Adaptive behavior rating scales are widely used assessments that ask teachers and parents to rate how well students care for themselves, interact with others, and exhibit practical and academic skills. While adaptive rating scales have yielded reliable and valid results, it is unclear how the readability of the rating forms may impact the results,…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard documents, as distributed by each of the 50 U.S. states. Results were compared to the 5th- to 6th-grade readability guideline for documents recommended by experts in health literacy and health…

To overcome barriers to improved outcomes, we undertook an intervention to teach schoolchildren how to detect a stroke and call emergency medical services (EMS). We obtained permission from parents and guardians to use an 8-min puppet show to instruct the fourth, fifth, and sixth graders about stroke detection, symptomatology, and calling EMS. A…

Teaching students to enjoy reading is important in middle level education; however, middle school students with emotional behavioral disabilities (EBD) frequently struggle with reading skills and frequently display motivational deficits during reading instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine if the presence/absence of a classroom pet…

The assessment of learning in large online courses requires tools that are valid, reliable, easy to administer, and can be automatically scored. We have evaluated an online assessment and learning tool called Knowledge Assembly, or Knowla. Knowla measures a student's knowledge in a particular subject by having the student assemble a set of…

Vocabulary acquisition traditionally has been a struggle for students with special learning needs. This study involved an eleven year old fifth grade student with learning disabilities in reading and writing and limited English proficiency. Assistive technology assistance was provided from the Franklin Language Master 6000b and Microsoft's Power…