As changes in legislation impact the education of students with significant cognitive disabilities, teachers must determine how to provide access to the general education curriculum. This is a particular challenge because of the intense needs of these students. Research was needed to examine the materials and instructional strategies utilized to…

Secondary public education for students with severe disabilities offers some of the last opportunities for improved social/behavioral skills, activities of daily living, and cognitive/academic instruction. The problem is that thorough descriptions of self-contained classroom ecology and teachers' use of evidence-based strategies are limited.…

Modified schema-based instruction (MSBI) is a strategy to teach mathematical word problem solving to students with moderate and severe disabilities (MSD). In this comprehensive review, we explore the current state of research on MSBI to determine whether MSBI is an evidence-based practice (EBP) for students with MSD. We reviewed 12 studies, of…

Behavior-specific praise has been deemed an effective, evidence-based positive behavioral intervention and support practice for use among high school students with severe intellectual disabilities. However, teachers are not adequately trained to use such practices with fidelity. One way to address this shortcoming is by implementing a performance…

Assessment and accountability are hotly debated topics in the field of education. Finding ways to include students with significant cognitive disabilities, a requirement under federal law, remains a challenge. In Massachusetts, students with significant cognitive disabilities participate in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System's…

Objectives: Upper limb motor dysfunction often occurs in individuals with intellectual disabilities, affecting their daily self-care abilities and employability. Therefore, enhancing their upper limb motor function could improve the quality of life. This study investigated the impact of Frisbee game course on the upper limb motor function of…

An in-depth literature review was conducted to identify the skills, behaviors, expectations, and experiences (SBEEs) associated with employment, further education, and independent living for students with significant cognitive disabilities following high school. Analysis of 53 quantitative and qualitative studies identified 103 specific SBEEs…

While federal policies such as NCLB, IDEA, and ESSA have placed increased accountability on states to deliver instruction aligned to the grade-level mathematics standards for all students, teaching functional skills to students with significant intellectual disabilities remains a predominant practice. The purpose of this study was to explore…

There has been a slight increase in the number of studies focused on the strategies used to introduce content-based instruction to students with moderate/severe disability. However, interventions for students with significant intellectual disability (ID) are lacking adapted materials to make instruction available in all major academic areas…

Advances in and the decreased cost of technology has resulted in a significant increase in educational programming that incorporates technology into the school curriculum. Specifically, the use of iPads has become quite common to support students social, communication, and academic outcomes in recent years; however, many students with moderate to…

This study investigated educational experiences for students with significant cognitive disability (SCD) taught in self-contained high school classrooms. Nineteen students and nine teachers across five high schools and four school districts participated. A time-sampling method was used to describe the ecological, teacher, and student behaviors of…

This study investigated practices in self-contained high school classrooms serving students with significant cognitive disability (SCD). Nineteen students and nine teachers across five high schools participated. A time-sampling method was used to describe the ecological, teacher, and student behaviors of these classrooms. Field notes were…

Federal law requires that all students, including students with disabilities, participate in state assessments used for accountability purposes. It also requires states to assess students in several content areas, including science. Most students with disabilities take the general science assessment with or without accommodations, but a few…

Graduation rates and requirements for earning a regular diploma are topics of increasing interest as states focus on ensuring that their students are college and career ready when they leave school with a diploma. To ensure that states are gauging the rates at which students are graduating in a consistent way, the Elementary and Secondary…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. The purpose of this report is to document the technical aspects of the 2013-14 NYSAA.…