A Field Test of a Procedure for Identifying Learning Disability

An identification procedure based on a developmental model of learning disability was tested against public school placement of children in services for the learning disabled. Discriminant analyses indicated that the subtests chosen for hypothesized age-related deficits (from ages 7 through 16 classified from 77% to 89% of the cases as compared with the school district's selection. Our battery for ages 4 to 7 did not discriminate well. An application of the procedure is given in the article. The authors do not suggest that the tests used in this procedure are the best ones necessarily, but the procedure could be tested with other instruments.