Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) account for half of all the students deemed eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The 2004 Amendments to the Act and regulations include significant changes with regard to the "severe discrepancy" and "response to intervention (RTI)" criteria for SLD eligibility. In the current atmosphere, this monograph provides what is not available in the literature to date ? a comprehensive and objective synthesis of the various applicable sources of law, including the various pertinent U.S. Department of Education policy interpretations and the more than 80 published hearing/review officer and updated case decisions under IDEA.