In early December 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team at the author's son's school met with her online about supporting her autistic son in his general education social studies class. Looking at the many faces on the screen who had gathered to support her son, the author realized how grateful she…

Why are IEP meetings often uncomfortable, awkward, and stiff? Educators and families all have a common goal--to support the growth of a child. Yet educators often feel confused that families act like reluctant participants who are just fulfilling a requirement. And families often feel that they're viewed as intruders, whose insights and dreams for…

What is Goal Attainment Scaling? In this article, Lee Ann Jung defines it as a way to measure a student's progress toward an individualized goal. Instead of measuring a skill at a set time (for instance, on a test or other assignment), Goal Attainment Scaling tracks the steps a student takes over the course of a year in a targeted skill. Together,…

Co-teaching was originally conceived as a way to push student with special needs into general education so that they could access the general curriculum alongside their peers. What was often lost, however, was the meticulous attention to these students' special needs, as identified in their individualized education programs (IEPs). In this…

When Henry was enrolled in a gifted program in 3rd grade, he showed many of the classic signs of giftedness, but his reading and writing skills were below grade level. An evaluation revealed that he was twice-exceptional--he was gifted and he had a learning disability. Believing that both his giftedness and his learning disability warranted…

Describes a program in Hauppauge High School on Long Island that has reversed its declining S.A.T. scores. (JM)

An in-school suspension program in Virginia is characterized by individualized academic and/or behavioral intervention. (Author/MLF)

Describes a model for educating students of widely varying abilities in the same classroom by combining a base of common activities and opportunities for special independent projects. (Author/JM)

Schools have devised several ways to adapt instruction to a wide variety of student abilities and needs. Judged by criteria for what adaptive education should be, most learning for mastery programs look good. (Author/JM)

In Elizabethton (Tennessee) a separate program with one teacher keeps some high school students from dropping out and helps improve their attendance. (Author/MLF)

Historically ranked low on student performance, the New Orleans schools are fighting back with a new program called the Secondary Curriculum Improvement Program. (Author/JM)

Chicago's mastery learning program takes into account the complexities of reading and the realities of urban classrooms. Its designers say that if a program does not lead to success, it is not a mastery learning program. (Author/JM)

No student should have to earn his or her way into the general education classroom, writes the author. The inclusive education model recognizes every student's right to be educated in the least restrictive environment, as provided under special education law. Yet many school districts still place students with special learning needs in separate…

Describes how one elementary school implemented a plan to involve students with moderate learning disabilities in writing their own IEP programs. Asserts that process of student self-advocacy results in more active learners. (PKP)

Giangreco helps teachers answer one of the hardest questions in including students with disabilities in mainstream classes: How can teachers include students who function substantially below grade level? Giangreco describes a teacher who must help a boy working at kindergarten level participate in the academic work of her 5th grade class. He…