Each year, the number of students with a documented disability in public schools in the U.S. has increased. However, school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers continue to identify a lack of confidence when teaching students with exceptionalities. This lack of confidence has been exacerbated by a lack of professional development regarding…

Functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and behavior intervention plans (BIPs) are critical components in the education of students with, or at risk for, emotional disturbance (ED). The purpose of this article is to compare the legal requirements with the professional requirements for FBAs and BIPs. The comparison is first according to the…

In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to put people with mental retardation to death for capital crimes ("Atkins v. Virginia," 2002). Justice Scalia dissented, suggesting that mental retardation is a condition easy to feign. The current study examined whether participants provided with the definition of mental…

Today's teachers, especially the many who work with students with special needs, are pressed to know a little something about everything. Expertise is needed in different content and pedagogical areas, but knowledge of different types of disabilities is required as well. Wendy Murawski and Kathy Lynn Scott have assembled another reader-friendly…

This volume focuses on evidence-based practices (EBPs), supported, sound research studies documenting their effectiveness with a target population. As such, EBPs have significant potential to improve the outcomes of learners with learning and behavioral disorders. However, a number of obstacles exist in identifying, conceptualizing, adopting, and…

Chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) has emerged as a powerful new tool to identify genomic abnormalities associated with a wide range of developmental disabilities including congenital malformations, cognitive impairment, and behavioral abnormalities. CMA includes array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and single nucleotide polymorphism…

Children with special needs have been a focus of institutional reforms in Serbia for nearly two decades. Historically, as in other Eastern European countries, children with severe developmental, emotional, and/or behavior disorders in Serbia were often placed in institutions far from their families for much of their lives. Since the fall of…

Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are developed by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Each TIP involves the development of topic-specific best-practice guidelines for the prevention and…

In this article, the author identifies and answers questions related to legal issues of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in comparison with Section 504 or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the NCLB. The author's answers to several questions concerning legal issues of IDEA are presented.