Many students who have experienced complex trauma receive special education services related to emotional and behavioral disorders at residential treatment facilities (RTFs) as they undergo therapy. One academic skill in which students with emotional and behavioral disorders often struggle is writing. The current multi-probe, multiple-baseline,…

As a response to the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) federal statute, Maine enacted a rule requiring all schools to provide additional support to students who are not on track for meeting state learning standards beginning in 2012. One intent of the requirement was to improve student achievement, and another was to reduce…

There are a variety of services and supports in Minnesota for children and youth with autism who are age 0-21. These include services and supports provided by state agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and…

Learning to read by the end of third grade is the gateway to lifelong success. When students are not able to read by the end of third grade, their risk of falling behind grows exponentially. In fact, research shows that nine out of ten high school dropouts were struggling readers in third grade. Students reading below grade level are almost six…

Disruptive behavior in the classroom negatively affects all students' academic engagement, achievement, and behavior. Group contingencies have been proven effective in reducing disruptive behavior as part of behavior interventions in the classroom. The Good Behavior Game is a Tier 1 classwide intervention that utilizes an interdependent group…

This report is an evaluation of efforts made by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with oversight from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD), to test, support, and facilitate innovations in the early childhood system in 11 communities across the state. The Early Childhood Innovation Zones (IZ) initiative, funded…

The SPOKES (Supporting Parents on Kids Education in Schools) programme is a ten-week intervention for parents designed to help struggling readers in Year 1. The programme teaches parents strategies to support their children's reading such as listening to children read, pausing to let them work out words, and praising them when they concentrate and…

Because newborn hearing screening has become the standard of care in the United States, every state has established an early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) program responsible for establishing, maintaining, and improving the system of services needed to serve children with hearing loss and their families. While significant developments…

Recent literature notes a significant increase in students being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Yet, no uniform testing protocol exists. It is vital for students and educators that a unified testing process be created and established. This study investigated which ASD testing instruments were currently used in Southern California…

This study, conducted during the 2006/07 academic year, describes how four midsize urban school districts in the Northeast and Islands Region--Worcester, Massachusetts; Nashua, New Hampshire; Yonkers, New York; and Providence, Rhode Island--were providing foundation skills assessments and programs to struggling middle-grade readers. Researchers…

A screening model to identify gifted elementary students (grades 3 through 5) was evaluated to reduce the inefficient use of the school psychologist's time. The screening devices used to select children for the final criterion measure were (1) training, observation, and nomination by teachers; (2) orientation and the use of a sociometric technique…

The Comprehensive Services Program of Palm Beach County, Florida, was an ambitious and innovative effort to improve the school readiness of low-income children in Palm Beach County by identifying needs early and providing early intervention services to support physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development. Services were delivered to…

This practicum was designed to increase the number of elementary school students eligible for placement in a gifted program by improving the prescreening process. Major goals were to: (1) improve teachers' ability to identify giftedness in children; (2) improve the referral rate for gifted screening; and (3) increase the identification and…

The formative evaluation of the first year's implementation of the Enrichment Kindergarten program of the Des Moines, Iowa Independent Community School District involved 12 half-day enrichment sessions at six schools. Approximately 278 kindergarten students were served. Results of the evaluation indicated that over 96 percent of the budgeted…

School districts attempting to locate handicapped preschool children who may need special educational services can use the self-auditing methods in this handbook to measure the effectiveness of district childfind activities. The Delphi technique was used to develop a consensus concerning self-auditing methods among selected university professors…