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BOTH:

_____1. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) from Grade 12 identifying the student as being served for a specific learning disability, and

_____2. A Multi-Factored Psychoeducational Assessment completed by psychologist or school psychologist during Grades 10, 11, or 12. This assessment must indicate that the student has a diagnosed Learning Disability and is receiving services for the disability. Please see the Guidelines for Documentation of Specific Learning Disabilities for more information regarding the Psychoeducational Assessment.

OR:

_____3. Students who do not have recent documentation from high school may submit data from a Psychoeducational Assessment with a private psychologist or school psychologist, stating the presence of a specific Learning Disability.

Note:  ALL documentation listed above must meet the standards of information included noted below.

1. Testing must be current (within the past 3-5 years).
2. Testing must indicate a specific diagnosis from the DSM-IV. **Please note that individual "learning styles", "learning differences", and "academic problems" in and of themselves do not constitute a Learning Disability. The nature and the severity of the disability must be supported by the psychoeducational assessment.
3. Actual test scores must be provided. (Standard scores for all normed measures or percentiles are acceptable, grade equivalents are not unless standard scores/percentiles are also included.)
4. Test scores must show evidence of significant discrepancies and intra-individual differences.
5. A description of requested accommodations including the rationale must be provided.
6. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation. They must indicate licensure or certification on the assessment.

MINIMALLY, DOMAINS TO BE ADDRESSED MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-version III (WAIS-III) (the preferred Instrument).
• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Test of Cognitive Ability Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition

Note: The Slosson Intelligence Test-Revised and the Kaufman Adult Intelligence Test do not constitute adequate intelligence test measures.

• Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised: Tests of Achievement
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
• Stanford Test of Academic Skill (TASK)
• Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
• Or, specific achievement tests such as the Test of Written Language-2 (TOWL-2), Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised; or the Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test
   

Note: The Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised is not a comprehensive measure of Achievement, and therefore is not acceptable if used as the sole measure of achievement. Also, the Nelson-Deny is not an appropriate diagnostic measure of Reading achievement. It is a useful screening instrument when administered under standardized conditions, but it should not be used as basis for diagnosis.

• Detroit Tests of Learning Aptitude-3 (DTLA-3)
• Information from subtests of the WAIS-III, or the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability
• Other instruments relevant to the presenting learning problem

Notes on the Specific Diagnosis
Individual “learning styles”, “learning differences”, “academic problems”, and “test difficulty or anxiety”, in and of themselves, do not constitute a learning disability.  It is important to rule out alternative explanations for problems in learning such as emotional, attentional or motivational problems that may be interfering with learning but do not constitute a learning disability.  The diagnostician is encouraged to use direct language in the diagnosis and documentation of a learning disability, avoiding the use of terms such as “suggests” or “is indicative of”.

1. demonstration of the evaluator’s having ruled out alternative explanations for academic problems as a result of poor education, poor motivation and/or study sills, emotional problems, attentional problems and cultural/language differences;
2. indication of how patterns in the student’s cognitive ability, achievement and information processing reflect the presence of a learning disability;
3. indication of the substantial limitation to learning or other major life activity presented by the learning disability and the degree to which it impacts the individual in the learning context for which accommodations are being requested; and
4. indication as to why specific accommodations are needed and how the effects of the specific disability are accommodated.

The summary should also include any record of prior accommodation or auxiliary aids, including any information about specific conditions under which the accommodations were used (e.g., standardized testing, final exams, licensing or certification examinations).

Please forward all documentation to:  Office of Student Access, Malone, 515 25^th Street NW, Canton OH  44709