Defining the Role of Intellectual and Cognitive Assessment in Special Education

Abstract

The re-authorization of IDEA has stimulated an intense debate over the utility of comparing IQ to achievement scores to determine eligibility under the Learning Disabled classification. The debate has spilled over into a generalized attack against the use of tests of intellectual functioning in the process of determining eligibility for special education. This paper explores the utility of intellectual assessment and the proposed alternative to diagnosing learning disabilities. IQ tests are used to measure multiple, complex problem-solving abilities that are affected by a number of specific cognitive processes. These specific processes include, among others, abstract reasoning, concept formation, declarative memory, retrieval of semantic information from memory, working memory, attention to details, multi-tasking, pattern matching, visualconstruction abilities, rapid visual identification, visuo-motor integration, verbal productivity, verbal problem solving, language comprehension, object naming, word knowledge, visualperceptual and visual-spatial problem solving, and sequential reasoning. Intelligence tests uniquely measure the integrated functioning of all these processes to provide an indicator of the integrity of the problem-solving system. IQ tests have been developed to identify individual variability in cognitive functioning. In the hands of a trained professional, the interpretation of a child’s performance on these tests can provide insight to the nature of underlying processing deficits and directions for useful modifications or accommodations needed to teach that child. A child’s performance on specific subtests indicates his or her strengths and weaknesses in information processing. For instance, some children may have very poorly developed vocabulary and limited world knowledge; but have significant strengths in their ability to repeat auditory information and to rapidly identify and manipulate visual information. This child may be able to repeat information, but lacks comprehension skills to act appropriately on it. Because of this, others may believe that the child chooses to ignore or defy verbal requests or not to demonstrate what he or she has learned, which may result in punitive rather than accommodative reactions to the child’s behavior. Historically, tests of intellectual functioning were strongly influenced by the concept of ‘g’. This concept implies that there is only one primary cognitive ability that accounts for an individual’s performance on a wide variety of problem solving tests. This conceptualization is supported by the findings that in healthy individuals performance across complex problem solving tasks is highly correlated. Sophisticated factor analytic research has supported the existence of related but dissociable cognitive abilities including verbal and visual perceptual problem solving, working memory, and processing speed. These skills have been demonstrated to exhibit differential sensitivity to the effects of normal aging and brain injury. Most recently, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, have expanded our understanding of how the brain processes

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