Waiting Too Late to Test?

"Maybe their parents work two jobs and just don't have time to read a book to them at night," he said.

Many school systems, including Loudoun, have sought to revamp general education programs in response to concerns about high numbers of minority students who flow into special education. African Americans make up about 8 percent of Loudoun students, but they constituted about 12 percent of the county's special education population last year.

"It's easy to reduce the numbers of children in special education programs. You just have to stop referring them," said Douglas Fuchs, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University. What's harder, he said, is finding and implementing programs that will help students in the classroom.

Advocates for students with learning disabilities say there is too little research about how the RTI strategy works for middle or high school students and not enough teacher preparation. Many parents worry that their children will tread water in regular classrooms while disabilities go undiagnosed.

"So much is placed upon teachers today. Here's yet another burden for the teacher to get kids lined up and identified. . . . Are they just management problems? Are they late bloomers? Are there sociological issues? There's a tremendous amount of information teachers need to sift through," said Charles Giglio, president of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, a group that represents parents of learning-disabled children.

Giglio said schools should offer students who show signs of possible disabilities a battery of psychological and educational tests as early as possible to pinpoint problem areas and help guide teachers. Federal law allows parents to request an evaluation at any time, but many parents are unaware of that right, he said.

Loudoun special education officials said they are reluctant to refer anyone to testing before trying interventions first. "We try to make smart referrals," said John J. Lody, diagnostic services supervisor.

Last year, of about 2,200 students monitored in the classroom, 1,800 were referred for special education evaluations, he said. About three-fourths of those were found eligible.

Some parents seek help from professional advocates or pay for outside testing, which can cost thousands of dollars. Stacey Russello of Lovettsville took her son Miles Banister to be tested at Yale University two years ago. Results showed that the sixth-grader performed at or above grade level in many areas but was at the second-grade level in spelling and written expression.

When he was younger, Miles had attention-deficit disorder diagnosed, and he attended a private school for learning-disabled students, as did his brother, Christian, who had dyslexia diagnosed. When they came to Loudoun more than two years ago, both were enrolled in general education. His younger brother adapted easily to a regular classroom with a little help. Miles had a harder time. He needed more help in the classroom, and the support was inconsistent, his mother said. So were his grades. He came close to failing last school year.

One recent evening, Miles, 14, glued plastic parts to a Styrofoam car he was building for physical science class, and his mother pointed to an open weekly assignment book on the kitchen counter with several past-due assignments written in barely legible handwriting. Miles said he is distracted by the tiniest sounds from the computer or the air conditioning in his classrooms at Harmony Intermediate. Even with extra help from the school -- he can use his laptop in class and is given extra time on tests -- he said that homework piles up in his locker and that he feels overwhelmed by the workload.

"At first it was hard to manage. Now I just can't seem to get it right," he said.

Russello said she thinks Miles would be better served in special education, with a longer-term, Individualized Education Plan. At her request, a team of teachers and school system staff members recently agreed to refer him for eligibility screening, and a meeting is scheduled for February.

Philip and Jereme Goshorn are hoping for a similar meeting but said they are still in "wait and see" mode, watching for signs of improvement in the regular classrooms. Tylor's grades, usually average or better, took a dip this term.

Philip Goshorn said he struggled through school himself when he was growing up in Loudoun. At the time, he remembers feeling less capable than his classmates, like he was "not college material."

He repeated his junior year and saw a specialist at the University of Virginia, who identified some short-term learning problems. He is worried his daughter might have to wait too long for the right kind of help.

Goshorn said he and his wife have been looking for answers for three years now. "Instead of looking at symptoms, let's look at the cause of the problems," he said.