The achievement gains of California students with disabilities (SWDs) on the California Standards Test (CST)-English Language Arts have surpassed the achievement gains of students with no reported disabilities in recent years, and so the special education achievement gap seemed to be closing. However, the reported achievement for SWDs has not…

Middle and high school students subjected to harsh school discipline policies and practices such as suspensions and expulsions are more likely to disengage from the classroom and course work, and increases their chances of dropping out, according to this new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report recommends implementing…

All students, including students with disabilities, must be included in state accountability systems as required by law. In April 2007, federal regulations provided states the flexibility to offer another assessment option--an Alternate Assessment based on Modified Achievement Standards (AA-MAS) for some students with disabilities. The AA-MAS is…

In April 2007, Federal No Child Left Behind regulations were finalized that provided states with additional flexibility for assessing some students with disabilities. The regulations allowed states to offer another assessment option, alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). States are not required to have…

Federal regulations (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a) provide states with the flexibility to offer an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). This assessment option is for a small group of students with disabilities who can make significant progress, but may not reach grade-level achievement within the…

This index is divided into two sections: an Index on Federal Regulations and an Abstracts section of Court Cases and Administrative Decisions. Section 1 provides a topic index and comparison of contents and coverage of 16 federal departments with regulations established as of August 1981. Presented in tabular form, this index shows major topics…

This handbook provides answers to questions that state department program access coordinators most frequently ask when involved in evaluating for accessibility for handicapped persons and when developing changes to ensure that departmental programs and activities are equally effective and accessible to persons with disabilities. The handbook…

This handbook was produced by the California Vocational Education Resource System (VERS) to assist administrators in planning, implementing, and monitoring career-vocational education services for students with special needs (disabled, disadvantaged, or limited English proficient) in regular vocational education classrooms. The guide is organized…