News: Special Needs Students

Twelve Critical Components for (Continuous) School, Staff, and Student Improvement: Motivation Cannot Compensate for a System with Systemic Deficits

New Blog describes the school improvement experiences of three school districts at different points in the improvement process. It then describes the twelve evidence-based components of effective scho...

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Seven Suggestions to Help Districts Avoid Special Education Hearings: A Short-Term Win May Be a Long-Term Loss

New Blog discusses seven suggestions not just to help districts avoid special education litigation, but to help them to (a) truly educate all students with disabilities; and (b) collaborate with their...

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When High School Students Have Significant Academic Gaps: More Concerns and Common Sense Solutions (Letters to the Editor)

New Blog revisits the instructional dilemma of having to choose between (a) providing critical intervention opportunities to high school students with significant prerequisite skills gaps in literacy,...

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How the “System” Forces Schools into Decisions that Harm Struggling Students: The “Groundhog Day” Impact of Fear on Staff Mental Health and Job Retention

The movie Groundhog Day is metaphorically used to describe recurring experiences with MTSS Teams across the country who continue to use “mystifying” procedures, practices, and strategies—typically wit...

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Judy Heumann, Special Education’s History of Litigation, and the Continuing Fight: Complacency and Defensiveness Still Stand in the Way of Students with Disabilities’ Rights

The passing of Judy Heumann, a special education advocate and legend, prompts this Blog’s review of the history of special education. The author reflects on his interactions with the advocates and lit...

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Solutions for Selectively Mute Students and Educators: The Long-Term Adverse Educational Effects When Inappropriate Behavior is Ignored

Two variations of being “selectively mute” in education are discussed in this Blog. The first involves a case study of a student who is selectively mute, and the assessment to intervention approaches...

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