This contribution reports on the developing and piloting of a computer-based version of the test of English as a foreign language produced by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), where it is currently used for the admission of international students and the subsequent evaluation of their language progress. Among other benefits,…

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.…

The Special Education Process (SEP) demands the collaboration of various professionals and personalities to create the Individualised Education Plan (IEP), beginning with the evaluation conducted by clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and in this study, developmental paediatricians. Assessments acts as a keystone document, serving as basis for…

With this position paper, we advance the case for reformation of U.S. special education law and praxis. These have undergone mostly incremental changes over the five decades since their inception despite a substantial body of evidence amassed over this period, which points to a major gap between extant policy and praxis, and contemporary cultural…

The central school district obligation for disciplinary changes in placement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to answer the question of whether the conduct at issue is a manifestation of the individual student's disability. School psychologists often play a key role in this team-based manifestation determination…

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the delivery of specially designed instruction for students with disabilities. Educators had to quickly shift their instruction without support from training and knowledge of best practices for virtual teaching. This study sought to understand how teachers were providing specially designed instruction during the…

Auditing, accountability, and transparency are concepts that greatly impact the working conditions of today's public sector professionals, including teachers. Documentation requirements have been on the increase for some time, which can be seen in the education sector's Individual Development Plans (IDPs), for example. These IDPs are pedagogical…

The present study investigated the effectiveness of an equity-based inclusive school reform model nested within a multitiered system of support (MTSS) framework on the improvement of math and reading performance of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Descriptive statistics revealed that math state assessment scores of students…

This article is an examination of intersecting outcomes of deteriorating student mental health, disrupted socialization skills, declining preparatory academic performance, and the impact of traumatic domestic and global events on a diverse and digitally immersed Generation Z. The underlying and enduring organizational structure common to almost…

The Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf (CCCBSD) follows a theme-based learning model, providing a quarterly theme around which teachers base cross-curricular instruction. The themes are intentionally broad to encourage teachers to create instructional units that integrate academic and functional learning in response to…

The COVID-19 global pandemic left many educators making an emergency transition to remote instruction when schools were initially closed. Although this transition was likely difficult for most students, it may have been particularly difficult for students with emotional or behavioral disorders, who have complex and resource-intensive social,…

Inclusive education is a learning system where learners with various disabilities learn in an environment with equitable educational opportunities alongside non-disabled peers. The theoretical framework forming the foundation of this paper is disability studies which include the social model of disability, which pushes back against the medical…

Individualized Learning Plans (ILPs), an effective strategy to promote students' college and career readiness, are increasingly used in US school systems as a mechanism to encourage students' career exploration and identification of career goals. After describing features of ILPs, we provide an example of the ILP process developed and implemented…

This narrative inquiry shows the barriers and possibilities that the current US education context poses for two mothers of pre-kindergarten sons with autism. Specifically, this work is contextualized within the growing universal pre-kindergarten reform which provides a mixed delivery (public and private) implementation. Presented with the context…

Research highlights the importance of individualized approaches and coaching to ongoing professional learning (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & Orphanos, 2009). The purpose of this article is to describe an initiative that set out to help all students become proficient readers by 3rd grade. It demonstrates how coaching can support…