A review of the Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (LDES)

The Learning Disability Evaluation Scale (LDES; McCarney, 1996) was develop ed for educators to identify students with learning disabilities using obse rvations. The purpose of the tool is to provide information contributing to the educational diagnosis of learning disability. The instrument consists of 88 items arranged on seven subscales based on the federal government's d efinition of learning Disabilities (U.S. Office of Education, 1968). "Speci fic learning disability" refers to a disorder in one or more of the basic p sychological processes of understanding or using language manifested in dif ficult performance in listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spel ling, or doing mathematical calculations. The term includes conditions such as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain function, dyslexia, a nd developmental aphasia. Children who have learning problems as a result o f visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, mental retardation, emotional distur bance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage are not include d. This review is an attempt to describe the strengths and weaknesses of th e LDES. (C) 2001 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by E lsevier Science Ltd.