This brief is designed for educators who want to support the educational aspirations of students experiencing homelessness. While educational transition plans have previously been utilized to support students with special needs and those exiting foster care, this tool has rarely been leveraged to address the unique needs of students experiencing…

Interventions often require multiple decisions to improve outcomes for every student. Whether the decision to implement a practice, tailor an existing protocol, or change approaches, these decisions should be based on individual variables and outcomes via a sequence of treatment. To develop adaptive interventions that have sufficient evidence to…

Self-determination is a predictor of positive in- and post-school outcomes, including access to general education, competitive employment, and community participation. Emerging research has focused on promoting self-determination for all students given alignments with college and career readiness frameworks and equity-based education. However, it…

Self-advocacy skills enable active student involvement in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) planning process. However, some students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) lack appropriate self-advocacy skills and may require specific instruction in how to prepare for and participate in their own IEP. Special educators may have…

Executive functions, which begin developing in early childhood, are necessary for the tasks of daily life, such as decision making and planning. Despite their early development, often without teaching, many teens with disabilities need explicit instruction to acquire and apply executive functions each day. Gaps in executive functions directly…

Act 419 of the 2021 Louisiana Legislative Session requires each public school governing authority to submit a report to the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) annually relative to the occurrence of dyslexia. Act 622 of the 2022 Louisiana Legislature updated the due date of the report to December 15 to better align with reporting cycles. The…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) may benefit from specific instruction on ways to prepare for and participate in their own Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. In this article, we describe the application of a research-based self-directed IEP process that can be used by educators to effectively foster…

A transition-age youth with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) has the right to a free, appropriate public education that includes postsecondary transition planning and services. Because students with emotional-behavioral disorders (EBD) experience adverse outcomes during and after high school, they may benefit from a transition-focused…

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) maintains that it should be the goal of all educators and policymakers to understand, support, and facilitate the transition of children and youth with disabilities to post-school life. This includes supporting children and youth to achieve their respective goals regarding postsecondary education and…

Through effective communication and proper accommodations, adolescents with chronic illnesses can have their physical, cognitive, social, and emotional needs met at school.

Accommodations, deserved or undeserved, have been under the microscope in 2019. They played a prominent role in this year's Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, with prosecutors alleging that wealthy parents persuaded willing psychologists to say their child needed extra time in special testing centers--in a few cases, ringers proctored the…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; 2004) requires that special education teachers include transition in student individualized education plans (IEPs) in preparation for adulthood. The law also requires that, at a minimum, educators invite students with disabilities to attend their IEP meetings starting no later than…

Inclusive post-secondary education (PSE) for students with intellectual disabilities (IDs) is becoming increasingly common in colleges and universities. A majority of these inclusive PSE programs focus on academic enrichment, socialization, independent living skills, integrated work experiences, and career skills. Thus, in inclusive PSE programs,…

Music educators are required to support the learning needs of those they teach. Some students may require additional or specific learning supports through individualized education programs (IEPs), also known as individualized education plans, to ensure their academic success. Music educators may struggle to transfer IEP goals, accommodations,…

Postsecondary entrance and placement tests provide critical information that shapes the trajectory of the transition from secondary to postsecondary education. Test accommodations can play an important role in reducing barriers that deaf students face during high-stakes testing. For deaf students, decisions about access and accommodations for…