Prevalence of learning disabilities among primary school students in north khorasan province

In order to determine the prevalence of learning disabilities among primary school students, in a survey model, 2120 students from second-fifth grades were selected from nine educational districts of North Khorasan Province through stratified sampling. After completing the Learning Disabilities Symptom Checklist (Fawcett, & Lowe, 1995) by teachers, students who had more than three symptoms, completed the researcher-devised math, reading and writing tests for second grade, researcher-devised reading and writing tests for third to fifth grade, math disability test (Malek Poor, 1994) for third and fourth grade and math disability test (Faramarzi, 1996) for fifth grade. Findings indicate that the prevalence of reading, writing and math disabilities in second grade were 6.22, 5.47 and 1.13 respectively; and in third to fifth grade they were 3.39, 4.71 and 6.09 respectively. Writing disability was significantly prevalent in boys and village students. These findings suggest that preventive and remedial actions by North Khorasan education department are essential.