Empirical Education Inc. is the independent evaluator of SRI International's 2014 Investing in Innovation (i3) Development grant called Redesigning Secondary Courses to Improve Academic Outcomes for Adolescents with Disabilities and Other Underperforming Adolescents. The goal of the grant is to develop "Enhanced Units" that combine…

The purpose of this study was to determine if student on-task behavior varied when a) the One Teach/One Assist co-teaching model was applied or b) when the Team Teaching model was applied using an alternating treatment design for four students in a co-taught Algebra I classroom. Results show that participants experienced increased on-task behavior…

Many schools have begun implementing co-teaching involving a general and special education teacher working collaboratively together within a classroom to deliver instruction to all students within a general education classroom environment. This trend has shown progression over the last 20 years with the implementation of the Individuals with…

This report has been revised to best highlight information from the new Student Safety Data System for the 2017-18 school year. The New Jersey Department of Education (Department) migrated to a new reporting system, the Student Safety Data System (SSDS), which includes improved definitions, new reporting fields, and updated guidance for reporting…

This research examines the perspectives graduates from a virtual school who are identified as students with disabilities. This research explores this phenomenon through the lens of critical theory, disability theory, school choice theory, critical pedagogy theory and Maslow's theory of a hierarchy of needs. The current research related to online…

The Washington State Board of Education (SBE) issues an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public, in accordance with the Charter School Act, RCW 28A.710.250. The statute requires the annual charter school report to include the following: (1) the performance of the state's charter schools during the preceding school year,…

This practice brief provides an overview of a project designed to support students with disabilities considering postsecondary education. Postsecondary Rewarding Education is Possible (PREP) Academy was developed by individuals from a state vocational rehabilitation agency and a public research university. PREP Academy is a campus-based, weeklong…

Frequent discussion in the field of disability research focuses knowledge on rehabilitation for students with disabilities. However, lacking is a focus on student identity development in the face of a highly stigmatizing and stigmatized label. Semi-structured interviews with four freshman males labeled with high incidence disabilities were…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education to examine Arkansas's middle school and high school indicators of postsecondary readiness and success, building on an earlier study of these indicators (Hester et al., 2021). Academic indicators include attaining proficiency on state academic…

This study examined the performance, demographics, and contextual factors of students taking the ACT® test with accommodations compared to students taking the ACT without accommodations. We examined the prevalence of accommodations provided and disability categories as well as performance by disability type. We also examined demographic…

This study used a randomized controlled trial to compare two distinct models of group social skills interventions with adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants had a confirmed diagnosis of ASD, had an IQ greater than or equal to 70, and were educated in the general education setting. Data from 62 adolescent participants who…

As demonstrated in extant research, there are significant distinctions across urban, suburban, and rural communities both in the experience of school violence and in the resources allocated toward safeguarding schools from violence. What remains unknown is how the relationship between weapons at school (i.e., possession of a weapon and attacks…

This brief gives an update on our nationally representative sample of school district reopening plans. This update comes at a critical time, as a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic once again forces school system leaders to rethink plans to welcome students safely to campuses, and spiking caseloads raise a new round of public health fears for…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) has predominantly existed parallel to academic education. Recently however, CTE and academic instruction have begun to intersect and merge. This confluence can be very beneficial for students with disabilities. Careful planning for both academic and CTE instruction is critical. It allows for students with…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Is California Doing Enough to Close the School Discipline Gap?" In California, a combination of statewide and local efforts has been implemented to reduce the use of punitive suspensions in public K-12 schools. Current state data trends reflect these efforts, showing that far fewer students…