Task analysis is an evidence-based practice that promotes independence and instruction in inclusive settings. Although task analysis has an extensive history in the field of special education, recent research extends the application to both teachers and students, a pro-active approach, and promotes self-monitoring. When students with extensive…

This paper draws on my experience working as a special needs support staff member in a special school in the UK for young people with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) issues. The purpose of this paper is to share my understanding of practices that enable staff in an SEMH school to attend to the needs of their students. Although I have…

Assessing learners with extensive support needs has traditionally been rooted in deficit perspectives, in which student incapacities are highlighted. We start this chapter with an overview of this historical view and identify its shortcomings. Next, we identify alternate assessment and progress monitoring as key efforts for shifting the lens from…

Uncertainty in education, both general and special, has long troubled educational researchers, reformers, and practitioners. Responding to students with special (atypical) educational needs is an example of decisions that are prone to error. Although some efforts to reduce uncertainty in education are reasonable and helpful, efforts to eliminate…

Special education in Singapore has evolved considerably during the past two decades with greater enrollments of students with special educational needs in regular mainstream schools. This progressive transformation in Singapore's education towards the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classes has been accompanied by…

Sensing technologies that provide continuous, real-time information about teachers' and students' individual experiences are increasingly being applied to classroom-based research. Sensing technologies provide a possible alternative to costly and time-intensive in-person or hand-coded observations and have the potential to increase our present…

While research on the relationship between general education class size and student achievement is plentiful, research on class size in special education is scarce, even though class size issues must be considered particularly important to students with special educational needs. This summary is based on a systematic review that sought to examine…

Teaching requires attention to individual student needs by providing both adequate challenge and sufficient support to help students successfully gain academic skills (Shurr et al., 2019). The learning stages framework divides typical learning into four distinct stages: acquisition, fluency, maintenance, and generalization (Collins, 2012; Haring…

In this article, the author champions the benefits for everyone of a more inclusive approach to primary science. She relates some of her experiences based on 35 years of teaching science to people with special educational needs and disabilities/additional support needs (SEND/ASN) and offers some tips to enhance inclusion.

This review of research conducted between March 2020-April 2023 summarizes the impact of COVID-19 on the learning and school experiences of children and adolescents with special educational needs and dis/abilities (SENDs) including youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, learning differences, intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities.…

Various stakeholders continue to have concerns regarding the school performance of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). In an effort to improve student outcomes, schools may rely on improving student access to general education classrooms (e.g., inclusion). This trend occurs at a time when districts across the nation face…

To address the daunting behavioral and mental health needs of Kansas' rural and underserved communities, Telehealth ROCKS (Rural Outreach for the Children of Kansas) Schools project partnered with school-based health centers, school districts, and special education cooperatives to provide a range of telebehavioral health intervention services and…

Improving outcomes for young children with high-intensity needs requires a high-quality workforce trained in equitable, intensive, individualized instructional practices and supports incorporating culturally and linguistically responsive evidence-based practices (Gunn, 2020) and developmentally appropriate practices (DAP; NAEYC, 2021) Nationally…

"Reconstructing Democratic Education" was an international conference held virtually on June 22, 2024. This article uses the words of the speakers and the participants to present some of the stories and reflections that stimulated us that day. Speakers touched on a wide variety of challenges that democracy in general and schools in…

Those who work in education strive to create more inclusive environments in school but are often stymied in their efforts by challenges coming from many and varied directions. Politicians, for example, exhort us to be more inclusive but create conditions that encourage separation and exclusion, and inclusive education's history in special…