What is the Role of Intelligence in the Identification of Specific Learning Disabilities? Issues and Clarifications

A fundamental assumption in the identification of specific learning disabilities (SLD) has been that the presence of a severe discrepancy between ability and academic achievement is a valid marker for the presence of a SLD. This assumption is based on the notion that discrepant low achievers constitute a unique group of children who are different in a number of ways from nondiscrepant low achievers. Several meta‐analytic reviews contrasting discrepant and nondiscrepant low achievers fail to reveal significant differences between these two groups on measures of phonetic analysis, pseudoword decoding, word identification, spelling, oral reading fluency and other measures of literacy development and related phonological processing skills. This paper discusses the role of intelligence in identifying children with SLD and presents data based on correlational analyses and hierarchical regression analyses showing that intelligence is not a strong predictor of reading achievement and does not predict responsiveness to remedial instruction. These data also indicate that direct measures of responsiveness to intervention (RTI) strongly predict later reading achievement in tutored children from 1st grade through 4th grade. The combined results suggest that RTI approaches to the identification of SLD may have greater utility than psychometric approaches based on IQ scores or individual profile analysis.     

Evaluation of a tangible mobile application for students with specific learning disabilities

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) typically do not perform at the expected levels of academic achievement. Tangible mobile applications are learning devices that allow for physical engagement and multisensory interaction. They present as promising tools to facilitate learning for students with SLD. This study explored the use of a tangible mobile application for assisting three seventh-grade Turkish students with SLD to learn scientific principles regarding cell concepts. A multiple-probe design across participants was used to examine the effectiveness of a tangible mobile application. In addition, issues related to usability of the application were also explored. The overall results of the study showed that the tangible mobile application was effective, and the students with SLD were willing to use this application, enjoyed the process, and used the application and objects easily/correctly.     

DEFINING THE UNDEFINABLE: OPERATIONALIZATION OF METHODS TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES AMONG PRACTICING SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS

Accurate and consistent identification of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) is crucial; however, state and district guidelines regarding identification methods lack operationalization and are inconsistent throughout the United States. In the current study, the authors surveyed 471 school psychologists about school SLD identification guidelines and the identification methods actually used (e.g., ability‐achievement discrepancy, response‐to‐intervention, and the evaluation of students’ pattern of strengths and weaknesses). Results indicated that nearly half the participants were allowed or required to choose the method of identification that ensured students received services, if the school‐based team determined services were warranted. Variations in SLD identification methods were also found between schools with different characteristics (e.g., location, school level, and student composition). Implications for practice are discussed.     

A current landscape of specific learning disability identification: Training,practices, and implications

Specific learning disability (SLD) identification procedures vary across states (Maki et al., 2015, School Psychol Quart, 30, 457–469); however, the extent to which SLD identification methods are implemented at the district level is not well understood. Moreover, the high‐stakes nature of SLD identification necessitates extensive training, but research regarding graduate and postgraduate training in SLD is limited. This study examined school psychologists’ SLD training and practices through survey methodology. Results showed that a growing number of school psychologists use, prefer, and receive training in response to intervention and pattern of strengths and weaknesses to identify students with SLD while the use of and preference for ability–achievement discrepancy may be decreasing. However, nearly one‐third of school psychologists still reported the use of ability–achievement discrepancy. In addition, over half of school psychologists reported using state department of education guidance documents to inform their SLD identification practices. Implications for training and practice are discussed.     

Collaborative learning with scientific approach and multiple intelligence: Its impact toward math learning achievement

Abstract

This study examined the effect of collaborative learning with a scientific approach (SA) on the learning achievement in mathematics viewed from the students’ multiple intelligences. This study compared two types of collaborative learning models, Three Steps Interview (TSI), and Think Pair Share (TPS). The participants of this study were grade 8 students of Secondary Schools in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia (N?=?262). This study was a quasi-experimental study with a 3?×?3 factorial design. The results of the study can be concluded as follows. (1) TSI with a scientific approach got better math learning achievement than TPS with a scientific approach and classical with a scientific approach. Besides, TPS with a scientific approach got better learning achievement than classical with a scientific approach. (2) Students with logical-mathematical intelligence got better math learning achievement than students with linguistic intelligence and students with interpersonal intelligence, students with linguistic intelligence got better math learning achievement than students with interpersonal intelligence.     

