The primary message of the Supreme Court's ruling in "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" (hereinafter "Endrew F.," 2017) was that school districts are obligated to "offer an IEP [individualized education program] that is reasonably calculated to enable the child to make progress appropriate in light of the…

This article presents a classroom teacher's perspective on one of the important requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) legislation and aligned language found in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004)--that of aligning assessment and instructional practices with state academic content standard…

Teacher behaviors which foster preventive discipline include communicating respect to each student, seeking out diverse sources of information, developing curricula that prevent behavior problems, and implementing instructional procedures that minimize misbehaviors. A learning environment inventory which includes student assessment information and…

The article describes the Pupil Assessment Summary (PAS) designed to help educators organize data on students with behavior disorders using four categories: disturber element (focus of problem); problem behavior element (specific behaviors); setting element (when/where problem behavior occurs); and disturbed element (who regards the behavior as a…

Four brief articles look at aspects of curriculum based measurement (CBM) for academically handicapped students including procedures of CBM with examples, different approaches to graphing student performance, and solutions to the problem of making time to measure student progress frequently. (DB)

The article describes the problem of assessing culturally diverse students for behavior disorders, proposes a solution which replaces norm referenced assessment with functional assessment, and offers recommendations for implementing such a nonbiased, functional approach. (DB)

Methods of recording observational data on student behaviors are reviewed for special educators. Criteria for choosing an appropriate measure are applied to frequency/rate measures, duration measures, time sampling, and measurement of permanent products. (DB)

This article identifies students at risk for substance abuse, characteristics of substance abusers, and the difficulties of obtaining a valid special education assessment when alcohol or drugs are involved. Recommendations are offered for special educators to address the needs of exceptional pupils who may be using alcohol or drugs. (JDD)

Handicapped students in state correctional facilities are legally eligible for special education services. "Best practices" in correctional special education include functional assessments, functional curriculum, vocational special education, transition programs between correctional programs and the community, comprehensive systems for providing…

Q-sort techniques can be used to verify and quantify the discrepancy between the way handicapped children see themselves and how they would like to be. Modifications of the approach may also be useful with parents, peers, or administrators. (CL)

Problems involved in grading mainstreamed students are examined, and solutions are suggested, including communication between regular class and resource teachers, use of a combination of corrective feedback and quantitative scores, use of individualized education program performance objectives, and emphasis on intra-individual assessment. (CL)

Advantages of systematic recordkeeping for special and regular education teachers are discussed and guidelines are offered for using the information collected. A sample data sheet illustrates one collection technique. Recordkeeping is seen as a way of understanding antecedents, behavior, and consequences of a child's response. (CL)

Issues of bilingual handicapped students are examined through a review of goals, examples of services for physically handicapped and mentally retarded non-English speakers, and a list of considerations in four major areas: appraisal and assessment, placement, decisions, instructional personnel and materials, and physical management. (CL)

The article explores grading options for the teacher to consider when evaluating students who are receiving specialized education and participating in the mainstream of regular education. (DB)

The article addresses the usefulness of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) in assessing various levels of arithmetic performance. The mathematics subtest of the PIAT is considered in terms of purpose; mathematical abilities subsections (foundations, basic facts, applications); diagnostic testing (the error analysis matrix); and poor…