Education reform legislation has led to an upwelling of mandatory teacher evaluation for all elementary, middle school, and high school educators, including those who teach special education. While this reform effort aimed to improve overall teacher effectiveness and student learning outcomes, the teacher evaluation for special education is a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of adapted materials paired with evidence-based strategies during literacy instruction for high school students with moderate to severe disabilities. Historically, students with severe disabilities have been denied consistent and quality literacy instruction in the educational setting. If…

This study has discussed in-depth information about understanding the Response to Intervention (RTI) linking with children from pre-school to kindergarten (three to eight years old) who have Cognitive Disabilities (CD), including different levels from mild to moderate and/or severe. The study consists of five main sections--RTI, CD, RTI Linking…

According to IDEA and NCLB requirements, students with disabilities are held to the same standards established for nondisabled students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of a special education inclusion program for middle school students with mild to moderate learning disabilities. Student outcomes were measured…

As schools attempt to address the needs of an ever more diverse student population, many have turned to intensive interventions to improve reading performance. Reading First grants from the United States Department of Education encouraged schools to implement evidence-based instructional practices in elementary schools. However, for many schools,…

English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities are required to participate in all state and district assessments similar to their peers without disabilities. This includes assessments used for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I accountability purposes for demonstrating proficiency in academic content, assessments used…

In this article, the authors highlight the impact of alternate assessment on curriculum content for students with severe disabilities. Alternate assessment is a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 to ensure that students with the most significant…

Reading difficulties and disabilities present serious and potentially lifelong challenges. Children who do not read well are more likely to be retained a grade in school, drop out of high school, become a teen parent, or enter the juvenile justice system. Building on the extant research and seminal studies, including the National Reading Panel and…

This article addresses the application of the assessment triangle developed by the National Research Council (Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001), most specifically the cognition vertex of that triangle, to the unique learning characteristics of students with significant cognitive disabilities in developing and demonstrating academic…

With the provisions of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 1997 and 2004), educators must ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate and progress in the general curriculum. These requirements are further bolstered by the No…