade-level standards.

Components of Multi-Level Instruction and Intervention
Research based practices that support the SPL approach include scientifically based curricula and instruction, multi-level instruction models, progress monitoring, formative assessment, systematic analysis of academic and behavioral needs by problem solving teams and matching instruction to specific skill deficits and strengths as evidenced by formative assessment. A multi-level framework of service delivery features increasing intensities of instruction in direct proportion to student needs. Embedded in each level are research based instructional practices customized to increase student achievement of targeted skills. Ongoing assessment of student mastery of State approved grade-level skills is fundamental, and frequent progress monitoring data are used to identify and adjust appropriate target areas for instructional support.

Parent Notice Requirements
If a student participates in the SPL process, the district must notify the student’s parents, and maintain documentation that the student’s parents were notified, about the following:

The state’s policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general education services that would be provided;
Strategies for increasing the student’s rate of learning; and
The parent’s right to request an evaluation at any time throughout the SPL process. When a student has been provided an opportunity to learn with the additional targeted and intensive supports provided within the multi-level instructional framework described below, and the student’s documented instructional response indicates a need for long-term specially designed instruction, a request for parental consent for initial evaluation for special education and related services may be made. If consent is given, the student must be evaluated, and eligibility must be determined within 80 days of receipt of parental consent, unless the evaluation timeline is extended by mutual written agreement of the student’s parents and the Eligibility Committee.

Core Instruction
Core Instruction includes universal screening of all students to determine levels of proficiency or mastery of grade-level content, skills and knowledge. All students are screened at the beginning of the school year to determine which students are at risk for not meeting grade-level standards. Those identified students at risk or not making progress also are screened at the middle and end of the year. Instruction in Core is aimed at general education classroom instructional objectives that enhance learning within the core academic program. Classrooms are characterized by differentiated and scaffolded instruction, use of scientific, research based instructional methods, and ongoing monitoring of student progress. Students who do not achieve mastery on essential State-approved grade-level standards, as substantiated by assessment results, are identified for additional supports at the Targeted Level by a problem-solving team.

Targeted Instruction
The primary goal of Targeted Instruction is to provide short-term strategic instruction to support all students who are performing below State-approved grade-level standards.. Targeted Instruction is in addition to Core Instruction and is provided to small groups of students with similar instructional needs. Instructional supports may be developed through a problem-solving approach use of academic or behavioral assessments to craft individualized plans or a standard treatment protocol (use of a specific evidence-based practice). Targeted Instruction begins after students have been identified as achieving below State-approved grade-level standards and have demonstrated a lack of response to Core Instruction. Students supported by Targeted Instruction receive small group instruction in addition to the time provided to all students in the core instructional block. Explicit instruction to address specific needs is used. Targeted Instruction should be implemented for a minimum of one nine week period, with progress monitoring occurring every two to three weeks to adjust instruction and ensure mastery. Targeted Instruction continues only until the specific concept or behavior is in place (usually short-term). Targeted Instruction may be longer depending on student progress toward benchmarks. Three to five 15 to 30 minute sessions per week are suggested. Subject area, programmatic level and time frame defined by the instructional materials are pertinent variables.

Intensive Instruction
The third level, Intensive Instruction, is designed to provide explicit instruction to students who do not make sufficient progress even when provided focused small group supports. Targeted Instruction must be documented prior to moving a student to Intensive. Intensive Instruction is provided in a small group setting or, as warranted, individual settings. Intensive Instruction should be implemented for a minimum of one nine week period, but could be longer depending on student progress toward benchmark. Progress monitoring occurs every one to two weeks, and formative assessments are used confirm the student’s response to instruction. Three to five 30 to 60 minute sessions per week are suggested. When evidence suggests instructional supports at Intensive Level will be needed long-term, a request for a comprehensive evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services should be considered.

Components of a Systematic Problem Solving Process
Systematic problem solving refers to a set of procedures used by an instructional team to examine and analyze the nature and severity of a student’s academic or behavioral need. Parent participation is a key component in the process, which includes the following components:

Identify and Define Needs
The student’s academic or behavioral need is explained in objective, measurable terms. Both the student and the learning environments are analyzed through data collection (e.g., screening, classroom walkthroughs, observations). The match or mismatch between the learner and his or her learning environment is described.

Analyze the Problem
The goal of problem analysis is to determine why this problem or need is occurring. Additional data are collected on the specific academic and/or behavioral need noted in the problem description. Data must be collected over a period of time and must be representative of the student’s typical academic performance and/or behavior in the learning environment. Data collection procedures must be reliable, designed for individual student assessment and allow for repeated measurement of the same skills or behavior over time. Use the data to analyze the problem and explore specific evidence-based instruction to address the need.

