Guidelines for Identification of a Learning Disability – State of Connecticut 

The Connecticut State Department of Education has adopted the following criteria, consistent with 34 CFR § 300.309, to be used by all public agencies to determine whether a student has a specific learning disability: 

• • • The child does not achieve adequately for the child’s age or meet state-approved grade-level standards in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child’s age or state-approved grade-level standards: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics problem solving;  

    • The child does not make sufficient progress to meet age or state-approved grade-level standards in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematics problem solving, when using a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention; 

    • The child has been provided with explicit and systematic instruction in the essential components of scientific, research-based reading instruction, or math instruction, from a qualified teacher, including documentation of regular assessments of achievement;  

    • The child’s learning difficulties are not primarily the result of a visual, hearing or motor disability; an intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, cultural factors, or environmental or economic disadvantage, or limited English proficiency, and 2 

    • The disability must adversely affect the child’s educational performance and, as a result, the child requires special education to address her or his unique educational needs. 

As of July 1, 2009, in order to identify a student with a specific learning disability, the Connecticut State Department of Education no longer permits the use of:  

• • • A severe discrepancy between educational performance and measured intellectual ability (IQ achievement discrepancy) (Connecticut State Department of Education, 1999), 

AND no longer requires: 

• • • A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes that impacts the areas of educational weakness (Connecticut State Department of Education, 1999). 

Emotional Disturbance: Defining Criteria

In determining eligibility under the IDEA, the PPT must:

Decide if a student has an emotional condition that is manifested by one or more of the five characteristics listed in the definition of emotional disturbance, specifically:  

• • • an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors;  

    • an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; 

    • inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances;  

    • a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or  

    • a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. 

Determine that these characteristics meet the qualifying conditions or limiting criteria of: 

• • • having an adverse effect on educational performance,  

    • occurring over a long period of time (chronicity); and  

    • occurring to a marked degree (severity).

One requirement of establishing special education eligibility due to emotional disturbance is that one or more of the five characteristics listed in the definition is present. The definition further requires that the characteristic(s) must have an adverse effect on educational performance, be exhibited for a long period of time and to a marked degree (i.e., frequent and intense). Eligibility determination should be based on evidence drawn from different environments and should take into account the student’s developmental stage, as well as environmental, cultural and linguistic factors.