Earlier this year the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education (OSEP) advised Tennessee that its then-current eligibility criteria for Specific Learning Disabilities was in conflict with federal regulations. The previous Tennessee policy read, in part:

“Children who perform in classroom academics in a manner commensurate with expected academic standards at the child’s grade level cannot be considered as having a Specific Learning Disability, even though they may show deficits on achievement tests in one or more of seven academic areas.”

In contrast 2006 federal regulations provide: “Each State much ensure that FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) is available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or a grade, and is advancing from grade to grade .. The determination that a child is eligible under this part must be made on an individual basis by the group responsible within the child’s LEA (Local Education Agency) for making eligibility determinations.