This Spotlight explores the dynamic and evolving world of school choice, focusing on charter schools and private school choice programs. Delve into proposed federal initiatives, how charters are improving experiences for students with disabilities, and a leading advocate's reflections on the movement's evolution. Examine research on public funds…

The Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) section in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) is critical for aligning educational goals with students' current capabilities and needs. However, inconsistencies and legal deficiencies in PLAAFP statements persist due to inadequate data collection and fragmented…

School exclusion forms part of the processes that can increase young people's risk of offending and involvement in exploitation and harm. However, little is known about the education experiences of young people impacted by harm, such as child sexual and criminal exploitation. This paper presents findings from a survey with 17 children's and…

The purpose of this study was to examine responses from U.S. high school students with (n = 356) and without (n = 1,599) an Individualized Education Program (IEP) on 11 independent living skills (ILS) items taken from a broader college and career readiness assessment. Results indicated significant differences in ILS proficiency based on IEP…

Technology integration throughout educator preparation programs is an essential component that allows pre-service teachers to learn how to better facilitate and become proficient in pedagogical practices that can enhance teaching skills to support students with varied abilities. One approach to assisting pre-service teachers develop teaching…

Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognizes communication accessibility as a fundamental human right. Communication plays a key role in facilitating belonging, sharing and engaging with communities, allowing individuals to connect and forge relationships. Communication is fundamental to…

Advances in comprehensive community-based early childhood systems require sophisticated partnerships among numerous constituencies including health, education, human services, and parent groups. Considered here is the potential for early childhood inclusive practices based on a commonly shared developmental framework to facilitate those…

In the absence of appropriate transition planning practices to promote a smooth transition process, successful transition from vocational education to post-school settings can be particularly challenging for students with disabilities (SWDs). This study was conducted to explore vocational teachers' perceptions on challenges related to the…

The aim of this study is to determine the opinions of primary school teachers about the problem behaviors and speech and language difficulties they encounter in their students based on their experiences and to reveal their needs for these issues. A basic qualitative research design, also known as basic interpretive qualitative research or…

Purpose: This research explores the initial attitudes of special educators towards socially assistive robots (SAR) and considers how cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds shape these attitudes. Special educators providing services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States and Serbia were surveyed, representing…

Students with and without disabilities consistently fail to meet established writing benchmarks, highlighting the urgent need for intervention and innovation in this critical area. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), key criteria for assessing writing include the development of ideas, organization of ideas, and…

Recent studies have shown that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often face challenges in emotion recognition (ER) skills, which impacts their social and behavioural outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a flexible online intervention in meeting the individual needs of children with DLD, focusing on ER…

Graduates of special education teacher education programs can teach in a range of special education settings, raising the potential that their training can occur in very different settings than where they find their first jobs. We follow 263 completers of Moderate Disabilities programs in Massachusetts from their field placements to their…

Graduates of special education teacher education programs can teach in a range of special education settings, raising the potential that their training can occur in very different settings than where they find their first jobs. We follow 263 completers of Moderate Disabilities programs in the U.S. state of Massachusetts from their field placements…

While the Indiana Commission for Higher Education pursued an historic agenda during the 2023 legislative session aimed at reversing declining trends and catalyzing opportunities, Commissioner Lowery believed that deep and long-term improvements would require collaborative and concerted efforts by five key sectors of civil society for genuine…