This report presents a snapshot of selected features of the condition of education in Wisconsin in 2019. With support from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences, and in collaboration with colleagues at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), the authors set out to measure practices in PK-12 education…

Little is known about the implementation of assistive technology (AT) services for students in rural areas. This study investigated the AT service delivery in 10 rural districts across six states. The results indicated that students use AT across functional areas, but considerably fewer number of devices than do those not living in rural areas. AT…

This paper describes the role of the Supported Housing Specialist as developed by the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. The paper is based on extensive interviews with Marcie Brost who developed and holds the position. This paper is intended to be used with a set of…

This 5-year multisite mixed-methods evaluation study chronicles the field-testing of the planning process Guidelines for Selecting Alternatives to Overreliance on Paraprofessionals in 26 schools (Grades K-12) in six states. Evaluation of the utilization and outcomes of the guidelines process was based on data from 472 study participants. Findings…

This study attempts to examine and document the implementation pattern of Individually Guided Education (IGE) across 30 Wisconsin school districts operating IGE programs in their schools. Using these results, the data were then analyzed to determine which of the seven IGE components examined, contributed most to a favorable overall or Total IGE…

The NIMH Healthy Living Project (HLP), a randomized behavioral intervention trial for people living with HIV, enrolled 943 individuals, including women, heterosexual men, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men from Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, and San Francisco. The intervention, which is based on qualitative formative research…

Beginning in 2007, federal regulations to two major education laws gave state departments of education the option to develop an alternate assessment based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS) for some students with disabilities. The regulations stated that the AA-MAS was intended for students who were being instructed in the grade-level…

All "open" schools have one principle in common; they represent efforts to expand the freedoms of learners. Some features characteristic of open education are the involvement of more people, more part-time learners, a curriculum relevant to life, and a broadening of the learning environment. Emphasis is on the learner with a diminishing…

The document reports the Wisconsin component of Project IEP (individualized education program), a project designed to identify and clarify perceptions related to roles in the IEP process as mandated by P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. It is explained that under Project IEP approximately 200 persons (including state and…

This qualitative study investigated the perceptions of 8 Local Education Agency (LEA) personnel who implemented the Transition Outcomes Project (TOP) in a midwestern state. These personnel represented 100% of the state LEAs who instigated the pilot of TOP in the participating state. Findings showed that TOP had 3 major positive effects: greater…

The document provides a compendium of 83 "best practices" in the vocational rehabilitation of clients with learning disabilities. Practices (N=120) were originally identified by a literature search, contacts with experts on learning disabilities, contacts with learning-disabled individuals, and contacts with community-based organizations…

With the heightened emphasis of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 on inclusion in the general curriculum and meeting the associated standards, assistive technology (AT) has become a necessary consideration to ensure a free appropriate public education and to promote education in the least restrictive environment…

Though most interactions between parents and school personnel about students with disabilities are positive and productive, disagreements can arise. Disputes may range in intensity from minor miscommunications to significant conflicts that trigger the use of procedural safeguards available under federal law. The Individuals with Disabilities…

Schools across the nation have been charged with the task of conducting functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) to aid in the development of behavior intervention plans (BIPs) to address the challenging behavior of students with special education needs. In response, schools have initiated efforts to provide the various members of their student…

Testing accommodations used in students' IEPs or recommended by classroom teachers were investigated. Three domains of testing accommodations were examined; (a) accommodations recommended through the IEP process, (b) accommodations recommended by the teacher, and (c) accommodations provided in the testing sessions, to explore factors that…