The purpose of this brief is to increase states' awareness of national data resources that can support states in sharing, linking, integrating, and using data on young children with disabilities to enhance the provision of early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services. The audience for this brief includes states'…

This article addresses the inclusion of English learners with disabilities, including those with significant cognitive disabilities, in state and district assessments. The authors provide background information on who these students are and the relationship between academic English language development, content learning, and assessment. The…

Adolescents with disabilities experience co-occurring mental health needs at higher rates than their peers without disabilities (Blake, 2017; Milligan et al., 2015; Poppen et al., 2016; Thornton et al., 2017). Mental health needs often become more prominent as individuals with disabilities transition from childhood to adolescence (White et al.,…

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…

Individualized education program (IEP) goals and objectives often provide illogical or insufficient methodological detail (e.g., Capizzi, 2008). Insufficient methods can lead to ambiguity among the staff members responsible for data collection or to data that fail to take into account factors that can affect performance or behavioral expression…

This report summarizes activities undertaken by OSPI's Reducing Restraint & Eliminating Isolation (RREI) project during fiscal year 2025, as mandated through 2023's biennial operating budget and 2024's supplemental operating budget. Demonstration projects incorporate "Pilot site" districts that strategically engage in the process of…

Students receiving behavioral supports in the third tier of the schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) framework are often identified as having emotional and behavior disabilities. Although educators implement evidence-based practices with fidelity, these practices are not always effective in supporting students with…

Since 2004, U.S. states have collected information from former students with disabilities about their employment and further education activities in the first year after leaving high school. About one year after they leave school, young adults who had Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are asked some very important questions: Are they…

Special educators are required to collect data on student progress and use it as formative data to inform instructional decisions. Being told to collect student data without being shown how to effectively and efficiently collect it, may cause teachers to become overwhelmed. This article provides three easy-to-use templates to facilitate quick data…

With many states adopting new standards and evaluation systems, teachers must adopt effective instructional strategies and assessment methods aligned to the rigor of new standards and assessments. One way to improve student achievement is through supporting student ownership of learning, a core component of formative instructional practices.…

This paper describes how Individualized Educational Programming (IEP) can match school district resources to handicapped children's needs. The process includes the assessment of the child's present educational performance, preparation of goals and objectives, appropriate instructional actions, resources and assessment criteria, and evaluation.…

This article describes a transdisciplinary team approach to functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and intervention for young children with autism who exhibit severe challenging behavior. The article discusses the types of information needed to conduct an FBA, gives examples of information collection, and examines benefits and barriers to the team…

This article describes a seven-step process for designing written intervention plans that help teachers and families bridge the gap between the goals targeted on the IEP (individualized education program) as well as intervention strategies and data collection in the general education classroom. The seven steps to intervention planning are to: (1)…

This article examines the role of assessment in developing Individual Family Service Plans (IFSP) under Part H of the Education of the Handicapped Act. Emphasis is on determining eligibility, collecting assessment data for describing developmental performance, and establishing desired outcomes. (PB)

Many students identified as having moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) benefit from a curriculum that includes instruction on the functional skills that they will need to successfully transition to adulthood. In particular, this includes students with cognitive disabilities who are most likely to qualify in the 1% who are eligible for the…