Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 27, December 30, 2024
Subpart
1.
Definition.
"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, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability
to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical
calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain
injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
The disorder is:
A.
manifested by interference with the acquisition, organization, storage,
retrieval, manipulation, or expression of information so that the child does
not learn at an adequate rate for the child's age or to meet state-approved
grade-level standards when provided with the usual developmental opportunities
and instruction from a regular school environment; and
B. demonstrated primarily in academic
functioning, but may also affect other developmental, functional, and life
adjustment skill areas; and may occur with, but cannot be primarily the result
of: visual, hearing, or motor impairment; cognitive impairment; emotional
disorders; or environmental, cultural, economic influences, limited English
proficiency or a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math.
Subp. 2.
Criteria.
A child is eligible and in need of special education and
related services for a specific learning disability when the child meets the
criteria in items A, B, and C or in items A, B, and D. Information about each
item must be sought from the parent and must be included as part of the
evaluation data. The evaluation data must confirm that the effects of the
child's disability occur in a variety of settings. The child must receive two
interventions, as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section
125A.56,
prior to evaluation, unless the parent requests an evaluation or the IEP team
waives this requirement because it determines the child's need for an
evaluation is urgent.
A. The child
does not achieve adequately in one or more of the following areas: oral
expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills,
reading comprehension, reading fluency, mathematics calculation, or
mathematical problem solving, in response to appropriate classroom instruction,
and either:
(1) the child does not make
adequate progress to meet age or state-approved grade-level standards in one or
more of the areas listed above when using a process based on the child's
response to scientific, research-based intervention (SRBI); or
(2) the child exhibits a pattern of strengths
and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age,
state-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is
determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific
learning disability.
The performance measures used to verify this finding must be
representative of the child's curriculum or useful for developing instructional
goals and objectives. Documentation is required to verify this finding. Such
documentation includes evidence of low achievement from the following sources,
when available: cumulative record reviews; classwork samples; anecdotal teacher
records; statewide and districtwide assessments; formal, diagnostic, and
informal tests; curriculum-based evaluation results; and results from targeted
support programs in general education.
B. The child has a disorder in one or more of
the basic psychological processes which includes an information processing
condition that is manifested in a variety of settings by behaviors such as
inadequate: acquisition of information; organization; planning and sequencing;
working memory, including verbal, visual, or spatial; visual and auditory
processing; speed of processing; verbal and nonverbal expression; transfer of
information; and motor control for written tasks.
C. The child demonstrates a severe
discrepancy between general intellectual ability and achievement in one or more
of the following areas: oral expression, listening comprehension, written
expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, reading fluency,
mathematics calculation, or mathematical problem solving. The demonstration of
a severe discrepancy shall not be based solely on the use of standardized
tests. The group shall consider these standardized test results as only one
component of the eligibility criteria. The instruments used to assess the
child's general intellectual ability and achievement must be individually
administered and interpreted by an appropriately licensed person using
standardized procedures. For initial placement, the severe discrepancy must be
equal to or greater than 1.75 standard deviations below the mean of the
distribution of difference scores for the general population of individuals at
the child's chronological age level.
D. The child demonstrates an inadequate rate
of progress. Rate of progress is measured over time through progress monitoring
while using intensive SRBI, which may be used prior to a referral, or as part
of an evaluation for special education. A minimum of 12 data points are
required from a consistent intervention implemented over at least seven school
weeks in order to establish the rate of progress. Rate of progress is
inadequate when the child's:
(1) rate of
improvement is minimal and continued intervention will not likely result in
reaching age or state-approved grade-level standards;
(2) progress will likely not be maintained
when instructional supports are removed;
(3) level of performance in repeated
assessments of achievement falls below the child's age or state-approved
grade-level standards; and
(4)
level of achievement is at or below the fifth percentile on one or more valid
and reliable achievement tests using either state or national comparisons.
Local comparison data that is valid and reliable may be used in addition to
either state or national data. If local comparison data is used and differs
from either state or national data, the group must provide a rationale to
explain the difference.
Subp. 3.
Determination of specific
learning disability.
In order to determine that the criteria for eligibility in
subpart
2 are met, documentation must
include:
A. an observation of the
child in the child's learning environment, including the regular classroom
setting, that documents the child's academic performance and behavior in the
areas of difficulty. For a child of less than school age or out of school, a
group member must observe the child in an environment appropriate to the
child's age. In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability,
the parents and the group of qualified professionals, as provided by Code of
Federal Regulations, title 34, section 300.308, must:
(1) use information from an observation in
routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the child's performance that
was done before the child was referred for a special education evaluation;
or
(2) conduct an observation of
academic performance in the regular classroom after the child has been referred
for a special education evaluation and appropriate parental consent has been
obtained; and
(3) document the
relevant behavior, if any, noted during the observation and the relationship of
that behavior to the child's academic functioning;
B. a statement of whether the child has a
specific learning disability;
C.
the group's basis for making the determination, including that:
(1) the child has a disorder, across multiple
settings, that impacts one or more of the basic psychological processes
described in subpart
1 documented by information
from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent
input, and teacher recommendations, as well as information about the child's
physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior;
and
(2) the child's
underachievement is not primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor
impairment; developmental cognitive disabilities; emotional or behavioral
disorders; environmental, cultural, or economic influences; limited English
proficiency; or a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, verified
by:
(a) data that demonstrate that prior to,
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 the child's progress during instruction, which was provided to
the child's parents;
D. educationally relevant medical findings,
if any;
E. whether the child meets
the criteria in subpart
2, either items A, B, and C
or items A, B, and D; and
F. if the
child has participated in a process that assesses the child's response to SRBI,
the instructional strategies used and the child-centered data collected, the
documentation that the parents were notified about the state's policies
regarding the amount and nature of child performance data that would be
collected and the general education services that would be provided, strategies
for increasing the child's rate of learning, and the parent's right to request
a special education evaluation.
Subp.
4.
Verification.
Each group member must certify in writing whether the report
reflects the member's conclusion. If it does not reflect the member's
conclusion, the member must submit a separate statement presenting the member's
conclusions.
The district's plan for identifying a child with a specific
learning disability consistent with this part must be included with its total
special education system (TSES) plan. The district must implement its
interventions consistent with that plan. The plan should detail the specific
SRBI approach, including timelines for progression through the model; any SRBI
that is used, by content area; the parent notification and consent policies for
participation in SRBI; procedures for ensuring fidelity of implementation; and
a district staff training plan.
Statutory Authority: MS s
14.389; 120.17;
121A.515;
121A.67;
125A.07;
L
1999 c 123
s
19,
20
