The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA Amendments of 1997) charts a clear change of direction for special education teachers in two areas: (a) access to general education curriculum standards and (b) the consideration of assistive technology (AT) when planning the individualized education program (IEP) of all students with…

Before a child receives special education or related services, he or she must have an evaluation. The evaluation will help determine if a child needs special education. A parent or a member of the school staff may make the request for an evaluation. The child's parent must give consent in writing for the first evaluation. The evaluation will…

This article reports on starkly contrasting portraits of special education that the justices are sure to hear on the first day of the new U.S. Supreme Court term. In a case from New York City, the 1.1 million-student district argues that school officials made every attempt to provide an appropriate education plan under the federal Individuals with…

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, one of the significant amendments concerned Individual Education Program (IEP) team attendance. A member of an IEP team may be excused if "the member's area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or discussed in the meeting." The…

If the academic needs of the most profoundly gifted students can be met through the use of existing educational practices, specialists in gifted education can assume that the educational needs of less able, but still academically talented, students can also be met by using some combination of these strategies as well. This paper illustrates the…

Although, in many districts, physical educators are integral members of the Individualized Education Program (designed for students with disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism), in other districts, physical educators are only partially involved in the process or are not given the opportunity to be involved at all. However, the physical…

This paper presents the Final Report on the Audio-Digital MCAS Pilot Program. The Department and Recording For the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) have collaborated to provide audio-digital read-aloud editions of the Grade 10 English Language Arts and Mathematics MCAS tests for a small number of students with disabilities such as dyslexia and/or…

It may seem that deaf-blindness refers to a total inability to see or hear. However, in reality deaf-blindness is a condition in which the combination of hearing and visual losses in children cause "such severe communication and other develop mental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for…

The amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) in 2004 reiterate the significance of producing real postsecondary education, employment, and independent living outcomes. However, current employment data continue to show widespread unemployment and very limited access to inclusive community environments and…

A project was conducted to create a handbook for consumer and homemaking education teachers in Georgia who deal with mainstreamed handicapped students. The handbook is intended to help teachers develop and implement effective individualized education programs and is designed to supplement the Georgia Curriculum Guide for Consumer and Homemaking…

The paper reviews policies of the state of Arkansas concerning high school graduation requirements and reports on a survey of individual school districts in Arkansas in regard to their policies concerning program modification, graduation requirements, and graduation documentation for secondary special education students. Data are presented for the…

A preschool intervention program for handicapped children in Wheeling, Illinois provides a noncategorical approach to developing positive self-concepts, which are thought to lead to greater success in learning. Referrals of children at risk for developmental delay come from a variety of sources, including parents, doctors, hospitals, and vision…

Federal law (PL 94-142) has charged schools with the task of constructing for handicapped students individual educational programs that specify curriculum-based goals with procedures for measuring progress toward these goals. To demonstrate substantive and procedural compliance with this law, measurement and evaluation procedures must be…

The paper deals with a mental health program designed to treat the 2 1/2 to 5 year old Mexican American child with severe emotional or behavioral problems. Components of the program included a mutual agreement with Parent Child Centers (Headstart) in the community; staff who had expertise to evaluate, diagnose, design, and implement an individual…

Designed as an operating manual, the document is designed to strengthen the efforts between Monroe County Community Action Program (M.C.C.A.P.) Head Start and other services helping meet the needs of the handicapped child, to insure continuity of experiences for handicapped children moving from Head Start into the public school systems of Monroe…