This guide was developed by the Louisiana Department of Education to help parents navigate the complex system that oversees special education in Louisiana's public schools. Each school year, local education agencies (LEAs) are required to provide parents a copy of the procedural safeguards. These safeguards are used to inform parents of the…

High quality student engagement activities are essential if students are to be successful learners. Over the years, many instructional strategies and models have been devised to encourage teachers to develop student engagement activities that result in high achievement. The Reading First Model initiative was introduced as a part of the No Child…

This article provides an overview of a grant project designed to create a district-wide elementary school counseling program with a strong data-based decision-making process. Project goals included building data literacy skills among school counselors and developing the infrastructure to efficiently collect important social-emotional indicators…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of participation in School-Wide Positive Behavior Support on the number of office discipline referrals written and the financial impact it had on the allocation of funds in both high and low socioeconomic status schools in the selected school district. The top 10 percent of elementary schools…

Schools across the nation are facing the challenge of addressing behavioral issues with students. Traditional approaches to discipline have been ineffective in improving student behavior. The passing of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 and revisions of the Individual Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 require schools…

By the end of the kindergarten, students are expected to possess early academic skills as well as the social maturity to be successful in first grade. Students leaving kindergarten without these readiness skills are sometimes held back in first grade or referred for a special education evaluation in later grades if they fail to make adequate…

Many school districts are using research-based strategies to increase student achievement. The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 was created and implemented to assist all students becoming proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014. One strategy many school districts implemented includes an after-school program. One school district…

Bearing in mind the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Louisiana's Steering Committee projected performance targets through the year 2014 for the important areas of: (1) Graduation with a Diploma; (2) Dropout Rate; (3) Placement, ages 6-21 and ages 3-5; (4) Achievement Performance Levels, and (5) Discipline. Annual gains were…

The "Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994" ("GFSA") was reauthorized by Section 4141 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as amended by the "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001" (Public Law 107-110). "GFSA" requires that each state or outlying area receiving federal funds under the ESEA…

The statewide implementation of instructional support teams (ISTs) in Pennsylvania is analyzed in terms of the challenge of bringing team-based problem-solving models to scale. The history of the phase-in of ISTs in more than 1,700 elementary schools is presented, and the salient research conducted on ISTs is reviewed. The results indicate that…

In this study, Reading Recovery teachers reported the program plans for students who had not successfully discontinued the Reading Recovery program. Despite the existence of policy and monitoring devices in New Jersey, a number of schools did not have plans in place to offer ongoing intensive literacy instruction for their lowest-performing…

States and localities face a range of issues related to English language learners (ELLs) or limited English proficient (LEP) students with disabilities, including referral and identification, service delivery, staffing, data collection and parent outreach. Much of the research has focused on the identification process and has shown that there are…

A reference work that presents a chronology focusing on special education, its development, and the important issues that both positively and negatively affect the field. Updated through current events, this second edition provides an excellent introduction to special education in all of its practical aspects--how it developed, its curriculum,…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 has placed a renewed emphasis on the importance of the regular classroom, the regular classroom teacher and the general curriculum as the primary focus of special education. This book contains over 100 topics that deal with real issues and concerns regarding the regular classroom and…