Qualitative differences in learning disabilities across postsecondary institutions

Many college students receiving accommodations for specific learning disability (SLD) do not meet objective criteria for the disorder. Furthermore, whether students meet criteria depends on the diagnostic decision model used by their clinician. The authors examined whether the relationship between diagnostic model and likelihood of meeting objective criteria is moderated by students' postsecondary institution. They administered a comprehensive psychoeducational battery to 98 undergraduates receiving accommodations for SLD at 2-year public colleges, 4-year public universities, and 4-year private colleges. Most 4-year public university students failed to meet objective criteria for SLD. In contrast, most 4-year private college students met objective criteria based on significant ability-achievement discrepancies, and most 2-year public college students met objective criteria based on normative deficits in achievement and cognitive processing. Students who met objective criteria also differed significantly in degree of academic impairment. The authors' findings indicate qualitative differences in SLD across postsecondary settings and have implications for the identification and mitigation of SLD in college students.     

Implicit intelligence beliefs of computer science students: Exploring change across the semester

This study investigated introductory computer science (CS1) students’ implicit beliefs of intelligence. Referencing Dweck and Leggett’s (1988) framework for implicit beliefs of intelligence, we examined how (1) students’ implicit beliefs changed over the course of a semester, (2) these changes differed as a function of course enrollment and students’ motivated self-regulated engagement profile, and (3) implicit beliefs predicted student learning based on standardized course grades and performance on a computational thinking knowledge test. For all students, there were significant increases in entity beliefs and significant decreases in incremental beliefs across the semester. However, examination of effect sizes suggests that significant findings for change across time were driven by changes in specific subpopulations of students. Moreover, results showed that students endorsed incremental belief more strongly than entity belief at both the beginning and end of the semester. Furthermore, the magnitude of changes differed based on students’ motivated self-regulated engagement profiles. Additionally, students’ achievement outcomes were weakly predicted by their implicit beliefs of intelligence. Finally, results showed that the relationship between changes in implicit intelligence beliefs and student achievement varied across different CS1 courses. Theoretical implications for implicit intelligence beliefs and recommendations for STEM educators are discussed.     

Development of low-stakes mathematics and literacy test scores during lower secondary school – A multilevel pattern-centered analysis of student and classroom differences

The development of students’ learning and test-taking behavior may derive from the social context and the group of peers they associate with daily for years. Consequently, it is assumed that students’ academic achievements are to some degree affected by their classmates and the composition of the classroom. The present study provides evidence on how Finnish students (N = 5071) from different classrooms (N = 435) develop distinct patterns regarding their mathematics and literacy achievement during lower secondary school. We analysed longitudinal large-scale educational assessment data using a multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) to investigate the impact of classroom effect on students’ achievement patterns, that is, on the development of students’ low-stakes mathematics and literacy test scores from 7th to 9th grade. The results demonstrated the added value of modelling the multilevel structure inherent in educational assessment data: we identified four student achievement patterns that displayed different distributions across the school classes. More precisely, besides individual characteristics, the development of students’ low-stakes mathematics and literacy test scores was associated with class-level factors and some of the classrooms seemed to have a stronger effect on students’ test scores. These results suggest that classroom context is associated with students’ achievement patterns, especially regarding the worst achieving students. The findings may reflect a combination of class placement practices as well as classroom and peer effect. Although the differences between Finnish schools have been one of the lowest in the OECD countries, the findings of the present study suggest that the classroom membership may create class level quality differences in both the preconditions and the development of learning.     

Trajectories of implicit theories and their relations to scholastic aptitude: A mediational role of achievement goals

Implicit theories of intelligence play an important role in students’ academic motivation and achievement. This longitudinal study examined how the trajectories of implicit theories of intelligence from Grade 8 to Grade 10 were related to Grade 12 SAT achievement via Grade 11 achievement goals. We employed parallel process models to examine changing patterns of Korean students’ (N = 6491) entity and incremental theories over three years. Results showed that both entity and incremental theories increased over time. The intercept and the slope of entity theory were negatively related with the intercept and the slope of incremental theory, respectively. In line with Dweck’s theoretical framework, increases in incremental theory were found to predict SAT achievement via mastery-approach goals, whereas increases in entity theory predicted SAT achievement via performance-approach goals. The results indicate that different types of achievement goals play unique roles in mediating the relation between changes in implicit theories and SAT achievement.     

