Can the Evaluation Team Use Severe Discrepancy Between Ability and Achievement to Determine Eligibility for Learning Disability?

According to Parents Rights in Special Education (Procedural Safeguards) distributed by South Carolina's Office of Exceptional Children at the State Department of Education, the answer is yes. They advise eligibility determination teams to remember the two prong test for eligibility. The existence of a severe discrepency between ability and achievement is only one indicator of whether a child might be a child with a disability (Prong 1). Other supporting data would be needed to establish the presence of a learning disability. In addition, other types of data would be needed to indicate that the child needs special education and related services (Prong 2).