A Comparison of Five Discrepancy Criteria for Determining Learning Disabilities in Secondary School Populations

Abstract

Two groups of students were identified in grades 7 through 12--a school-defined learning disabled group and a group of low achieving students who were not receiving special education services. Five operational definitions of discrepancy were applied using test information obtained- from the two groups to determine the correspondence between the existing classification of the students and classifications based on each of the five discrepancy criteria. Two criteria were found to be the most consistent with-current public school practice in selecting LD students. However, a substantial proportion of low-achieving students met these two LD criteria.