academic deficiencies are not the results of "...visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disturbance; cultural factors; environmental or economic disadvantage; or Limited English proficiency" (§300.309[a][3]) or of a lack of instruction ((§300.309[a][4]). Notably, a child must demonstrate qualifications under all four of these criteria to be identified with an SLD. Kovaleski, VanDerHeyden and Shapiro (2013) used these IDEA regulations to operationalize how evaluation teams could utilize data collected during the provision of a multi-tier system of support in the evaluation process, particularly those data that inform the second SLD criterion of the child's failure to make sufficient progress in response scientific, research-based intervention (namely, RTI). Although evaluation teams may collect additional data after parents give permission for a full and individual evaluation, there should be ample data collected during three tiers of core instruction and robust intervention that can be analyzed to address all four of the SLD criteria. In regard to the first SLD criterion, students undergoing multiple tiers of support have typically undergone multiple assessments of their academic skills, including annual state tests, universal screenings of all students that schools typically conduct three times per year, and academic assessments by specialists who deliver increasingly intense academic interventions. To qualify under this first criterion, the preponderance of these data should indicate a significant academic deficiency in at least one of the identified areas. When using RTI as a component of eligibility decision-making, the school entity (school district, state) establishes a policy that identifies the option of using RTI to address the second SLD criterion (and opts not to select the option to use an assessment of the student's pattern of strengths and weaknesses). The determination that the student fails to make sufficient progress toward age or grade standards is based on an analysis of the progress-monitoring data that are collected during the provision of intensive intervention, typically at tiers 2 and 3 of a multi-tier system of support. These data consist of the results of short assessments of key academic indicators that are administered as often as once or twice weekly. These data are graphed and rates of improvement calculated so that school teams can determine whether their interventions are working. These data are then compared to the rates of improvement made by typically performing students to determine whether the interventions that are being implemented in general education are sufficient to allow the student to reach grade