OSEP Letters, Part 1: Twice-Exceptional Students, SLD Eligibility & the End of “Severe Discrepancy”

Karen kicks off a multi-part series on must-know guidance letters from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Today’s focus: the Dec 20, 2013 letter about twice-exceptional (2e) students and how states may—and may not—determine Specific Learning Disability (SLD) eligibility under IDEA.

What you’ll learn:

• Why high cognition does not disqualify a student from IDEA eligibility.
• The two-part test for IDEA eligibility (impairment + need for special education/related services).
• The 2004 IDEA reauthorization changes that matter (ESY, transition, removal of severe discrepancy requirement).
• What states must permit (RTI/response to scientific, research-based interventions) and what they must not require(a severe discrepancy).
• “Cut scores” and why one test or single metric cannot be the sole criterion.
• The nine academic areas (incl. dyslexia/reading domains) used when considering SLD.
• How to use the letter in meetings (and get it into deliberations) when schools say “the numbers are the numbers.”
• Why district “policies” can’t narrow federal rights—and how to ask for the actual board policy.

Quote to remember: “We don’t educate to please the adults in the room—we educate to meet the needs of the child.”

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