Nationally, over half of the children identified as needing special education services have a learning disability. In Iowa, the majority of students are not given such a categorical label when they are determined to be in need of special education; rather, they are entitled as “eligible individuals.” The process used for making eligibility decisions can be found in the Special Education Eligibility Standards document found on the following site:
http://www.iowa.gov/educate//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=619&Itemid=1644

The following letter was developed in response to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act 2004 which mandates: “A State must adopt, consistent with 300.309, criteria for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability as defined in 300.8(c)(10).” CFR 300.307(a)

State of Iowa Criteria for determination of Specific Learning Disabilities