The current study evaluates lessons learned from a feasibility and acceptability trial of the "Think, Be, Do," curriculum (a mental health literacy curriculum) for transition age students (14-21) in special education classrooms. Six teachers and sixty-two students from a northwest state in suburban and rural settings participated in the…

What we know about transition-age ELs with disabilities comes from a limited number of studies and reports. These students face multiple obstacles to achieving the benchmarks of post-school success, including coming from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds and having lower academic achievement than other students with disabilities. This study…

The current study aimed to develop an adaptive behavior construct using National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) data. The parent survey data gathered at Wave 1 was used to create an adaptive behavior construct. A bifactor model with three subdomains of conceptual, social, and practical skills with a total of 21 items was developed using…

Parent advocacy has led to improved educational access and outcomes for students with disabilities. Extant research indicates that parents are more likely to participate in individual advocacy than systemic advocacy. Due to the preponderance of individual advocacy, limited research has focused on systemic advocacy. Thus, the purpose of this study…

Educators and families develop individualized education programs (IEPs) to address unique needs of individual students with disabilities. Addressing all student needs is critical to ensuring students receive a free and appropriate public education. To understand how IEP teams address the needs of students with complex support needs, we examined…

Students with dyslexia often struggle with developing text-writing skills at the paragraph level. However, the literature is filled with examples of how explicit instruction paired with time-based feedback can be used to improve such skills for students with a variety of disabilities. Examples from the literature have demonstrated positive effects…

Self-monitoring of attention (SMA) promotes increased learning opportunities and greater independence for students but has been sparsely researched with high-school students. This study evaluated the effects of a self-monitoring strategy that included the use of a smartphone with a vibrating app to signal high-school students with high-incidence…

For decades, school districts have relied on unlicensed teachers to fill vacancies in special education, leaving students with disabilities to receive educational services from individuals without the necessary preparation, resulting in inequitable educational opportunities. An emergency certification, granted in numerous states, allows unlicensed…

The purpose of this paper is to define and describe the 'Telos' or purpose of special education. We argue that special education has three main (tripartite) functions: (a) research, (b) a distinct system, and (c) special instruction. The overall Telos of special education is to provide an educational service to better serve students whose…

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have complex and unique needs that can impact their success. Evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been identified that are effective with this population, yet educators may not be adequately prepared to implement such EBPs. Special education administrators are frequently responsible for developing and…

Efforts to address the identified needs of labeled groups of children (e.g. identified with disabilities, considered at-risk) may magnify difference and further stigmatize children labeled as different. In this article, we introduce a relational framework to the field of inclusive early childhood education that reframes perceptions of difference…

The special education literature has included a continuing line of articles and chapters that have translated for practitioners the legal meaning of the progress monitoring provisions in the successive versions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This article examines this line of publications in light of the language of the…

The use of restraint and seclusion in schools puts students at risk of injury or, in extreme cases, even death. As a result, advocacy organizations and the U.S. Department of Education have developed and proliferated policy and legislative recommendations to reduce such use. Nevertheless, incidents of restraint and seclusion continue to occur, and…

We overview several key issues of the past, present, and near future of special education for students with severe disabilities. We contextualize the Telos of special education by briefly remarking on its historical roots in the United States, then delve into several issues we believe are critical for advancing toward better outcomes for students…

The purpose of this article is to provide special educators with significant and perhaps surprising recent lessons in special education law. These lessons under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act range from the threshold issues of child find and eligibility through the central obligation of…