Purpose: The field of Professional Development Schools (PDS) continues to evolve with promising implications. As part of advancing practice, the National Association for Professional Development Schools has updated its nine essential guiding principles, which now includes an explicit expectation for all PDS partners to advance equity, anti-racism…

Although researchers have developed evidence-based practices and identified other effective practices that show promise for improving outcomes for students with disabilities, these practices are all too frequently not used in inclusive classrooms. Some have posited that this research-to-practice gap may result because teachers lack confidence in…

This paper discusses the model of 'walking the talk', when running design studios based on the 'live projects' model within a university setting for vulnerable communities. This model is examined through exploring emerging humanitarian and community-based design approaches in architectural education. It is tested through two case studies of design…

This review essay places Stephanie Kerschbaum's "Toward a New Rhetoric of Difference" and Shannon Walters's "Rhetorical Touch: Disability, Identification, Haptics" in a conversation about how we can more productively identify with and across difference. While they have different theoretical approaches and applications, both…

Although there have been several advances in the development of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to support students with disabilities, many rural schools struggle to use EBPs. Rural schools may experience challenges that constrain their potential to provide support for the implementation of EBPs. Further, there may be a mismatch between EBPs and…

In this article we assert the value of a socio-cultural reframing of science and dis/ability in education. We begin by problematizing current issues in education pertaining to the often-unquestioned concept of dis/ability and the impact that has upon research, theory, practice, and policy. As our topic is broad, we have chosen to focus upon four…

While acknowledging the discursive constitution of student identities through the interplay of unequal power relations and discriminatory processes, the article discusses the ways in which social, emotional and behaviour difficulties (SEBD) are "produced" and "managed" within current schooling. SEBD are routinely framed in…

Establishing a process for identifying evidence-based practices (EBPs) in special education has been a significant advance for the field because it has the potential for generating more effective educational programs and producing more positive outcomes for students with disabilities. However, the potential benefit of EBPs is bounded by the…

Using the emancipatory research paradigm as a conceptual framework, this autoethnography reflects upon participant and researcher relationships within a larger qualitative research study that involved participants labeled "other". Issues relating to fear of the "other", building reciprocal relationships, and who gains from the research are…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a growing movement in the health and educational disciplines that recommends emphasis on research outcomes during decision making in practice. EBP is made possible through evidence based research (EBR), which attempts to synthesize the volume and scientific rigor of intervention effectiveness. With the purpose of…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) represents an important approach to educating and treating individuals diagnosed with disabilities or disorders. Understanding research findings is the cornerstone of EBP. The methodology of systematic reviews, which involves carefully analyzing research findings, can result a practice guideline that recommends…

Self-determination has received significant attention in the special education field, but scholars' knowledge of how culturally and linguistically diverse learners and their families perceive interventions to promote self-determination remains limited. Understanding how the construct is perceived in diverse cultures is critically important given…

The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), which became effective at the beginning of 2009, is poised to have potentially wide-reaching implications for higher education. The article reviews the recent amendments to the original Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990), summarizes the relevant Supreme Court cases that have…

In 2001, a group of student activists at Syracuse University started an organization called the Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee (BCCC). The BCCC activists used disability studies theory to engage the campus in conversations about disability and inform significant change in the way Syracuse administration think about disability. This paper…

This report reviews the current status, empirical findings, theoretical issues, and practical considerations related to state-level minimum competency testing programs. It finds that, although two-thirds of current testing programs now use direct writing prompts to assess writing achievement, essentially all programs rely on multiple choice tests…