Transition to adulthood is an important milestone for all students. Transition planning for students with disabilities (SWD) is legally mandated to prepare them for adult life. However, researchers report that teachers do not feel adequately prepared when it comes to transition. With globalization in the 21st century, U.S schools become more…

Designing professional learning that meets the diverse needs of special education professionals is exciting, challenging, and critically important. The staff at the Children's Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf in Massachusetts support deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing children from ages 3 to 22 with a range of communication and…

Education is the most important obligation the humanity race has in order to evolve and thrive in the modern world. There are various applications for educators to teach valuable lessons to students, and not all deliveries will be the same for every lesson and for every student. Lesson being taught, the lesson delivery from educator to student…

Writing is a critical academic and life skill, but many school-age children struggle with the complexity of written expression. Given the importance of writing, there is a clear need for a systematic approach to identifying and supporting struggling writers, including writers with learning and emotional disabilities. One such approach is known as…

Writing is a critical academic and life skill, but many school-age children struggle with the complexity of written expression. Given the importance of writing, there is a clear need for a systematic approach to identifying and supporting struggling writers, including writers with learning and emotional disabilities. One such approach is known as…

Students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) struggle to acquire and develop writing skills. To support their students' unique needs, it is important for teachers to monitor student writing progress to make instructional decisions based on data. In this article we describe methods for progress monitoring focused on…

Efforts to implement high-quality communication instruction for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and complex communication needs (CCN) may be difficult for some educators with limited time and resources. In this article, we offer guidance on implementing several economic strategies that can be easily embedded into existing classroom…

High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) are a deceptively simple concept in the field of education. On the one hand it is amazing to have a list of key practices that all teachers should learn and be able to implement when teaching students of all backgrounds and ability levels, including those with disabilities. On the other, teaching is rarely simple,…

The purpose of this article is to describe how to teach students to use smartpens to record notes in their classes. Notetaking is a complex cognitive process that requires students to listen, process, organize, and record notes, while dealing with the temporal demands of trying to record notes fast enough to keep up with the teacher. Fortunately…

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an evidence-based practice for writing that is effective in improving the writing performance of elementary students with learning disabilities and the broader student population. In this manuscript, we provide guidance for elementary instructional coaches in facilitating a schoolwide adoption of SRSD…

Some older deaf students encounter challenges with print literacy, which can result from experiencing language deprivation and communication neglect. This article describes the authors' evidence-based framework that provides tailored language support--Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI)--and how it can counter language deprivation…

The educational provision for students with disabilities has been debated for as long as the term inclusive education (IE) has been part of the educational discourse. Despite IE stemming from a social justice paradigm, globally there remain inconsistencies in access to quality education. As a result, policies and practices to shift towards more…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often struggle to apply self-determination skills. Teaching self-determination skills within the context of writing allows students to amplify their voice and communicate with others. This article describes how writing instruction and lessons on self-determination skills may be combined to…

Effective teaching starts with quality instruction that most students respond well to. However, about 35% of students will require specialized and more intensive instruction to meet academic and behavioral standards. Both students with exceptionalities who are eligible to receive special education and related services and students who are placed…

The ideas of computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) are increasingly being integrated into K-12 education. Yet, insufficient attention exists regarding access and exposure of CT and CS for students with disabilities. In this Technology in Action, the authors sought to present an argument--as well as actual activities--for teachers…