Council For Learning Disabilities

Mission Statement:

The Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD), an international organization composed of professionals who represent diverse disciplines, is committed to enhancing the education and quality of life for individuals with learning disabilities across the life span. CLD accomplishes this by promoting and disseminating evidence-based research and practices related to the education of individuals with learning disabilities. In addition, CLD fosters (a) collaboration among professionals; (b) development of leaders in the field; and (c) advocacy for policies that support individuals with learning disabilities at local, state, and national levels.

Let's Talk About Solutions

COVID-19 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES:

Click on the following links to access:

CLD Letter to Congress: Adequately Fund Special Education in New Stimulus Bill (April 15, 2020)

Joint Letter to Congress: No Additional Waivers for Meeting Needs of SWLD (April 9, 2020)

COVID-19 and Students with Disabilities: Interpreting IDEA in Current Climate

Question and Answer Document (OSEP)

Joint Webinar on OSEP Guidance

CLD will share updates and additional resources with you as they become available.

Diversity Statement

CLD’s Board of Trustees is proud to share the CLD Diversity Statement that stemmed from the work of the Diversity Committee. The statement is available on the About page of our website. Thank you to all of those who pushed this work forward and provided input.

SLD & Eligibility Under IDEA: Practice and Policy

In collaboration with our six partners, Council for Learning Disabilities is proud to announce the release of three new resources to help states and districts  improve the evaluation process.   The Principles for SLD Eligibility: Practice & Policy Considerations for States and School Districts (Click here to read the paper) released in July, 2019, was a joint effort of CLD and their ten partners.  Recognizing that some of the eight principles in that paper lent themselves to further elaboration, we developed these three more robust resources on three of the principles:

      – A Comprehensive Evaluation for a Child Suspected to Have SLD

      – Effective Use of Instructional Response Data in an Evaluation

      – Selective Use of Data on Cognitive Assessments Within an Evaluation

The three more comprehensive resources released today highlight policy and practice considerations that can support the implementation of these joint principles and encourage districts to move toward high-quality identification and evaluation processes.

       Click here to read each of the three new resouces.

While each state has its own process for determining eligibility for special education under the SLD category and though we do not endorse a particular method for identification, there is room for improvement.  Regardless of the model they use, it is imperative that states and districts continue to examine their practices and policies in an effort to better serve students.

Doctoral Funding:  Check out our new information page for funding resources for doctoral students.  Doctoral Program Funding

Job Postings:  Check out our Job Postings page.  These will be pre-approved job postings for university or other high-level positions.  Look under Professional Development – Job Postings.