This study examined the educational environment placement and educational outcomes of students identified as having an emotional disturbance (ED). The sample was drawn from special education enrollment data for students aged 6-21 years in the 50 states and Washington, DC in 2010. Additional economic and demographic state-level variables were…

Elementary-aged students with behavioral concerns and disabilities struggling to construct sentences stand a high likelihood for continued academic difficulty. Several studies have used sentence instruction with picture-word prompts to improve sentence level writing skills, including construction of simple sentences, syntax, capitalization, and…

The authors argue that insufficient attention has been given to foundational concepts in special education. Two classes of foundational concepts are discussed: human constructions and logico-mathematical facts. Four human constructions are examined: (1) making teaching most important, (2) discriminating among ideas, (3) choosing conceptual models,…

Despite the importance of special educators in the current era of educational reform, there is no overarching portrait of special educators' roles, especially in rural schools where the provision of services is especially challenging. Using latent class analysis and data from a national sample of rural school districts, we identified four…

This study examines the concurrent and longitudinal relationships between reactive and proactive aggression and children's peer status. Participants were 94 Dutch elementary school-aged boys in self-contained special education classrooms for students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and 47 boys with no disabilities in general…

Underidentification of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; emotional disturbance or ED in federal language) is a critical issue, perhaps explainable in part by causal attributions of problem behavior associated with conservatism. Conservatism in 58 counties in the state of California was measured by finding the percentage of…

Developing special education programs that confer a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities has been a challenge for local education agencies since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was first passed in 1975. Developing a FAPE has been particularly challenging when students require assistive…

In the decade since alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) were first required, special education teachers have had to develop content knowledge and pedagogical skills to teach academics to students with significant cognitive disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that teachers'…

The evidence-based practice movement in special education has emphasized the use of the scientific process to assist with the identification of effective academic and behavioral strategies. An important but often overlooked aspect of this system is the peer review process in which manuscripts submitted for publication are reviewed by experts to…

After decades of growth, the number of special education teachers (SETs) has begun to decline. In 2009, U.S. schools employed 13% fewer SETs than in 2006. The number of annual new hires of SETs also dropped dramatically in some states. The onset of these declines predated the economic downturn of 2008 and resulted in part from a steady decline…

Response to Intervention (RTI) models are likely to be implemented in early childhood settings with greater frequency to target academic and developmental skills. With an increasing number of classrooms serving children with identified special needs, it is necessary to examine how current frameworks for RTI models meet the needs of all children in…

The Response to Intervention (RTI) framework, a preventive model of universal screening, tiered interventions, and ongoing progress monitoring, poses an interesting consideration for identification and service delivery for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Upon examination of the existing literature, paucity exists regarding how RTI…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) has had substantial influence on special education in general and the field of learning disabilities in particular. Since its reauthorization in 2004, ongoing regulatory efforts have been underway to determine its operationalization and implementation. Of particular concern to those involved…

This study describes the results of a program developed to improve the transition outcomes of low-income minority youth with disabilities. The program relies on case management support to facilitate interagency collaboration. The participants included 164 graduates from special education and 26 youth from an equivalent comparison group. Two case…

Assessment of students with disabilities is a critical component of special education. In addition to the complexity of assessment (e.g., high-stakes assessments, progress monitoring, diagnosis), the issue is complicated further by the use of acronyms. This can make both explaining and understanding important information related to students very…