Although it is critical for students with autism to be included in large-scale assessment and accountability systems, it is not clear how to best measure their underlying academic skills and knowledge. Additional empirically-supported guidance is necessary to assist school teams that need to make decisions about how to best include students with…

Effective mathematics education for Latinx students with learning disabilities (LD) necessitates teachers who uphold high academic expectations, facilitate access to rigorous math curricula, and champion inclusive and meaningful student participation. This study delves into teachers' perspectives on instructing Latinx students with LD, including…

Some statewide testing programs allow students to receive corrective feedback and revise their answers during testing. Despite its pedagogical benefits, the effects of providing revision opportunities remain unknown in the context of alternate assessments. Therefore, this study examined student data from a large-scale alternate assessment that…

Copying a text quickly and accurately is important both in school and in daily life. However, this skill has never been systematically studied, either in children with typical development (TD) or in children with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The aim of this research was to study the features of a copy task and its relationship with other…

The ESCAPE curriculum model was developed to enhance emotional awareness and behavioral support for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to help with stressful events and escape from emotional distress. The instructional phases represent an emotion regulatory process: starting with emotional and behavioral awareness, followed by…

Middle school students with learning disabilities often struggle with reading and literacy skills, including vocabulary, and require support in content-area classes such as mathematics where weak vocabulary knowledge can negatively affect learning, achievement, and deep understanding. However, in general, middle school mathematics teachers do not…

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior that has become increasingly pervasive in school settings. The consequences of bullying manifest as poor physical health, anxiety, depression, poor school performance, school avoidance, and increased risk for students. While no student is immune to bullying, research suggests that students with autism are…

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,…

Student engagement is a critical feature to the teaching and learning dynamic that takes place in the classroom. Technology is often used as a means for increasing student engagement, and Student Response Technology (SRT), where students use handheld clickers to respond during classroom instruction, is one form of technology used to do this. The…

Engagement is important for learning. Because of their atypical expression, measuring engagement for students with multiple and severe disabilities (MSD) is challenging. Group activities often enhance engagement of children and gross motor activities include an expanded variety of behaviors by which engagement may be measured. The purpose of this…

The present case study illustrates the use of explicit text structure intervention for expository reading comprehension with three adolescents with language learning disabilities (LLD). We investigated whether it was feasible to provide direct instruction on the identification of signal words that denote compare-contrast relations between…

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of providing information to families as they choose schools. Likely applicants to prekindergarten, kindergarten, and ninth grade were assigned to one of three groups. A "growth" group received lists (via U.S. mail, email, and text message) of the highest performing schools…

Field trips to museums and performing arts centers are not a frequent activity for most students, so how do cultural organizations learn to make the most of these limited but potentially valuable "gateway experiences" toward increased arts participation? This cross-sectional study examines the engagement of students during a performance…

The purpose of the current research study was to investigate the extent to which student performance was influenced by the disruption to learning that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To explain observed differences in performance, we compared outcomes from a state-wide summative testing program between students who were administered the…

Students identified as students with disabilities receiving special education services continue to perform below their same grade level peers in mathematics. Since the inception of the Individuals with Disability Act and the subsequent Every Student Succeeds Act, the United States has been shifting to a more inclusive education for all students.…