The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) vigorously supports educational reforms within the public schools while promoting rigorous learning standards, strong educational outcomes, shared-decision making, diverse educational offerings, and the removal of unnecessary administrative requirements. At the same time, it is imperative that educators…

Accessibility in K-12 and higher education is becoming an increasingly complex terrain to traverse as schools increase online materials and instructional delivery options. This white paper provides an overview of critical terms, legal precedents, and other considerations for course designers, instructors, and administrators as they work to improve…

Massive Open Online Courses ("MOOCs") are free online courses offered by institutions of higher education to individuals across the world, without any admissions criteria. Through web-based courses hosted by MOOC platforms, student-participants learn by accessing media, including documents, pictures and uploaded lectures on the course…

Each year, over 1.2 million children and youth identified as homeless in the nation's schools experience educational disruption caused by not having a safe and stable place to live. Many students who have disabilities and are experiencing homelessness face additional challenges for educational progress that require close coordination between…

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that service animals allow some students with disabilities access to their education while enabling greater independence. The registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse) as a member of the school planning team, facilitates the integration of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the principles of universal design can be implemented by faculty and course designers to help give all learners access to equivalent information. It describes how information communication technologies can create barriers to information access, particularly when course content is rich in…

Students with health conditions are at risk for poor education outcomes such as absenteeism and low academic performance. Racial/ethnic minority students and economically disadvantaged students might have more limited access to medical care and information than other students, making school support even more important for them. District of…

For this 10th article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the focus is eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). For this purpose, the courts have generally agreed that, based on the definitions in the IDEA's…

Online education has become an accepted part of the educational landscape over the past two decades. Digital resources are the norm in classrooms. The expectation is that all students will benefit from technology some way. In order for that to be the case, however, sometimes more overt action is needed to ensure that all students do in fact get…

Whether principals are required to allow service animals in the public schools is not entirely clear in law, policy, or practice. The matter is further complicated when the alleged harm caused by denying a request for a service animal is not clearly related to the educational program. The purpose of this article is to inform principals about the…

As advocates for children and youth with exceptionalities, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) believes that strong public education systems are necessary to ensure the promise of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. This position statement presents the…

Although education is in many ways a responsibility of states and localities, the U.S. federal government also has an important role to play. National laws, court rulings, and policy guidance help ensure that English Learner (EL) and immigrant-background students have equitable access to a meaningful education. It is then up to states and school…

This is a time of rapid technological advancement, with innovations in education holding great promise for improving teaching and learning, particularly for students with unique needs. High-quality digital educational materials, tools, and resources offer students relevant, up-to-date, and innovative ways to acquire knowledge and skills. Created…

The public education of students with disabilities in the United States is governed by federal policies that promote school improvement, protect students from discrimination, and provide those who need it with special education and related services to meet their individual needs. This article explains the legal aspects of teaching students with…

For students with disabilities to have the same opportunities to succeed as their nondisabled peers, access to educational technology and digital content is critical. It is essential that higher education boards, administrators, faculty, and administrative staff understand why accessibility must be on the forefront of our educational programs,…