The National Center on Scaling up Effective Schools (NCSU) is a five-year project working to develop, implement, and test new processes to scale up effective practices in high schools that districts will be able to apply within the context of their own unique goals and circumstances. This report describes the activities and findings of the first…

Over the past decade, there has been an increased emphasis on transition planning for students with exceptional needs. This is in part the result of the mandates contained in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. This increased emphasis has revealed a number of shortcomings with how transition planning is done…

While considerable research has been conducted on educational practices and programming for incarcerated youth, significantly less attention has been given to short-term detained youth. The high transience of pre-adjudicated youth, legal protections pending trial, and varying levels of collaboration with correctional personnel have made it…

Although public school districts in Southern California are experiencing declining enrollment overall, accompanying this decline is a continuing increase in the percentage of students classified as English language learners (EL). In one Southern California school district with an enrollment of approximately 5,500, EL represented almost 31% of…

In 2008, Thailand passed legislation on the educational provisions for students with disabilities to mandate the implementation of inclusive education. This article provides a historical overview of special education in Thailand and the emergence of inclusive education as it moves from policy to practice. To further identify the challenges faced…

This study examined (a) the main effects of professional development on the quality of postsecondary goals in employment and postsecondary education/training, (b) the main effects of student and teacher characteristics on goal quality, and (c) whether professional development moderated the relationship between the impact of these characteristics…

Middle and high school students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are increasingly being taught in general education settings. This guide reviews common characteristics associated with autism and provides teachers with practical tips and strategies for supporting their students with autism in the classroom setting. It is also designed to…

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, it eliminated the requirement that individualized education programs (IEPs) include short-term objectives or benchmarks, except for students with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards. Instead, the IDEA regulations…

Is it appropriate to write an individualized education program (IEP) for preschool students who are identified as gifted? In this article, the author shares that she does not condone the elimination of programs for truly gifted children. Her concern has to do with identifying 3-year-old children as intellectually gifted. Is the motivation for this…

The author describes her experience as special education teacher at Berkeley High School (BHS), an urban school with over three thousand students, and how she began to question the way the school defines disability. The diversity of any large urban school has its benefits, but the size itself will always be the downfall when the school focuses on…

For over four decades, America's educational system has overrepresented Black students in its special education programs. To little avail, and no avail if discussing a decrease in the disproportionate rates America identifies and refers the Black student for special education services, many authors have addressed the overrepresentation phenomenon.…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of public school leaders about principal leadership for special education in ten leadership categories: understanding law and policy, using data to improve teacher performance, using data to improve student performance, creating an inclusive culture, collaborating with families,…

Best practices in adult transition special education for moderate to severe students suggest student-centered planning that maximizes independence in adult life. Based on the above sources, school districts and governing boards would best serve moderate to severe transition special education students with increasing integration into the community…

Developing educators' attitudes toward and skills in working with families is vital, given both legislative mandates and the different and potentially difficult experiences with home-school collaboration for families. This study explores 17 educators' expectations of parents' acquisition and use of cultural and social capital through focus group…

When considering developing educational programs for students with disabilities, one often thinks first of the annual goals and short-term objectives that are included in the individualized education program (IEP). It is important, though, to connect the short-term objectives (the "now") to long-term goals and dreams (the "future"). Making that…