Instructional leaders must be proficient in their knowledge of effective instructional strategies in order foster an environment that uses what has been identified as "best-practice" for students with disabilities. This role is critical in rural school systems where principals take on more responsibility and the ability to employ highly…

This is the 22nd report by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) that describes how states publicly report assessment data for students with disabilities in K-12 schools in the United States. The purpose of this report is to examine the extent to which states reported 2018-19 assessment data for students with disabilities "to the…

Reporting assessment results to the public has been a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since the early 1990s, with the reauthorization of ESEA as the Improving America's Schools Act in 1994. In 1997, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) included this requirement to make sure that assessment participation…

As students progress through school they spend more time reading to obtain information. Reading to learn can be a struggle for any student, but it tends to be a bigger obstacle for students with disabilities. Using text-to-speech applications and extensions is one way to assist students with disabilities who struggle to independently complete…

Although research suggests peer support arrangements can be an effective practice for improving social outcomes for students with severe disabilities, additional efforts are needed to refine training and implementation approaches to increase the replicability and sustainability of this intervention. We tested a promising teacher-delivered training…

There are many reasons to believe that open-ended (OE) and multiple-choice (MC) items elicit different cognitive demands of students. However, empirical evidence that supports this view is lacking. In this study, we investigated the reactions of test takers to an interactive assessment with immediate feedback and answer-revision opportunities for…

This study examined the effects of a graphic organizer intervention package on the quality and quantity of persuasive writing of three middle school students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The intervention included a 3-day training which consisted of explicit instruction on the components of a persuasive essay, modeling and guided practice…

Co-teaching classrooms consist of general and special education teachers working together to benefit students with disabilities (SWDs). Many parents and teachers believe the content knowledge provided by general educators in the regular education setting, combined with the instructional service delivery model (SDM) expertise of special educators,…

A broader understanding of the importance of student behaviors and school climate as drivers of academic performance and the wider acceptance that schools have a role in nurturing the "whole child" have increased attention to indicators that go beyond traditional metrics focused on proficiency in math and reading. The 2015 passage of the…

In the United States increasingly more children are being identified as needing special services. Teachers are usually the first to identify children in need of such services and refer those children for evaluation. Due to the fact that more of these children are being included in the regular classroom environment, it is imperative for teachers to…

The purpose of this Executive Position Paper project was to develop resources for improving Individual Educational Program (IEP) mathematics learning goals for conceptual understanding of fractions for middle school special education students. The investigation surveyed how IEP mathematics learning goals are currently determined and proposed a new…

Students with disabilities experience higher unemployment, attend postsecondary environments less often, and engage less in their communities after graduating from high school compared to their peers without disabilities (Newman, Wagner, Knokey, Marder, Nagle, Shaver, & Schwarting, 2011). In middle school, young adolescents with disabilities…

The purpose of this study was to assess the inclusion of health care components in transition Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students diagnosed with Other Health Impaired (OHI). In this study, we analyzed 50 IEPs of students with an OHI diagnosis to establish whether there are health-related components or other common health care…

The article presents a longitudinal study of an urban charter middle school to examine the impact testing pressures can have on the education of students with disabilities and English language learners, and how this may lead to a narrowing of the content they are taught. The study examines various sources of data, including the school's evolving…

Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) commissioned Dr. Marcus Winters to analyze the factors driving the special education gap between Denver's charter and traditional public elementary and middle schools. Using student-level data, Winters shows that Denver's special education enrollment gap starts at roughly 2 percentage points in…