Recommendations for the Reauthorization of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - July 2002
Introduction
The LD Policy Roundtable is comprised of ten national organizations.
Together, we represent thousands of parents, teachers, professionals
and related services personnel who care deeply about how students
with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are identified and served
in our public schools. We support Congress’ effort to improve
the IDEA while maintaining access to a free, appropriate, public
education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Whether
students have access to the general education curriculum in the
regular education classroom, or in another environment, the procedural
safeguards of IDEA must protect students with SLD.
SLD is a neurological condition, which can cause unexpectedly low performance
in a few specific areas or skills within an individual at different times and
in different environments across the life span. Low achievement in all areas
does not indicate SLD. Keys to success for students with SLD include the procedural
safeguards of IDEA, coupled with the active participation and collaboration
among their parents and the professionals who serve them. Professionals must
be given the necessary training and support to provide the high quality instruction
that will ensure success through positive educational outcomes. Adequate funding
to conduct research and validate practices, disseminate information, provide
training and technical assistance and collect data to ensure better academic
outcomes for students must be available through Part D of the Act. We urge you
to consider the following policy recommendations.
Identification
• The statutory definition of SLD should be maintained in IDEA.
• Section 614 (b) of IDEA-97, should be maintained.
That section states, “In conducting the evaluation, the local educational
agency shall not use any single procedure as the sole criterion for determining
whether a child is a child with a disability.”
• All preschoolers should be screened to assess early language
and reading skill development just as they are for vision and hearing. According
to a report of the National Institutes of Health, up to 90% of students in the
SLD category have their primary problem in the area of reading. NIH also reports
that 75% of children with reading difficulties who are not identified by age
9 will still have poor reading skills at grade 12.
• Preschool and kindergarten programs should be required to provide
targeted early instruction to all children to minimize any risks for reading
failure. Early intervention for language problems may minimize later
difficulty in academic, behavioral and social skills.
• IQ-Achievement discrepancy formulae should not be used to determine
eligibility for students with learning disabilities.
• Identification should include a student-centered, comprehensive
evaluation and problem solving process by an inter-disciplinary team
that ensures students who have a learning disability are efficiently identified
and receive services in a timely manner.
• Students must be evaluated on an individual basis
and assessed for intra-individual differences in the seven domains that comprise
the definition of SLD in the law -- listening, thinking, speaking, reading,
writing, spelling, and mathematical calculation.
• All assessments must be culturally and linguistically unbiased.
• Identification must be documented by systemic assessments and
reporting, appropriate regular education interventions, high quality
instruction, administrative and other support services for all professionals.
• New methods for identifying students with SLD must be piloted
in classroom settings, and demonstrated through data-based analysis to improve
educational outcomes prior to widespread adoption.
• Information on existing methods for identifying students with
SLD must be validated and disseminated as soon as possible.
Eligibility
• Eligibility decisions must draw from information collected
from a comprehensive individual evaluation using multiple methods including
clinical judgement and other sources of information.
• Eligibility decisions must be made through an inter-disciplinary
team, be student-centered and informed by appropriate data, and based
on student needs and strengths.
• Eligibility must ensure a student with SLD has access to different
levels of special education and related services at various times during the
school experience.
Personnel Preparation
• Statutory language should index Part D funding based on Part
B, Preschool and Part C formula programs. We support funding for Part
D equal to 10% of the funding for Parts B and C.
• Professional development must be provided in ways that recognize
how adults acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
• Training and technical assistance must develop competencies
for high quality instruction by general and special education teachers,
instructional leadership by administrators, and effective collaboration by related
and support services personnel.
• Professional development must encourage collaboration among
professional personnel and implementation of scientific,
research-based promising practices for assessment and intervention.
See also: Specific Learning Disabilities:
Finding Common Ground |
