Problem
Traditional approaches often exist within a context of an "all or nothing" eligibility determination where only students with a large discrepancy between their cognitive assessment and achievement scores are provided special education. However, all other groups of children are not served, including low achievers, who are arguably the most vulnerable students in need of services (Shinn et al., 1998). Under the traditional approaches, students who do not qualify for services often receive no additional support (Fletcher et al., 2002).