On Special Education
Explored the opportunities and obstacles educators encounter while serving students with special needs, including children with disabilities, gifted students, and those who are homeless or incarcerated. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: students with disabilities, gifted education, and homeless.
School Choice & Charters
Parents of Students With Disabilities Seek Vouchers Despite Risks, Report Says
Some see vouchers as offering greater flexibility and the potential for a better school fit for students with disabilities, says a new report from the Council for Parent Advocates and Attorneys.
Law & Courts
District of Columbia Ordered to Improve Child Find, Special Education Services
The resolution to a years-old class action lawsuit will require the city to enroll at least 8.5 percent of its preschool-age population in special education, among other mandates.
Teaching
Two Special Education Suits See Supreme Court Attention
The justices asked the Obama administration to weigh in on a lawsuit about educational benefit, and in a separate case, the administration asked the Court to weigh a case involving an assistance dog.
School & District Management
Special Education Costs Drive School Funding Disparities, Researcher Says
The spending disparities among schools in the same district are often driven by the cost of educating students with disabilities, not by district policies, argues Bruce Baker, a expert in school finance.
Special Education
Avatars, Sign-Along Story Apps May Support Literacy for Deaf Students
New research presented at Gallaudet University's first "knowledge festival" highlights new avenues to support literacy for students with hearing loss.
Special Education
Elite New York City High Schools Enrolling More Students With Disabilities
More than 1,000 students with disabilities are enrolled in the city's elite public high schools, which represents a near-doubling of enrollment numbers from four years ago.
Early Childhood
Many Young Children With ADHD Are Missing Behavior Therapy
Behavior therapy, not medicine, is the recommended first step for children ages 2-5 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but three-quarters are taking ADHD medication.
Assessment
Why Are Students with Disabilities Failing Standardized Tests?
Students with disabilities are not getting the kind of instruction that would enable them to perform better on assessments, according to two groups that promote improved academic performance for this student group.
Assessment
NAEP Scores for Students With Disabilities Remain Flat
The gap in scores between students with and without disabilities on the National Assessment of Educational Progress is not narrowing.
Equity & Diversity
What's Really Happening With Special Education Enrollment?
The number of special education students has risen after several years of decline, but what this may mean for states and districts is still conjecture.
Law & Courts
FDA Proposal Would Ban Shock Devices at Residential School
Two years after an expert panel recommended the action, the FDA has proposed a complete ban on the use of aversive devices that deliver an electric shock to ward off aversive behaviors.
Every Student Succeeds Act
ESSA Committee Agrees on Special Education Testing Rules
After hours of conversation, the committee agreed on policies that states must follow when it comes to testing students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Assessment
Students With Disabilities Get Testing Protections Under Draft ESSA Regulations
States would have to prove that students who take the SAT or ACT have the testing accommodations they need.
School & District Management
Autism Research Misses Minorities as Study Subjects
An examination of more than 400 studies of evidence-based interventions for autism, finds that researchers rarely identify the race of their study subjects--and when they do, most of the children studied are white males.