The rapid growth of special needs vouchers has been accompanied by the loss of historic civil rights and protections under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We examine three of the largest special needs voucher programs in the United States: those in Florida, Georgia and Ohio.…

As schools strive to function as communities, the inclusion of all stakeholders is paramount to establishing and maintaining an important sense of interdependency, equity, and access. In the effort to disseminate information as quickly as possible, however, U.S. high schools often neglect to ensure that their websites are accessible to those with…

The Stepping Out and Stepping Up (SOSU) Native American Racial Justice Project initiative, developed in partnership with First Nations Development Institute (FNDI), was designed to address the dispossession and sale of tribal lands used to establish the Ohio State University. This work was inspired by the publication of the "Land Grab…

Pushback against the perceived federal overreach into educational reform has led to renewed calls for a return to local control of schools. In contrast to this general trend, there has continued to be a strong national role for English learner (EL) accountability policies related to EL identification, monitoring and reclassification processes. In…

Policy and funding influence equitable education for students who are gifted. The concept of equity is examined through variations in policy and in funding at the state, district, and local levels. Challenges and barriers to equity in policy and funding include policy structures, where policy provides guidance without accountability measures, or…

Purpose: To systematically examine the institutional values and campus recreational policies and practices of all Big 10 institutions to determine whether equitable physical activity opportunities are being provided. Approach: Websites were systematically searched, and data extracted were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Community…

Purpose: Administrative support and accurate perceptions are believed to facilitate the use of speech-language services that are integrated into the classroom (i.e., integrated classroom-based services [ICBS]). The purpose of this study was to compare elementary principals' and speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') perceptions of ICBS in three…

The most recent data on the labor force participation rate of individuals who identify as being blind or having vision loss in the United States indicate it is approximately 44%. In 2014, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs promulgated regulations pertaining to Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to address the continued…

An often-overlooked component of a middle school website is the necessity for that website to be accessible to those with disabilities, while following the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. In support of the belief that support the belief that inclusive education and…

Early intervention (EI) services are mandated by Part C of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). The EI team, a multidisciplinary team overseen by individual states, is charged with providing family-centered services to support child development in the natural environment. This article examines the use of occupational…

In 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that included provisions to support gifted and talented learners. The U.S. Department of Education's Consolidated State Plan template only required states to directly address the inclusion of gifted education under Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction (Section…

As of 2015, 17 special education voucher programs (SVPs) existed in 13 states and proposals continue to emerge. Eligible parents utilize these vouchers to enroll their children in private schools and thereby relinquish special education services and protections provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Using a…

"Systems coaching" is used to implement systems-level school improvement initiatives that will build capacity and strengthen infrastructure. In Ohio, the state's regional network of literacy specialists and state support teams for central office and district leaders provided systems coaching to build an infrastructure to support the use…

Expanding on our previous work considering the impact of physical education policy on curriculum within the United States of America (U.S.), we undertake a critical reflection of the influence of policy work at the state level. Specifically, we focus on the impact of physical education policy (e.g. standards) within Ohio on curriculum, pedagogy,…

In this study, students with and without disabilities (n = 816) in general and special education settings in Grades 9 through 12 were participants in a quasi-experimental design to examine the main effects of an online curriculum intervention with transition-related content on career readiness. Setting and teacher characteristics were examined for…