Universal and Specific Services for University Students with Specific Learning Disabilities: The Relation to Study Approach,Academic Achievement,and Satisfaction

In recent years, an increasing number of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) have enrolled in universities. The present exploratory study examined the frequency of use and appreciation of universal (open to every student) and specific services (offered to students with SLDs) and their relation to age, academic achievement, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. Participants were 147 Italian university students with SLD diagnoses (42 males; mean age: 22.49, SD = 3.29). Results showed that, overall, the frequency of use and appreciation of specific services were positively related to academic satisfaction, self-efficacy, and SRL strategies. Furthermore, frequency of use of compensatory tools and dispensatory measures was positively associated with academic achievement. These findings suggest that universities play an important role in supporting students with SLDs during their academic years by providing them with useful services and accommodations.     

Sex bias in the diagnosis of learning disabled students

Studies of special education students consistently indicate a preponderance of males in classrooms for the learning disabled (LD). To determine whether the overrepresentation of males and underrepresentation of females constitutes sexual discrimination, an objective index involving the discrepancy between expected and actual achievement was calculated for each student. Factors such as intelligence, socioeconomic status, and reason for referral also were investigated to help explain the large disparity of boys to girls diagnosed and placed as LD. Data were collected on 235 LD students and 290 students referred for special education who were declared not impaired (NI). No evidence was found to indicate that group membership in a sexual class was related to diagnostic and placement practices. Approximately one half of the students labeled as LD did not show a reliable discrepancy between expected and actual achievement.     

Typing Performance and Technique of Higher Education Students with Specific Learning Disorders

Higher education students with specific learning disorders (SLD) often experience difficulties in basic learning skills, including typing on computers, which has become the most common writing mode for academic purposes. This may affect their academic performance. We compared the typing performance, product, and technique (screen gaze, finger use) of 35 SLD and 30 typically developing (TD) students using keylogging software. Compared to TD peers, students with SLD typed more slowly and less accurately, and gazed less at the screen, suggesting a less effective typing technique. They typed slower even after controlling for screen gaze, implying that additional factors may account for their lower typing speed such as language processing. Hence, students with SLD may benefit from typing instruction alongside test accommodations during computer-based exams.     

The Relationship between Intelligence,Approaches to Learning and Academic Achievement

Three different tests of intelligence and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students were administered to 89 Norwegian undergraduate psychology students. The purpose was to investigate the relationship between intelligence, approaches to learning and academic achievement. Factor analysis supported a one-factor solution of the three intelligence tests as an expression of general intelligence. No relationship between general intelligence and approaches to learning was observed. The WAIS vocabulary test of intelligence and the surface approach to learning were negatively correlated. The WAIS vocabulary test of intelligence and the surface approach to learning predicted academic achievement. A curvilinear relationship between surface approach and academic achievement was observed. Multiple regression analysis showed interaction effects between deep-strategic and surface-strategic approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement. The findings support the construct validity of approaches to learning due to its independence of intelligence.     

Engagement profiles of elementary students in urban schools

This study identified engagement profiles and examined their relations to student characteristics (gender, grade, socioeconomic status) as well as mathematics and reading achievement among elementary students attending urban schools in the southeastern part of the United States (N = 564). Using latent profile analysis, four engagement profiles were identified including a Moderately Engaged, Globally Disengaged, Affectively Disengaged, and Behaviorally Disengaged profile. Subsequent analyses showed that grade level was a statistically significant predictor of profile membership, and the Moderately Engaged profile was associated with higher mathematics achievement compared to the Affectively Disengaged profile. Results contribute to the growing body of person-centered work that indicates that students’ engagement cluster into unique configurations of global, behavioral, affective, cognitive, and social engagement, which have important implications for their academic achievement.     

