The specific learning disabilities (SLD) identification literature is replete with competing narratives concerning the advantages and disadvantages of various techniques and methods. Until a widely accepted and empirically proven SLD identification methodology is universally supported, evaluators should seek to improve the existing alternatives.…

Children and adolescents with autism have a higher likelihood of being exposed to bullying, abuse, and sexual assault which, through repeated exposure, has been demonstrated to impede academic, social, and physical functioning among this population. However, the complexity of unpacking the characteristics of autism and trauma can pose a challenge…

Assessment has multiple purposes, one of which is to judge if students have met outcomes at the requisite level. Underperformance in assessment is frequently positioned as a problem of the student and attributed to student diversity and/or background characteristics. However, the assessment might also be inequitable and therefore exclude students…

College and career readiness is crucial to success in postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. The College and Career Readiness for Transition (CCR4T) assessment is valid and reliable and can assist in transition planning for students with disabilities. The CCR4T assessment was designed for planning with students with and…

The 2017 Supreme Court ruling in "Endrew vs. Douglas County" charged educators to provide evidence toward the attainment of Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals beyond "de minimus" educational benefit. The purpose of this article is to present two methods that may be useful for supporting IEP teams in evaluating progress…

The Rochford Review heralded new arrangements for statutory assessment for children with SLD and PMLD working below the national curriculum standard. New assessment arrangements, the pre-key stage standards and the engagement model, relate to two groups of pupils: pupils 'not yet engaged' and pupils 'engaged' in subject-specific study. This…

The landscape for STEM instruction is rapidly shifting in the United States. Attention toward STEM instruction and assessment opportunities is increasing. All students must have opportunities to gain access to the STEM content and show what they know and are able to do. We caution that attention to fairness and accessibility is critical for…

Students with autism have varied support needs, which may impact their safety in an emergency. Schools may want to create individualized emergency support plans for their students with autism, especially given that schools that receive public funding are required to ensure that all people, including those with disabilities, receive the benefit of…

Academic libraries must provide accessible electronic and information technology to patrons using assistive technology to access library materials. Accessibility of scholarly material is particularly important in the STEM disciplines, where attrition rates of students with disabilities is higher than in other fields. In this study, the…

Disproportionality persists with regard to the labeling of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A blending of critical race theory and disability studies, or DisCrit, provides a framework to examine disproportionality. In this article, a DisCrit mindset is applied to examine how racism and ableism intersect to disproportionately…

State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

Education reform legislation has led to an upwelling of mandatory teacher evaluation for all elementary, middle school, and high school educators, including those who teach special education. While this reform effort aimed to improve overall teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes, the teacher evaluation for special education is a…

The COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent social distancing measures have imposed numerous challenges on school psychologists balancing public health and students' right to a free and appropriate education. This article addresses one of the most contentious issues for school psychologists during the pandemic: how to ethically conduct valid…

Colonial contexts continue to shape the experiences of Indigenous students, especially in special education, even as educators work to respond to Indigenous perspectives. In this article we first apply a decolonizing critique to consider how colonialism affects special education programming, then survey Indigenous and decolonizing scholarship to…

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) lists 11 recommended practices for assessment, including "Practitioners report assessment results so they are understandable and useful to families" (DEC, 2014, p. 8). This article examines high-impact practices designed to make meaningful and understandable assessment reports to facilitate…