A program was recently developed to promote adaptive responses and upright head position in students with multiple disabilities through the use of microswitch clusters (i.e., combinations of two microswitches). The five students exposed to the program showed a significant increase in adaptive responses performed with head upright. The first…

The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to raising levels of achievement in education. SSAT has a membership of over 5,500 schools and growing numbers of affiliated universities, colleges and local authorities. This paper presents SSAT's plan which sets out its…

Available resources and indicators of high quality inclusive practices are presented in this compilation. Assembling many different resources in one place allows for easy comparison of potential indicators of quality. Excerpts and adaptations of the resources are intended to provide some familiarity with the content of each resource and encourage…

This report focuses on the seven original Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects selected for funding in 2003. Three of the original seven projects were selected for a national random assignment evaluation in 2005; however, this report only focuses on program operations prior to joining the random assignment evaluation for the three…

Performance mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act of 2004 have demanded ever-greater access to the general curriculum for all students, including those with disabilities. Inclusive classrooms and the elevated expectations for all students have a profound impact on preservice teacher…

The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA) was mandated by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). Specifically, the law called for a "Study on Ensuring Accountability for Students Who Are Held to Alternative Achievement Standards" to examine: (1) the criteria that states use to determine…

The math achievement of third and fourth grade special education students has been identified as an area of concern within a public school located in a small rural town located on the east coast. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether or not the Touch Math strategy increased the math ability of third and fourth grade…

In this article, I consider social class and reading performance, outline a non-categorical approach to reading disability, describe the reading intervention program we have developed for older low-progress readers and seek to demonstrate how students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can, and do, make substantial progress when offered…

Background/Context: There are few empirical studies exploring the alleged conflict between the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine what impact the No Child Left Behind Act has had on students with disabilities. Research Design: Specifically,…

Dutch children at higher familial risk of reading disability received a home-based intervention programme before formal reading instruction started to investigate whether this would reduce the risk of dyslexia. The experimental group (n = 23) received a specific training in phoneme awareness and letter knowledge. A control group (n = 25) received…

This article includes descriptions of a process used to conduct practice-based research syntheses and the manner in which synthesis findings are used to inform and evaluate early childhood intervention practices. The main focus of a practice-based research synthesis is the unbundling of an intervention practice to identify those practice…

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), LitTECH Outreach was a 3-year technology-based preschool literacy project conducted by staff at the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood, a research and development division of the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois…

This research synthesis verifies the effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) for improving the functional communication skills of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The research synthesis was focused on the degree to which variations in PECS training are associated with variations in functional…

A program for adult learners with special needs has been conducted in Salem County, New Jersey, for five years. The program was created under a Public Law 94-482 grant and since has been supported by a Department of Human Services grant, by various services clubs, and by the local board for vocational education. The program has three phases. In…

An Attendant Care Pilot Project, administered by the Home Care Service of New South Wales, Australia, and providing attendant care for 24 permanently severely physically disabled adults for 2 years, was evaluated. The patients were medically stable and intellectually capable of managing their own affairs; all had impairments which required…