Most recent data confirms that the transition and learning "gap between youth and young adults (ages 14-24) with and without disabilities remains significant despite decades of federal and state legislation intended to improve education and employment opportunities" (Cheng & Shaewitz, 2020, p. 28). Researchers have highlighted that…

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) significantly affect the developmental capacities and overall quality of life for children, including Ghana, where approximately 45% of children under 5 years old in a child welfare clinic show signs of NDDs. Early identification and intervention for NDDs are crucial for optimizing the children's development and…

The world is full of parents of special education students who do not know how to support their children through the individualized educational program (IEP) process. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was designed to create a shared decision-making process whereas parental involvement is at the forefront of the IEP process. This…

The purpose of this qualitative, descriptive, multi-site case study was to determine the criteria individualized education program (IEP) teams used to find the least restrictive environment (LRE) placement for a student with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at the elementary school level. The theoretical framework of this study was Maslow's theory…

Transitioning away from high school to postsecondary life can be a complicated process for any young person. This process can be made more difficult for students with disabilities if options are not put in place before they leave high school. This is where the transition process becomes an important development to help guide students with…

American public schools must allow parents the ability to be involved in the collaboration and planning aspects of their child's individualized education program (IEP). However, many parents have reported feeling like an outsider in IEP meetings. Historically, families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds have reported…

Exclusionary discipline is a practice that is used nationwide. Historically, students within Special Education receive exclusionary discipline at a higher rate than their nondisabled peers even though they have the legal protections of a Manifestation Determination meeting. IEP stakeholders, including school psychologists, administrators and…

Teacher shortages, especially in special education, have been an issue for several decades causing districts to examine leadership practices that support long-term special education teacher retention. Another concern is the disproportionate reading scores of students with disabilities compared to their general education peers. This has created a…

Studies on the relationship between student achievement and athletic participation are often limited by availability of specific data. This study provided more accurate data on student performance during times of athletic participation. This study analyzed student grades during the times they were and were not participating in a school sponsored…

This study is a phenomenological analysis of the experiences of members of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team when an appreciative approach is taken during the IEP process in a middle school in rural New England. The specific phenomenon studied is individuals' experience when student strengths are discussed explicitly as an IEP is…

Research has demonstrated the positive effects on reading achievement measures when content is conditioned as a reinforcer for prolonged reading. While previous research has focused on conditioning narrative texts on the relation to increased comprehension, there is no current research on the effects of conditioning informational texts. Experiment…

The identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) occurs in educational and health settings. Many children with autism will only receive a classification of autism in the educational setting (Esler et al., 2022, Pettygrove et al., 2013, Wiggins et al., 2020). There is significant overlap between the early intervention offered to children with…

K-12 students with disabilities in the United States are increasingly enrolling in online schools and educational programs. Therefore, K-12 online public and charter school special education (SpecEd) teachers must be prepared to develop and implement individualized educational plans (IEPs) that meet the procedural and substantive requirements of…

Special education case managers experience barriers to community and vocational resources when writing Individualized Education Plan (IEP) transition plans. Lack of procedural information and coordination of transition services create obstacles that impact the quality of IEP planning and postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities.…

Data collection of IEP goals is an ongoing problem in special education (Blackwell & Rossetti, 2014; Codding, Skorron, & Pace, 2005, Sandall, Schwartz, & LaCroix, Ruble, McGrew, Wong, & Missall, 2018; Walton, 1985). Research shows that there are inconsistencies between belief and practice. Many educators acknowledge the importance…