Assistive technology (AT) was recognized by Congress as a viable need for people with disabilities when it passed the Tech Act in 1988. The legislation, which was reauthorized in 1994, has resulted in numerous programs and services that have helped people with disabilities access and use AT devices. The Tech Act's implications for people with…

There were two purposes for this transformative mixed method study with an advocacy lens: to examine (1) the implementation of community school programming in a racially and ethnically diverse, high-poverty urban school and (2) the impact of implementation on student achievement. In-depth interviews, along with achievement data from two cohorts of…

Seclusion, used broadly to include time-out (Bon & Zirkel, 2014), and other aversives, such as restraint, continues to be an active area of legal activity, particularly for students with disabilities. The September 2016 issue of "Communiqué" provided an update of the case law specific to school district use of seclusion (Zirkel,…

The authors offer a set of recommendations for the next Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization. They recommend changes to the assessment, accountability and Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) as well as for a federally-supported research and evaluation…

A major new financial phenomenon has appeared within the social services arena, with corresponding legislation poised to change how social services are delivered and who delivers them. While different programs use different terms--including, for example, Pay for Success (PFS) or Results-Based Financing (RBF)--the umbrella term encompassing all…

In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, this U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Fiscal Year 2020 Performance Results Report presents the results of OIG's work over fiscal year (FY) 2020 in meeting their performance measures goals. Those goals align with OIG's FYs…

In this policy brief Title II of ESSA is examined. Title II of ESSA includes provisions for developing high quality principals. This brief elaborates two strategies the federal government can employ under Title II to support principal quality: (1) competitive grants; and (2) monitoring return on investment.

This mixed-methods research examined the experiences of occupational burnout among Title IX coordinators at higher education institutions in Pennsylvania as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and by open-ended interviews with a subset of the Inventory respondents. Statistical analysis (35% response rate) indicated that Title IX…

The increase in English learners (ELs) with disabilities has been reported by others, yet little is known about the transition planning meeting experiences of this population and their post-school expectations. This study explored transition planning experiences and post-school expectations of a nationally representative sample of ELs with…

Based extensive fieldwork and interviews, this study explains teacher evaluation policy enactment as shaped by three conditions: (1) a principal's backgrounds, role perceptions, knowledge of instruction, and interactions with teachers; (2) teachers' perspectives; and (3) environmental demands. Notably, principals may lack the backgrounds,…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers states increased flexibility in how they identify, rank, label, and support underperforming schools. Initial reviews of state ESSA plans, however, suggest that identification and labeling policies have remained relatively unchanged. In this study, we analyze all state ESSA plans to systematically…

How school districts measure homelessness among their students has implications for accountability and funding, as well as for supporting student success. Yet, measuring homelessness among high school students is challenging because students move in and out of experiencing it. Using administrative student-level data from a mid-sized public school…

This article describes the results of a disabled children's childhood studies analysis of Section 1414 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004), which outlines definitions and procedures related to evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized education programs (IEP), and educational placements for disabled children in…

While activists and scholars have interrogated the problem of campus sexual assault, studies have yet to understand its effects on faculty labor. In this analytical essay, Stephanie R. Larson expands studies of campus sexual violence by addressing how ineffective reporting procedures and inadequate mechanisms of response have consequences for…

The IDEA mandates transition planning in Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for disabled students, who are now enrolling in postsecondary education programs at higher rates than ever before. Despite this, disabled students experience significantly worse post-school outcomes than their non-disabled peers. The purpose of this mixed-methods…