Informal education settings are spaces where learning takes place outside of formal classrooms and include museums, zoos, and science centers. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) continue to experience barriers to inclusion in such community spaces. This study investigated stakeholder perspectives on inclusion at a…

The passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act in 2008 extended the expectation of previous legislation (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) regarding general education academic access for students with intellectual disability, from elementary to secondary and now through to…

General education teachers often feel unprepared to serve the needs of students with disabilities, including those with intellectual disability, because many teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare teachers for the diverse classrooms they will encounter. With the increase of inclusion for students with disabilities, it is imperative…

In 2015, the AAIDD National Goals panel recommended the inclusion of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework in services designed to support the needs of learners with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). As a framework that can be implemented district/schoolwide, little is known about the implementation process and…

Classroom engagement is an area of frequent discussion and study in the field of education, though engagement is defined differently for various student populations. The purpose of this article is to examine how engagement is defined for students without disability, at risk, or with mild disability as compared to those with severe intellectual…

Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 established procedural mandates and accountability requirements ensuring all students with disabilities participate and progress in general education curriculum. Broadly speaking, improvements toward greater access have been found for many students with disabilities;…

Although access to general curriculum content is most likely to occur in general education contexts, teachers and educational personnel are often challenged to implement the practice. In this instrumental case study, we examined the ways that a team of educational personnel in a district, which was identified as an exemplar of inclusive education,…

This article expands on 10 critical actions within the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and The Arc's 2018 joint position statement on the right of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to have a free and appropriate public education (FAPE): (a) zero reject; (b) nondiscriminatory…

Inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings is often contingent on teachers' liberties to use inclusive instructional strategies. The current qualitative investigation used focus group, observation, and interviews of 9 special education teachers to understand their attitudes and beliefs concerning challenges with…

Community colleges have a mission to provide access to postsecondary education. As such, they enroll nearly half of all U.S. undergraduates, with 12% of enrollees indicating that they are students with disabilities (American Association of Community Colleges, 2015). This article describes Onondaga Pathways to Careers (OPC), a pilot project which…

Sections 616 and 642 of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required states to develop a State Performance Plan (SPP) to (a) evaluate their efforts in implementing the requirements of IDEA and (b) describe their plan for implementation of IDEA through determination of "measurable and rigorous" goals. In this…