Meeting the academic and behavioral needs of students with and without disabilities and improving educational outcomes requires effective school-based and special education teaming. Yet, more often than not, frontline practitioners have been prepared to work individually rather than together in problem-solving teams. Furthermore, teachers receive…

During the 2023 Legislative Session, the Legislature considered House Bill (HB) 1479, a measure which would have prohibited isolation and further restricted restraint in public schools. While the bill did not pass, the Legislature provided the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) with designated state funds to begin actualizing…

Educators are demanding learning specific to their needs, and there are more options than ever for school systems to personalize learning. Sometimes these personalized learning options go hand-in-hand with teacher effectiveness systems that districts use to identify areas for educator growth. At the same time, schools and teams set collective…

Communicating with parents is a key role for teachers to foster relationships that will support student learning. This essay and discussion article focuses on a range of strategies teachers can use to promote effective communication with parents of children with special needs. The increasing prevalence of students with disabilities in our schools…

About 1 in 20 K-12 students are suspended from school each year. Students from marginalized groups -- including Black and Latinx students and students with individualized education plans (IEPs) -- experience suspension much more frequently than their peers. Empathic Instruction reduces the racial gaps in suspensions, but it does not close them…

Music educators are required to support the learning needs of those they teach. Some students may require additional or specific learning supports through individualized education programs (IEPs), also known as individualized education plans, to ensure their academic success. Music educators may struggle to transfer IEP goals, accommodations,…

When data is collected, summarized, and analyzed with sufficient frequency, decisions about instructional changes can be based on student progress. Use the suggestions here to begin conducting progress monitoring.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the cornerstone for documenting the appropriate education being provided to students who qualify for special education and related services under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. A growing group of students with a disability are students who are culturally and linguistically diverse and…

A wide variety of legislation impacts the jobs of special education teachers in the United States. In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was signed into law, mandating that states develop standards and report outcomes for all students in the key areas of math and reading. In 2004, the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education…

The implementation of multitiered systems of support to address students' academic and behavioral needs in schools has proven beneficial. That is, academic interventions implemented at tiers one and two under response-to-intervention frameworks have helped to boost the achievement of struggling students in the primary grades. Likewise, school-wide…

Current research has shown that children with disabilities often felt that their physical education teacher was not prepared to provide them with quality physical education experiences. Over 50% of physical education teachers did not feel prepared to teach children with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to share a "Needs Assessment…

Research highlights the importance of individualized approaches and coaching to ongoing professional learning (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). The purpose of this article is to describe an initiative that set out to help all students become proficient readers by 3rd grade. It demonstrates how coaching can support…

After eighteen months of school closure and disrupted learning, civic leaders, researchers, and educational leaders are getting a clearer picture of how students fared through the pandemic, and what new reality school systems face as they return to in-person schooling in 2021-22. Increases in community infection rates and parent hesitancy have…

With the inclusion of Special Education Needs (SEN) students in public schools in many countries, there are increasing demands for designing professional development (PD) programs that meet the needs of in-service teachers in inclusive education settings. This paper proposes a framework for creating a PD program for in-service teachers who are…

This paper explores how an Alaskan school district shifted from a traditional K-12 education system to a personalized, performance-based system, embedded in the culture of the community, which led to increased student achievement. Chugach School District (CSD) first implemented competency education over twenty years ago, paving the way in…