Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) said that Congress should “learn more about the way students with various learning disabilities are referred for special education and related services under IDEA.  Specifically, I want to know how IDEA can be strengthened to prevent mild learning problems from turning into lifelong disabilities." 

Educator and former Education & the Workforce Committee chairman William Goodling said, “IDEA reforms must strengthen the early identification and diagnosis of any learning, physical and emotional problems in children.”

          “Students in IDEA programs run the gamut from mild reading difficulties to severe disabilities,” said Goodling.  “Too often they are assigned to the same special education processes.  The earlier and more precise our diagnostic efforts are, the better equipped we’ll be to provide children the individual and consistent attention their needs may require.”

          Robert Pasternack, the Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, said, “We know that effective early intervention works.  The more children that we can reach early with effective interventions, especially in the area of reading, the more we will be able to help and, in some cases, reduce or even eliminate the need for future special education services.”

Since the 1976-1977 school year, when Congress first required public schools to document the number of children with learning disabilities (LD), the share of school-age students identified as LD has risen significantly.  

  Dr. Reid Lyon, Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said “there is compelling and converging evidence” that justifies investing in “early identification and prevention programs for children at risk for learning disabled.  This is especially effective with LD in reading, which is a common and troublesome type of LD, constituting 80 to 90 percent of all students with LD.” 

          Joseph F. Kovaleski, Director of Pupil Services in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, said Congress should also focus on the large number of students being identified as needing special education because of emotional and behavioral difficulties that lead to both learning and adjustment problems in school.

          “The screening and evaluation process needs to emphasize procedures and interventions for behavioral as well as academic difficulties.  The National Academy of Sciences report on minority students in special and gifted education found that the second most common reason for referrals to special education is school behavior,” said Kovaleski.  “As such, an equal amount of attention should be placed on interventions that have proven to address behavioral issues and mitigate discipline problems.  We will need to provide teachers and other school staff with the necessary professional development to address these behaviors through positive behavioral supports.”