Learning disabilities are defined as the absence of learning abilities.
SOI testing can be used to identify students at risk for school success.
The SOI is a broad-spectrum test measuring multiple different abilities to help you gain information about which learning abilities are developed and which are undeveloped.
TESTING MEASURES
There are many types of learning disabilities; the learning disabled do not all have the same profile. It is essential to any academic placement program to know which specific abilities have not yet been developed. This is the specific information that SOI testing provides.
SOI IS DIFFERENT
SOI training materials are designed specifically to teach one learning ability at a time to optimize learning and cognitive growth. Because SOI defines learning disabilities as the lack of learning abilities, the focus is on developing learning skills that help form the foundation for academic learning.
One of the difficulties in any LD program is seeing evidence of progress before the progress reaches a point where curricular performance improves. The SOI test offers a means of identifying and documenting intervening progress. You train to specific needs, and then you test to see if those abilities have improved (which they will with SOI training).
The SOI diagnostic analysis provides an individual IEP. Not only is it an individual IEP, but a very specific one which identifies the abilities that need to be developed in order to improve academic performance. The SOI diagnostic analysis clearly defines a program of educational therapy.
EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS
There are many studies that show how SOI can make a difference. The most dramatic was at University Heights School in Seattle, WA, where students were seriously behind. Some were LD, LLD, ED, and dyslexic, yet they gained an average of 14.7 IQ points (as measured by the WISCR) and showed a language gain of 2.6 stanines. In the second year, the students made an average gain of an additional 11 IQ points.
Over the two years, the students made an average gain of 25 IQ points, compared with the usual LD programs in which students typically lose about 5 IQ points and make no appreciable gain in language performance.
ADVANTAGES OF SOI TESTING
- determine the student’s learning style
- develop weak abilities identified during the testing
- provide training materials specific to weak abilities
- identify intellectual strengths
- connect strengths to materials for continued ability improvement
