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School psychologists' perceptions regarding the practice of identifying reading disabilities: Cognitive assessment and response to intervention considerations
Author(s) -
Machek Greg R.,
Nelson Jason M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.20467
Subject(s) - psychology , response to intervention , school psychology , identification (biology) , intervention (counseling) , perception , reading (process) , applied psychology , cognition , learning disability , special education , service delivery framework , dynamic assessment , medical education , service (business) , developmental psychology , pedagogy , medicine , botany , economy , neuroscience , psychiatry , political science , law , economics , biology
This study surveyed a national sample of school psychologists with respect to the identification of reading disabilities (RD). It covers school psychologists' opinions regarding perceived benefits of the use of cognitive assessment in RD identification, both within and outside of an IQ–achievement discrepancy model. The survey also solicited opinions about the nature of RD, particularly conceptions of general slow learners (and readers) versus those evidencing a discrepancy. Results related to school psychologists' concerns about job security, should IQ testing be reduced, are presented. Furthermore, the perceived benefits of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model, how school psychologists see themselves contributing to an RTI effort, as well as possible hurdles to RTI implementation are covered. Measurement of these perceptions may be beneficial in informing current and future service delivery models for RD identification as well as possible training needs of currently practicing school psychologists. Finally, the current work represents an effort to measure assessment acceptability for RD identification techniques. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.