This article reports the results of a survey of the 51 State Departments of Education (including Washington, DC) regarding their learning disabilities definitions, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures. A conceptual framework consisting of eight components was used in analyzing the definitions and identification criteria. While revealing variations, results showed the continued impact of the 1977 federal definition and criteria. For example, several state definitions now include the discrepancy component, and the use of language criteria is increasing. To determine current trends, the data are compared with those from a similar survey published in 1985. Findings are discussed in terms of trends, prereferral interventions, assessment instruments, and discrepancy models.
This article reports the results of a survey of the 51 state departments of education (including Washington, DC) regarding their definitions of learning disabilities, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures. A conceptual framework consisting of eight components was used in analyzing the definitions and identification criteria. Results show the continued effect of the 1977 federal definition and criteria while revealing variations in state definitions and criteria. For example, several state definitions now include the neurological component, and use of discrepancy criteria is increasing. To determine current trends, the data are compared with those from a similar survey published in 1990. Findings are discussed in terms of trends, prereferral interventions, and noncategorical identification.
A study examined racial/ethnic and gender bias on curriculum-based measurement (CBM) of reading with African-American and Caucasian male and female regular education students across grades 2-5. Simultaneous multiple regression analyses were conducted by grade to examine group differences on CBM as an estimate of reading comprehension. Regression equations were estimated with CBM, gender, race/ethnicity, and the interactions of gender and race/ethnicity with CBM. Results indicated that CBM is a biased indicator of reading comprehension. Although no evidence of bias was found at the second and third grades, intercept bias was found for racial/ethnic groups at the fourth and fifth grades, and intercept and slope bias were found for gender at the fifth grade. Implications suggest that the meaning of CBM scores differs across race/ethnicity or gender, or both, at certain grade levels. CBM performance overestimates the reading comprehension of African American students and underestimates that of Caucasians; and at grade 5, CBM performance overestimates the reading comprehension of girls and underestimates that of boys. Mean differences between boys and girls were also much greater at lower levels of CBM performance than at higher levels. These findings raise issues concerning the use of CBM as a screening measure and in determining eligibility for and termination of special education and related services. (Author/RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
Shortages of trained personnel in special education are widely recognized. This need typically translates to special education programs as efforts to increase the numbers of professionals who are appropriately prepared to teach students with disabilities. The difficulty of increasing on-campus sections to respond effectively to the escalating need for more and better trained teachers, has in some cases led to an increased emphasis on alternative ways to deliver required course work. Distance learning is one such alternative. Distance learning can be defined as the separation of the learner from the instructor in location (learner and instructor in different rooms or at different sites), and, in some instances, by time. The promise of distance learning offers an attractive alternative for increasing the numbers of appropriately prepared special education personnel by making college-level instruction easier to receive. Current practices support synchronous communication (e.g., two-way audio, two-way video in real time, or two-way audio, one-way video in real time) and asynchronous communication (E-mail, or the Asynchronous Learning Network which does not necessarily occur in real time but at varying times depending on participants needs). Although it is possible to increase enrollments via distance learning, professionals recognize that there are some potential problems as well. If careful planning and course delivery are not clearly articulated students at remote sites can feel as if they are not part of the whole and that the education they are receiving is substandard. This article reviews promises, practices, and pitfalls associated with distance learning in an effort to inform special education professionals about this increasingly popular personnel preparation alternative.
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