What will we do?
How will we document the student’s “response to intervention” prior to determining LD eligibility?
Will we continue to look at “expectancy” or will we ASSUME that all children can learn at grade level regardless of cognitive ability?
Why not just provide special services to all students who score at or below the 10th percentile on a standard’s based test such as NWEA.?
If you eliminate those students with other disabilities such as mental disabilities (mild and moderate), autism, emotional disabilities, visual impairment, and hearing impairment from the pool of potentially eligible students, then the remaining eligible students would be classified as LD.
I’m not really advocating this approach, but it does have some appeal. No more waiting for referral and evaluation procedures that might take 60 days. No more costly evaluations. No more costly case conferences that require the costly participation of numerous educational professionals.
My question is this: Will we expect all of these students to respond to this intervention by narrowing the gap between skill level and grade level? Let’s don’t make a “bush” decision and expect that no child will be left behind. Remember the bell shaped curve?
I welcome your thoughts and reactions.
Re: Response to Intervention
Michelle,
It is a normal frequency distribution— if you were to make a graph of scores of a group of students, e.g. IQ scores, most would cluster in the middle around 100 and spread out gradually from there in either direction- if you draw it it creates a “bell” shape.
check out an article in the LD In Depth section under “assessment” titled “Understanding Tests and Measurement for the Parent and Advocate”— it will tell you all you need to know about bell curves and much more!
Hi
This is the second time today that I have heard the “bell curve” I don’t know what it is?
Michele