Discrepant team decisions: The effects of race,gender, achievement,and IQ on LD eligibility

To determine whether student characteristics might influence the misclassification of pupils with respect to LD status, the racial, gender, intellectual, achievement, and grade-level status of 344 subjects who had been referred for LD diagnosis was examined. In one fourth of the cases, students were declared either eligible without a severe discrepancy or ineligible with a severe discrepancy regardless of method used (standard score vs. regressed standard score) or cutoff value employed (15-point vs. 22-point discrepancy). Being White, older, and of higher intelligence and achievement were characteristics of those found ineligible despite a severe discrepancy. Being female and less academically able were characteristics of those declared eligible without a severe discrepancy. Implications are presented.     

Season of birth is related to child retention rates, achievement, and rate of diagnosis of specific LD

A sizable literature has demonstrated that the achievement of children in early elementary school is related to their season of birth: Those born in summer typically perform less well than those born in the fall. A small literature indicates that more children diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are born in the summer. We have begun to explore the possibility that the same processes may account for both outcomes. In order to better understand these processes, the standardized achievement levels and rates of diagnosis of SLD for children born during each season were studied in one geographical area of the State of Georgia served by 28 school districts. Standardized achievement scores in reading, mathematics, and science were reliably lower for those born in the summer. Furthermore, there was a strong relationship between season of birth and the rate at which children received a diagnosis of SLD. Summer-born children were diagnosed with SLD at a higher rate than their peers. Four hypotheses for both the lower performance in the general school population and the greater rate of SLD diagnosis among these children are discussed.     

Prevalence,stability, and functionality of achievement goal profiles in mathematics from third to seventh grade

This study examined the longitudinal trajectories of achievement goal profiles in mathematics from third to seventh grade in a sample of 302 German students. Latent profile analyses were conducted separately for each school year and revealed three subgroups of students with distinct goal profiles labeled high multiple goals, moderate multiple goals, and primarily mastery-oriented. Only about one third of the students held the same goal profile across all school years. The amount of students pursuing moderate multiple goals increased over time, which supplements previous findings and theorizing about an ongoing differentiation of achievement goals during early adolescence. There were remarkably few differences in educational outcomes (interest, effort, achievement) between students from distinct goal profile groups. However, high multiple goal students showed the lowest test scores in sixth and seventh grade. Moreover, if students showed low performance during one school year, they were more likely to adopt a high multiple goals profile in the following year. Results are discussed in relation to individual cognitive developments, changes in school environments, and special characteristics of educational systems.     

Evaluating the impact of dyslexia laws on the identification of specific learning disability and dyslexia

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that impacts word reading accuracy and/or reading fluency. Over half of the states in the USA have passed legislation intended to promote better identification of individuals with dyslexia. To date, no study has been conducted to investigate the potential impact of state laws on the identification of specific learning disability (SLD), and limited data has been presented on the rate at which students in public school settings are identified with dyslexia. The first aim of the current study was to determine if any detectable changes in the identification rates of SLD have occurred in states implementing dyslexia laws because most states do not report number of students identified as dyslexic but rather those students identified with an SLD. The second aim of the study was to characterize the rate of identifying dyslexia in the two states (Texas and Arkansas) that require public schools to report the number of students identified with dyslexia. The third aim was to characterize the identification rate across first to 12th grades. Current SLD rates range from 3.2 to 8.5% in all 50 states. Analysis of SLD prevalence rates did not vary between states with and without dyslexia laws in place. Moreover, there was no change in the identification of SLD once states had implemented these laws. Rates of dyslexia in Arkansas and Texas were less than 5%. Given the persistent levels indicating lack of reading proficiency, our review of data suggests that overall students with dyslexia are being underidentified.     

The impact of roommate personality on achievement: An exploratory study and model of analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of personality characteristics, academic ability, and achievement among pairs of male dormitory roommates. OPI factor scores were developed for five groups of roommate pairs who were identified as exhibiting similar achievement and ability patterns. The scores were analyzed to provide an indication of the degree of similarity or difference between the individual pairs on the personality measures and to determine if there were important trends evident in the data within groups. The results suggest that personality may have a differential effect on achievement among students of different ability levels. For example, there was evidence that average- and low-ability students earn higher grades when paired with high-ability students of similar personality profiles.