Introduction: The results of a 2009-2010 program evaluation study that examined parents, teachers of students with visual impairments, administrators, and students regarding overall satisfaction with and effectiveness of the short-term programs at a residential school for students who are blind and visually impaired are described. The findings are…

Bearing in mind the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Louisiana's Steering Committee projected performance targets through the year 2014 for the important areas of: (1) Graduation with a Diploma; (2) Dropout Rate; (3) Placement, ages 6-21 and ages 3-5; (4) Achievement Performance Levels, and (5) Discipline. Annual gains were…

While considerable research has been conducted on educational practices and programming for incarcerated youth, significantly less attention has been given to short-term detained youth. The high transience of pre-adjudicated youth, legal protections pending trial, and varying levels of collaboration with correctional personnel have made it…

In a recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, "Schaffer v. Weast," the high court ruled that the burden of persuasion in special education due process hearings should fall on the party that challenges a student's IEP. This Court ruling will change current practice across nearly half the United States. In this article, the authors…

The individualized physical education program must be individualized in many ways to assure every handicapped child a free appropriate education. This document outlines major aspects to be considered in this process. Included are methods for: (1) obtaining information affecting annual goals; (2) approaching motivational techniques and procedures;…

The following laws and their effect on vocational education are reviewed: PL (Public Law) 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975); PL 94-482 (Education Amendments of 1976, Title II); and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, sections 503 and 504. What is meant by "free appropriate public education" and "individualized…

In its annual report, the National Advisory Committee on the Handicapped discusses the idea of an "individualized education program" for each handicapped child and the adjustments it will require of educators. (Editor)

The concept of children's rights evolved during the 1980s giving prominence to the role of children as active participants in the construction of their lives. The rhetoric of children's rights has emerged as an important consideration in all policy and practice relating to children. Implementation of children's rights in practice is necessary to…

This Issue Brief, an update of "Authorizing Virtual Charter Schools: Rules of the Road on the Digital Highway" by Gregg Vanourek, is part of NACSA's Cyber series, which addresses issues in policy and practice that concern authorizing online schools and blended learning. It aims to improve authorizer understanding and oversight of online…

Inclusion of students with disabilities, especially those with mental retardation, has come to mean the placement of all students in general education classrooms, sometimes with limited planning for the individual needs of each student. Several court cases, laws, and movements have brought about the level of inclusion that exists today. However,…

The second of three articles on the "individualized education program" concept set forth in P.L. 94-142 points out the importance of teacher training in making the idea work. (Editor)

Most pressing problems representing research priorities for the business education profession do not fit into such narrow functional categories as typewriting and shorthand. Rather the problems critical to survival of our discipline in the decade ahead are more of an interdisciplinary nature. (Author)

In the field of educational leadership, as well as special education, parental participation is paramount given that federal law has mandated that schools provide and show evidence that they foster parental participation. This quantitative, non-experimental study examined the relationship between level of education, marital status, socioeconomic…

In November 2008, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments (ADAA), with an effective date of January 1, 2009. While other issues, such as the national economic crisis, dominated public attention at the time, the ADAA unobtrusively connected to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973…

The purpose of this study was to examine all states' participation guidelines for alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) and to analyze these guidelines for common and contrasting themes. State alternate assessment participation guidelines were found for all 50 states. Participation guidelines were coded, and 12…