Review of The achievement test desk reference: A guide to learning disability identification, second edition.

Abstract

DAWN P. FLANAGAN, SAMUEL O. ORTIZ, VINCENT C. ALFONSO and JENNIFER T. MASCOLO The Achievement Test Desk Reference: A Guide to Learning Disability Identification, Second Edition John Wiley & Sons Canada, 2006, 512 pages (ISBN: 0-471-78401-X, C$77.99 Hardcover) Reviewed by A. LYNNE BEAL The second Edition of the Achievement Test Desk Reference (ATDR-2) comes only four years after its first edition (ATDR-I). Its content echoes the first edition, with the chapters now re-organized and updated. However, this edition is also timely; its significant contributions are its theoretical and practical model for defining and assessing learning disabilities and its update of practical information for interpreting many of the new standardized achievement tests. The goal for ATDR-2 was to provide an integrated and systematic framework for achievement testing within the framework of the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of human cognitive abilities and the Response to Intervention (RTI) movement. The authors incorporated the two prominent forces in the United States today in assessment and learning disabilities. The first is the definition of learning disabilities from the most recent version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004). This American public law defines learning disabilities for the purposes of eligibility for service. In Canada, the definition provided by the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (2002) and similar provincial definitions have many parallels with IDEA 2004. Therefore, ATDR-2 can easily be used in Canada. The second force is the RTI movement. IDEA 2004 no longer requires a discrepancy between cognitive abilities and academic achievement for diagnosing learning disabilities (LD) and now permits the use of a process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based intervention (the RTI paradigm). Part 1 of ATDR-2 provides an update of the theories, definitions, assessment, interpretation, and identification of LD following IDEA 2004. The authors assert that this is the first and only published model that allows for the integration of RTI with assessment of cognitive abilities (p. xi). Chapter one debunks the myth that academic skills may be defined and measured easily. It provides a brief commentary on the history and definitions of both LD and RTI. Chapter two updates the CHC theory of abilities. Three new narrow abilities contained in four broad abilities are included, although they are not clearly flagged in the text or tables: Learning Abilities within the broad ability of Short-Term Memory (Gsm) ; a different, although identically named Learning Abilities within broad ability of Long-Term Memory Retrieval; and Speed of Reasoning, which appears within both the broad abilities of Fluid Reasoning and Processing Speed. The CHC Cross-Battery Worksheets in the Appendix have been updated to include the two forms of Learning Abilities. Chapter two updates the literature on logical and empirical links between CHC abilities and reading, mathematics, and written language. Table 2.14, familiar from previous publications, contains significant changes reflecting the literature from 2000 to 2005. Changes related to reading achievement are that a further narrow ability, Orthographic Processing from the Visual Processing area, has been added. Naming Facility from Long-Term Memory Retrieval is now shown to impact reading across the ages. Changes related to written achievement are a stronger and more consistent relation with Memory Span within Gsm, and a less strong and consistent relationship with Phonetic Coding. Orthographic Processing within Visual Processing is no longer linked to written language. No changes have been made with regard to Math Achievement. Practitioners who have relied on previous printings of this table to plan assessments to link achievement deficits to processing deficits are advised to use this updated version. …