School Psychology Internship Experiences with Methods of Specific Learning Disability Identification

Recent changes in legislation (IDEA) have implications for the changing role of the school psychologist, specifically in the evaluation of students with learning disabilities. There is a need to examine the attitudes and practices of school psychologists regarding specific learning disability identification as there is little consistency in how school psychology graduate students are trained in diagnosing specific learning disabilities. This topic is of critical interest since students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent the largest category of special education students. One hundred and two school psychology students were surveyed to determine the nature and extent of their knowledge of SLD identification during their internships or field placements in schools. School psychology graduate students were surveyed because they could provide the most up to date information on university training in school psychology. Specifically, the aim of this study was to determine which methods of SLD identification are students being trained in, and what methods are used in schools. The results of this survey provide a picture of how schools are following legal mandates. Results indicated that both graduate training programs and schools are using inconsistent methods of SLD identification; some schools and training programs use RTI alone, whereas others use RTI and cognitive testing. In addition, the cognitive testing measures varied across schools and training programs. Implications for school psychologists indicated the need for future research, specifically regarding why schools are not following legal mandates, and illustrated that training programs need to be training students in a variety of SLD identification procedures and practices, but should be also emphasizing those that both follow legal guidelines and are supported by research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]