This paper reports on a home-based intervention project piloted with preschoolers with emotional disturbances (N=30) including family services from an intervention team. The program emphasizes interactive planning for the Individual Family Service Plan. Two case studies are included. Results from a descriptive evaluation survey completed by…

Summarizes a case involving a district's alleged violation of a neurologically impaired student's rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504). The Third Circuit Court ruled that IDEA's "stay-put" rule did not excuse the district from developing a timely individualized…

Highlights strategies that enable physical education teachers to help students with disabilities achieve their individualized education plan (IEP) goals within the general physical education setting, focusing on: curriculum design, class organization, writing inclusive IEP goals, and communicating with special educators on the IEP team. (SM)

Describes how one elementary school implemented a plan to involve students with moderate learning disabilities in writing their own IEP programs. Asserts that process of student self-advocacy results in more active learners. (PKP)

The Council for Exceptional Children conducted an online Web survey to obtain information on the instructional practices and attitudes of educators as they relate to self-determination and student involvement in the individualized education program (IEP) process. We obtained 523 usable responses from teachers, administrators, and related services…

In September 1997, the Ridgewood, New Jersey, school district placed J.N., then age 11, in the Windsor School, per the IEP (individualized education program) team's identification of his special needs for structure, safety, and security. As a state-approved private special education school, Windsor signed an agreement with Ridgewood for the…

Adapted physical education is a mandated service, whereas therapeutic recreation and traditional recreation are considered related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In this article, the authors describe the distinctions between the services, recognition of need for referral, methods of assessment, sample…

This investigation analyzed goals from the Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) of 54 high school students with diagnosed reading disabilities in basic skills (decoding and/or word identification). Results showed that for 73% of the students, the IEPs written when they were in high school failed to specify any objectives regarding their acute…

The parent-school relationship for families of students with disabilities is clearly prescribed by law and is one of the main tenets of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 2004 (Newman, Cameto, & Hernandez, 2005). The measurement of this relationship presents a challenge in the context of what is meaningful participation,…

Administrators in public schools are undoubtedly familiar with their duties under federal law to serve students with disabilities in the educational program. Far fewer, however, are aware of their legal obligations to these same students in after-school athletics and extracurricular activities. Are students with disabilities entitled to…

This section of the Idaho Primer on Special Education in Charter Schools is divided into two parts: (1) a discussion of the legal status of charter schools and their linkage to other local education agencies (LEAs), and (2) a synopsis of federal laws that are most relevant to special education in charter schools. The Primer on Special Education in…

Previous research suggests that performance feedback improves treatment integrity. This study compared the effects of verbal performance feedback and verbal plus graphic performance feedback on implementation of a student-specific behavior support plan (BSP) by members of a second-grade teaching team at a public elementary school. A consultant to…

A survey conducted among approximately 1,400 students at 63 primary schools showed that learning gains for initial reading varied significantly for students in the last 6 months of Year 3. Learning gains turned out to be much higher in classes where students had received explicit or direct instruction, where instruction had been organized…

This study investigated the degree to which students with intellectual and developmental disabilities have access to the general education curriculum and the degree to which such access is related to and predicted by classroom setting and ecological variables. We observed 19 students during science or social studies instruction and collected data…

The overrepresentation of students with racial, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity (RCELD) in special education has been well documented for over 30 years. This phenomenon is known as "disproportionality." In an effort to address the disproportionate issue, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction funded a collaborative…