For students exhibiting challenging behaviors that are nondangerous to others and nondisruptive to classroom activities, such as daydreaming and doodling, educators are unlikely to refer these students for more individualized and resource-intensive behavioral support. As a step towards understanding how to address these students' motivational…

Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease is on the rise. School psychologists must understand the significant physical, emotional, and psychological effects of this condition to be effective advocates for students and their families, and to conduct well-informed, comprehensive evaluations for this population. This article discusses the academic,…

The problem addressed in this study was that traditional assessments used for middle school math, regardless of any needs-based accommodation provisions, inhibit equitable representation of the academic abilities of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) for specific learning disabilities (SLD) because of the absence of the…

School work is designed to challenge students and help them meet grade-level academic standards. Students with disabilities have the right to learn and participate in the general education curriculum. Public school districts must provide these students with the services, accommodations, and modifications that they need to learn the same material…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is committed to supporting State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and partners in ensuring that schools and preschool programs have additional tools to foster safe, inclusive learning environments that increase students' engagement and sense of well-being. The Office of…

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the heart of providing special education services to students with disabilities. It is a complex document that is supposed to include several required components. IEP teams are required to be composed of certain individuals, including "a representative of the district who is qualified to provide…

This article addresses the inclusion of English learners with disabilities, including those with significant cognitive disabilities, in state and district assessments. The authors provide background information on who these students are and the relationship between academic English language development, content learning, and assessment. The…

The primary message of the Supreme Court's ruling in "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" (hereinafter "Endrew F.," 2017) was that school districts are obligated to "offer an IEP [individualized education program] that is reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of the…

This article shares the story of Jose, a student that presents an extreme example of what can happen to deaf and hard of hearing children in our nation's schools when assessment data is either inaccurate or ignored and parental input is absent. Presenting a unique challenge to the educational system, each deaf or hard of hearing child is at the…

For Wisconsin schools and districts, implementing an equitable multi-level system of supports means providing equitable services, practices, and resources to every learner based upon responsiveness to effective instruction and intervention. In this system, high quality instruction, strategic use of data, and collaboration interact within a…

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the perspectives of elementary classroom teachers in relation to the academic support that is provided to students with developmental disabilities (DDs) in China. Method: A qualitative research design, using focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis, was adopted to explore classroom…

This report is an update of the assessment principles and guidelines for English language learners published in 2013 (Thurlow, Liu, Ward, & Christensen). That report, which was developed by the Improving the Validity of Assessment Results for English Language Learners with Disabilities (IVARED) project, presented essential principles of…

Current research has shown that children with disabilities often felt that their physical education teacher was not prepared to provide them with quality physical education experiences. Over 50% of physical education teachers did not feel prepared to teach children with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to share a "Needs Assessment…

This booklet has been developed in hopes that it may aid in keeping communication open and focused between families and schools. Building communication between parents and the school staff through letters offers a way of keeping records of ideas, concerns, and suggestions. This booklet provides general guidelines to writing letters as well as…

Questions often arise about how accessible educational materials (AEM) might be included in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The two purposes of this article are to (1) help families and educators understand the importance of including AEM in the IEPs of students who require them, and (2) to discuss locations in the IEP where it may be…