Attending to instruction is a critical behavior for academic success. Many elementary school teachers, however, identify disruptive and inattentive classroom behaviors as key barriers to students' successful educational performance. This study examined the impact of two class-wide positive behavior support programs. The Mystery Motivator and…

This document explains provisions of the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Public Law 105-17, and is divided into 16 topics, most of which address specific sections of the law. For each topic, the following is provided: overview information, additional information presented in a question and answer format,…

Since 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in Southern California, has been under a federal court consent decree requiring compliance with laws pertaining to the delivery of special education services and the elimination of architectural barriers in schools. In 2003, the consent decree was modified, creating…

This publication is designed to assist teachers, parents, and administrators in understanding what the recently reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, both law and regulations, now requires, and how the provisions of both the law and regulations affect services and programs for children with disabilities. It provides information…

This analysis of a survey of state directors of special education concerning special education outcomes highlights the following findings: (1) more students with disabilities are participating in statewide testing and states are better at documenting actual numbers participating; (2) high stakes attached to school or district performance and lack…

This article examines legal issues involved in the assessment of educational results for students with disabilities, especially requirements under the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It suggests that policies regarding assessment of students with disabilities may have outpaced practices and legal interpretations…

The 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are examined with rural schools in mind, focusing on discipline, performance goals and indicators, individual education plans, parent participation, student reevaluations, children ages 3 to 9, preschool programs, disproportionate special-education placements by race or…

Using a large longitudinal database, this study examined the effect that transitions between regular education and special education across grades had on performance trends for the special education population. The study also examined the effect that changes in exemption rates across grades for students with disabilities had on performance trends.…

This report provides a comprehensive account of the performance of students with disabilities on state assessment measures. Following an overview of the issues, it explains the laws that govern the reporting of assessment results (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA) and Title I of the Elementary and Secondary…

This paper discusses the new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 amendments that require states to develop alternate assessments and reviews state practices in Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee. These states were selected because they had either been implementing, were…

This paper presents the findings of a study that examined the transition services of individualized education programs (IEPs) for high school students with special needs. The Program Evaluation for Procedural and Substantive Efficacy of Transition Services was used to analyze 282 IEPs in terms of procedural compliance with the Individuals with…

This report discusses current secondary school restructuring efforts of nine school districts that are implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and New York State initiatives to provide students with disabilities access to general education curriculum and settings. It demonstrates how Skrtic's (1995) mutually reinforcing…

This report is the fifth analysis of state reports to examine the extent to which states publicly report information about students with disabilities in statewide assessments. The report describes statewide testing systems and evaluates whether these systems include participation and performance information for students with disabilities. It finds…

This bulletin on the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reviews ten provisions of the Act that support inclusive education, including: (1) language in the "Findings" section of the law that states the education of students with disabilities can be made more effective by having high expectations…

This report summarizes findings from case studies that explored the implementation of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and how it affects school district progress toward addressing the behavioral needs of students. Results are also presented on the progress districts are making on: developing…