A Comparison of Differences Between Students Labeled Learning Disabled and Low Achieving on Measures of Classroom Performance

Editor's Comments: Much has been written about the identification of the learning disabled. The two following articles found that identified learning disabled populations are indeed different from other types of school populations on specific variables. However, the authors differ on some critical points. Readers' comments are welcome.—JLW

Classroom performance measures of reading, spelling, and written expression developed at the University of Minnesota Institute for Research on Learning Disabilities were administered weekly over a 5-week period to 71 fifth-grade students. Although 34 of these students had been identified as LD by their schools and 37 were low achievers who had not been identified as LD, no meaningful differences had been found between their performances on several commonly used norm-referenced devices. Examination of the students' weekly performance on the classroom performance measures revealed both significant and practical differences in performance on the measures of reading, spelling, and spelling accuracy on a written expression task; no differences were found in their rates of improvement over the 5-week period. Students did not differ significantly in other methods of evaluating their writing. In general, the findings support the hypothesis that teachers' referral decisions are based on what they observe students doing in the classroom and that the subsequent administration of norm-referenced tests may reflect an inefficient confirmatory process. The implications of the findings for classification of students as LD and current practice are discussed.