This article discusses strategies for increasing general education teacher participation in Individualized Education Program (IEP) development, in the following areas: team connection issues, time issues, preparation issues, training issues, and IEP relevance issues. A sample IEP meeting agenda is provided, along with results from an IEP…

This article links standards-based goals and objectives to district standards using three cornerstones: the development of one belief system, a common understanding of the district's standards, and the development of a working relationship with general education. A district-wide model project of accountability for students with disabilities is…

An alternative education program in Virginia helps suspended students keep on track. The school district contracts with student teachers at two nearby private colleges--Bridgewater College and Eastern Mennonite University--to tutor middle and high school students who are on long-term suspension of at least a semester. (MLF)

This paper reviews the literature on the implementation of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process, using a framework based on phases of evolution of the IEP process. It identifies issues such as the importance of training for all IEP process participants, especially parents and regular teachers, and the development of team decision…

This introductory article to a special series discusses requirements under the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to base behavioral intervention planning and positive behavioral support on information obtained through a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) process. The lack of guidance on FBAs and strategies for…

This study involved a content analysis of the transition goals of 136 students (mean age 17) with mental retardation for those which addressed skills related to self-determination. Results indicated very limited emphasis on such skills. Discussion focuses on the need to provide systematic instruction in elements of self-determination to students…

This Department of Education Notice of Policy Guidance explains services to students with visual impairments under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as amended in 1997. An editor's note focuses on requirements for providing Braille and orientation/mobility instruction. The notice has sections on application of free…

How does the nation's largest urban public school district address the complex behavior management requirements of its special education students? This article reviews the positive behavior support system in the New York City schools. It delineates the major components of an urban special education public school district's positive behavior…

This analysis indicated that from variables theorized to influenced score changes in NAEP reading scores from 1994-1998, two were the most consistent with pattern of correlations found in the data. Together, both median household income (AVGINC) and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-priced lunch (FRELCH) had fairly large…

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…

Autism spectrum disorders, as the name suggests, do not represent a single nor straightforward set of needs to be met. The challenges facing education and other professionals, and the young people whose needs are being addressed, are considerable. The key is to see past the presenting issues, often behavioural in nature, to the communication…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Self-Directed IEP to teach individualized education program (IEP) meeting skills. One hundred and thirty secondary students were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group. Observations of 130 meetings and 764 IEP team members were performed using 10-s momentary time sampling to determine the…

Music teachers around the country are dealing with an exponential increase in the number of students with disabilities in their classrooms and ensembles. Teachers often do this without any training, support, or specialized information about how best to educate these children. They do their best to include all children in their music classes, but…