To provide a missing piece to the legal foundation of professional development and practice for the individualized education program (IEP) process, the authors report the results of a comprehensive systematic analysis of court decisions specific to IEP-related procedural violations after the 2004 amendments of the Individuals With Disabilities…

Background: The inclusion of people with intellectual disability in research is a common requirement of research funding. Little conceptual clarity is available to guide the conduct of inclusive research or judge its fidelity, there is minimal evidence of its impact, and questions remain about its feasibility and rigour. Method: A comprehensive…

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act mandates that very young children with disabilities be served through Part C services. Families of young children with disabilities who are also living in poverty are often the primary recipients of these services. To better understand the experiences of families, particularly those living in…

In this review, we applied Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to examine factors that support or restrict access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities. We organize the literature in relationship to factors within the micro-, meso-, macro-, exo-, and chronosystems that influence decisions about access to the…

Creation of biases and stereotypes has led to individual and institutional discrimination of students who are emotionally and behaviorally disturbed (EBD). The lack of supports and under utilized research based techniques by educational staff has major implications on the success of students with EBD in various settings. Providing appropriate…

Two brief fact sheets for families of children with disabilities provide basic information on: (1) assistive technology within the family setting, and (2) the concept of parent management of a technology team. The first fact sheet briefly defines assistive technology and discusses technology for physically and mentally challenged individuals,…

A review of the literature and a detailed analysis of five specific studies on placement team functioning is presented. Among findings are a strong positive relation between staff role and participation (school psychologists were ranked highest on both variables while regular education teachers were ranked lowest) and a very powerful set of role…

General education teachers are the most frequent consumers of Teacher Assistance Team (TAT) services; therefore, their satisfaction with the purpose, process and outcome associated with this model of prereferral intervention may influence its acceptability, use, implementation, and effectiveness (social validity). Seven empirical studies assessing…

Benefits of collaborative learning as achieved in peer tutoring approaches are considered, and the suggestion is made that partner learning may be just as beneficial for disabled and normal adults as it is for children. Research is reviewed on the benefits of partner learning for all parties involved: for the tutee (increased individualized…

This paper examines the merits of the interdisciplinary team model in rehabilitation settings and defines the organizational characteristics and operational polices that enhance the performance of a rehabilitation team. Team structure, leadership, process, decision making, communication, and the roles of team members are addressed. (CR)

This article discusses ways that early intervention team members can improve their communication, qualities of effective teams, roles that members assume on teams, a step-by-step process for creating a transdisciplinary team, verbal and nonverbal skills necessary for successful communicative interaction, and behaviors that serve as barriers to…

Use of building-level teacher assistance teams (TATs) to provide suggested alternative instructional strategies and support services to regular teachers with problem learners prior to referral to special education is discussed in terms of relationship to special education, purposes, organization and operation, staff training, attitudinal issues,…

The "All Means All School-to-Work Project" was a 3-year federally-funded collaborative between the Institute on Community Integration and the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning. The Project was dedicated to finding out what works for all learners when it comes to access, benefit, participation and choice within school-to-work…

Describes the needs of minority children with disabilities and two peer-tutoring programs, Classwide Peer Tutoring and Classwide Student Tutoring Teams, that have been used effectively to promote the academic and social integration of minority children with disabilities into general-education settings. (Author/CR)

The role of the special educator in collaborative consultation with regular educators is discussed in terms of problems in the practice of consultation, consultation as a mutual and reciprocal schoolwide activity, consultation as a facilitative process, consultation as a routine professional role, and the language of consultation. (DB)