This case is designed to help school leaders develop skills needed to work with interdisciplinary groups while demonstrating the complex issues faced while considering the special education needs of students. The case further examines a child study team meeting from the lens of different participants, including the principal, teacher, school…

The ability to significantly increase and sustain gains in early literacy for students with disabilities and a desire to bridge the gap between compliance and results-driven accountability (RDA) led Washington State to innovate a solution. This state spotlight will focus on Washington's improvement strategy to address this early literacy challenge…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act broadly defines homelessness in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines homelessness broadly in an effort to provide protections and supports for students living in a variety of unstable housing situations. This ensures school stability and continued enrollment at a time when a student's nighttime residence may be constantly changing. In Washington, the number of children and…

Measures of student disadvantage--or risk--are critical components of equity-focused education policies. However, the risk measures used in contemporary policies have significant limitations, and despite continued advances in data infrastructure and analytic capacity, there has been little innovation in these measures for decades. We develop a new…

In New York City (NYC), the process of developing a child's kindergarten Individualized Education Program (IEP) happens during the year before kindergarten. This process is commonly called Turning 5. Approximately 30,000 NYC children between the ages of three and five are classified as being preschoolers with disabilities. The Turning 5 work…

Despite skyrocketing growth in its English Language Learner (ELL) population, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has been remarkably effective in improving outcomes for ELL students across the district. Achievement has increased, and gaps between ELL students and their native English-speaking peers have decreased. This success is intentional.…

This article presents the fifth part in the 12 installment Medical Home series that presents the experiences of a fictitious couple, Amita and Samir, as they learn to adapt to the reality of having a premature baby with special needs. It describes how Amita and Samir begin preparation for their daughter Anjali's enrollment in kindergarten. "EP"…

Transition is movement or change without interruption. It should be a smooth flow from one place or condition to another. While the transition plan for a student receiving special education services is designed to prepare him or her for life after high school, transition can start when a child enters preschool. The second of six distinct stages of…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) bridges traditional psychometric and classroom-based observational assessment paradigms to forge an innovative approach to measurement, with several advantages over traditional and other forms of classroom assessment. This article provides a framework for extending CBM in two ways. First, the authors explain how…

This resource is Book 9 in the Programming for Students with Special Needs series. The information in each book in the series is interrelated and can be used to provide instruction to all students. Chapters one and two cover the prevalence, causes, diagnoses, and characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. Chapters three and four cover…

Considerable variation exists across response-to-intervention (RTI) approaches. There is currently insufficient research on outcomes associated with these different RTI approaches to inform decision-making. However, school psychologists who are asked to work within an RTI model need guidance to select an approach that has a high likelihood of…