Paraeducators play an important role supporting children with developmental disabilities in early childhood settings, and the current educational system has come to rely heavily on paraeducator supports. Unfortunately, most paraeducators receive limited training prior to engaging in their classroom roles and responsibilities, and teachers receive…

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…

Accessibility of course content plays a critical role in student success. Among all college students, students with disabilities (SWD) face numerous additional challenges when digital content is inaccessible or difficult to use. The main contributions of this paper are firstly we examined different course delivery modalities to identify components…

Black men within the United States with learning disabilities have difficulty navigating the collegiate environment (Jackson, 2016) because they are not academically prepared when taking developmental courses (Abreu et al., 2016; Bouck & Joshi, 2017). Researchers have studied Black men's lived experiences with Individualized Education Plans…

This 3-year ethnography explored the culture of the Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education (AMASE), a university undergraduate volunteer organization offering music instruction for individuals with disabilities. We examined the organization and its impact on students, parents, and volunteers through the lens of the social relational model…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

Due to systemic barriers, Spanish-speaking (versus English-speaking) parents of children with disabilities are less likely to participate in educational decision-making. However, little research has directly compared special education experiences between both populations. The purpose of this study was to explore the differences and similarities…

With growing interest among higher education faculty and administration in adopting open educational resources (OER), several nationwide and statewide OER initiatives are attempting to increase the awareness and encourage the implementation of OER. In the exploration of OER resources for career and technical education (CTE) in Illinois community…

Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally…

This article reports the preliminary results of a multiple case study that investigated how, during the Spring 2020 and the following school year, old and new areas of EL educational inequity revealed themselves in two rural school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data presented here focuses on multilingual immigrant/refugee parents of…

As of 2015, approximately one in five special educators received licensure through an alternative pathway. Although evidence suggests that emotional exhaustion contributes to special educator attrition, few studies examine firsthand the emotional experiences of novice, alternatively certified special educators. Guided by Tuxford and Bradley's…

In the past, parents of children with disabilities have spearheaded several policies for individuals with disabilities. However, little is known about their experiences with legislators. To address this gap, focus groups and surveys about legislative advocacy were conducted with 127 parents of individuals with disabilities across four states. The…

For most students with intellectual disability (ID), education in the least restrictive environment has been determined to be separate special education classrooms. One means to promote greater participation in general education classrooms is for educators to identify and arrange individualized supports that students need to be successful. We…

Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) invited 10 districts to participate in a community of practice designed to increase understanding of how to braid and blend federal funds. District teams composed of principals, superintendents, business managers, and other district leaders participated in four 90-minute virtual sessions. The purpose of…

This "Equity by Design" brief highlights equity issues that arise in the process of reopening schools during a global pandemic. The authors examine state plans and guidance for reopening schools across states in the Midwest & Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP EAC) region which includes the 13 states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa,…