This qualitative study evaluated the belief systems and professional practice of program graduates of an early childhood special education teacher preparation program regarding collaboration with families of children with disabilities. Eleven graduates were interviewed over the course of a school year to identify perceived challenges to their…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether transient or mobile students attain lower levels of academic achievement than non-transient students and to identify the characteristics distinguishing transient from non-transient students. The study analyzed the assessment results, student characteristics, and school factors for approximately…

States and other educational entities receiving Part B funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) submitted their Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and Section 618 Table 6 data together to the U.S. Secretary of Education on or before February 1, 2009. These reports may have been modified during the following few months,…

Universal design for transition (UDT) refers to an approach to instructional planning, delivery, and assessment that bridges the gap between teaching academic and functional/transition goals. It builds upon the principals of universal design for learning (UDL) assuring that instructional practices are designed to meet the needs of diverse learners…

The Council of Chief State School Officers' "Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate the Use of Accommodations for Instruction and Assessment of Students with Disabilities" was first developed to establish guidelines for states to use for the selection, administration, and evaluation of accommodations for…

Two-way immersion (TWI) programs teach English Learners (ELs) and native English speakers in the same classroom using both languages in an immersion approach. Studies suggest that TWI programs result in greater student integration, thus providing a promising alternative for Spanish speaking ELs, who are frequently concentrated in high poverty,…

Austin Independent School District used $16 million in federal funds to support 25 ARRA IDEA projects to reduce the student academic achievement gap, reduce disproportionality, reduce dropout, improve district processes, improve teacher quality, and evaluate programs.

This study focused on approaches to curriculum, as well as school, principal, and student characteristics in secondary day treatment and residential psychiatric schools. A national random sample of 148 principals responded to a survey. No statistically significant differences existed between respondent and nonrespondent schools with regard to…

Over thousands of years the brain has evolved. Our ability to change its structure is quite limited. What we can do is change the way we work with the brain and appeal to it. These notions are the building blocks for this paper. Three strands of intellectual work (neuroscience to include social intelligence, pedagogy, and environment/culture) are…

This report has been prepared as an introduction to standards-based individualized education programs (IEPs). It has been prepared especially for those who work in and are responsible for charter schools. It is an addition to the resources available on the Primers on Special Education in Charter Schools website that is designed specifically to…

U.S. education policy acknowledges the troubling differential rates of special education identification and placement for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse by requiring states to review annually student identification data from all local education agencies to identify and address disproportionate representation. Yet, little is…

Special education professionals can play a critical role in enhancing the quality of life not only for a child with a disability but also for that child's entire family. To realize this beneficial impact on the child's family, professionals must operate with these assumptions: (1) Special education professionals must acknowledge that they have a…

Since 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in Southern California, has been under a federal court consent decree requiring compliance with laws pertaining to the delivery of special education services and the elimination of architectural barriers in schools. In 2003, the consent decree was modified, creating…

Special education service delivery is often the source of disputes between parents and districts and an issue in special education class-action lawsuits. Despite these controversies, there has been little large-scale research on the delivery of services. This study represents a large-scale assessment of the delivery of special education services…

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was reauthorized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. When reauthorized in 2004 it maintained the IDEA acronym although it is now the Individuals with Disabilities Education "Improvement" Act. The federal government further demonstrated its emphasis on…