Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 581 - OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › Division 15 - SPECIAL EDUCATION › Section 581-015-2170 - Specific Learning Disability

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1)
			 Definition of "Specific Learning Disability": For early childhood and school
			 age special education, "Specific Learning Disability" means a disorder in one
			 or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in
			 using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect
			 ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or do mathematical
			 calculations. Specific learning disability includes conditions such as
			 perceptual disabilities, brain injury, dyslexia, minimal brain dysfunction, and
			 developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are
			 primarily the result of visualor motor disabilities, deaf or hard of hearing,
			 intellectual disability, emotional behavior disability, or environmental,
			 cultural, or economic disadvantage.
(2) Comprehensive Evaluation: If a child is
			 suspected of having a specific learning disability, a comprehensive evaluation
			 must be conducted for early childhood or school age special education services,
			 including the following:
(a) Academic
			 assessment. An assessment of the child's academic achievement toward Oregon
			 grade-level standards;
(b) Review.
			 A review of cumulative records, previous IEPs or IFSPs and teacher collected
			 work samples;
(c) Observation. An
			 observation of the child in the child's learning environment (including the
			 regular classroom setting) to document the child's academic performance and
			 behavior in the areas of difficulty, which must consist of:
(A) Information from an observation by a
			 qualified professional in routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the
			 child's performance before the child was referred for an evaluation;
			 or
(B) An observation conducted by
			 a qualified professional (who is a member of the evaluation team) of the
			 child's academic performance in a regular classroom after the child has been
			 referred for an evaluation and parent consent obtained; or
(C) For a child who is less than school age
			 or out of school, an observation in an age-appropriate environment.
(d) Progress monitoring data,
			 including:
(A) Data that demonstrate that
			 before, or as part of, the referral process, the child was provided appropriate
			 instruction in regular education settings, delivered by qualified personnel;
			 and
(B) Data-based documentation of
			 repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting formal
			 assessment of student progress that is directly linked to
			 instruction.
(e) For a
			 student evaluated using a response to intervention model as part of a
			 comprehensive evaluation process to determine if the child has a specific
			 learning disability, the evaluation must include documentation of:
(A) The type, intensity, and duration of
			 scientific, research-based instructional intervention(s) provided in accordance
			 with the district's response to intervention model;
(B) The student's rate of progress during the
			 instructional intervention(s);
(C)
			 A comparison of the student's rate of progress to expected rates of
			 progress.
(D) Progress monitoring
			 on a schedule that:
(i) Allows a comparison of
			 the student's progress to the performance of peers;
(ii) Is appropriate to the student's age and
			 grade placement;
(iii) Is
			 appropriate to the content monitored; and
(iv) Allows for interpretation of the
			 effectiveness of intervention.
(f) For a student evaluated using a model
			 that is based on the student's strengths and weaknesses, the evaluation must
			 include an assessment of the student's strengths and weaknesses in classroom
			 performance and academic achievement, relative to age, Oregon grade-level
			 standards, or intellectual development.
(g) Other:
(A) If needed, a developmental
			 history;
(B) If needed, an
			 assessment of cognition, fine motor, perceptual motor, communication, social or
			 emotional, and perception or memory if the child exhibits impairment in one or
			 more these areas;
(C) If needed, a
			 medical statement or health assessment indicating whether there are any
			 physical factors that may be affecting the child's educational performance;
			 and
(D) Any other assessments
			 required to determine the impact of the suspected disability:
(i) On the child's educational performance
			 for a school-age child; or
(ii) On
			 the child's developmental progress for a preschool child.