With the growing use of technology in today's schools, electronic IEP programs are being adopted by many school districts around the nation as part of special education service delivery. These programs provide a useful technology that can facilitate compliance with IDEA requirements in IEP development while concurrently lessening teacher…

Special education professionals are charged to develop relevant, compliant, and legally defensible IEPs for transition-age students with disabilities. This charge is intensified as educators strive to provide plans that will genuinely prepare students for postsecondary education, employment, and independent living. This manuscript demonstrates how…

Parental involvement and parent-school-community partnerships receive wide acclaim for making a positive difference in the educational and transition outcomes for youth with and without disabilities. Although the impact of parental involvement in education remains undisputed, secondary education traditionally emphasizes the emerging adult…

"Bullying" is defined as any aggressive behavior with the intent to harm that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Bullying is identified as one of the most predominant problems faced by children in the United States education system, as well as one of the most significant health risks to children. Exactly how prevalent this issue is…

Many students identified as having moderate and severe disabilities (MSD) benefit from a curriculum that includes instruction on the functional skills that they will need to successfully transition to adulthood. In particular, this includes students with cognitive disabilities who are most likely to qualify in the 1% who are eligible for the…

In order to help teachers understand the importance of intentional design for inclusive education, this article describes the design process an engineer might use when designing a new project. If teachers learn to think like engineers, it is possible for them to design inclusive education. This conceptual design can then be combined with…

This article describes the premises, principles, and processes for integrating TECH into instruction. TECH is an acronym designed for educators to more smoothly integrate technology into instructional activities. It includes four steps: (1) Target the students' needs and the learning outcome; (2) Examine the technology choices, then decide what to…

Student diversity and inclusion presents a unique set of challenges to foreign language teachers. In fact, it has long been recognized that children with learning disabilities, especially those whose difficulties are language-based, will be challenged by foreign language education. Including children with disabilities in a foreign language class…

Despite many barriers, a group of Oregon educators began to discuss ideas about how they could provide information that would build skills to improve the entry and success rate for high school students with disabilities in postsecondary education. These educators included high school, community college, and university staff. The Postsecondary…

This article explores ways to include self-determination and self-advocacy goals and objectives in individualized education programs (IEPs). It identifies self-determination goals and offers guidelines on selection and writing of self-determination goals. Insets and tables include a review of the literature, definitions of self-determination…

A resource room teacher describes a three-part mini-workshop in learning disability awareness for general and special education elementary grade students. An overview of the workshop is followed by description of preworkshop activities and preparation and implementation of each of the three sessions. Insets and tables provide a summary of the…

This article describes how one inclusive middle school addressed needs of students with significant disabilities for functional community-referenced skills including clothing purchases, buying groceries, eating out, crossing the street, doing laundry, and using a microwave. Program development, program organization, and involvement of peers…

This article describes Widgets, computer-based learning tools designed to meet the instructional need for computer-based flexible tools that can be used across ability levels. It discusses development of three Widgets for students with mild disabilities: a multiplication with sets Widget, a number sense Widget, and a dollars and cents Widget.…

This article describes the Research Lead Teacher (RLT) model and its implementation over 3 years to train classroom teachers in research-based instructional and behavior management strategies. The RLT program included teacher study groups and a structured intervention involving the RLT in the requesting teacher's classroom. External evaluation…

This article describes a points-and-levels system to improve behavior of students with learning and behavioral disabilities in an upper-elementary special education setting. The four levels each involved specified responsibilities and privileges and students earned specified numbers of points to qualify for a "successful day" and eventual…