This program evaluation study addressed the struggle of local elementary school speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in a school district to provide evidence-based intervention in language for students below grade level as required by the U.S. Department of Education. Recently, Language Lab™ was published to address the needs of oral language…

In response to high rates of attrition, increasing numbers of states and localities are developing mentoring programs as a means of retaining qualified special education personnel. Based on examples drawn from around the country, including states and localities with which the Personnel Improvement Center (PIC) has worked, this practice brief…

"Masculinities in Higher Education" provides empirical evidence, theoretical support, and developmental interventions for educators working with college men both in and out of the classroom. The critical philosophical perspective of the text challenges the status-quo and offers theoretically sound educational strategies to successfully promote…

A comprehensive search identified 31 state statutes and regulations specific to functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) in the special education context. A systematic tabulation of the state law provisions that exceed the rather narrow foundation requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

Positive outcomes have been reported for university preparation courses for students without disabilities. Little is known about whether these courses can offer the same benefit to students with learning disabilities and whether the inclusion of psychosocial factors, in addition to academic skills, would benefit both groups. First-level students…

"Bullying" is defined as any aggressive behavior with the intent to harm that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying is identified as one of the most predominant problems faced by children in the United States education system, as well as one of the most significant health risks to children. Exactly how prevalent this issue is…

The effects of a parent-coached language intervention on parent stress and its relation to parent perceptions of communication development were examined in 60 parents of toddlers with developmental delays. Results indicated that overall parent stress was not high prior to or following language intervention. Parents' perceptions about the severity…

The international community has identified a positive link between good governance and economic development. There is an increasing appreciation of the effective role that local policy research organizations (PROs) can play in providing evidence-based policy recommendations as the basis for sound legislation and in assessing the efficacy of…

Assistive technologies are often promoted to schools, parents and educators as tools to assist students with special needs by providing a compensatory value, to remediate learning problems and to promote personal independence. These technologies range from simple spellcheckers to more complex speech recognition systems and educational software.…

Research has shown that both young children with disabilities and their peers benefit from participating together in quality programs and community activities. However, inclusive opportunities for young children with disabilities are often not systematic, comprehensive or necessarily of high quality. Cross-agency dialogue and commitment among…

This study evaluated whether two persons with developmental disabilities would be able to improve their pointing performance through a Dual Cursor Automatic Pointing Assistive Program (DCAPAP) with a newly developed mouse driver (i.e., a new mouse driver replaces standard mouse driver, and is able to intercept/detect mouse movement action). First,…

This is the third in a series of papers exploring the Constructionist Model of Informed Reasoned Action (COMOIRA). The first two papers articulated the theoretical and conceptual issues underpinning the model and explored some important process and practice issues associated with it. Initially, this paper discusses two important concepts that…

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have specific difficulties in cognitive social-emotional capability, which affect numerous aspects of social competence. This study evaluated the learning effects of using 3D-emotion system intervention program for individuals with IDD in learning socially based-emotions capability…

Persons with developmental disabilities are at an increased risk for becoming victims of sexual abuse. Research has revealed that the largest group of identified perpetrators of sexual abuse is developmental disability service providers. The purpose of the present study was to develop, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a sexual abuse…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of using a video iPod as a prompting device for teaching three job-related tasks to a young man with developmental disabilities in a community-based employment setting. The effectiveness of the prompting device was evaluated using a multiple probe across behaviors design. Results…