Catholic schools are now located at a crossroads of school choice voucher programs and special education services. With enrollment in Catholic schools declining over the past several decades, voucher programs that allow parents to use public funds for tuition at private schools--including tuition for students with disabilities--could possibly help…

Background: English language learners (ELLs) with special needs remain an underresearched student population. Although providing services to these students proves to be a daunting task, bilingual schools are uniquely poised to meet the educational needs of ELLs with special needs. Yet, research has not explored service provision practices in…

This article provides a concise and objective synthesis of the federal legislation, regulations, and agency policy interpretations; state laws; and case law, including hearing officer and complaint investigation decisions, concerning specific learning disability (SLD) identification since the 2006 IDEA regulations. The results reveal wide latitude…

The purpose of this document is twofold. First, it provides a brief summary of states' Federal Fiscal Year 2015 (FFY2015) IDEA Part B Indicators 1: graduation rates, 2: dropout rates, 13: transition components of the IEP, and 14: post-school outcomes. These Indicators pertain only to students with disabilities and are reported yearly to the Office…

Leisure participation is influential on the quality of life of individuals. Individuals with disabilities can face barriers in leisure participation, impacting their quality of life. IDEA (2004) recognizes recreation as a related service as one way to enhance the leisure experiences for students with disabilities. The purpose of this embedded case…

This chapter presents a synopsis of teaching students with disabilities and the qualities of schools that can enable effective teaching of all students, including those who have disabilities. A review of legal mandates that teachers must understand are outlined and serve as a framework encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration. This chapter…

In recent years, more than 700,000 children aged 3 through 5 years identified with speech or language impairments (44%), developmental delay (37%), autism (9%), and other disabilities (10%) received federally supported special education services. For our republished article in the inaugural issue of the 50th anniversary volume, we have selected a…

Little is known about the perceptions of teachers of their students returning from the juvenile justice system, which can influence student relationships and student engagement, both of which are critical to reduce recidivism rates. This study utilized an online survey to examine the perceptions of a convenience sample of 283 school personnel…

This study is to diagnose and evaluate children with different special needs medically and educationally and, as a result of those evaluations, to identify families' expectations, opinions and suggestions concerning the special education process, services and the functioning of special education institutions. The mothers of five children who…

This resource is a set of three tools state education agencies (SEAs) can use with their districts, schools, and providers to assist them in tracking the finances, services, and student data associated with Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS). These three tools include one for provider(s), school(s), and local education agencies (LEAs).…

In this article, we synthesize literature related to the experiences of students with learning disabilities in postsecondary settings, including support service initiatives. We also synthesize the role of the learning strategists in context of working with these students. We then explore the daily experiences of two senior learning strategists…

As the title states, this article is a collection of musings with only modest attempts at establishing an order for them or connections between them. It is not quite "free association," but it is close. This structure or perhaps lack of it reflects the variety of things we do in our work. Many of the things we do have little in common…

Federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, mandates that individuals with disabilities be integrated in all aspects of life from education to employment to independent living. A recent development involves a settlement reached between the United States and the…

Due to medical advances, many students with acute chronic illnesses, like pediatric cancer, are able to attend school. The professional literature reflects the need for reform of educational strategies for children facing cancer treatment and who will be absent for extended periods of time. In order to promote successful educational services and…

This paper forms part of a research project that aims to characterise best practices in highly effective schools in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (ARBC). The aim is for the best practices identified to serve as points of reference when designing improvement plans to be implemented in all schools in the ARBC, with the advice and…