This practitioner article provides practitioners with instructional techniques to support reading and language comprehension development for children who demonstrate slower growth, including those with autism and concurrent intellectual disability.

Promoting student self-determination is recognized as the best practice in secondary transition planning. Few self-determination interventions have utilized technology to provide individualized learning opportunities. The Goal Setting Challenge (GSC) App was developed to provide a technology-based instructional approach to support developing…

Research has established that implementing evidence-based practices with a high procedural fidelity is integral in promoting positive outcomes for students with moderate-to-severe disabilities and more significant support needs. However, special education teachers who teach students with moderate-to-severe developmental disabilities often lack…

Paraprofessionals are increasingly hired in US schools to support the learning and behavior needs of students with or at risk for disabilities; despite receiving very limited professional development supports to enhance their skills in classrooms. The research base is lacking on effective paraprofessional professional development and intervention…

Understanding science allows students with and without developmental and behavioral-based (DB) disabilities to better appreciate the world around them as well as prepare them for the growing science-related job market. However, students in the United States consistently underperform on science achievement tests compared to students from other…

The transition to formal schooling is a large contextual change, which for many children in U.S. begins with the year of kindergarten. To better understand the challenges of this transition, the present study examines the extent to which children experience transition difficulties in five salient areas: making friends, following schedules, meeting…

Autistic students benefit from child-centered goals that align with evidence-based practices (EBPs) that meet their individualized needs, however, most teachers are not trained in how to implement autism-specific EBPs. The challenges do not lie with teachers alone. Professional development (PD) providers, such as district or regional autism…

In this study we tested the usability, feasibility, social validity, and effectiveness of Engaged Learners, a behavior support program designed to be integrated into small group reading interventions. Participants included eight Grade 3-5 students with co-occurring reading difficulties and inattention. A concurrent multiple-baseline design was…

Student achievement disparities in inclusive science classrooms are concerning, as knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is increasingly important for upward mobility. When students identify with multiple marginalized sociocultural groups, progress becomes more troubling, as the interplay among these factors is…

Students with disabilities or at risk for disability identification (SWD) are disproportionately affected by the bullying dynamic; however, professional development and educator-focused training on preventing bullying for this population is lacking. To address this gap, this study presents an analysis of qualitative data collected from general and…

Narratives skills are associated with long-term academic and social benefits. While students with disabilities often struggle to produce complete and complex narratives, it remains unclear which aspects of narrative language are most indicative of disability. In this study, we examined the association between a variety of narrative contents and…

Implementation supports for teachers can significantly impact the degree to which evidence-based practices are used as intended with secondary students across settings and content areas. The present analysis focused on examining the impact of teacher implementation supports on the goals set by students with and without disabilities engaging in an…

Young women with disabilities face unique barriers in the transition from school to adulthood, yet very few studies have examined the effectiveness of gender specific career interventions. Using an intent to treat analysis, this study tested the efficacy of the Paths 2 the Future (P2F) career development curriculum to produce beneficial impacts as…

The current context of standards-based reform has positioned regional service centers (RSCs), intermediary governmental agencies that support state policy implementation in local districts, as a critical source of professional development (PD). In this article, we ask how a governing body that districts often interact with during challenging…

Parental engagement in special education promotes positive student outcomes and parent-school relationships. In order to promote engagement, parents must possess a basic knowledge and understanding of special education processes and parent and student rights. Little is known regarding parental knowledge about special education or how they learn…