Special Education Blog

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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: students with disabilities, gifted education, and homeless.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 Climate & Safety Students With Disabilities, Health Issues Bullied More Often
Students with disabilities or health problems are more likely to be the target of bullies than their classmates, according to a new study, but they were also slightly more likely to have attacked someone else at school or tell someone they would hurt them
Nirvi Shah, August 10, 2011
2 min read
School & District Management Review of IDEA Shows More Use of Response to Intervention
A new study evaluates many ways in which the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is working, and not. The study finds that more schools are using response to intervention, but fewer schools are able to address parents' complaints.
Nirvi Shah, August 8, 2011
1 min read
Special Education 'Serving All Kids, No Exceptions'
By combining response to intervention and positive behavioral interventions and supports and destroying any opportunity for a student with disabilities to be segregated from other students, along with a host of other measures, a University of Kansas professor says all students can benefit, and achieve.
Nirvi Shah, August 3, 2011
3 min read
Special Education Report Finds Progress, Problems for Students With Learning Disabilities
A new report says too few students with learning disabilities graduate from high school, and some groups are still disproportionately identified as having a learning disability, but early intervention strategies appear to be reducing the number of students overall who are identified as having a learning disability.
Nirvi Shah, July 27, 2011
3 min read
Special Education 21 Years After ADA, Census Reveals Some Startling Statistics
While the Americans with Disabilities Act has improved the lives of many with disabilities, consider observing the 21-year anniversary of this law by reflecting on some ways their lives still could be improved.
Nirvi Shah, July 26, 2011
1 min read
Education Funding Bill Would Boost Federal Spending on Students with Disabilities
A new bill proposes the federal government live up to its promise to pay 40 percent of the costs of educating students with disabilities.
Nirvi Shah, July 22, 2011
1 min read
School Climate & Safety Majority of Special Ed. Students in Texas Suspended, Expelled
Students with disabilities, in particular an emotional disturbance, are especially likely to be suspended or expelled from Texas middle and high schools, a new study finds.
Nirvi Shah, July 19, 2011
2 min read
Special Education Feds Cite D.C., Others for Problems in Special Education
For five years running, the District of Columbia has failed to uphold parts of the federal law that governs the education of students with disabilities.
Nirvi Shah, July 18, 2011
3 min read
Special Education Report Reveals Ways Brain Science Could Improve Special Ed.
How are findings from neuroscience being applied to special education? A new policy analysis discusses the research bridging the two fields.
Nirvi Shah, July 14, 2011
3 min read
Education Funding The Special Education Spending Debate Goes On
Though it might not be polite to say, one former superintendent says school districts must find ways to teach students with disabilities more efficiently.
Nirvi Shah, July 12, 2011
2 min read
Special Education Parents, Take a Break From the Summer Today
Start preparing for the school year for a child with learning disabilities—now.
Nirvi Shah, July 11, 2011
1 min read
School Choice & Charters Tax Credit Becomes Law for NC Parents of Pupils with Special Needs
The law gives parents of children with disabilities a tax credit of up to $6,000 for educational expenses including private school tuition, therapy, and tutoring.
Nirvi Shah, July 1, 2011
1 min read
Education Funding 'No' From Feds on Special Ed. Cuts in Iowa
Iowa joins South Carolina and Oregon in being denied requests to cut special education spending.
Nirvi Shah, June 24, 2011
1 min read
Education Funding Feds Threaten S.C. With $111 Million Cut to Special Ed.
South Carolina may lose about $111 million in federal special education money for cutting spending on students with disabilities for the last two years without an OK from the U.S. Department of Education.
Nirvi Shah, June 22, 2011
3 min read