District takes care labeling ‘learning disabled’

The Tigard-Tualatin School District is sharing its expertise on the Response to Intervention program with 15 other districts

By Jennifer Clampet

The Times, Dec 7, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (13 Reader comments)

ADVERTISEMENTS

TIGARD – The Tigard-Tualatin School District is a pioneering force in a relatively new intervention method that focuses on identifying children with learning disabilities before they fail in school.

Identifying and labeling a child as “learning disabled” was, according to past regulations, as simple as subtracting a reading test score from an IQ score.

A difference of 20 points could be deemed substantial enough for a student to be labeled “learning disabled” – a description that references one or more of 13 learning disabilities that hinder a child’s progress in school. The label does not include learning problems that are the result of visual, hearing or motor disabilities, mental retardation or environmental or economic disadvantages.

In the Lake Oswego School District, the point variance for the label is 30 points, and in Beaverton the point difference is about 22 points.

In Tigard and Tualatin, the points don’t matter. In Tigard and Tualatin, the school district no longer uses what is termed as a “wait to fail” and subjective approach in identifying learning disabled students.

“Saying a child has a (learning) disability is such a profound thing, and we want to be right,” said Petrea Hagen-Gilden, student services director.

The Tigard-Tualatin School District, says Hagen-Gilden, is a state and national leader in a relatively new method known as Response to Intervention used in identifying learning disabled students.

1 | 2 Next Page >>