The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates that special education students receive free appropriate public education instruction in the least restrictive environment. Special education students often receive a disproportionate number of suspensions in schools. It is the disproportionate number of suspensions received by…

Recent increases in high school graduation rates have been linked anecdotally to online course-taking for credit recovery. Online course-taking that supports high school completion could open opportunities for postsecondary education pursuits. Alternatively, poorer quality online instruction could diminish student learning and discourage…

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…

In his article, "Urban special education policy and the lived experience of stigma in a high school science classroom," Chris Hale persuasively argues that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and subsequent special education policies have largely failed to serve special education students who are stigmatized by their deficit…

Over the past forty years, schools across the United States have become more inclusive for students with disabilities. However, in many high-poverty urban school districts, a disproportionate number of minority children with disabilities are segregated from their non-disabled peers. This article presents findings from a qualitative case study of…

By reducing class size we will close the achievement gap in public school education, caused by prior neglect especially since the civil rights era of the sixties. Additional, highly qualified and specialized teachers will more effectively manage a smaller class size and serve more individual student needs in the crucial early grades, where a solid…

In this article, the author features the Children's Support Services (CSS) project in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is an interagency, multidisciplinary program that provides young children and their families a range of child development, mental health, and family support services. The CSS project, which was begun in September 2000, addresses the…

This report presents some statistics that reveal how students with disabilities appear to be faring and identifies some strategies that appear to result in desirable outcomes. Data were obtained from national studies and surveys from 1985 through 1998. Inclusion in typical education, training, and community experiences results in better transition…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year project that conducted research on the effectiveness of an intervention that complies with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, and Massachusetts state standards. The project, conducted at two urban high schools,…

The 18th annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) describes the Department of Education's efforts to work with the States to maximize results for students with disabilities and to assess the impact and effectiveness of the Act. Current and historical service patterns for school-age…