This report describes the implementation of professional development (PD) reforms and efforts to use teacher effectiveness (TE) data to inform PD through the third year of the initiative for all seven sites: Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), Shelby County Schools (SCS, formerly Memphis City Schools), Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS), and…

A qualitative exploration of a service-learning program for high school students with disabilities is presented. Focus groups with (n = 15) students and interviews with (n = 3) service-learning teachers at multiple service-learning sites were conducted to explore the perceptions of students and service-learning teachers regarding the impact of the…

Little is known about the implementation of assistive technology (AT) services for students in rural areas. This study investigated the AT service delivery in 10 rural districts across six states. The results indicated that students use AT across functional areas, but considerably fewer number of devices than do those not living in rural areas. AT…

This study examined special education teachers' perspectives of the instructional impact of the Florida Alternate Assessment (FAA) for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Through purposeful sampling, six special education teachers who serve students with significant cognitive disabilities and had experience administering the FAA were…

The text of a conversation with a Florida special education administrator explores such aspects as the skills that are being tested, how standards were derived, the effects of testing on curricula, special diplomas, and the improvement in scores noted in the second year of the testing. (DLS)