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This study compared the school performance of a sample of slow learners who qualified for special education as learning disabled with a sample of slow karners who did not qualify for special education. The intent of the study was to determine which group of slow learners was more successful in school in order to know if special education or regular education is the most beneficial educational "placement" for the slow learner. Findings suggest that neither group of slow learners is successful in school; both are doing remarkably poorly. Given this outcome, it is imperative that educators find the courage to acknowledge the plight of slow learners. Educational alternatives are required to prevent slow learners from continuing to fall through the cracks.
Imagine having your child lose his spark and enthusiasm for school as early as the first or second grade because school is very difficult for the child and he or she is not yet reading, writing, or performing basic arithmetic. Then imagine being told by the professionals at the school that your child is 1 to 2 years behind and will always struggle in school. You are told that your child is a slow learner (70-85 IQ range with commensurate achievement) and does not have a learning disability (average IQ range of 85-115 or higher, with a severe discrepancy between predicted and actual achievement) and thus does not qualify for special education services. What the professionals do not tell you is that 30 years ago, the 70-85 IQ range of your slow-learning child would have qualified him for special education services as a student with "borderline" mental retardation. But today because of political, social, and economic reasons, your child will be left to fall through the cracks of the educational system.
This was not always the case. Prior to 1973, children who are now considered to fall within the slow learner range could receive special education services (Luick & Senf, 1979). However, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142, reauthorized in 1990 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]), in conjunction with legislative, bureaucratic revisions in classification categories and eligibility criteria, resulted in the elimination of special education services for slow learners. The cutoff for the mental retardation range...