Predictors of Statewide Specific Learning Disability Identification Across United States Educational Settings

The relationships between response to intervention (RTI) data, cognitive ability, academic achievement, identification methods, and specific learning disability (SLD) identification have been studied extensively in recent years; however, an empirically supported method of identifying a learning disability has yet to be agreed upon. Without a better understanding of the multifaceted relationship between the set of predictors and SLD identification, the challenges of identifying children with SLD may continue. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the influence of state identified tiered support system, RTI approach, academic achievement, free/reduced lunch status, and SLD identification method on the incidence of SLD within the educational setting using secondary data. Results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that most of the predictors were not statistically significant; however, No Approach and RTI and Other ID have significant coefficients, suggesting these categorical variables may have some kind of relationship with the dependent variable.. This information may be useful for school districts, the Department of Education, school psychologists, student support teams, and multidisciplinary teams identifying students with learning disabilities. Results from this study may help promote positive social change by providing clarification regarding the most effective variables in identifying a learning disability, helping mitigate the over- and under-identification of students with learning disabilities.