Issues in the Identification of
Learning Disabilities
A
quick explanation of test scores (by John Willis)
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A
SAMPLING OF READING TESTS
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A SAMPLING OF
MATH TESTS
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A
SAMPLING OF WRITING TESTS
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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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