State legislation serves as a guide and critical influence on the evaluation and identification of students with dyslexia across the United States. The state of Texas has numerous laws and regulations concerning dyslexia, guided by the Texas Administrative Code, Texas Education Code, Texas Occupations Code, and the Texas Education Agency's…

Both early intervention (EI) programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities and newborn screening (NBS) programs to identify specific disorders shortly after birth rest on the assumption that the best way to prevent or lessen the impact of a disorder is to provide treatment as early as possible. Despite this shared vision, the two programs…

Kansas ranks in the top 10 states for graduation rates among students with disabilities. In fact, special education graduation rates in Kansas have improved more than overall graduation rates. And noted earlier in this report, test scores among special education students in Kansas declined just 1% during the pandemic, well below the test score…

This short piece of action research seeks to identify the strengths of secondary school provision for students with SEND, in order to provide a city wide overview in which good practice and expertise can be shared. It also considers the particular barriers faced by secondary schools and examines how schools are working to overcome these barriers.…

Asbury and Wai ("Journal of School Choice," 2019) perform a valuable service by summarizing much available behavior--genetic research on academic achievement. However they consider that no specific policies stem from the research body at this time. Here we do propose a policy based on some of our research using twins, namely that…

This article considers policy and practice in relation to dyslexia provision in Northern Ireland since the 2002 Task Group Report. Using interviews with original and current stakeholders, this research, funded by SCoTENS (Standing Conference on Teacher Education, North and South), examined the extent to which recommendations have been met in the…

The purpose of this project was to examine programs and services for students with emotional/behavioural disorders (E/BD) across Canada. It is a replication of a survey undertaken a decade prior intended to examine similarities and differences in Canada's provinces and territories, as well as exploring overall changes to policy and process in this…

Over the past decade there has been a substantial increase in research addressing the needs of children in China who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite the fact the country has the largest educational system in the world and has numerous policies to ensure all children's rights to an education, opportunities are limited for children…

Each year, funds from federal, state, and local sources are directed to provide special education and related services to nearly 725,000 students with disabilities in California. To increase equitable outcomes for these students, who comprise nearly 12 percent of California's K-12 population, state-decision-makers agree that more research and…

More than 725,000, nearly 12 percent, of California's public school students receive special education and related services. Although more than half of those students spend 80 percent or more of the school day in a general education classroom, California's special education funding system may not be as inclusive as California's classrooms. This…

The 2016-2017 "Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Strategic Plan" is organized around seven general topic areas that are represented in the Plan as community-focused questions (e.g., Question 1, "How can I recognize the signs of ASD, and why is early detection so important?," which covers the topic of screening…

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for students, teachers and everyone connected to public schools. The crisis has also exposed the fragilities of the economy in meeting the basic needs of all and highlighted the importance of the public sector, of community, and of care work. Schools are key public spaces of community and care. They must be…

This study examines the community-wide effects of investments in two early childhood initiatives in North Carolina (Smart Start and More at Four) on the likelihood of a student being placed into special education. We take advantage of variation across North Carolina counties and years in the timing of the introduction and funding levels of the two…

This article considers the increased identification of special educational needs in Australia's largest education system from the perspectives of senior public servants, regional directors, principals, school counsellors, classroom teachers, support class teachers, learning support teachers, and teaching assistants (n = 30). While their…

State coordinators of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or SWOT, analysis that consisted of 12 evaluative areas of EHDI programs. For the EHDI program infrastructure area, 47 coordinators responded with a total of 292 items, and themes were identified in each…