The individualized habilitation plans (IHP) for 11 adults with moderate to profound mental retardation living in community group homes were evaluated for correspondences with a subset of implemented objectives. A high degree of correspondence was found for two quality indicators (age appropriateness, functionality) but lower levels of…

Discussion of family involvement in functional assessment (FA) with individuals who have autism or related disabilities first provides a rationale for family involvement, then reviews the literature and offers guidelines including: recognize, respect, and accommodate families' individuality; create a context for family centered participation; take…

This was an exploratory study that examined the introduction and use of Edublogs as a collaborative communication tool in an undergraduate preservice special education course. Participants were enrolled in a course that addressed transition and the development of individualized transition education plans for students with disabilities. Pre- and…

The preservice and in-service predictors of 1,668 Part C early intervention and Part B(619) preschool special practitioners' perceived self-efficacy beliefs are reported. The preservice variables were type of degree (discipline), years of formal postsecondary education, licensure, and participants' judgment of how well their preservice training…

This study investigated the extent to which student performance and teacher perception of student performance affect placement in eighth-grade mathematics classes for students with disabilities. Authors used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten dataset to investigate how each of the following factors predicted placement in…

Including students with special needs in the general education classroom is being widely promoted in the public schools. This practice places a heavy burden on the general educator who is often inadequately trained to meet the needs of such a diverse classroom. Co-teaching has been one of the support strategies used to address the challenges and…

The purpose of this single community qualitative case study was to determine how the voice of the student was present in the IEP process, documentation paperwork, and curricular and diagnostic decisions, among a group of seven students, grades 9 through 12, placed in a self-contained program for students with emotional disabilities in a suburban…

The purpose of this case study was to determine teachers' rationales for assigning students with mild disabilities to alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). In interviews, special educators stated that their primary considerations in making the assignments were low academic performance, student use of extended…

This is the companion report to "Early Progress: Interim Research on Personalized Learning" which documents the teacher survey results for the 2013-14 school year. Researchers obtained and analyzed both qualitative and quantitative data from each school to create a broad picture of the schools' efforts to implement personalized learning…

The authors provide an analysis of why the controversies surrounding educational treatment are likely to continue even with scientific validation of practices as called for in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. They describe how bias in human judgment makes it difficult to trust others and also difficult to doubt oneself relative to important…

This report presents Special Education Indicator Performance data tables for 174 Bureau of Indian Education schools. Indicators include: (1) Graduation Rate; (2) Dropouts; (3) Assessment Targets; (4) Assessment Targets--Reading; (5) Assessment Targets--Mathematics; (6) Suspensions and Expulsions--High School; (7) Suspensions and…

The goal of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is no longer simply to make services available to young children with disabilities and their families, but also to ensure that those services lead to enhanced outcomes for participating children and families. To that end, IDEA 2004 requires states to submit State Performance Plans…

The current paper reports on the outcome of an ongoing action research project at a school for higher-functioning students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Sweden. The overall aim of the study was to develop and evaluate a questionnaire that captures social and individual aspects of classroom learning suitable for use with students with ASD.…

Individualized learning plans (ILPs) are being implemented in high schools throughout the United States as strategic planning tools that help students align course plans with career aspirations and often include the development of postsecondary plans. Initial indications are that ILPs may be an important method for helping students achieve both…

This study examined the scores on a state standards-based Grade 5 Science assessment obtained by a group of students without learning disabilities who took the standard form of the test and by three groups of students with learning disabilities: one taking the standard form of the test without accommodations or modifications, a second taking the…