The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "College Readiness and Success." Contents include: (1) Texas School Counselors…

As a required part of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, students with disabilities within the United States are required to receive transitional services to help support their exit from school and ascension to adulthood. A common transitional service revolves around preparing students for the college setting, at either a university, community…

We examined how an agricultural literacy professional development enhanced equity in seven secondary agriculture classrooms in a southeastern state. Utilizing the Equity Framework in Career and Technical Education and exploratory case study methodology, we examined the equitable barriers that seven secondary agriculture education teachers faced in…

In July 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law, amending the Rehabilitation Act of 1998 and establishing new workforce initiatives for state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. The passage of WIOA led to the expansion of VR services, including the requirement to provide "pre-employment transition…

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…

A transition-age youth with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) has the right to a free, appropriate public education that includes postsecondary transition planning and services. Because students with emotional-behavioral disorders (EBD) experience adverse outcomes during and after high school, they may benefit from a transition-focused…

This first of six briefs analyzing the latest available data from the U.S. Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), covering the 2020-21 school year, explores enrollment of students with disabilities by school sector, state, grade level, and charter legal status--that is, operating as a local education agency (LEA) or as part of an LEA. The goal is to…

The purpose of this multiple explanatory case study was to investigate the preparation of underserved school band programs for a Music Performance Assessment (MPA). Specifically, I examined racial, economic, and social inequalities, which are well documented in the research literature, and the related achievement gaps of underserved public school…

This fifth of six briefs exploring data from the 2020-2021 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) data, released earlier this year, explores the access of students with disabilities to the educational opportunities that make college possible for most students: SAT and ACT testing, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB)…

With the passing of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) in 2004, it became law that every child age three to twenty-one with a disability in the United States had access to a free and appropriate education through services provided by certified special education teachers and therapists. As service providers, special education teachers are…

Education for individuals with disabilities is complicated by a lack of access to educational services, partly due to the gaps created by different policies meant to provide equal access to services in high school and college. The purpose of this generic qualitative study is to explore the perceptions of college students with disabilities as they…

The federal Gun-Free Schools Act (GFSA) enacted in1994 requires U.S. public school systems to report any incident of a student bringing a firearm to school or being in possession of a firearm on school property, the law applies to all states and jurisdictions funded under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. Under federal…

For this 22nd article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the topic is child find and eligibility under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including as a secondary matter the intersecting requirement for a comprehensive…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard notices written in Spanish, as distributed by each of the 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia. Results were compared with the 6th-8th grade document readability guideline…

This quantitative research study analyzed the effectiveness of Section 504 plans on academic achievement as measured by the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), and graduating grade point averages (GPA). There is limited research on the effectiveness of Section 504 plans and academic…