Impact on Psychologists of State Guidelines for Evaluating Underachievement

Despite continuing controversy about the validity of distinguishing between subgroups of low achievers, evaluating discrepancies between ability and achievement remains central to current practice in identifying students as learning disabled (LD) for special education services. State education department (SED) efforts to operationalize the discrepancy criterion and to specify “best practice” take on particular importance given the nature of practitioner difficulties reported in the literature and the need to increase the reliability of identification. Information from 290 nationally certified school psychologists (64.4% of the original random sample) was compared with data collected by Frankenberger and Fronzaglio (1991) on SED recommendations to evaluate how effectively recommendations were being communicated and followed. The trend toward more appropriate methods of quantifying a discrepancy noted in reviews of SED guidelines was reflected in the practices reported by those working in such states. Evidence also suggested considerable questionable practice stemming from inadequate clarity of guidelines and absence of guidelines. Findings indicate that one immediately available avenue for improving LD identification is to clarify a number of SED guidelines and provide such guidelines in states where they do not currently exist.