Co-teaching is a popular service delivery option for students with learning disabilities (LD), yet its overall efficacy is questionable. Variance in teachers, students, quality of instruction, and types of co-teaching make it challenging to meet criteria for quality group experimental study. Schools must determine the effectiveness of their…

Five facts about standardized tests should cause educators to rethink their use in decision-making. Standardized tests used for state and federal accountability purposes in PreK--12 public education are not diagnostic. The test results are impacted by family income and student background knowledge. The composition of the tests disadvantage…

With the increased emphasis on standardized testing from state and federal mandates, the need for reading remediation has intensified. Programs directed toward increasing student test scores have been put in place nationwide with mixed results. These initiatives include response to intervention (RTI), direct instruction, and individualized…

This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. A sample of 575 students from a large, urban school district were followed longitudinally as they transitioned between general and special education to evaluate whether receiving special education services was…

This study reports findings from studies examining potential read-aloud accommodations on standardized reading comprehension assessments for students with decoding difficulties. Three types of accommodations were evaluated: question stems and answer options read aloud; question stems, answer options, and proper nouns read aloud; and full…

Construct-irrelevant cognitive complexity of some items in the statewide grade-level assessments may impose performance barriers for students with disabilities who are ineligible for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards. This has spurred research into whether items can be modified to reduce complexity without affecting…

Inclusive educational practices are rooted in a body of research indicating that when students in need of support through special education are meaningfully included in schools, academic and social outcomes improve for all students. To realize this promise of better outcomes, traditional schools with separate classrooms and even schools designated…

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act every student that has a documented disability is required to have an individualized education program (IEP). The IEP comprises core areas, including physical education. The purpose of this article is to clarify 12 myths about physical education for students with disabilities and help…

In a cluster-randomized study, we investigate the impact of an argument-based approach to teaching science in elementary school on science learning and critical thinking skills. Forty-eight schools participated in the study, with data on 9,963 students across the 2 years of the intervention. Annual standardized tests assessing science content…

A nationwide discussion that is currently taking place related to student loan debt; a number of presidential candidates are discussing ideas for student loan forgiveness. Some states have offered free community college as a possible solution. Free community college would allow students to save money for two years before transferring to a…

The number of applied behavior analysis (ABA) classrooms for students with autism is increasing in K-12 public schools. To inform instruction of students with autism in public school settings, this study examined the relation between performance on mastery learning assessments and standardized achievement tests for students with autism spectrum…

This study investigated accommodations for students without disabilities in order to fill critical gaps in both knowledge and practices in fields of special education and educational assessments. In Ontario, students at different grade levels were assessed by the provincial assessments developed by the Education Quality and Accountability Office…

This article presents a collaborative study conducted in a large urban school district, in which the authors surveyed 55 clinicians within the special education system, with a focus on the mental health services provided to students who were receiving related-services counseling as a mandated component of their individualized education plan.…

We tested whether urban middle-school students from mostly low-income homes had improved academic vocabulary when they participated in a freely available vocabulary program, Word Generation (WG). To understand how this program may support students at risk for long-term reading difficulty, we examined treatment interactions with baseline…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and its influence on academic achievement, inclusion in general education classrooms, and curricular access for students with disabilities. 130 teachers from the state of Indiana were asked to submit the most recent IEP of one of their students in…