Denial of Eligibility Because of Gifted Intellectual Ability and/or Lack of Fail

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FYI

Learning Disabilities Association

Advocacy Memo: For Your Information #1 - 96

Denial of Eligibility Because of Gifted Intellectual Ability and/or Lack of

Failure

The U.S. Department of Education, in a written response to questions from the

Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina, stated that " ...each

child who is evaluated for a suspected learning disability must be measured

against his or her own expected performance, and not against some arbitrary

general standard. " As required by Part B regulation (34 CFR

§§300.540-300.543), the multidisciplinary evaluation team is responsible for

determining if a severe discrepancy exists between a student's ability and

performance. Under Part B of IDEA and Part B regulations there are no

" exclusions based on intelligence level in determining eligibility. " In other

words, a student cannot be excluded from consideration of eligibility for

special education services solely on the basis of a high IQ; no child's IQ

can be too high for that child to be considered for eligibility for special

education services -- even an intellectually gifted student may be considered

for eligibility for special education. In order to qualify as having a

specific learning disability, the student, according to Part B of IDEA and

Part B regulations, must have a severe discrepancy between achievement and

intellectual ability " in one of more of the following areas: oral expression,

listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading

comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics reasoning. "

Intellectual ability is determined by administration of intelligence or IQ

test(s). Achievement is determined by administration of tests designed to

measure basic reading skill and comprehension, math computational and

reasoning skills, and the ability of the child to express his/her ideas in

writing. Oral expression and listening comprehension are generally determined

by giving speech and language tests. Scores earned on achievement and IQ

tests are then compared. In order to be eligible for special education

services, the multidisciplinary team must determine if the student has an

" impairment " or disability which " adversely affects educational performance "

34 CFR §300.7 ( (1) - ( (13). In a letter to M. Lybarger, Ed.D.,

dated September 14, 1990, the Department of Education described " educational

performance " as different for each child, " determined on an individual

basis, " and " includ(ing) non-academic and academic skills. " In other words, a

student with suspected learning disabilities must need special education and

related services in order to qualify for those services. A multidisciplinary

team may find a child has a specific learning disability if " the child does

not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels in one or

more of the areas listed in paragraph (a) (2) of this section, when provided

with learning experiences appropriate for the child's age and ability levels

.... " 34 CFR §300.541 (a) (1). The Department of Education, in its letter to

LDA of North Carolina, wrote that it is " generally " appropriate for the

multidisciplinary team to include in its written report (to determine

eligibility) information regarding " outside or extra " instructional help or

support which " may indicate the child's current educational achievements

reflects the service augmentation, not what the child's achievement would be

without such help. " Such information should be considered by the team in

deciding if the child has " a severe discrepancy between achievement and

ability that is not correctable without special education and related

services. " If, for example, a student with an IQ of 125 and significantly

lower achievement scores maintains passing or even exemplary grades, the team

should consider whether or not the student achieves only because of special

assistance or support. If the student receives no special help, the

multidisciplinary team might conclude that student would not need special

education. If, on the other hand, the student has tutoring several times a

week, works for three to five hours each night on homework with parental

assistance, and must have extra time to complete tests in order to pass or

maintain a certain grade level, that student might be considered to have a

" specific learning disability. " His/her grades may reflect all the assistance

the student is getting rather than the student's actual achievement level.

(Reference: Letter of Clarification from Hehir, Director, Office of

Special Education Programs, to Ms. M. Lillie, and Felton,

Ph.D., Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina, Inc., dated April

5, 1995. Portions of the letter have been bolded for emphasis.)

The preceding informational material has been compiled from the sources cited

and in no way constitutes legal advice. <A

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Mike Savory

AWAK(e)A © 2001

[Guest guest]

Does anybody know if this is for every state? And- does it apply to any age of

child? Or only school age?

> FYI

> Learning Disabilities Association

>

> Advocacy Memo: For Your Information #1 - 96

>

In other

> words, a student cannot be excluded from consideration of eligibility for

> special education services solely on the basis of a high IQ; no child's IQ

> can be too high for that child to be considered for eligibility for special

> education services -- even an intellectually gifted student may be considered

> for eligibility for special education. In order to qualify as having a

> specific learning disability, the student, according to Part B of IDEA and

> Part B regulations, must have a severe discrepancy between achievement and

> intellectual ability " in one of more of the following areas: oral expression,

> listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading

> comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics reasoning. "

> Intellectual ability is determined by administration of intelligence or IQ

> test(s).