This booklet is designed to assist families, child care providers, and advocates in planning and delivering child care for children with disabilities and special health care needs. The booklet defines the term inclusion and discusses common misconceptions about children with special needs and disabilities. It explains what the Americans with…

This document is a synthesis of literature from 1997-2002 on the individualized education program (IEP), a core component of federal and state laws on the education of students with disabilities. The first section identifies the significant changes related to the IEP in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. The…

This publication is designed to assist teachers, parents, and administrators in understanding what the recently reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, both law and regulations, now requires, and how the provisions of both the law and regulations affect services and programs for children with disabilities. It provides information…

These guidelines were developed to address training and planning needs for North Dakota educators in the area of assistive technology for students with disabilities. The guidelines provide recommended practices to assist teams in making decisions about an individual student's need for assistive technology using a decision-making process that meets…

This book is designed to provide general and special education teachers with basic information in the workings of special education and to describe teachers' roles in designing meaningful programs for students with disabilities. An introductory chapter describes special education law, terminology, and professional standards. In addition, three…

This guide is designed to inform Illinois parents of children with disabilities about their childrens' educational rights and about special education services. Topics covered include: (1) steps to getting services, parent participation, and examples of modifications; (2) screening, referral, evaluation, and conference; (3) eligibility categories…

Presented in a question-and-answer format, this guide provides information to assist teachers of students with disabilities in writing quality Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Following an introduction explaining the purposes of the IEP, the guide is organized around seven important steps in creating IEPs: (1) describe the student; (2)…

This article reviews literature on barriers to the participation of culturally and linguistically diverse families in the special education process, highlights cultural issues educators need to consider, and discusses strategies for facilitating family participation in the development of the Individualized Family Service Plan and the…

Discusses strategies that support student self-determination in transition planning, including: holding high expectations for students, preparing students for transition meetings, allowing students to make important decisions, encouraging students to attend transition fairs, and providing opportunities for students to explore their communities and…

Highlights specific questions, concerns, and challenges faced by educators, parents, and students concerning assessment, accountability, accommodations, and alternate assessment. Examples of state assessment-accommodation policies are provided and reasons for providing test accommodations, requirements of Individualized Education Programs,…

The collaborative campus-school district special education teacher preparation model at Arizona State University-West integrated the self-determination literature with the student-led Individualized Education Program (IEP) process and competency-based teacher education. Preservice teachers (n=29) increased their competence and confidence in…

This article identifies problems associated with excluding the scores of students with disabilities who need nonapproved accommodations and explores ways in which these scores can be included in system and student accountability systems. The need for Individualized Education Program teams to establish guidelines and establish a documentation…

This article discusses provisions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that require all students with disabilities to have access to the general education curriculum and be assessed. The role of the Individualized Education Program in documenting student participation in state and district-wide educational assessments is explored.…

A study that examined state Individualized Education Program (IEP) forms found that out of the 41 with IEP forms, only 5 specifically addressed educational standards on their forms. Thirty-one states addressed the general curriculum on their IEP forms and 30 states listed three or more options for assessment participation. (Contains nine…

Twenty Korean-American mothers of children with disabilities participated in interviews concerning perceptions of the expertise, attitudes, and behavior of social and educational service providers, differences in cultural values and communication styles, and the need and use of translation services. Mothers reported satisfaction with the…