Educational Diagnosticians

Dr. Robin Codding tells us how we can test for math disabilities and drive instruction at the same time- the Evidence-Based way!1. Codding, R. S., Nelson, G., Kiss, A. J., Shin, J., Goodridge, A., & Hwang, J. (2025). A Meta-Analysis of the Relations Between Curriculum-Based Measures in Mathematics and Criterion Measures. School Psychology Review, 54(3), 275–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2023.22240552. Codding, R. S., Peltier, C., & Campbell, J. (2023). Introducing the Science of Math. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 56(1), 6-11. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/004005992211217213. VanderHeyden, A. M., Codding, R. S. Belief-Based Versus Evidence-Based Math Assessment and Instruction: What School Psychologists Need to Know to Improve Student Outcomes By Amanda M. VanDerHeyden & Robin S. Codding (2021). The science of math: The importance of mastery measures and the quest for a general outcome measure. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1322824 4. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED500486.pdf 5. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/practiceguides6. https://www.thescienceofmath.com/7. https://intensiveintervention.org/

Eric Elias is a co-host of the School Psyched! Podcast, and was School Psychologist of the year this year. He shares the hot topics discussed at NASP this year, and we discuss his article: Muddled Measurement : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350098337_Muddled_Measurement_A_Historical_Perspective_on_Questionable_Practices_in_School_Psychology's_Assessment_of_Learning_Disabilities#fullTextFileContentIf you want to follow the School Psyched podcast, you can join live discussions by going here: https://thetestingpsychologist.com/podcast-crossover-with-school-psyched-rebecca-comizio-rachael-donnelly-and-eric-elias/

Is there a time when something is not normal but it is also not a disability?Is there a time when something IS normal, but it is a disability?We tackle ideas about what it means to be disabled. It's not a simple as it seems.

Nazzie discusses the new definition of Dyslexia as published by the International Dyslexia Association with listeners. The discussion includes a summary of her publication that attempts to analyze and critique the Texas guidance documents against evidence-based assessment practices. Here's a link to the article: https://www.etamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-Pater-Rov-Tagged.pdfIf you want to know more about the new definition of dyslexia, refer to the International Dyslexia Association.

Dr. Collins has recently become the president elect of the Counsel on Learning Disabilities. Her research is about teaching writing. She's a CALT, so she understands the challenges of teaching those with dyslexia. From writing instruction, to the importance of evidence and the CLD's stance on diagnosing learning disabilities, she has a lot to share. The future of the CLD is in good hands with Dr. Collins' leadership!Here's her article on writing interventions: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19APKoZI2tTqWz07Oe4QGdmUVmuZowecf/view?usp=sharing

Remember when Texas had a cap on the number of special education students who could be in special education? Dr. Morgan is the one who helped expose the harm of the cap. Dr. Morgan and Hu work for University at Albany’s Institute for Social and Health Equity. Time after time, they find that if there are 2 kids with the same reading or math struggles, the mainstream white student will be more likely to get the services than the minority child of color. Check out their articles: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10xjzZu0o4LDXZhOFbJgGTZp1dqjVR1Sp/view?usp=drive_linkhttps://drive.google.com/file/d/16xqlFTquDhavfPu56RnwZ7uaeLhyPB4O/view?usp=sharing

What would special education look like if it didn't include high incidence disabilities? Are you a preservist or a transformist? This one talks about the vision of special education. It reviews a book by Thomas Hehir, the director of OSEP for six years during the reauthorization of IDEA. His book is available on Amazon. https://a.co/d/13IJxrg

Clubhouse members gather to discuss the contributions of Lynn Fuchs in memory of her at the time of her passing. She passed away on May 7, 2025. He leaves behind her husband, Doug, son, and grandson, in addition to numerous mentees and research colleagues. Her memory will live on in her contributions to CBM development, reading and math interventions, and the RTI model of SLD assessment. Here are some research articles and book chapters that she is known for:https://academic.oup.com/minnesota-scholarship-online/book/29366/chapter-abstract/244323372?redirectedFrom=fulltexthttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2307/1511189https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED459544https://ies.ed.gov/learn/blog/spotlighting-doug-and-lynn-fuchs-two-decades-innovation-special-education-research

Amy Smith interviews Dr. Kathleen Pfannenstiel, from American Institutes of Research, about the evidence-based assessment of math. She talks the importance of independent research, the most common challenges for students with disabilities, and integrating CBM into our evaluations. She refers to several related resources listed below:Links: Math Podcast SeriesMath Fact Fluency Norms:https://www.rocketmath.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Rocket_Math_2013_Fact_Fluency_Benchmarks.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOorlzO4zC94YkQGSpaQh4gAB65dggbSfU03AqyC6__OdCk22pv7hhttps://www.jimwrightonline.com/mixed_files/lansing_IL/_Lansing_IL_Aug_2013/5_CBA_Math_Computation_Directions.pdfWorksheet generator:https://www.math-aids.com/https://superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/#google_vignettehttps://math-drills.com/Supporting Mathematics Intervention in Elementary School (NCII website): https://intensiveintervention.org/resource/supporting-mathematics-intervention-elementary-school Infusing EBPs to Improve Middle School Math Instruction: https://mtss4success.org/blog/infusing-ebps-middle-school-math-instruction Lesson Plans to Support High-Quality Middle School Math Instruction: https://mtss4success.org/blog/lesson-plans-middle-school-math

A new, revised version of the Guidance for the Comprehensive Evaluation of SLD in Texas is now available. We will get a training on this from TEA. In the mean time, Candace, Nazzie, and some others on Clubhouse discuss their impressions. Candace goes over her Top 10 Takeaways from reading the document. Here's a link to her notes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19ZC1daO72dx0h8NT5vrG0QwqJ3qRrHKKLgHZo1P8TKE/mobilebasic

Learning to use CBM has become a valuable skill. Michelle Hosp has made it easy by providing step by step guidance in her book: The ABC's of CBM. Here's a link to her book: https://www.guilford.com/books/The-ABCs-of-CBM/Hosp-Hosp-Howell/9781462524662?srsltid=AfmBOor87pNMcb5aSa0R5PqWD8NCZGYLimlMZEnKNHppdJJxPdUXQ-QnYou may also know her for her work with Renaissance Learning, an evidence-based assessment system listed on the NCII toolkit.

Dr. Linda Siegel produced important research which helped her to illustrate that cognitive testing was not relevant to the diagnosis of dyslexia. She led the way to revisiting this finding when she edited a journal for the IDA asking for researchers to weigh in on IDA's definition of dyslexia. She's also well known for her books: Not Lazy, Not Stupid & Understanding Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities.Here's a journal article she wrote: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002221948902200803

Candace Vielma talks with Jan Cook and Diane Burke about Reading by Design, a Texas approved dyslexia curriculum.