This chapter provides an overview of issues in assessment of achievement and specific learning disability (SLD). Research on SLD speaks to the importance of understanding foundational concepts within the academic domains of reading, writing, and mathematics. Therefore, the chapter begins with an introduction to these concepts. Issues in conceptualizing SLD are then reviewed prior to discussing assessment considerations for SLD. Because the purpose of assessment has implications for the tools suited to answering referral questions, discussions are organized around referral purposes, including diagnostic evaluation, requests for intervention planning or recommendations for learning supports, and assessing learning or response to intervention.
