Teaching self-determination skills to students with disabilities can improve both behavior and academic achievement while having a lasting impact on life outcomes. Specifically, goal setting is a highly useful and transferrable life skill that can enhance motivation, increase access to curriculum, and promote independence while improving academics…

In this collaborative, multi-voice paper we tell the story of our design collaboration. By describing the process of one design team of teacher educators, we offer a template of what it means to center teachers' lives and experiences as we design professional development with and for them.

Educating learners with Down syndrome can seem daunting at first, but this practical guide for teachers and carers to using evidence-based practices shows you how. Taking a unique lifespan, curriculum-based approach, Rhonda M. Faragher promotes the understanding that people with Down syndrome are a diverse group with vast potential and varied…

A nearly unlimited number of technology tools and applications exist to support students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, finding these tools, researching their effectiveness, observing their use, and evaluating their implementation can be a time consuming and daunting task if a technology professional is not…

Inclusive preschool classrooms have become increasingly common in recent decades, affording opportunities for children with and without disabilities opportunities to interact and develop positive relationships. Children with disabilities may be unintentionally excluded from these interactions due to communication differences. This paper discusses…

The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction is an explicit methodology for teaching mathematics using multiple representations of concepts. Learning concepts through multiple representations fosters conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking. This article describes how a special education teacher used explicit CRA…

Strategy instruction is an effective method for improving the writing skills of students who struggle when writing. It is critical when implementing strategy instruction that assessment of the strategy takes place in addition to assessment of writing. Practitioners should consider strategy assessment to ensure student proper use of strategy. This…

The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C) Collaborative Assessment Guide for Transition Planning (CAG) is intended to help students, family members, educators, vocational rehabilitation counselors, human services and health agency staff, and other partners develop a coordinated assessment approach for…

Special education has changed over the years since its inception due to advocacy, litigation, legislation, trends, and research investigations. While it can be somewhat controversial depending on the disability the child might have or professionals involved in the process of instructing and planning his/her future education, it is a field that has…

Preschoolers can learn mathematics from opportunities throughout their day, such as through play and storybook readings (Clements & Sarama, 2007; Green et al., 2018; Hassinger-Das et al., 2018). In fact, the early years are an advantageous time to introduce children to formal mathematical operations, as preschoolers often have a spontaneous…

Robust vocabulary instruction is an important part of comprehensive English language arts (ELA) instruction. Vocabulary instruction supports students in learning the meaning of words to build a receptive vocabulary that they can rely on to comprehend the words they read and hear. Many students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD) and…

The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention (NCLII), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral…

Teacher-provided opportunities to respond are a powerful strategy for improving behavior and academic outcomes of students with disabilities. However, online instruction makes opportunities to respond more challenging to implement. For the purposes of this article, online teaching refers to synchronous instruction taking place via video…

Online learning continues to be an increasingly popular option in K-12 and postsecondary settings As this trend continues, it is important that the developers of online instructional environments and materials proactively consider the needs of all students. This includes determining how special education and specially designed instruction can be…

This resource has been developed for pre-K-20 educators in order to help students use primary sources to go beyond simple acquisition of content knowledge and rote memorization. The procedures and approaches outlined in this book are designed to help students use primary sources in discipline- and inquiry-based ways to develop and enhance cultural…