The purpose of the current study was to investigate how preservice teachers perceived the utility of a psychological report for their practice (e.g., creating an individual education plan or a lesson plan). Teacher candidates, who were enrolled in an Inclusive Education course, used fictional psychological reports as the basis for course…

Students in the United States who receive special education services are entitled to receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that provides an appropriate level of benefit. Although IEP content is informed by policy mandates and practice recommendations, research has yet to investigate the degree to which school practice is in alignment.…

Students with extensive support needs are at risk of demonstrating challenging behavior due to inadequate support of their individual needs or class-wide factors such as low quality of instruction. Students with extensive support needs are also among the students who are most likely to experience aversive interventions and be placed in segregated…

Individualized education program (IEP) goals are meant to be personalized to address the unique needs of students with disabilities, while also reflecting the student's grade-aligned general education curriculum. IEP goals describe what, how, and where students with disabilities are taught, and reflect the curriculum used to provide instruction.…

In this article, we provide a summary of a literature review conducted to determine how the published literature, including research articles, conceptual articles, and chapters, (a) describes access to the state-adopted grade-level standards in general education classes for students with extensive support needs (ESN) and (b) discusses recommended…

Educators and families develop individualized education programs (IEPs) to address unique needs of individual students with disabilities. Addressing all student needs is critical to ensuring students receive a free and appropriate public education. To understand how IEP teams address the needs of students with complex support needs, we examined…

This multi-method study evaluated the alignment of the Eureka Math Pre-K-5 curriculum with the district's RFP 4478.1, its effectiveness for students and teachers, and the fidelity of lesson implementation in Pre-K-5 classrooms. Data from staff surveys, student performance, and classroom observations were analyzed. Staff generally agreed that the…

Educators are demanding learning specific to their needs, and there are more options than ever for school systems to personalize learning. Sometimes these personalized learning options go hand-in-hand with teacher effectiveness systems that districts use to identify areas for educator growth. At the same time, schools and teams set collective…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the effects of standards-based Individualized Education Programs (SB IEPs) on student achievement. Educators are required to develop IEPs for students with educational disabilities. The purpose of an IEP is to outline the goals and services to be provided to the student in order for the student…

RAND researchers explore the messages teachers receive about what to teach and how to teach English language arts and mathematics in kindergarten through grade 12 schools in the United States, as well as teachers' overall perceptions of coherence and incoherence in instructional systems and how they navigate such systems. The authors conceive of…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (Letter) on November 16, 2015, to "clarify that an individualized education program (IEP) for an eligible child with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be aligned with the State's academic content standards for the grade in…

Special education students are entitled to receive accommodations stipulated in their individualized education program (IEP) based on the individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA) (14 Delaware Code, §310, 2016). Although IDEA regulation does not define accommodations, accommodations are embedded within the students' IEP to provide them an…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated that states implement standards and test-based accountability systems. In theory, local educators are free to select the means for teaching the standards so long as students achieve a predetermined proficiency level on the exams. What is unclear, however, is how this theory plays out in schools…

School reform efforts are reflected in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and increasingly impact potential for differentiation of instruction, which is critical in effectively educating students with varying achievement and learning needs. Although CCSS were developed to establish a ubiquitous foundation of educational expectations by grade…

The roles of teachers and related service providers (e.g., speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists) are vital to skill acquisition and meaningful access to the general education curriculum for students who have been identified as having significant or extensive support needs. However, often delivery of…