Develop a Plan
Design an individual student instructional plan by using the data collected over time. Establish the instructional goal(s) for the plan, and describe the instruction to be provided. Include a progress monitoring plan, persons responsible for implementation and projected timelines.

Implement and Monitor the Plan
The plan is monitored for the integrity of implementation. Progress monitoring refers to a systematic, frequent collection of individual performance data. The measures are repeated over time and charted for documentation purposes.

Evaluate and Adjust the Plan
Evaluate the effectiveness of the instruction provided by comparing the student’s initial level of performance to performance results achieved as a result of implementing the instructional plan. If the instruction is not producing the desired results, adjust the instructional plan based on the data.

Eligibility Standards
Using the SPL process and comprehensive assessment the EC determines eligibility for specific learning disability based on the following standards for comparison. Each standard must be discussed at the EC meeting and corresponding documentation must be on file for each student.

Standard 1- Level of Learning
The first element in identifying a student with a specific learning disability is whether the student does not achieve adequately for his/her age or does not meet State-approved grade level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences and instruction appropriate for the student’s age or State-approved grade-level standards:

Oral expression;
Listening comprehension;
Written expression;
Basic reading skill;
Reading fluency skills;
Reading comprehension;
Mathematics calculation; or Mathematics problem solving. The performance measure used to verify this standard must be both representative of the student’s curriculum and useful for instructional planning. The student’s response to customized instruction must be documented.

Documentation:
Results of formative assessments administered pre- and post-instruction Cumulative record reviews; Student class work samples; and Anecdotal teacher records.

Standard 2- Rate of Learning
The second element in identifying a student with a specific learning disability is whether the student has made sufficient progress to meet age or state-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the areas identified in Standard 1 in response to carefully planned and explicitly delivered instruction. The data used to determine if this standard has been met are developed through ongoing progress monitoring of the student’s performance during an intervention period. This standard is met when the student’s learning rate or growth toward target skills is substantially below grade-level peers and, based on progress monitoring data (i.e., charting), a reasonable rate of progress cannot be projected even when the student is provided supplemental intervention instruction of reasonable intensity and duration.

Documentation:
Progress monitoring data collected before, during and after the provision of at least one nine weeks of Targeted instruction and one nine weeks of Intensive instruction; and Records indicating specific instruction provided, including frequency and duration (e.g., instructional plan, WVEIS on the Web Interventions Tab, daily lesson plan).

Standard 3- Exclusion Factors
The final standard by which the EC may determine SLD eligibility is the assurance that the student’s underachievement is not primarily the result of any of the following:

A visual, hearing, or motor disability;
Intellectual disability;
Behavior/emotional disorder;
Cultural factors;
Environmental or economic disadvantage; or
Limited English proficiency.

Documentation:
Formal educational, cognitive and/or medical evaluation reports; Formative assessments and progress monitoring data; and Functional academic and/or behavioral assessments. Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses Subsequent to ( in addition to) verification of the Level of Learning, Rate of Learning and Exclusion Factors, the EC may confirm the presence of a learning disability through assessment of intra-individual differences in performance and intellectual development, including areas such as working and long term memory, processing speed, executive functioning and non-verbal problem solving. In addition to not achieving adequately on age or State-approved grade level achievement standards, a specific learning disability may be confirmed if the student exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, State-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is determined by the EC to be relevant to the identification of a specific learning disability, using appropriate assessments.

Formal educational, cognitive and/or medical evaluation reports; Formative assessments and progress monitoring data; and Functional academic and/or behavioral assessments Validating Underachievement As in determining all other areas of disability, the EC must ensure that the underachievement of a student suspected of having a specific learning disability is not due to lack of appropriate instruction in reading/English language arts, written expression or mathematics, and the team must consider, as part of the evaluation described in Chapter 3, Section 4, the following factors:

Data that demonstrate that prior to or as part of the referral process, the student was provided appropriate instruction in general education settings; and
Data-based documentation of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal assessment of student progress during instruction (i.e., formative and progress monitoring data), which was provided to the student’s parents.

Observation Requirement
The student suspected of having a specific learning disability must be observed in the learning environment, including the general classroom setting, to document the student’s academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty. The EC must decide to:

Use information from an observation in routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the student’s performance that was done before the student was referred for evaluation; or
Have at least one member of the evaluation team conduct an observation of the student’s academic performance in the general classroom after the student has been referred for an evaluation and parental consent is obtained. In the case of a student of less than school age or out of school, a group member must observe the student in an environment appropriate for a student of that age. The purpose of the observation is to document how the academic concern impacts the student’s academic performance. The observation must also document the name and title of the observer and the site, date and duration of the observation.

