This final of six briefs analyzing data from the U.S. Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), covering the 2020-21 school year, explores the characteristics of the 176 charter schools with a specific focus on students with disabilities. This group, representing 2.3% of charter schools nationwide, is heavily concentrated in a handful of states and is…

Career-connected learning is an educational strategy that combines high-quality academic instruction, skill-based learning, and real-world experiences to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their college and career goals. Career-connected learning can be delivered in a variety of ways, including in core content…

Including students with disabilities requires schoolwide interventions that are implemented with fidelity (adherence). Collection of fidelity data may become problematic when multiple evidence-based treatments exist in one setting. To address concerns around efficiency of data collection, this study hypothesized that the three sampling approaches…

Virtual, mixed, and augmented reality, termed "extended reality," or XR, have great potential for classroom-based learning. Yet many questions about the use and widespread adoption of these emerging technologies remain. To share insights, opportunities, and challenges, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the XR Association…

This brief is part of the Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action initiative. This brief summarizes the research on dual enrollment programs--programs which allow high school students to enroll in college coursework through a partnering college or university--and offers policymakers a strategy to increase college enrollment and…

Student involvement is integral to transition planning for students with learning disabilities (LD). However, only a small body of research has examined the perspectives of high school students with LD related to this process. We conducted a systematic literature review and subsequent metasynthesis of 14 studies that met criteria and quality…

Students with emotional and behavioral problems have poor academic and behavioral outcomes, both short- and long-term. Psychotropic medications are commonly used as an intervention with this population and their use has increased significantly. This study investigated adolescent and family variables associated with medication use among high school…

The purpose of this qualitative basic interpretive study was to explore the perspective of high school special education teachers regarding the factors that support or hinder student participation in the IEP process. Data sources included semi-structured interviews, memos, documents, and electronic correspondence and were coded using Braun and…

The IDEA mandates transition planning in Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for disabled students, who are now enrolling in postsecondary education programs at higher rates than ever before. Despite this, disabled students experience significantly worse post-school outcomes than their non-disabled peers. The purpose of this mixed-methods…

Students living in poverty are noted to experience a variety of barriers, which include literacy gaps (Buckingham et al., 2013), lower reading achievement entering high school (Reardon et al., 2013), lower graduation rates (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016), higher incidences of learning disabilities and behavior problems (Morgan et…

Few studies exist studying the implementation of a mindfulness program among high school students with disabilities. This study examined outcomes from the implementation of a 6-week "Learning to BREATHE" program, which is a mindfulness-based program for adolescents. This study explores behavioral problems, self-efficacy, self-regulation,…

The problem addressed was parents and guardians desire more involvement during the transition of their special needs children from secondary to post-secondary education due to concerns about their child's preparedness for post-secondary education. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to understand the perceptions and experiences…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth experience more heterosexist bullying victimization than their straight peers, which contributes to mental health disparities. However, LGBQ youth may simultaneously experience other types of bias-based bullying (e.g., racist, cis-sexist, and able-ist bullying). Informed by intersectionality theory,…

The study investigates the essential components and strategies that promote successful collaboration between parents and teachers in special needs education. Prior research highlights the positive impact of collaboration on students' academic, social, and emotional development, but gaps remain in understanding the lived experiences of those…

Students with intellectual disability (ID) tend to have different experiences than their peers without ID as it pertains to the curriculum they receive, the locations where they are taught, and the amount of time they are provided instruction. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the curricular areas and contexts in which high…