In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled on a special education case Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. In this important case, the High Court addressed the degree of educational benefit necessary for a school district to fulfill the requirements for a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act…

There is often intense and passionate debate about the inclusion of those students with the most complex social learning and behavioural needs. This paper, written from a parent's perspective, is based on a case study of a 15-year-old adolescent with severe and high functioning autism that was comparatively well-resourced through the new…

First Step to Success is a manualized early intervention program with documented success in reducing the problem behavior of young children. Walker and colleagues (2005) are now engaged in analyses of variables that will increase the proportion of children for whom First Step is effective. A possible enhancement to the First Step to Success…

The study involving 20 hearing and behavior disordered children (8-16 years old) investigated the hypothesis that children who receive individual and/or group counseling, an individualized psycho-educational program in a therapeutic milieu, and whose parents receive individual and/or group counseling will demonstrate more progress in their social…

Positive behavioral supports (PBS) have been receiving increased visibility and use in schools nationally. In the state of Washington, schoolwide and individualized positive behavioral supports were recommended as a model for schools by the state agencies of education and human service in 1999. Since then, four demonstration schools have been…

In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates functional assessment based behavioral support plans for all students with disabilities who display challenging behavior. However, very few studies have been undertaken to examine the effectiveness of the functional assessment-based behavioral plans with high…

Data from the 2001 National Household Education Survey were examined to estimate the prevalence of comorbid AD/HD and LD among school-aged children in the United States and assess how this comorbidity was associated with selected parent-reported behavioral and academic outcomes. The observed prevalence of comorbidity coincided with estimates in…

Discretion and regulatory flexibility must be managed without violating the amended, reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Misbehaving disabled students may be removed from their educational placements for 10 consecutive days or less--the same punishment meted out to regular students. Longer-term placements need IEP team…

School districts are on safer legal ground if they recommend appropriate educational services for each special-needs child, convene parents and school personnel for Individual Education Plan meetings, make placement decisions based on individualized, thorough evaluations; document alternative options; develop behavior-management programs, and use…

Autism spectrum disorders, as the name suggests, do not represent a single nor straightforward set of needs to be met. The challenges facing education and other professionals, and the young people whose needs are being addressed, are considerable. The key is to see past the presenting issues, often behavioural in nature, to the communication…

This study investigated state policy, court litigation, and accreditation standards with respect to the use of time-out as a behavior management strategy in special education programs. The study's emphasis was on existing standards concerning the use of locked time-out rooms and student supervision requirements during the application of time-out.…

How does the nation's largest urban public school district address the complex behavior management requirements of its special education students? This article reviews the positive behavior support system in the New York City schools. It delineates the major components of an urban special education public school district's positive behavior…

The Mark Twain School provides a short term individualized educational program for seriously emotionally disturbed students with learning problems in grades 6 through 12 in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). During the 1980-81 school year the Department of Educational Accountability, at the request of the Office of Continuum…

When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997, it authorized an evaluation to track progress at the state and local levels on the legislative goals of IDEA. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) commissioned a national longitudinal study, the Study of State and Local…

This sourcebook describes methods of dealing with dropouts in Oregon school districts. "At-risk youth" and "dropout" are defined and survey results of 98 percent of superintendents concerning program offerings are summarized. Data suggest that medium-size districts require greatest assistance. Despite increases in single-parent…