In conjunction with its fall quarterly meeting, NCD convened a stakeholder forum in Atlanta in October 2014 to receive testimony on the role of special education in the School-to-Prison Pipeline. The findings and recommendations in this report are based upon the culmination of that testimony, interviews with experts, and review of available…

The American Community Survey (ACS) captures core concepts of disability that may be useful for understanding the population of children for whom special education services may be necessary. While this measure of disability covers elements of physical and mental impairment, the ACS does not identify children who have been evaluated for or qualify…

"Intellectual disability" is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of him or herself, and social skills. These limitations will cause a child to learn and develop more slowly than a typical child. Following a brief story about a child with an intellectual…

School districts in the U.S. are mandated to identify young children with disabilities. Developmental screeners are typically used to screen for such skill deficits. Academic tests are used in older students. A significant challenge is identifying children with potential learning disabilities early in their school career. This study identifies a…

This paper reports on the selected findings of a recent research project centred on one new university in England (Charles "et al.", 2007). The project aimed to explore the experiences of 44 disabled students who fell into one of two distinct groups: those in local further education eligible to apply to higher education (HE), and those…

Historically, neither a positive nor a supportive relationship existed between the population of students designated English language learners (ELLs) and the field of special education. Children's lack of English proficiency was often misinterpreted as a disability and they were referred for special education, whereas others who actually had a…

Psychometric and utility studies on Social Emotional Assessment Measure (SEAM), an innovative tool for assessing and monitoring social-emotional and behavioral development in infants and toddlers with disabilities, were conducted. The Infant and Toddler SEAM intervals were the study focus, using mixed methods, including item response theory…

Current clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) occurs between 3 and 4 years of age, but increasing evidence indicates that intervention begun earlier may improve outcomes. Using secondary analysis of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort data set, the current study identifies early predictors prior to the diagnosis of…

Reports such as this typically begin with a statistic designed to highlight a problem. The girls and boys to whom this edition of "The State of the World's Children" is dedicated are not problems. Rather, each is a sister, brother or friend who has a favourite dish, song or game; a daughter or son with dreams and the desire to fulfil…

When children who are permanently disabled by traumatic brain injury (TBI) return to school, most are placed in mainstream classrooms and incorrectly presumed capable of resuming their education. Only one to two percent are classified as students with TBI, qualifying them for the services they need for their education. The failure to properly…

The Special Education Division of the Office of Public Instruction (OPI) provides many services to Montana schools to assist them in providing a quality education to all students. The programs managed through this division are all aligned with Superintendent Juneau's Graduation Matters Montana initiative. The special education division is…

The summer before the 2003-2004 year, the author was contacted by a district director of exceptional student education (ESE) about participating in a new program. She described it as a problem-solving method that would help them identify and provide interventions for K-2 students who were not making adequate progress in reading. The district would…

Federal laws mandating a "single point of entry" for early intervention (EI) create a potential database for surveillance of early childhood disabilities. This study evaluated EI records for estimating rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a chart abstraction protocol, with good interrater agreement (k = 0.86). Sampling 304 EI records…

Since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), there has been a growing focus on improving the quality of programs for children with disabilities and measuring the results/outcomes of those programs. Across the country, IDEA Part C Programs for Infants and Toddlers and IDEA Part B, Section 619 Preschool…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a need exists for faculty training to improve accommodation for students with disabilities enrolled in electronically delivered courses at a statewide university system. An online survey was used to determine if instructors had students who had been identified as needing accommodation in their online…