As a required part of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, students with disabilities within the United States are required to receive transitional services to help support their exit from school and ascension to adulthood. A common transitional service revolves around preparing students for the college setting, at either a university, community…

Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 has been increasingly utilized as a legal avenue by U.S. students with disabilities, particularly concerning remedies not typically awarded under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The purpose of this legal update is to briefly highlight recent case law in which guardians filed action in…

Section 504 has recently been gaining more traction among parents, educators, and government officials as more Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ineligible students become eligible for Section 504. To alleviate Section 504 being a special education responsibility and ramp up the lack of 504 professional development efforts for…

Attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD) refers to a neurological condition prevalent in students ages 3-17 years. General education teachers are challenged with providing efficient behavior interventions for students with pervasive symptoms of ADHD. The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) incorporated a multi-tiered…

Early childhood education teachers often feel underprepared for addressing behavior challenges in the classroom. This can limit a teacher's ability to teach academic and social skills and lead to interruptions in their educational experience such as suspensions or expulsions. Effective planning can help teachers create and manage positive learning…

It is imperative to understand how teachers are prepared for their role as co-teacher. The purpose of this study was to investigate how general education and special education teachers in one elementary school in Georgia are trained in the instructional practice of co-teaching and their perceptions on how prepared they feel to implement the…

This is not a legal brief. This is an article written by a special education expert who has witnessed the very best and the very worst education has to offer. This article is meant to serve as a springboard for examining what is meant by education for all, high expectations, schools as laboratories for innovation, high caliber academic and social…

Agran and colleagues have not only summarized the research on inclusive education, but they have also summed up the frustrations of many of us who have been working with families, teachers, and administrators to facilitate the inclusion of children and young adults with severe disabilities over many years. My response takes some of their most…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) stress the need for all students to receive excellent science instruction--including those with disabilities--based upon disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States 2013). Further, the NGSS emphasize reducing disparities in student…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) can be successfully placed in general education classrooms with evidence-based practices such as positive behavior interventions and supports and self-management practices. Still, less than half of all students with EBD are placed in the general education classroom for 80% of the school day.…

While the charter sector has much to celebrate, the country can do more to put great schools--including excellent charters--within reach for our most vulnerable students. Students with disabilities represent one such group. The best solutions start by partnering with the parent groups that advocate for students with disabilities, and have been…

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of teacher professional development for working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and teacher (N = 56) self-efficacy in the general education classroom. A pretest/posttest quasi-experimental research design was implemented. Teachers in one randomly assigned school received…

Implicit in all US science education reform efforts in the past, is equal access and opportunity to learn science for all students regardless of their background and status. However, most science teacher preparation programs (with some exceptions, i.e., those that offer dual endorsement/certification), do not have the capacity or resources to…