Documentation of Student Response to Multi-Level Instruction
A thorough review of the following types of documentation will assist the EC in its eligibility determination. Most of this information is gathered and recorded throughout the natural course of a student’s instruction, and intervention and does not necessarily constitute additional paperwork requirements.

A chronology of the student’s educational history (i.e., preschool participation, grade retention, special education services, cumulative attendance)

Formative/classroom and progress monitoring data (e.g., Acuity probes, DIBELS graphs)

Specific documentation of the nature and intensity of general classroom instruction that evidences high quality instruction in reading/English language arts and mathematics (e.g., lesson plans)

Comprehensive documentation of the nature (i.e., group size), frequency and duration of customized instruction results (e.g., instruction plans).

Additional achievement/performance data (e.g., results of informal classroom assessments, teacher observations, grades, behavior data)

Formal evaluation reports (e.g., standardized psychological and academic assessments)

Written Report Requirements: SLD Team Report

The SLD Team Report must contain a statement of:

1. Whether the student has a specific learning disability;

2. The basis for making the determination, including an assurance that the determination has been made in accordance with required evaluation procedures specified in Chapter 3, Section 4;

3. The relevant behavior, if any, noted during the observation of the student and the relationship of that behavior to the student’s academic functioning; and

4. The educationally relevant medical findings, if any;

5. Whether:

a. The student does not achieve adequately for the student’s age or to meet state approved grade-level standards; and

b. The student does not make sufficient progress to meet age or state-approved grade-level standards; or

c. The student exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, state-approved grade-level standards or intellectual development.

6. The determination of the group concerning the effects of a visual, hearing, or motor disability; intellectual disability; emotional/behavioral disorder; cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage; or limited English proficiency on the student’s achievement level.

7. If the student has participated in the Support for Personalized Learning process (scientific, research-based instruction):

a. The instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected; and

b. The documentation that the student’s parents were notified about:

1. The state’s policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general education services that would be provided;

2. Strategies for increasing the student’s rate of learning; and

3. The parent’s right to request an evaluation at any time throughout the SPL process.

Dissenting Opinions:
This report must be dated and evaluation team members must certify in writing whether the report reflects each team member’s conclusions. If the report does not reflect an individual team member’s conclusions, that team member must submit a separate statement presenting the member’s conclusions.

Parent Notice Requirements
If a student has participated in an SPL process, the district must document that the student’s parents were notified about the following:

The state’s policies regarding the amount and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general education services that would be provided;
Strategies for increasing the student’s rate of learning; and
The parents’ right to request an evaluation at any time throughout the SPL process.

ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION: SEVERE DISCREPANCY MODEL
Districts may use the severe discrepancy model at the high school level until June 30, 2012. Using a severe discrepancy formula, the EC may determine SLD based on the following documentation: General intellectual functioning at or above one standard deviation below the mean, in consideration of 1.0 standard error of measurement; and A severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one of more of the following areas:

a. Oral expression;

b. Listening comprehension;

c. Written expression;

d. Basic reading skill;

e. Reading fluency skills;

f. Reading comprehension;

g. Mathematics calculation; or

h. Mathematics problem solving.

The discrepancy is determined by a comparison of age-based standard scores of ability and achievement. A regression formula is used to determine the severity of the discrepancy. A severe discrepancy is defined as a minimum of 1.75 standard deviations difference, taking regression and 1.0 standard error measurement into account. A method utilizing the standard error of the difference scores shall be used only if the technical data (i.e., test correlations) necessary to account for the effect of regression are not available.

The EC may determine SLD eligibility only with the assurance that the student’s underachievement is not primarily the result of any of the following:

A visual, hearing or motor disability;
intellectual disability;
Emotional/behavioral disorder;
Cultural factors;
Environmental or economic disadvantage; or
Limited English proficiency.

Additional requirements for SLD eligibility, including validating underachievement, observation requirement and SLD Team Report must be completed as stated under Eligibility Determination: Supports for Personalized Learning.

Ohio County Schools

About Exceptionalities

Autism

Blind and Low Vision

Deafblindness

Deafness

Developmental Delay

Emotional/Behavior Disorder

Gifted

Hard of Hearing

Mental Impairment

Orthopedic Impairment

Other Health Impairment

Specific Learning Disabilities

Speech and Language Impairment

Traumatic Brain Injury