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…

Although U.S. schools that provide bilingual education typically must negotiate English-only policies and pressures to sustain their programming over time, little is known about what this entails at the individual school level. Our research examines in detail how the leaders of an elementary school in New York City with a Spanish-English…

Kindergarten has become increasingly academically oriented, and U.S. kindergarten teachers are increasingly called upon to implement policies that require assessment and promote accountability. However, little recent research has focused on kindergarten teachers' beliefs about kindergarten readiness. The authors examined teachers' beliefs related…

Although the college and career readiness movement has propelled schools to further include all students into academic-based courses, students with disabilities continue to need instruction in skills needed for a successful life after school. Research has indicated that it is possible to design instruction to help students acquire skills in both…

The road from prekindergarten (pre-K) to post-doctoral (post-doc) work is riddled with potholes, detours, u-turns, and construction zones. National education initiatives such as No Child Left Behind, the Common Core, Race to the Top, Performance-Based Funding, College Readiness and Completion Acts, and Post-Graduate Gainful Employment Reports…

As educators move into a new era of educational reform, it becomes imperative that teachers use evidence-based instructional practices shown to be effective for students with disabilities. One area that plays a role in this process is secondary transition. The National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center has identified 63…

The focus of this study was to determine the characteristics of successful re-entry programs for youth as they transition back into the educational mainstream. The study was also used to determine the implementation needed for effective inter-agency coordination of social service systems for students to successfully transition into the educational…

This article describes the author's personal view of the secondary special education and transition field, its shortcomings, and its future within the context of our modern society.

Living in poverty increases the likelihood that students with disabilities will experience poor postschool outcomes, including unemployment, underemployment, and limited postsecondary education. The effects of the intersection of poverty and disability persist into adulthood where the employment rate for adults with disabilities is only one fourth…

Despite the large increase of students with learning disabilities entering postsecondary institutions and the legislative emphasis on providing students with disabilities equal access to education, we have yet to develop a more cohesive and comprehensive planning of accommodations for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. The purpose…

America's high schools face the challenge of improving student learning in an ever-changing global world (Marx, 2006). Fueling the need for reform is the urgency of graduating more highly skilled citizens and the demands from federal and state government. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and state legislation make today's high schools more accountable…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Video Games Take Testing to the Next Level: Researchers See Promise in Game-Like Assessments That Measure Complex Skills (Robert Rothman); (2) An Academic…

There is a lack of alignment between K-12 and higher education about the expectations for student skill and content knowledge. Too often, students leave the K-12 system ill prepared for success in higher education. One approach to increasing alignment has been supported by the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS), which…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) are most often educated in the general education classroom, where it seems clear that a significant lack of attention to the concept of transition also exists. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), for example, does not specifically address students' postschool success or transition outcomes. One challenge…

President Obama is the most prominent of a growing number of American policymakers to embrace the idea that some form of postsecondary education is crucial to students' success after high school. This year's edition of "Diplomas Count", a report by "Education Week" and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center,…