Previous research has identified "UPGRADE Your Performance" as a method for teaching employment soft skills to students with disabilities. "UPGRADE Your Performance" instruction is a multicomponent intervention including self-evaluation, self-graphing, goal setting, and technology-aided instruction. This pilot study…

An educational debt exists for Black and Latinx students with and without IEPs. This debt extends to underrepresentation in curricula and overrepresentation in special education. Identity representation in English Language Arts curricula offers promise to counter this existing educational debt as well as overrepresentation. This qualitative study…

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is committed to the cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development of all children in Illinois. ISBE's Multilingual/Language Development Department is focused on ensuring that students with diverse linguistic repertoires and those who may benefit from additional support have equitable access to…

This study utilized hierarchical linear modeling analysis of a 10-year extant dataset from Rehabilitation Services Administration to investigate significant predictors of employment outcomes for vocational rehabilitation (VR) clients with autism. Predictor variables were gender, ethnicity, attained education level, IEP status in high school,…

As researchers and practitioners have increasingly become interested in what practices are evidence based and for whom in education, different sets of quality indicators and evidence-based practice standards have emerged in the field of special education. Practices are commonly suggested as evidence based, even without a best evidence synthesis on…

In this closing commentary to the special edition of "Learning Disability Quarterly" ("LDQ") on parent voice in educational decision making for students with learning disabilities, we briefly survey main topics from each article, illuminating important findings from the authors, along with several questions they raise, and…

Policy and legislation internationally advocates curriculum access and inclusion for pupils with special educational needs. The individual education plan (IEP) process, which focuses on individual planning for pupils with special educational needs, has been mandated as a means of achieving this goal in many countries. As a concept it has been…

In this dissertation, I explore, through qualitative means, the perceptions of parents related to discourse (what is said and not said) within formalized and required processes of special education. These processes are federal requirements that parents of children with disabilities or suspected disabilities encounter as their children progress…

Hospital emergency rooms document approximately 500,000 traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in children and adolescents aged 0-14 annually; these prevalence rates do not include those learners evaluated in primary care facilities nor those never evaluated by medical professionals. In this chapter, information on TBI and its effect on learners is…

This article is an examination of intersecting outcomes of deteriorating student mental health, disrupted socialization skills, declining preparatory academic performance, and the impact of traumatic domestic and global events on a diverse and digitally immersed Generation Z. The underlying and enduring organizational structure common to almost…

School instruction and service delivery changed dramatically amid disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Children receiving special education services were especially vulnerable to the impact of reduced or eliminated school services as part of their Individualized Education Programs. Caregiver perspectives regarding the changes in school…

This observation study documents the amount and quality of mathematics instruction provided to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through second grade in self-contained special education settings. We observed six special education teachers and their students (N = 12) during a total of 967 min allotted to…

Recent estimates show nearly 90% of school districts nationwide offer some form of online credit recovery. Despite its widespread adoption, there is a dearth of research surrounding the suitability of online credit recovery for students. This study examined potential success factors of students enrolled in virtual recovery courses in a school…

As mandated by federal law, all students with a disability who qualify for special education and related services must be provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE). With ongoing changes to statutory definitions and legal interpretation of what constitutes a FAPE under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), it can…

Research about Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting outcomes indicates special educators are unprepared and uncertain about practices designed to encourage meaningful IEP team participation. In response to these challenges, we crafted a simulated IEP (SIEP) project for preservice special education teachers as part of their licensure…