This qualitative study investigates information sharing practices between comprehensive high schools and an offsite Career Technical School with a focus on Students With Disabilities (SWD). The case study approach examined how student information is communicated in support of new federal and state policies related to college and career…

This study investigated high school special education teachers' knowledge of assistive technology (AT) for students with reading difficulties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. A survey was disseminated via e-mail using the "SurveyMonkey" online survey tool to 201 special education teachers. The survey asked questions pertaining to the…

This study was intended to enhance the limited research on the knowledge and confidence of special education teachers in public education regarding transition services and the quality of transition plans they develop. The key variables examined in this study are knowledge, confidence, and the quality of student transition plans. The sample…

When the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) began their experiment with a blended statewide Occupational Course of Study (OCS) (see http://ncvps.org/ocs-blended-learning) program for high school students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, it was with great ambition and optimism. Born of necessity to address highly…

Researchers have good data on teachers' annual salaries but a hazy understanding of teachers' hours of work. This makes it difficult to calculate an accurate hourly wage and leads policy makers to default to anecdote rather than fact when debating teacher pay. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, I find that teachers work an average of…

This article describes the pilot study of an informal assessment, the "Student Transition Questionnaire" (STQ). The STQ is a 38-item assessment designed to elicit student perspectives on transition-related topics. In this mixed-methods study, we piloted the STQ with 186 participants, and then conducted focus groups with various…

Students with disabilities have diverse needs that can be difficult for schools to meet. One promising approach that addresses this issue is Linked Learning, a high school reform initiative aimed at simultaneously preparing all students for college and career (ConnectEd, n.d.). Although research has shown that participation in Linked Learning is…

This study reports findings on the fidelity of implementation of the Strategic Instructional Model (SIM), Proficiency in the Sentence Writing Strategy (Schumaker & Sheldon, 1999) in five rural secondary special education classrooms. Participants were 5 special education teachers and 38 secondary students identified with mild to moderate…

High schools throughout this country are as heterogeneous as the students they serve in size, location, tax base, student make-up, and teacher quality. However, they must all follow the mandates of NCLB and IDEA. While these policies affect all schools, high schools continue to face many challenges implementing these laws effectively for students…

This qualitative study examined how teachers use instructional practices and family reinforcement interventions to support intrinsic motivation for special education students as a means to meet graduation requirements. Purposeful sampling of highly qualified special education teachers certified in language arts was used in this study. The data…

A number of studies have suggested that when children with disabilities are presented with choice-making opportunities, they can make choices (Bambara, 2004; Carlson, Luiselli, Slyman, & Markowski, 2008; Dibley & Lim, 1999; Manhertz, 2006). Teaching choice-making to students with intellectual disability is an important skill. Students with…

Students with disabilities represent a growing number of learners receiving education in K-12 fully online learning programs. They are, unfortunately, also a large segment of the online learning population who are not experiencing success in these environments. In response, scholars have recommended increasing instruction in self-regulation skills…

In this study, we investigated the process of teacher co-planning. We examined two teams of high school science and special education teachers brought together to co-plan inclusive, inquiry-oriented science units as part of a professional development effort. We used three conceptual lenses to help make sense of this process: (1) characteristics of…

This study is concerned with the current job preparation programmes for special education students in Taiwan. Two hundred and three randomly selected special education teachers in Northern Taiwan responded to a questionnaire about job-related social skills. The relationship between teachers' demographic characteristics and their teaching of…

Full stakeholder support for any innovation can be difficult to achieve, particularly in complex systems such as middle and high schools. Increasingly, obtaining middle and high school teacher support for Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) is identified as a challenging yet crucial element of implementation. The reasons behind these…