For this 17th article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the topic is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) central obligation, free appropriate public education (FAPE). More specifically, the focus here is procedural and…

Embedded learning opportunities are one evidence-based practice for addressing individualized education program goals for young children with special needs. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze 8 early childhood special education teachers' use of embedded learning opportunities during the usual conditions of…

The 2017 Supreme Court decision "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" highlighted the importance of monitoring students' progress toward appropriately challenging individualized educational program (IEP) annual goals and making changes to students' educational programs when needed. The process for setting an IEP goal should be…

The ability to significantly increase and sustain gains in early literacy for students with disabilities and a desire to bridge the gap between compliance and results-driven accountability (RDA) led Washington State to innovate a solution. This state spotlight will focus on Washington's improvement strategy to address this early literacy challenge…

The Inclusive Assessment of Computational Thinking (CT) designed for accessibility and learner variability was studied in over 50 classes in US schools (grades 3-8). The validation studies of IACT sampled thousands of students to establish IACT's construct and concurrent validity as well as test-retest reliability. IACT items for each CT practice…

The aim of this study was to explore home-school collaboration in the areas of assessment, placement, and Individual Education Plan (IEP) development for children identified with disabilities or special educational needs (SEN) in Macao. Despite the noted benefits of parent-school partnerships from prior research, minimal research has been…

The activity area-based curriculum model (AACM) is used in the Finnish basic education to support pupils--most of whom have profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD)--who could benefit more from skills that advance independent life coping. Existing studies have concentrated mainly on the Individual Education Plan (IEP) goal-setting…

This book will provide school personnel with functional information and the necessary academic tools to manage the instructional needs of children with auditory disorders -- either peripheral hearing loss or auditory processing disorders. Treatment strategies to help mitigate the detrimental effects of hearing disorders in the classroom are…

Created in 2016, Alaska's Pre-Elementary Grants (PEGs) allow school districts to design, develop, and expand affordable and accessible preschool in their communities. PEGs aim, in particular, to serve historically disadvantaged students. This study aimed to help Alaska stakeholders better understand how districts implemented the grants and what…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study looking at implementation of Pre-Elementary Grant (PEG) programs, the characteristics of PEG districts and the students served, and the student outcomes related to participating in state-funded preschool, including participating in a PEG program. Data sources included documents submitted by…

The "State-Funded Preschool in the Last Frontier: Alaska's Pre-Elementary Grant Program" study examined the implementation of Pre-Elementary Grant (PEG) programs in Alaska, the characteristics of PEG districts and the students served, and the student outcomes related to participating in state-funded preschool, including participating in…

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the districts that received ongoing training and coaching to use the Active Implementation Frameworks improved mathematics outcomes. The Active Implementation Frameworks represent five essential approaches for effective implementation of any evidence-based program or practice. One of the…

Providing efficient education services at special education centers requires teachers to work productively. Increasing teachers' productivity depends on specifying the problems they face at practice centers. The most significant advantage of specifying teachers' opinions is forming the basis for making regulations in order to present effective…

Special education students are entitled to receive accommodations stipulated in their individualized education program (IEP) based on the individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA) (14 Delaware Code, §310, 2016). Although IDEA regulation does not define accommodations, accommodations are embedded within the students' IEP to provide them an…

This study investigated students with disabilities transition after high school. It examined the student's involvement with their Individual Education Plan, teacher's perception on literacy instruction and the number of special education student who become employed in the community after high school. This study utilized mixed methods that included…