U.S. schools are required to educate students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). The number of students with high incidence disabilities, including those with speech or language impairments (SLI), who spend most of their day in the general education classroom has increased in the last decade. Establishing classrooms that proactively…

Students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities, autism, or emotional disturbance may also receive speech-language services as part of their individual education program. This article focuses on the use of telepractice for providing speech-language services in schools. The benefits of telepractice are described, including the accessibility,…

As schools move into a new era of technology, assessment is evolving as well. With the introduction of high-stakes tests based on the Common Core State Standards, annual assessments are increasingly delivered via computer-based systems. This method of delivery could have a significant effect on students with learning disabilities. This column…

Optimal service delivery for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often involves interdisciplinary care coordination between primary care clinicians, community-based providers, and school personnel such as school psychologists. Interdisciplinary care coordination includes communication and collaboration from multiple providers to…

Students with learning disabilities often struggle with math fact fluency and require specialized interventions to recall basic facts. Deficits in math fact fluency can result in later difficulties when learning higher-level mathematical computation, concepts, and problem solving. The response-to-intervention (RTI) and…

The importance of effective and efficient feedback is paramount during the student teaching experience. This experience is a vital component of many teacher preparation programs. During these limited experiences, supervisors deliver performance feedback that is designed to improve the way student teachers implement evidence-based practices and/or…

Teacher educators are expected to provide preservice special education teachers with extensive knowledge about a variety of topics as well as allowing candidates a chance to engage in higher-level thinking about content. Today, some teacher educators are thinking "outside the box" when it comes to instructional delivery by moving beyond…

Teacher educators are always looking for instructional strategies that are easy to create and use but are powerful for promoting learning among preservice teacher candidates. Content acquisition podcasts (CAPs) is an example of an instructional strategy that embeds evidence-based instructional design principles to package and deliver critical…

Many schools have adopted schoolwide intervention blocks as a component of response-to-intervention (RTI) implementation to ensure that students who need intervention are receiving it. However, virtually no peer-reviewed guidance exists for helping teachers manage this time effectively. This article presents a blueprint for organizing intervention…

Schools are increasingly adopting tiered models of prevention to meet the needs of diverse populations of students. This article outlines the steps involved in designing and implementing a systematic Tier 2 behavior intervention within a tiered service delivery model. An elementary school example is provided to outline the identification,…

Recent legislation has increased the emphasis on including students with disabilities in the general education classroom. However, students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit a wide range of behaviors that make inclusion difficult. To date, there has been little research to identify best practices in reducing problem behavior and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the implementation of a behavior intervention plan based on a functional behavioral assessment when a student's behavior necessitates disciplinary actions. However, IDEA does not provide any clear guidelines as to what the plans should contain nor how they can address behaviors that…

The content mastery center (CMC) model is responsive to the federal requirements of providing access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities and allowing special education teachers to meet the highly qualified requirement by providing consultation and support services in the content areas. The CMC model has been…

This introduction to several articles on attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) notes the confusion in terminology and the emphasis in the articles on use of a collaborative treatment approach, recommendations for practitioners, and service delivery models. (DB)

The Content Mastery program, which evolved from the synergistic model, provides instructional accommodations and teacher consultation and support that encourage the success of students with learning disabilities in regular classroom settings. Students remain in mainstream classes as long as they can profit from instruction and attend the Content…