There are large gaps in educational access and attainment between the rich and poor in the United States. In 2016, there was a 25 percentage-point gap in college enrollment rates for high school graduates in the top and bottom family income quartiles. Reflections on Connecting Research and Practice in College Access and Success Programs is the…

Disability studies is an emerging field of inquiry that investigates the disability experience as a socially constructed phenomenon similar to issues of race, gender, and class. However, the literature of adult education shows that we are not making these same connections. Nor are we conducting a thorough investigation of how the manifestations of…

This column introduces issues in research and practice concerned with assistive technology for students with disabilities including delays in transferring research findings into practice and ways to integrate what is known about research, effective practice, teacher professional development, and change. (Contains 14 references.) (DB)

This commentary on EC 602 595 questions cognitive referencing's validity as a model for allocating special services to young children with disabilities. The paper raises methodological issues in studies supporting use of the cognitive referencing model. These issues include the construct of delayed development, subject description, and use of a…

This paper responds to commentaries on an original article which proposed decreasing the training of applied behavior analysts as if they were going to be researchers, because most are not. The paper supports high quality research but opposes inculcating proresearcher, antipractitioner values in graduate education and recommends trying harder to…

This article summarizes and analyzes 43 pieces of professional literature pertaining to paraprofessional supports for students with disabilities published between 1991 and 2000. The findings identify topical gaps in the literature, review the major data based findings, and present implications for the field. Suggestions for future research stress…

This paper highlights research, development, and applications of technology in the areas of visual perception, facilitation of human communication, prosthetics and orthotics, and robotics and signal processing. Means by which the application of promising technological developments can be expedited are also discussed. (Author/DB)

This editorial notes the differences between the language of science and the language of special education practice; stresses the need for communication between these groups; notes the need for publications in both areas; and urges continued dialog among researchers, practitioners, and parents. (DB)

The role of theory-based research in early childhood special education is examined, including the relevance of such research at different phases of teachers' careers. It is recommended that professional education provide teachers with skills to construct personalized theories of effective educational practices and to evaluate their theories.…

In the context of a discussion of the use of meta-analysis techniques, two articles take issue with the findings of Casto and Mastropieri concerning effects of early intervention, in particular age-at-start parent involvement, conceptual and methodological problems. The authors of the original article provide rebuttals to the critiques. (JW)

This booklet offers guidelines for the development of dissemination strategies, especially those concerned with research and programs. Individual sections address: the importance of including sound dissemination plans in grant proposals, factors found to be closely related to information utilization in the dissemination process, a philosophical…

Two studies examined language intervention practices in preschool classrooms that included children with disabilities. Both a descriptive study involving 59 children and a process-product study involving 62 children found that children more frequently exposed to recommended language practices made greater language gains and demonstrated higher…

The editors of this journal comment on an article by John Johnson and Frank Rusch (EC 606 176), which reported that few of the recommended "best practices" in transitional services are actually supported by empirical data. The editorial urges greater empirical investigation in the field of career development, especially research on "best…

This response to Rule et al. (EC 620 843) concerning translating research on naturalistic instruction into early-intervention practice with young children with disabilities raises concerns about treatment fidelity in such research studies, and notes the existence of pioneering models for studying treatment fidelity. (DB)

This response to Rule et al. (EC 620 843) concerning translating research on naturalistic instruction into early intervention practice with young children with disabilities questions whether the main features of naturalistic instruction are often fully implemented, and suggests that following the suggested guidelines might lead to actually…