This spring, the New Jersey Senate Education Committee advanced legislation to establish new State requirements on how to determine whether a student has a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) under IDEA. The bill, S-1812, prohibits the use of a ‘severe discrepancy model’, which compares a student’s intellectual ability with their achievement in order to determine whether a student has a specific learning disability.
IDEA allows states to use three methods for identifying whether a student has a Specific Learning Disability: First, states must not require districts to use a ‘severe discrepancy’ approach; second, states must allow districts to use a process based on the student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention (known at Response to Intervention, or RTI); and third, states may allow the use of other alternative research-based procedures.
Currently, New Jersey regulations only allow school districts to use the first two methodologies: a severe discrepancy or RTI.
New regulations would allow districts to use either a process based on a student’s response to scientific, research-based intervention or other alternative research-based methods.
This bill will give school districts the flexibility needed to implement proven procedures that most benefit New Jersey students.
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