At the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP's) request, Westat developed the original version of this technical assistance (TA) guide to help states calculate racial/ethnic disproportionality in special education with regard to identification of children with disabilities and the placement of those children in particular educational…

Education has seen its share of trends and movements that either help or hinder the optimal development of the gifted child. In 2001, Congress passed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in a concerted effort to reach children who were not meeting minimal standardized goals of achievement. Response to Intervention (RtI) is yet another approach to ensure…

The authors expand on research evaluating public school response to school choice policies by considering the particular influence of voucher programs for disabled students--a growing type of choice program that may have different implications for public school systems from those of more conventional choice programs. The authors provide a…

Students with limited English proficiency (LEP) make up one of the fastest growing segments of the student population; however, LEP status is often related to poor academic and behavioral outcomes. Teacher-reported behavioral rating scales can be informative measurements to screen and identify students at risk for behavioral and emotional…

Newborn screening is the process of testing and screening newborns shortly after birth for certain, potentially dangerous, conditions and/or impairments--conditions that include everything from inborn errors of metabolism and other genetic disorders to hearing impairment. Early detection through newborn screening is paramount, often allowing the…

Background: The goal of this study was to compare the predictive validity of the two main diagnostic schemata for childhood hyperactivity--attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual"-IV) and hyperkinetic disorder (HKD; "International Classification of Diseases"-10th Edition). Methods: Diagnostic criteria for…

Dyslexia is a congenital disorder characterized by unexpected difficulties in learning to read and spell in relation to one's verbal intelligence, motivation, and educational opportunities (Aylward et al., 2003; Morgan, 1896). Because dyslexia can affect 1.5-5% of the population (Aylward et al., 2003; Vellutino et al., 1996), understanding how to…

Parents and caregivers of 70 children enrolled in a university-based, statewide autism registry (M age = 9.5 years) completed two questionnaires, one generated from criteria outlined in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision" (DSM-IV-TR) and the other the "Social Communication…

As a demonstration site designated by Oregon as a prime example of "response to intervention" in action, the Tigard-Tualatin district has had to pare visiting groups down to no more than 25 people. During the last few visits, 50 people descended on the district just outside Portland at one time. As educators in Tigard-Tualatin and…

The second edition of this essential handbook provides a comprehensive, updated overview of the science that informs best practices for the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) processes within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to facilitate the academic success of all students. The volume includes insights from leading scholars…

To assist Wisconsin education leaders with planning for Response to Intervention (RtI), the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), in partnership with Wisconsin education stakeholders, has developed this informational brief. This brief is intended to provide guidance for implementation of RtI and should not be read as administrative…

Many countries have established systems for identifying, and providing for, the range of students with disabilities during their formal educational assessments. Most systems include the provision of variously termed "special access arrangements" (SAAs), such as the provision of extra time or practical assistance with some aspect of an…

This study sought to evaluate a newly created information resource book for parents of children newly diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder entitled "Autism Spectrum Disorder: Information for Parents." A purposive sample of 13 participants (comprised of mothers of children with ASD and ASD service providers) participated in 1 of 3…

Some young children show signs that they may not be learning in an expected manner, even during the prekindergarten (PreK) years. These children may exhibit learning challenges in areas such as developing language, counting objects, hearing differences in letter sounds, paying attention during story time, or learning how to write. Teachers,…

Few studies assess psychiatric disorders in representative samples of individuals with autism and ID. Symptoms of autism and psychiatric disorders have been confounded. PAC, a conceptually analysed and validated screening instrument, was used. Aims: Assess prevalence of psychiatric disorders in individuals with intellectual disability only…