Background: The research on evidence-based practices (EBP) in special education has shifted over the last decade from identifying efficacious interventions to exploring issues that impede implementation in the classroom. Common barriers to implementation include absence of training and resources, limited collaboration between researchers and…

Within the past few decades, scholars, lawmakers, and educators have increased attention to a specific type of aggressive behavior known as bullying. While bullying is like peer aggression and harassment, in that they all pertain to negative aggressive actions, there are important distinctions among these three forms of behavior. The key features…

Professional educators are called upon to provide effective instruction to student populations that increasingly consist of multiple cultures, languages, and ethnic backgrounds. Based on current special education law, schools are working toward establishing more collaborative cultures by stressing partnerships between general and special education…

Can susceptibility to false memory and suggestion increase dramatically with age? The authors review the theoretical and empirical literatures on this counterintuitive possibility. Until recently, the well-documented pattern was that susceptibility to memory distortion had been found to decline between early childhood and young adulthood. That…

This document asserts that civil litigation of personal injury claims involving emotional distress is commonplace in American society today. It recognizes that expert witness testimony often plays a key role in the rewarding or denial of damages in such claims and that the psychologist's role as an expert witness in such matters entails unique…

Objective: To show how the results of research on children's memory, communicative skills, social knowledge, and social tendencies can be translated into guidelines that improve the quality of forensic interviews of children. Method: We review studies designed to evaluate children's capacities as witnesses, explain the development of the…

This article examines whether Ontario's Special Education Tribunals have expanded the educational rights of exceptional children beyond those legislated, with emphasis on the nature and quality of psychoeducational assessments provided by school boards. The review of litigation finds a number of expanded rights in this area. (Author/DB)

What is the nature and function of case law in our legal system? How are legal case histories used to establish precedent and to assist in the application of legal principles to specific cases? These and other questions are addressed in this examination of the potential of using a basic case structure in educational evaluation similar to that used…

Notes that several recent court decisions have questioned reliability and validity of anatomical dolls as assessment and evidentiary tool. Reviews literature on the use of anatomical dolls and highlights issues concerning their diagnostic and forensic efficacy. Identifies and discusses implications of the use of these dolls for social work…

This paper provides a legal update on the role of the judiciary in determining an appropriate communication method for teaching hearing-impaired students. The paper concludes that the judiciary has consistently upheld the right of educational agencies to determine educational methodologies while attempting to protect hearing-impaired individuals'…

Examining interpretive approaches to the First Amendment free speech and press clause, this paper focuses on the conceptual framework proposed by John Hart Ely. Other First Amendment tests examined include clear and present danger, balancing, the absolute test, and A. Meiklejohn's "absolute" test. Following an analysis of Ely's First…

The "least restrictive means" test, a frequently used tool for resolving First Amendment cases in federal courts, is designed to insure that state-imposed abridgement of free expression is limited to the narrowest scope and the least impact necessary to fulfill a compelling state interest. Analysis of the history of the test since its…

A number of research studies document the effectiveness of magnet schools--both in breaking down racial isolation and in providing high-quality education programs. However, according to Kimberly West, writing in the "Yale Law Journal,""many magnet schools are rife with racially segregated classrooms." (MLF)

To reveal evolving strategies for and existing problems in performance appraisal, this report summarizes recently published research findings and expert opinions. The first section examines the purposes of performance appraisal in organizations, discusses the relationship of appraisal to the job description, and presents an overview of the basic…

The papers in this collection provide a brief state-of-the-art statement on the role of non-standard dialects of English in education and on some implications of the Ann Arbor decision. The following papers are included: (1) "Vernacular Black English: Setting the Issues in Time," by Roger W. Shuy; (2) "Beyond Black English:…