Our current paradigm of Individualized Education Program (IEP) construction, the creation of a legal document or contract between parents and schools, needs rethinking. This paradigm's unintended consequences have resulted in vast inefficiencies in special education and have detracted from the core purpose of the IEP document, the communication of…

The Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) joined with the Office of Special Education and Student Services (OSESS) to gather feedback from parents of students who receive special education services. The goal was to use the information to improve services and implement staff development. This brief concerns a pilot study for gathering parent…

Despite the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) mandates for student involvement in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process, several researchers have demonstrated limited student participation. One method for encouraging self-advocacy and active IEP participation is to teach students to communicate their hopes, dreams,…

For this ninth article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, this author provides a summary of a concussion- related case and provides responses to a series of questions by three members of the school psychology profession. The issue in this…

In 2014-15, over 50% of kindergarten children in Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) did not meet benchmarks for social-behavior readiness. These include the readiness skills children need to follow directions, comply with rules, manage emotions, solve problems, organize and complete tasks, and get along with others. Social-behavioral…

Over the past three decades, transition practices research has demonstrated that post-school outcomes of students with disabilities improve when educators, families, students, and community members and organizations work together to implement a broad perspective of transition planning, more appropriately referred to as transition-focused…

This qualitative study investigates information sharing practices between comprehensive high schools and an offsite Career Technical School with a focus on Students With Disabilities (SWD). The case study approach examined how student information is communicated in support of new federal and state policies related to college and career…

This research was undertaken to shed light on sources of stress, effects and coping strategies used by general (mainstream) classroom teachers and special education teachers. A total of 139 teachers, from eight private schools in Beirut, Lebanon, were selected to participate in a study using the Pullis Inventory of Teacher Stress (PITS). The…

The purposes of "Guidelines for Serving Students with Specific Learning Disabilities in Educational Settings" are to: (1) Update previous guidance on serving students with specific learning disabilities (SLD); (2) Provide guidance on the implementation with fidelity of the Response to Intervention (RTI) models as well as the discrepancy…

This study explores how institutional practices within a school district limit general education teachers' ability to comply with special education policies. While numerous special education issues exist within the school district studied here, my research examined institutional practices that negatively impacted inclusion of exceptional students…

This article highlights three significant advances in schoolwide inclusive school reform and suggests three next steps to improve educational outcomes for "all" students, particularly for students for whom typical instruction is not effective. Significant advances are as follows: (a) a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) with embedded…

This article provides a multipart analysis of the public schools' responsibility for students with concussions. The first part provides the prevailing diagnostic definitions of concussions and postconcussive syndrome. The second and central part provides (a) the legal framework of the two overlapping federal laws--the Individuals with Disabilities…

The purpose of the qualitative descriptive case study was to describe the efficacy of parent-teacher collaborative educational planning methods for elementary students with autism from the perspective of the parents. The specific problem was an unknown in the efficacy of the collaborative relationship between parents and teachers of students with…

Although federal legislation requires parent involvement in the development of Individualized Education Programs, parents often lack adequate background knowledge to partner with school personnel in the development of programs for their child. In an effort to provide all stakeholders with information pertaining to the education of children with…

Extant studies indicate persons with autism have difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors, and poor ability to generalize learned skills. Obesity has also been identified as significantly affecting children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Negative experience in physical education (PE) may…