Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies that a behavioral intervention plan (BIP) must be developed for students with disabilities under certain disciplinary exclusions. IDEA, however, does not provide details as to what should be included in BIPs, and this lack of specific guidance often results in…

Background: Although a large number of children in foster care in the United States are receiving special education services, little is known about their educational experiences. Method: This exploratory study used focus group research to look more closely at the complexity of the problems and needs that this population experiences with the…

I investigated the presence, utility, and emergence of tacit knowledge in 9 study participants who used assistive-augmentative technology. I conducted phenomenologic interviews, audio-taping, and transcribed the interview with the written consent of the participants. Sixteen highly trained experts critiqued the final product of the interviews and…

This article presents questions regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations and the No Child Left Behind Act. The author's answers to these questions are presented.

The current system of educating disabled students provides financial incentives to schools to overidentify students as disabled and underserve those that are identified. The incentive to overidentify is caused by providing schools with additional funds as more students are placed in special education categories that are ambiguous to diagnose and…

This brochure summarizes law, policy, and practice concerning inclusion policies for students with specific learning disabilities (LD). It summarizes requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act concerning the availability of a continuum of placement options and placement in the least…

This text addresses curriculum development for students with mental retardation based on the premise that it is the primary job of educators to teach these individuals independence skills and also based on criticism of the academic focus of most current instructional approaches. Individual chapters consider the following topics: (1) an overview of…

This document consolidates, clarifies, and updates federal regulations on Head Start services for children with disabilities. The regulations are designed to complement the Head Start Program Performance Standards governing services to all enrolled children. Specifically, these regulations require Head Start programs to: (1) design comprehensive…

This monograph is intended to provide guidance to state, school district, and building-level personnel, and family organizations as they strive to comply with the transition requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The monograph includes: (1) a description of the importance and intent of transition services for youth…

This brief paper considers planning for the transition of students with disabilities from the school setting to adult life. First, "transition services" are defined according to requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The relationship of transition services to the student's Individualized Education Program is…

This policy brief examines states' experiences and data regarding implementation of the transition planning mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It reports on a study which investigated whether implementation of transition planning was associated with decreased dropout rates for youth with disabilities and whether the format…

This paper presents guidelines for creating a collaborative approach for communication among teachers, parents, and students to plan for their transition toward further education or work in adult life and to become informed self-advocates. Guidelines for teachers are presented and include: (1) establishing a system that places the student at the…

Thirty-three college students with learning disabilities responded to a request to identify their learning disability. The responses were then coded and a summary of the professional diagnoses of the learning disabilities was added to the students' self-descriptions. Five authorities in the field of learning disabilities were asked to use a…

This report examines efforts in Idaho to provide transition information and planning to secondary students with disabilities and their families. It offers an ideal profile of best transition practices. It then reports on a survey of 247 teachers, 170 principals, and 105 special education directors/superintendents in Idaho. The survey examined: (1)…

This handbook is designed to address teachers' most common concerns about learning disabilities (LDs) and teaching adults with LDs. Section 1 defines LDs by describing traits that adults with LDs share. Section 2 focuses on identification of students with LDs. LD characteristics are divided into eight categories: academics, speech/language, motor…