NRCLD Information Digest #2

Finding Common Ground: Consensus Statements

The reauthorization of the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has prompted examination of the current state of education for students with learning disabilities and suggested IDEA refinements.

With this in mind, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, showcased research papers on key issues in the identification and classification of students with specific learning disabilities August 27-28, 2001, at the Learning Disabilities Summit: Building a Foundation for the Future.

A month after the Summit, the National Center for Learning Disabilities brought together representatives from the organizations that make up the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. These organizations are the National Association of School Psychologists, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Council for Exceptional Children/Division for Learning Disabilities, International Reading Association, Association for Higher Education and Disability/Division for Children's Communication Development, International Dyslexia Association, Learning Disabilities Association of America, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Representing children served through IDEA, they formed a "Roundtable" to find areas of agreement related to the nature of specific learning disabilities, identification of individuals with specific learning disabilities, eligibility for services, interventions, and professional development. Their mission was to propose improvements that would better identify and students with learning disabilities in public schools.

Members then were asked to return to a two-day meeting in February 2002 with statements reflecting their organization's beliefs and responses on the issue. After this meeting, a set of agreed-upon statements was made from group discussion notes, conversation, and publications. Organizations represented at the Roundtable edited the statements, ranked them in importance, and then agreed to the joint policy recommendations the following June. These recommendations were presented to OSEP in the report Specific Learning Disabilities: Finding Common Ground.

The following are consensus statements from the Common Ground report:

Nature of Specific Learning Disabilities

  • The concept of specific learning disabilities is valid, supported by strong converging evidence.
  • Specific learning disabilities are neurologically based and intrinsic to the individual.
  • Individuals with specific learning disabilities show intra-differences in skills and abilities.
  • Specific learning disabilities persist across the life span, though manifestations and intensity may vary as a function of developmental stage and environmental demands.
  • Specific learning disabilities are evident across ethnic, cultural, language, and economic groups.

Identification

  • Identification should include a student-centered, comprehensive evaluation and problem-solving approach that ensures students who have a specific learning disability are efficiently identified.
  • Regular education must assume active responsibility for delivery of high-quality instruction, research-based interventions, and prompt identification of individuals at risk while collaborating with special education and related services personnel.

Eligibility

  • The ability-achievement discrepancy formula should not be used for determining eligibility.
  • Decisions regarding eligibility for special education services must draw from information collected from a comprehensive individual evaluation using multiple methods and sources of relevant information.
  • Decisions on eligibility must be made through an interdisciplinary team, using informed clinical judgment, directed by relevant data, and based on student needs and strengths.
  • Decisions on eligibility must be made in a timely manner.
  • Based on an individualized evaluation and continuous progress monitoring, a student who has been identified as having a specific learning disability may need different levels of special education and related services under IDEA at various times during the school experience.

Intervention

  • The field should continue to advocate for the use of scientifically based practices. However, in areas where an adequate research base does not exist, data should be gathered on the success of promising practices.
  • Schools and educators must have access to information about scientifically based practices and promising practices that have been validated in the settings where they are to be implemented.
  • Students with specific learning disabilities require intensive, iterative (recursive), explicit scientifically based instruction that is monitored on an ongoing basis to achieve academic success.
  • Students with specific learning disabilities require a continuum of intervention options through regular and special education across all grades and ages.
  • Interventions must be timely and matched to the specific learning and behavioral needs of the student.
  • An intervention is most effective when it is implemented consistently, with fidelity to its design, and at a sufficient level of intensity and duration.
  • Regular and special education must be coordinated as part of a coherent system which is held accountable for the educational outcomes of students with specific learning disabilities.

Professional Development

  • The content of professional development must address the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to increase staff and school capacity to implement effective interventions for diverse learners.
  • Professional development must address the organizational and cultural context needed to ensure ongoing professional learning and development for all service providers.
  • Professional development must be structured to fit the way adults acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes.