The processes used in identifying/diagnosing specific learning disabilities (SLDs) vary across settings and classification systems. Moreover, the theoretically and mathematically derived identification models (i.e., discrepancy model) have thus far not demonstrated adequate reliability and validity. The present study explores the utility of…

The Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA) safeguards the learning of students with disabilities and protects them from nondiscriminatory assessments that identify their disabilities and align them with the special education support and services required. However, when the IDEA is not adequately followed, students with disabilities…

Teachers in today's society are having increasing difficulties with Individualized Education Program (IEP) implementation because teachers struggle with assessing data, designing instruction to fit individual needs, providing accommodations, and working as a team with a general education teacher in a co-teaching environment (Cawthon, 2009; Kosko…

The identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) occurs in educational and health settings. Many children with autism will only receive a classification of autism in the educational setting (Esler et al., 2022, Pettygrove et al., 2013, Wiggins et al., 2020). There is significant overlap between the early intervention offered to children with…

Federal law states that any student suspected of having a disability must meet initial eligibility requirements to qualify for special education services. Furthermore, an individual education program (IEP) team is required by federal law to re-evaluate each student with a qualified disability tri-annually to assess his or her ongoing need for such…

Section 300.5 of IDEA (2004) defines Students with Disabilities as those children who, because of their impairments, need special education and related services. Through the process of "declassification," students previously identified as having a disability requiring special education services return to full-time general education…

This dissertation explores how federal education policies affect outcomes for special populations and their teachers. The first study uses a differences-in-differences design and data from the Stanford Education Data Archive to determine if "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) waivers reduced district-level white-black and white-Hispanic…

The aim of this study was to explore the variation in student behavior across the ED, LD, and OHI disability categories and to examine demographic, behavioral, and academic factors that may place students at risk for negative outcomes. This study used teachers' rating of students' in-class behavior to identify latent classes of students in the ED,…

Intelligence tests are important tools in psychology and education; however, the stability of scores and use of intelligence tests has always been surrounded by some controversy. Since its conception in 1905, intelligence testing has become one of the most prominent tasks for school psychologists worldwide. Today's need for frequent use of…

Disproportionate enrollment of minorities in special education has been an equity issue in the United States for decades (Artiles, et al., 2010), often leading to case law and policy changes to provide corrective action. For example, in the 2004 amendments to the Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA), the federal government mandated states to…

The current exploratory study used data on students in grades six through 12 in North Carolina to examine the effectiveness of their mathematics teachers. Its purpose was fourfold: (1) to identify teacher qualification indicators that are most important for predicting students' math scores; (2) to empirically identify teacher qualification…

This study examined the influence of students' age, gender, ethnicity, and classification, as well as student-faculty interactions, on perceptions of belonging among undergraduate students with disabilities enrolled in a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), with predominantly Hispanic enrollment. Both students with disabilities (SWD) and Hispanic…

Although scholars have suggested that cognitive errors may plague school psychologists' decisions, there is little research documenting these effects or the extent to which school psychologists are trained to spot these biases. I conducted a study using experimental vignette methodology (EVM) in conjunction with a survey of knowledge, attitudes,…

Given the literature review on over and under representation of ELL students in Special Education, this research aimed to study how teachers identify between ELL students who present with language proficiency learning difficulties and students who might exhibit learning disabilities. This qualitative study added to existing literature on…

Through a secondary analysis of statewide data from Colorado, people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities (ID/DD) were classified into five clusters based on their support needs characteristics using cluster analysis techniques. Prior latent factor models of support needs in the field of ID/DD were examined to investigate the…