To address the difficult problem of transition from school to adult community services for students with learning disabilities (LD), this article provides information on available community agencies, the resources they offer, and ways school personnel might work with these agencies in an effort to enhance successful transitions for individuals…

This article is designed to increase awareness of teachers and other school personnel to the difficulties of many foster children, specifically, the problems these youngsters have while they are in school and once they have left. Recommended actions to improve the education of foster children are listed, along with transition strategies. (Contains…

This article presents the knowledge and skills determined by the Council for Exceptional Children to be necessary for assistive technology specialists. These competencies are designed to provide guidelines for districts as they seek to employ a specialist and guide individuals interested in serving as specialists in their professional development.…

This article discusses interdisciplinary thematic units in the context of special and general education curricula and ways that technology can be used to enhance interdisciplinary thematic units. Examples of curriculum integration activities enhanced by technology are provided in the context of productivity tools, presentation/multimedia tools,…

This paper proposes that power/control and affiliation may be valid functions of some behaviors and should be considered in a functional behavior analysis of maladaptive behavior in students. Suggestions are offered for school-based manipulations to determine whether power/control and affiliation are relevant functions in given situations.…

This article addresses key considerations in preparing special education research articles for submission to professional journals in which the preferred style guide is the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association." The guidelines are drawn from special education literature, from editors, and from authors experienced in…

This article addresses the ongoing need to access the power of self-determination. A definition of self-determination is provided, along with a description of key components. Examples are provided for implementing effective self-determination skills though the use of a case study, an action plan, and list of best practices. (Contains references.)…

This article explains how administrators make it possible for their staff to initiate and implement advocacy efforts on behalf of students with special needs. A step-by-step series of actions and decision points are described to support the implementation of an innovative student-led Individualized Education Program process. (Contains 7…

Two special educators share their experiences in developing standards-based lessons to help students manage their own Individualized Education Programs. They describe strategies used to begin the process, provide a sample unit lesson plan, and show how a typical 50-minute class period could be structured to incorporate self-determination skills.…

This article discusses requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments of 1997 for functional assessments of behavior (FABs) and provision of positive behavioral supports (PBSs). It describes steps in implementing FABs and examples of appropriate PBSs with students with disabilities. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

Discussion of Individualized Education Program (IEP) requirements first examines relationships between the IEP and a free, appropriate public education; then highlights the procedural changes and new requirements mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. Results of due process hearings and court cases and…

This article provides a map for teachers of students with or without disabilities to use in searching the self-determination literature for usable ideas. The map includes two primary paths: the first leads through the conceptual literature and the second through the intervention literature. Pitfalls are identified and examples illustrate uses in…

This article describes how a variety of peer-mediated instruction and intervention might assist teachers in meeting the needs of students with mild disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The needs of these students, peer-teaching methods such as class wide student tutoring teams and Numbered Heads Together, and future research directions are…

This article provides guidelines for knowing when to institutionalize peer-mediated instruction and interventions (PMII), and generalization techniques familiar to special educators are linked specifically to institutionalization of PMII. Barriers and promoters of sustained PMII in schools are identified, with implications for how stakeholders…

This article summarizes goals for mathematics achievement for all students and proposes a key model for teaching math to students at-risk of failure. The six teeth of the key are labeled: meaningful, explicit, informal, (de)situational, social, and teacher-specific. The lock pins are engagement, foundations, institutions, transfer, cultural…