Providing appropriate academic evaluation and intervention services for English learners remains a challenging goal for school support teams. Understanding English language proficiency assessment and universal screening processes can help teams make better decisions when considering possible continued intervention or referral for a comprehensive…

Categorical growth models describe examinee growth in terms of performance-level category transitions, which implies that some percentage of examinees will be misclassified. This paper introduces a new procedure for estimating the classification accuracy of categorical growth models, based on Rudner's classification accuracy index for item…

Current literature exists centered on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, its components, and ways in which MTSS is intended to support all students. Yet, there is a gap in the literature that examines how elementary schools are implementing it. This dissertation study sought to understand what the MTSS framework implementation at…

Through time-series graphs, teachers often evaluate progress monitoring data to make both low- and high-stakes decisions for students. The construction of these graphs--specifically, the presence of an aimline and the data points per x- to y-axis ratio (DPPXYR)--may impact decisions teachers make. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the…

Special educators serve a diverse population of students with unique strengths and needs, and adaptive interventions that account for individual differences before and during the intervention are an important tool to moving the field toward more individualized practices. The purpose of this article is to detail the conceptualization and…

The purpose of this article is to provide practical, research-based strategies for using technology to monitor Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goal progress. Steps in the assessment process and progress monitoring strategies are provided to support educators in meeting the needs of students and to communicate the performance results with…

Since the introduction of response-to-intervention as a process for identifying specific learning disabilities and the widespread adoption of multi-tiered systems of support as a framework for instructional delivery, the role of the special educator has become blurred. Specifically, special educators have struggled to identify their role across…

Replication studies in special education are necessary to strengthen the foundation upon which instruction and intervention for students with disabilities are built. J. Jenkins et al. (2017) found intermittent reading fluency progress monitoring schedules did not delay decision-making and were similar in decision-making accuracy to the traditional…

The purpose of this explorative study was to examine the use and understanding of key components of data-based decision making by educators in two countries--Germany and the United States. Educators responded to a survey that asked about data use and characteristics related to data-based decision making (DBDM). Results suggest educators in both…

The special education literature has included a continuing line of articles and chapters that have translated for practitioners the legal meaning of the progress monitoring provisions in the successive versions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This article examines this line of publications in light of the language of the…

Utilizing effective data collection methods to track student progress on Individual Education Program (IEP) goals is essential to quality programming and meeting each student's specific needs. This study surveyed special education teachers in four midwestern states to understand IEP data collection methods and assessment training. Results…

This resource provides information about tools for planning and monitoring progress that can be administered remotely. These assessments rely on practitioner observations, interviews with, or questionnaires completed by a parent or caregiver to learn about the child's behavior and what the child knows and can do. Depending on what needs to be…

Effective inclusion of English Learners (ELs) in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is necessary for this growing subset of students to access the intended outcomes of MTSS, specifically improved academic outcomes. Facilitating MTSS systems that are appropriately responsive to the heterogeneous needs of ELs may be particularly challenging. In…

The purpose of this resource is to help Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams determine recovery services needed for students with disabilities due to the impact of COVID-19 and is supplemental to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) general education guidance. As a result of the pandemic, every student in Washington…

Increasing numbers of students with disabilities (SWD) receive remote or online instruction in secondary mathematics. Unprecedented shifts in teaching modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for effective remote instruction. The present study surveyed 31 general and special education teachers to identify features of remote…