Learning_diabilities

 

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Issues in the Identification of Learning Disabilities


 A quick explanation of test scores (by John Willis)
        A SAMPLING OF READING TESTS
        A SAMPLING OF MATH TESTS
        A SAMPLING OF WRITING TESTS
                  A SAMPLING OF PHONEMIC AWARENESS TESTS

Special Education Urban Myths

TEST SCORE LABELS - The Hieroglyphics of Special Education

MNEMONICS FOR FIVE ISSUES IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF LEARNING DISABILITIES TAKEN FROM THE THREE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT OF THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE FIRST BY KEITH STANOVICH AND LATER, IN IMITATION, BY JOHN WILLIS AND RON DUMONT

Yes, Virginia, There is a Severe Discrepancy Clause, but is it too much ado about something ?   - This article takes the view that severe discrepancy is an often misunderstood and misused concept.  The article is posted on the APA Division 16 website and can be downloaded as an Adobe Acrobat Reader file (PDF).

Links to Learning Strategies A list of hyperlinks leading to effective teaching and learning strategies

Effects of speed (or lack thereof) What would be the effects on a child's WISC-III scores if that child did exactly what we often tell kids to do "Do it slow and get it right"? You might be surprised.

LD: Major Papers In preparation for the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA, the US Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has commissioned leading researchers in the field of Learning Disabilities to write major papers on nine topics.  We (John and Ron) must admit that we can't agree with them all, but they make for an interesting read.

IF only this were made up  The LD definitions and facts on this page really belong on our humor page, except they are real!

Learning Strategies Guides - Links to study guides that are available on-line. Many of these are maintained by the academic services centers at colleges and universities, but much of their information is useful for high school and middle school students, as well. (Our thanks to Jonas Taub for allowing us to post this)

WISC-III Venn Diagram - "It came to me in the car between Hackensack and Portsmouth.  I realized that it was what I have been doing with Wechsler scales back to around 1939 or whenever I started with them, so I made the first draft tracing my cognac glass on a blank transparency with an overhead marker in the motel room.  The ink made the cognac taste awful."

Reading Programs - Just a few good web sites for information regarding reading programs 

Attention in School: Some Advice - Steve Edelman has written a page that provides ways to increase a child’s ability to pay attention and concentrate in school without having him or her take medication. 

Bender Gestalt and Emotional Indicators  A demonstration of the need for caution when using the, so called, "emotional indicators" of this popular visual motor task.

Age Vs Grade Based Scores This is an archive of a discussion carried on the NASP List Serve.

Example of Reading Comprehension Formulae This is an example of how slight changes in a sentence may have great impact on the readability level. 

Basic Disorders Comments on the issue of "disorders in basic psychological processing" and examples of such disorders.

Evaluation Mistakes A list of common errors made by evaluators. Good to know so you don't make the same mistakes.

Deficits A description of common behavior indicators in 10 domain areas.

EBD Everybody's Disabled. An essay on the proposed change in education labeling that would change the Seriously Emotionally Disturbed (SED) category into Emotional/Behavioral Disturbance (EBD).

Learning Disabilities Talking Points 30+ issues relating to the identification of learning disabilities in children

Double Standards in Testing or Do We Need a Gun Control Law for Testers Commentary on the state of evaluation in the field of learning disabilities

Suspension Notes Random notes and cautions regarding suspension of students

Post-Otitis Auditory Dysfunction (POAD) A serious and underestimated cause of multiple learning problems in school children. Despite Boucher's (1986) dramatic findings, the problems of POAD often go unrecognized and untreated  

Grade Equivalents The OAT CEREAL Achievement Test as an example for how the use of grade equivalents is a silly idea.

Logical Steps in the Determination of a Learning Disability Thank you to John Willis for providing a synopsis of the steps in LD evaluation.

Predicting Achievement from IQ  How to determine achievement based on the IQ score chosen and the correlation between IQ and achievement.  A very brief explanation.

Severe Discrepancy  How to determine severe discrepancy using a method described by Cecil Reynolds.

Severe Discrepancy 2  How to determine severe discrepancy using a method described by Hubert Lovett.  Go to bottom of this page to download a template.  Thank you Hubert for all the work.

Severe Discrepancy 3  One more way to determine severe discrepancy!!  This utilizes two methods [one adjusts the predicted achievement score by utilizing the scales reliability (results 2) while the other doesn't (results 1)].

This section expands upon the issues presented in Predicting Achievement from IQ

Subtest order and standardization rules Does the order of administration matter when it comes to test results?  Read this lively discussion about that very issue (featuring Ron Dumont; Laurie Ford; Richard Woodcock; Mark Daniel; Samuel O. Ortiz; Kevin McGrew; John Willis, Catherine A. Fiorello)

ADHD and the Mesulam Can a simple visual scanning task help in the diagnosis of ADHD.  This article describes the norming of the Mesulam with children and then a comparison of those norms to a sample of ADHD children.

Test Behaviors and Testing the Limits  Some hopefully useful suggestions about test behaviors seen during testing as well as some ideas on how to "test the limits." 

Not all tests scores are alike  Just because you gave a test doesn't mean the results are easy to understand.  Explanations of some testing concepts. 

 

 

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