In 2005, to address concerns about students who might fall in the "gap" between the regular assessment and the alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS), the U.S. Department of Education announced that states could develop alternate assessments based on modified achievement standards (AA-MAS). This article…

Evidence of disparate identification of autism at national and local levels is accumulating, but there is little understanding about disparate identification of autism at the state level. This study examined trends in state-level administrative identification of autism under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Prevalence rates and…

Educating students with disabilities in an inclusive general education setting has been shown to increase academic achievement, increase peer acceptance, increase self esteem, create a richer friendship network, and have positive lifetime benefits (higher salaried jobs, independent living). In addition, inclusion can have benefits for students…

Although teacher aides are often employed in schools to provide support for students with disabilities and special education needs, there is limited Australian research on their work and employer expectations. This article provides an analysis of advertisements for teacher aide positions, and compares the content of advertisements with role…

The common practice of using of guided notes in the K-12 and special education classroom is not fully appreciated or understood. In an effort to add to the existing research about this phenomenon, the current investigation expands on previously published research and one previously published meta-analysis that examined the impact of guided notes…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using online modules to teach The Word Identification Strategy (Lenz, Schumaker, Deshler, & Beals, 2007) to elementary and middle school students with learning disabilities in reading. The five participants in this multiple probe across participants study were enrolled in an online charter…

Online environments increasingly are becoming a part of our schools. While online education holds tremendous promise--offering viable and attractive options for advancing student skills, increasing access, and potentially lowering the cost of educational services--there is little research on the efficacy of online instruction for students with…

This exploratory study was conducted with a group of teachers at four partnership school sites (elementary, middle, and high school) who taught students with a range of disabilities. The study was designed to gain insight into how these teachers used interactive whiteboard technology (IWBT) in their classrooms, to ascertain their perceptions…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) require that students with disabilities have equal access to general education curricula and contexts. Florida's Differentiated Accountability Program (DAP) is designed to support educators in meeting IDEA and NCLB…

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is the most common non-genetic cause of learning disability, affecting around 1% of live births in Europe, and costing an estimated $2.9 million per individual across their lifespan. In adulthood, non-reversible brain damage is often compounded by secondary disabilities in adulthood, such as mental health…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differential classroom structure and efficacy reported by general and special educators at the elementary and secondary level. General and special educators (n = 774, return rate of 37%) from a large school district in the southeast US participated in the study. The participants completed a modified…

Children with vision impairment (VI) and blindness are largely educated in mainstream schools in Australia. Specialist itinerant support teachers--vision (ISTVs) travel from school to school to facilitate the education of these children. The purposes of this study were to examine the barriers that ISTVs face in this role, and to identify…

Most students who have sustained severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) appear normal when they return to school. Hopeful parents, encouraged by deceptively positive medical feedback, expect a return to regular education. In the classroom, the students initially seem almost ready to resume learning, but instead they fall farther behind grade level…

This exploratory study examined the use of symbol-supported writing software with students with Down syndrome across two school years. In Year 1, 43 participants used this software and provided data over four months. In Year 2, 17 of the same participants provided data over an additional five months. A quasiexperimental repeated measures design…

This article describes a framework for how to provide more accessible, relevant, and effective instruction in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education to all students. The STEM for All initiative asserts that all students, including those with disabilities and other diverse learning needs, should be included in meaningful…