kinda got off track

Lulu,
No, a learning difference can not be identified just by an IQ test. You must use the IQ test in conjunction with an achievement test to determine if a discrepancy between the two exists. The discrepancy factor is different in many states. Here in Georgia for an initial identification there must be a 20 point difference. Have your friend check with her state’s department of education website under special education and it should tell you what is needed for eligibility. I hope this helps.

Laurie

No, but it would be unusual that a teenage student would score well on school achievement tests over the years, have an average IQ with little variation between V and P, and have a significant LD that had not yet been discovered. However, there are lots of other things that could influence classroom and homework performance and that merit investigation. Your friend’s concerns sound valid! There are other reasons kids “underachieve” besides learning disabilities. Can she get another opinion on the ADHD?

Thank you. I am skeptical though about what the school says is average on the statewide achievement tests. I suggested she get copies of the scores from his cum folder.

And I agree that she might need a more thorough eval on the ADD to add to the mix.

Thanks again.

Thank you. That is the answer I was looking for.

An I Q is only a measure of inate ability, that is, given normal circumstances what an individual is capable of doing, a level at which they may reasonably expected to perform. So for instance in a child with learning difficulties it shows what they are really capable of and is useful to a parent or teacher in relation to their attainment scores. A usefull scenario would be a child with a high I.Q. say one that would place them on the 90th to a 100th percentile for ability and a low attainment score which would suggest they are not achieving what they should and it is clear evidence that assistence is required. I.Q. or Intelligence Quotient tells us how bright our child is, its important to know it because then we know what it is reasonable to expect of the child and what it is imperative we ask for in terms of assistance and support but it is not at all a method that would identify a learning difficulty. Educators want to know it in order that they can ensure a child can benefit from any steps taken. Research shows that children with high iq’s benefit greatly from special input, conversly they are also the group who often have onboard lots of coping skills that mask the true degree of their difficulty. What your freind needs is to ask for a detailed educational assessment to be done. For bench marks to be set and short term goals identified she also needs to ring your education dept and ask for the special needs team or dept or officer for your area ask if there is a parent partnership or parent support worker who can meet with her and go through issues and help her prioritise the right questions to ask in meetings. Write things down so you dont forget them and agree with people in meetings on action points that they promise you they will report on at a review and ask for a date for such reviews to be set at the meeting before it ends. your friend needs to become a gather! of information of names of phone numbers and contacts. Keep a diary of all events phone calls and conversations promises and agreements and keep a time line of all dated events and promises . This does two things: Its helps you build up a body of chronological evedence of what is happining in any given situation a record that can be referred to when necessary and it becomes a valuable resource for you to tap into when you have to speak to teachers education departments and the like. Secondly it puts people on message in meetings and interactions that you are on the ball and you are step by step becoming more focused ( like a gathering storm!) with out uttering a word the pages mount up and you may just hand it to someone one day! Your education department may have parental information books with help resources in and should also furnish you with a code of practice for special ed needs. Your constitution and educational law will also throw up further issues on your mandatory rights you can find this stuff in libraries and on the net. Let me know how your friend gets on, Regards from marie

In some states, such as Iowa and Kansas, an IQ test and the state-wide or district-level achievement tests are used to measure the existence of LD. This is called “Curriculum-Based Assessment” (CBA). It is the “new deal” in special education. If saavy enough, parents can fight for a “regular” assessment with various norm-referenced achievement tests. Not sure what the discrepancy formula is: Could be 1 SD (15 points) or could be 1.5 SD (22.5 points) or could be 2 SD (30 points). Not many states have 2 SD and I don’t know of any that do less than 1 SD.

The IQ discrepancy model may fade away in the next few years in favor of CBA. What is the opinion here about the perks and pitfalls of this new model??

Legally and by definition, “no.” In practicality, very frequently. When a psych. has used the WISC for years and tested hundreds of children, patterns do emerge.

Case in point. We recently tested a child who appeared to be slightly below grade level on the Woodcock Johnson. She even read at grade level (3rd) on the Johns Reading Inventory, excepting a slowish rate (70wpm). The psych. got ahold of her and administered the WISC, determined she was very LD, based on several scores and composites that are just almost always present when she finds LD children; like low coding, symbol search, freedom from distractibility, short term memory, etc. So, the psych. got our her good old GORT and obtained a standard score low enough to find eligibility w/o having to “tap dance.”

Subsequently I took the child for additional testing. She has severe phoneme sequencing problems and she still is uncertain of several consonant sounds. This was masked by good use of context in reading text. I do not usually see masking this good when the child is just of average IQ. She also has absolutely no clue whatsoever where periods go. She cannot sense, hear, or tell whether she is midsentence or at the end of a sentence, thus she writes fragments and run-ons. She is very LD.

This is just a current example of a child who was holding her own remarkably well until the WISC unmasked her LDs that were then documented by a deeper search.

I think any broad ranging test like a WISC, in the right hands, can provide very useful data on a child.

My daughter has “severe, specific learning disabilities in all academic areas”, according to her WISC evaluation.

With accommodations she scores extremely high (95%) in reading comprehension on the FCAT (Fla. Comprehensive Achievement Test); however, hand her a piece of paper in the classroom with a time limit, no computer and a pencil and the LD will raise its monsterous head.

How will she be labeled in a situation like that?

One would assume that non-sped kids receive no accomms or mods so they’d be fine in year #1. However, after that, if they are modified or accommodated during standardized testing, how would one know if they are making progress?

So, it would appear that this is NOT a good way to gauge for LD, correct?
What a nightmare.

BTW, I am getting ready to research this question, but do you know if AT is allowed under a 504? My evaluator says yes. Being me, I have to see it in writing with my OWN 2 eyeballs.

nt

Oh my! I am very, very disturbed at the thought that state tests would be used as the achievement portion in the discrepancy model!!! Example, I had two students on my caseload pass their end of grade tests last year in reading when I KNOW for a fact they are below grade level! There is something funny with the scoring… apparently they expect the 25th (or even lower?) to the 100th percentile to be considered “on grade level”. What a joke! I’d never let my own child’s placement be determined by those tests. However, the general public may not understand this at all.

Janis