Classification and Dynamic Assessment of Children with Learning Disabilities.

The number of children classified as leami!1g disabled has increased substantially over the last 20 years. In 1976, 783,000 children were identified with learning disabilities (LD). By 1992-93, the LD population topped'." . J ·lion.These children currently comprise almost half of all the placements into special education (U.S. Office of Education, 1994). Approximately 120,000 students each year are tagged as having learning disabilities, a number equal to all Americans who have contracted AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis combined in 1995. Based on these figures, one could argue that the classification of crJldren with learning disabilities is epidemic. As Roush (1995) stated in "Arguing Over Why Johnny Can't Read." an article published in Science, "if learning to read and write or do math at expected levels were a disease, then American school children would be in the middle of an epidemic·· fp. 1986). This is a costly epidemic because public schools spend approximately $8,000 a y~ar to educate an LD student, compared to $5,500 for a nondisabled student. One direct means to deal with this epidemic is to improve the classification of children suspected of having learning disabilities. This chapter focuses on the application of dynamic testing procedures to the classification of children suspected of LD. Two important assumptions about such children are MAY 1996