The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that secures special education services for children with disabilities from the time they are born until they graduate from high school. The law was reauthorized by Congress in 2004, prompting a series of changes in the way special education services are implemented. These…

This article provides guidance for including students with disabilities (SWDs) in online learning. Federal special education law and research are currently outpaced by practice as students with disabilities participate in K-12 online learning in increasing numbers. While online learning has the flexibility to present content in multiple ways and…

The number of students identified as having a disability and requiring special education services in the United States has more than doubled since the authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975. Simultaneously, public schools are experiencing a significant shortage in qualified special education teachers.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard documents, as distributed by each of the 50 U.S. states. Results were compared to the 5th- to 6th-grade readability guideline for documents recommended by experts in health literacy and health…

For this 17th article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the topic is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) central obligation, free appropriate public education (FAPE). More specifically, the focus here is procedural and…

The 2017 Supreme Court decision "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" highlighted the importance of monitoring students' progress toward appropriately challenging individualized educational program (IEP) annual goals and making changes to students' educational programs when needed. The process for setting an IEP goal should be…

Background/Context: The administration of student discipline is one of many responsibilities under the purview of teachers and educational leaders across the country. Maintaining a safe environment with minimal disruptions is not an easy task. From existing research on student discipline, we have learned that critical examination of data and…

Increasing and improving the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational pipeline has been a point of emphasis for decades, and federal policy in the United States has urged high schools to embed new types of STEM courses into the curriculum. As one example, applied STEM courses--one growing branch within career and…

Transforming schools requires educators who design learning with the diverse histories, cultures, capacities, and experiences of all their students in mind. Schools that embrace personalization support teachers and students who learn and grow together. This inclusive vision must be grounded in education's historical roots. Our research, practice,…

One of the key purposes of public education is to prepare young people to reach their full potential as independent adults and engaged citizens. This transition to adulthood may be especially challenging for youth with disabilities. Students enrolled in special education often need additional supports and coordinated planning to prepare for…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) strives to provide every student with a positive and productive assessment experience, generating results that are a fair and accurate estimate of each student's achievement. Further, Smarter Balanced is building on a framework of accessibility for all students, including English…

On March 16, 2020, Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia issued an emergency closure of all public schools, changing the education system overnight from a brick and mortar face-to-face model to a remote learning model. Students with disabilities receiving special education and related services continue to be entitled to procedural safeguards and a…

In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled on a special education case Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. In this important case, the High Court addressed the degree of educational benefit necessary for a school district to fulfill the requirements for a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act…

The United States Senate's unwillingness to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) notwithstanding, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) contains significant safeguards protecting the rights of students with disabilities, acknowledging their participation rights in decisions about their futures. In the first of…

Exclusionary discipline practices in the United States are used disproportionately in the punishment of Black students with a disability compared to White and Black students with or without a disability. One potential mechanism leading to the disproportionate use of exclusionary discipline is a process called 'manifestation determination reviews'…