Students with disabilities, especially those with non-apparent conditions, are entering universities in growing numbers. Yet more and more students are going off to college unprepared to manage their disabilities, in part because their high schools are overburdened, understaffed, and uninformed to identify and support them. A recent survey of…

The purpose of the National AEM Center's Quality Indicators with Critical Components for Higher Education is to assist institutes of higher education, both at the system and campus level, with planning, implementing, and evaluating dynamic, coordinated systems for providing accessible materials and technologies for all students who need them. The…

Interest in dual enrollment is rising in California and nationwide, but students from special populations--including English learners, students with disabilities, foster youth, and young people experiencing homelessness--are too often left on the sidelines. This report explores promising practices and recommendations for designing dual enrollment…

Massive Open Online Courses ("MOOCs") are free online courses offered by institutions of higher education to individuals across the world, without any admissions criteria. Through web-based courses hosted by MOOC platforms, student-participants learn by accessing media, including documents, pictures and uploaded lectures on the course…

Inclusion of the universal design for learning (UDL) model as a guiding set of principles for online curriculum development in higher education is discussed. Fundamentally, UDL provides the student with multiple means of accessing the course based on three overarching principles: presentation; action and expression; and engagement and interaction.…

This is a time of rapid technological advancement, with innovations in education holding great promise for improving teaching and learning, particularly for students with unique needs. High-quality digital educational materials, tools, and resources offer students relevant, up-to-date, and innovative ways to acquire knowledge and skills. Created…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") focuses on current and emerging topics that are strategically important to research libraries. The articles explore issues, share information, pose critical questions, and provide examples. This special issue presents a report released by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Joint Task…

There is no evidence that physically restraining or putting children in unsupervised seclusion in the K-12 school system provides any educational or therapeutic benefit to a child. In fact, use of either seclusion or restraints in non-emergency situations poses significant physical and psychological danger to students. Yet the first round of data…

School-Parent Compacts are a component of school-level parental involvement policies, and must be developed by the school, teacher, and parents as a description of how parents, the entire school staff, and students themselves will work together for improved student academic achievement. This District of Columbia Public Schools School Year…

An increasing number of library patrons are hard of hearing. The U.S. Bureau of Census projected that 35 million North Americans would suffer from hearing loss by the year 2005 based on the age-population projections. These individuals would have at one time been labeled as deaf due to the lack of assistive hearing technology such as hearing aids…

Details the public policy framework that establishes the legal foundation for requiring access to Web-based information resources for people with disabilities. Highlights include fair use doctrine in regards to disability access to digital information; American with Disabilities Act; and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of access to electronic resources and library services via Web sites focuses on accessibility barriers to the disabled that have created a digital divide. Topics include legal requirements, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act; barriers to implementation; and implementation…

This document updates "Accommodations: Assisting Students with Disabilities. A Guide for Educators," published by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) in 2003. This document is written to assist school district personnel and parents when making decisions about the use of accommodations by students with disabilities in instructional…

Reviews federal legislation related to the responsibilities of colleges and universities under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide accessibility to information for students with visual impairments. Litigation, statements, and letters of findings from the U.S. Department of Education,…

One hundred fifty-four special education directors in one northeastern state were surveyed regarding how specific components of Section 504 were implemented. Mean scores revealed that districts are properly implementing components of the law, including providing Section 504 plans only to students with disabilities, reviewing Section 504 plans on a…