Is Response-to-Intervention Good Policy for Specific Learning Disability?

Author(s)

Kenneth A. KavaleFollow
Lucinda S. Spaulding, Liberty UniversityFollow

Publication Date

2008

Document Type

Article

Disciplines

Education

Comments

This is a pre-print version of the original published in Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 23(4), 169-179.

Abstract

The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) established new provisions for specific learning disability (SLD) identification, including: (a) no longer requiring consideration of IQ-achievement discrepancy, and (b) permitting response-to-intervention (RTI) as part of SLD evaluation procedures. We discuss several policy implications of these new regulations by considering the original construct of SLD, the still “experimental” status and implementation of RTI, the closer alignment of RTI objectives with No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2001) than former IDEA regulations, and the shift in focus from serving as a special education identification procedure to a general education instructional procedure. We conclude by proposing several recommendations for the appropriate inclusion of both RTI and psychometric evaluation within the continuum of SLD identification procedures.

Recommended Citation

Kavale, Kenneth A. and Spaulding, Lucinda S., "Is Response-to-Intervention Good Policy for Specific Learning Disability?" (2008). Faculty Publications and Presentations. 119.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/educ_fac_pubs/119