Qualifying for special education services
Discrepancy
model
Although the discrepancy model has
dominated the school system for many years, there has been substantial
criticism of this approach (eg, Aaron, 1995, Flanagan and Mascolo, 2005)
among researchers. One reason for this has been that diagnosing on the basis
of the discrepancy does not predict the effectiveness of treatment. Low
academic achievers who do not have a discrepancy with IQ (ie their IQ scores
are also low) appear to benefit from treatment just as much as low academic
achievers who do have a discrepancy with IQ.
Responsiveness
to Intervention
An alternative approach specified in IDEA
2004 is a method known as Responsiveness to Intervention. Under this model,
children who are having difficulties in school are identified early - in
their first or second year after starting school. They then receive
additional assistance such as participating in a reading remediation
program. The response of the children to this intervention then determines
whether they are designated as having a learning disability. Those few who
still have trouble may then receive designation and further assistance.
Sternberg (1999) has argued that early remediation can greatly reduce the
number of children meeting diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities. He
has also suggested that the focus on learning disabilities and the provision
of accommodations in school fails to acknowledge that people have a range of
strengths and weaknesses and places undue emphasis on academics by insisting
that people should be propped up in this arena and not in music or sports.
Qualifying
for the various categories of specific learning disabilities
Tracking
student progress
- Using objectively measurable criteria is
critical
- Present Levels of Performance
- Goals and objectives in IEP
- Curriculum-based assessment
- other
Instructional
strategies
Modifications
Modifications imply changing some of the
curriculum in order to provide a student with learning disabilities access.
A short list, in no way comprehensive, follows:
Modified text-students may read the
same text as there peers but have a different version, for example
Shakespeare with both the original and modern language available.
Length-adjusted assignments-students
may have access to tests that measure their aptitude in a subject but in a
concentrated manner, e.g. 10 math problems instead of 30 on a test.
Audio Books-The Recording for the
Blind and Dyslexic offers a variety of titles on tape and CD, to supplement
a students text, intended to bolster their reading fluency and phonetic
skills.
Word Banks- If students have
deficiencies in working memory, a list of vocabulary words can be provided
during tests, to reduce lack of recall and increase chances of
comprehension.
Extended time-Students with lower
processing speed may benefit from extended time in assignments and/or tests
in order to comprehend questions, recall information and synthesize
knowledge.
Accommodations
Poor academic achievement may be treated
with a variety of methods. Although the underlying processing difficulty is
usually considered to be a lifelong disorder, academic skills themselves can
improve. In some instances, both accommodations and modifications are
combined in a resource room or general education classroom to facilitate
instruction of students with learning disabilities.Effective treatment
involves multi-modal and appropriately tailored teaching and compensatory
strategies/tools such as
- resource room
- special seating assignments
- alternative or modified assignments
- modified testing procedures
- electronic spellers and dictionaries
- word processors
- talking calculators
- audio books
- Text-to-Speech (TTS) Software
- note-takers
- readers
- proofreader
- Dell laptops
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