Since the introduction of response-to-intervention as a process for identifying specific learning disabilities and the widespread adoption of multi-tiered systems of support as a framework for instructional delivery, the role of the special educator has become blurred. Specifically, special educators have struggled to identify their role across…

Bipolar disorder has been one of the more hotly contested revisions for the new "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM-5"; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). At the heart of the "DSM-5" debate has been the fundamental question, "Is the diagnosis of bipolar disorder…

Jennifer Johnson discusses her work with the American College Educators-Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACE-DHH) group to address maltreatment of children with communicative disabilities and deafness. The ACE-DHH Child Maltreatment Work Group has targeted two documents in which the inclusion of safety statements could protect deaf and hard of hearing…

Measures of student disadvantage--or risk--are critical components of equity-focused education policies. However, the risk measures used in contemporary policies have significant limitations, and despite continued advances in data infrastructure and analytic capacity, there has been little innovation in these measures for decades. We develop a new…

With the inclusion of Special Education Needs (SEN) students in public schools in many countries, there are increasing demands for designing professional development (PD) programs that meet the needs of in-service teachers in inclusive education settings. This paper proposes a framework for creating a PD program for in-service teachers who are…

Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, lifelong condition that affects a person's ability to process language, which in turn can make reading and writing more difficult. Between 10 and 20 percent of all people are dyslexic. Providing appropriate reading instruction and intervention for young children by second grade could reduce the percentage of…

We suggest that special education could die among common myths about it. That is, special education could cease to exist, at least as we know it, because its true nature and requirements for its functioning are misunderstood. We discuss only 12 common myths about special education, recognizing that there are many more myths and that the ones we…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education for children from birth through age 21. IDEA protects the rights of children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also supplements state and local funding to pay for some of the additional or excess costs of…

This manual details the instructional framework and guidance on the Response to Intervention (RtI) process in New Mexico. The manual includes: (1) a section on each of the three instructional tiers; (2) a glossary of key terms; (3) sample forms to assist with the Student Assistance Team (SAT) process; and (4) key resources for teachers.

The authors encourage caution in the implementation of Response to Intervention and dispel the false hopes that Response to Intervention will solve many of education's challenges. Outlined in this article are the reasons why Response to Intervention cannot be the solution to the identification of students for special education, why it can't…

The final report describes a project designed to serve preschool handicapped children in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Seven service components are outlined: creating public awareness of programs and services available to previously unserved handicapped individuals; locating, identifying, and verifying unserved handicapped persons; providing…

Programs and courses about the gifted in rural areas have been offered by the University of Maine at Presque Isle since 1973. Activities (such as designing and building rockets, play writing and producing, and park design) and workshops have been held for and about the gifted. One of the problems with programs for this population is that they are…

Academic and behavioral assessment of learning disabled students (ages 3-11 years) at the Greene County Learning Center (Xenia, OH) is comprised of three tests (Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, and Group Learning Skills Tests) and teacher observation. An individualized educational program is determined based…

The report describes Project LEARN, an educational program to identify the learning disabled (LD) youths who become involved with juvenile court and to facilitate their reentry into the educational system. Chapter 1, on the project's theoretical, legal, and agency foundations reviews the LD/JD (juvenile delinquency) link as it relates to program…

The document presents the state of South Carolina's amended annual program plan for the fiscal year 1980, which describes how South Carolina plans to comply with the regulations mandated by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142). Sections cover such aspects as policy regarding the right of handicapped students to education,…