The Indiana Department of Education's (IDOE) Accessibility and Accommodations Guidance is intended for school-level personnel and decision-making teams as they prepare for and implement Indiana State Assessments. Information is provided for school personnel to use in selecting and administering universal tools, designated features, and…

A persistent problem in the professional literature in school psychology and related fields, such as special education, is the insufficient treatment of legal issues in terms of not only quantity (e.g., Zaheer & Zirkel, 2014) but also quality (e.g., Zirkel, 2014). The quality dimension is illustrated in the coverage of the Supreme Court's…

Students with emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD) are among the most marginalized group of students in our schools. In essence, students with EBD are often denied their civil right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) which is a social justice issue. Teachers who become social justice allies are more likely to create a…

The early identification of motor difficulties through psychomotor assessment is fundamental for the planning of individualized and differentiated educational programs. In the field of motor activity, observation plays a crucial role. This is characterized by the knowledge of the level of psychomotor and auxiological development, the definition of…

Anyone who has attended an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting for a student with special needs knows that this gathering of individuals has the potential to be extremely contentious and adversarial if not handled effectively. Often parents become overwhelmed by terminology that is foreign to them and may feel as though the only…

Consultation is essential to the daily practice of school psychologists (National Association of School Psychologist, 2010). Successful consultation requires fidelity at both the consultant (implementation) and consultee (intervention) levels. We applied a multidimensional, multilevel conception of fidelity (Dunst, Trivette, & Raab, 2013) to a…

In keeping with the international trend towards inclusive education and a context-sensitive approach to students' needs, Portugal enacted, in 2008, a law that stipulated the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) to inform special needs assessment and eligibility procedures.…

Students with disabilities often struggle with grade-level mathematics without appropriate support and accommodations. This study compared the performance of middle school students with disabilities on computational-based mathematics assessments when they had access to calculators and when they did not. Using a single-case ABAB design, data were…

Especially important to the successful education of children with disabilities are stakeholder (parents and educators) perceptions of home-school relationships across grade levels and diagnoses. However, research on these communication patterns often excludes the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and downplays differences across disabilities.…

Charter schools are public schools authorized to operate with some independence from district or state public school regulations, while still being held accountable for student outcomes. Like traditional schools operated by school districts, charter schools are free and are intended to be open to all students who desire to attend. This study…

The roles of teachers and related service providers (e.g., speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists) are vital to skill acquisition and meaningful access to the general education curriculum for students who have been identified as having significant or extensive support needs. However, often delivery of…

The primary mechanism for ensuring students with disabilities receive the right educational content and rigor at the right moment in their education is the individualized education program (IEP). This document, "Ensuring an Equitable Opportunity: Providing a High-Quality Education for Students with Disabilities," details policy and…

Work experiences are linked to positive post-school outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities. Unfortunately, students who struggle to manage conflict and challenges in work settings have a difficult time maintaining employment. Though ecological assessments are used to create supported work plans surrounding socially inappropriate…

This research focused on whether a TEACCH-based approach could be effective in helping to develop the communication skills of older learners with Severe Intellectual Disabilities, to enhance their ability to communicate, to enhance their abilities to live independent lives, and to take part in discussions about their future. A TEACCH based…

For this 10th article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the focus is eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For this purpose, the courts have generally agreed that, based on the definitions in the IDEA's…