Educational Diagnosticians

He coauthored a 2024 Annals of Dyslexia article examining the strengths and limitations of the International Dyslexia Association’s definition of dyslexia and the challenges that can arise when scientific definitions are translated into educational policy and practice.

Here are links to some of his articles:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0731948721991549

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11881-024-00310-1

Dr. Albro is currently the Commissioner of the Institute of Educational Sciences National Center for Special Education Research. Her work has centered around securing funding for research in the field of reading comprehension.

Dr. Albro is the third commissioner to have been a guest on this platform. We've also had Dr. Speece (2011-2013) and Dr. Jones (2023-2026). The IES is a source of independent funding for research that helps establish evidence for What Works (www.ies.ed.gov)

Learn more about the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/programs/reading-for-understanding-research-initiative

Here are some books written by Dr. Albro:

https://naeducation.org/reaping-the-rewards-of-reading-for-understanding-initiative/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/160709486X/ref=sw_img_1?smid=&psc=1

The Clubhouse Diag crew tackle trying to understand new policies or possible new legislation for this fall.

Article: Civic Responsibility: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236745403_Democratic_Professionalism_Sharing_Authority_in_Civic_Life

Tiering system: https://tea.texas.gov/taa-letters/special-education-funding-updates

New Attendance accountability guidance (April 2026) https://spedsupport.tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/2025-10/guidance-for-the-saah-ecse-and-pre-k-program-coding-chart.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Lawyer, Torin Togut, explains the difference between RTI and the need to refer to special education, as he described in his article linked below. This paper aligns with the guidance given when Texas was under corrective action for Childfind. These two services are not exclusive. He also describes the basic elements of any RTI program. Here's a link to his article.

What do you do when you know the instructional experiences and the interventions for a child you are testing are not ideal? We explore the RIOT and ICEL matrix for creating the right blurbs for talking about this in your FIE.

See this link for some examples.

Here's a link for the AIR resource.

Here's one from Intervention Central's website.

Minnesota resource link.

Related Books: Untangling Data-Based Decision Making

(See next episode for Perry Zirkel article).

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.2023.2224055

2. 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/10.1177/00400599221121721

3. 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/practiceguides

6. https://www.thescienceofmath.com/

7. https://intensiveintervention.org/

More concerning trends in the Texas special education populations.

Dyslexia Identification: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1441293

Trends In Rates: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1291402

Texas Special Education Report: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED677545.pdf

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#fullTextFileContent

If 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/

In this episode, we talk about some trend in special education populations in Texas. We used reports from DeMatthews et al. (2025) as a springboard for our discussion.

https://texaserc.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Texas_Special_Ed_Report_4.4.2025.pdf

https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/news-and-multimedia/annual-reports/annual-report

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.