The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has played a critical role in providing educational opportunity to students with disabilities. As the principles of the IDEA are foundational to teaching students with disabilities, it is necessary that both general education and special education teachers have an understanding of special education policy. This study examines teacher candidates’ knowledge of special education policy and their attitudes and perceptions of special education. The survey was distributed to teacher candidates in their final year of their teacher preparation program at a public university in the Southeast. Results indicated that teacher candidates in all teaching areas lacked knowledge of special education law. A difference was seen in the knowledge of special education and general education teacher candidates, as special education candidates had significantly higher knowledge. Teacher candidates who had higher perceived levels of knowledge also had higher actual knowledge, and candidates with lower perception also had lower knowledge. Implications of these results for educator preparation programs and current teachers are discussed.

The behaviors frequently displayed by students with autism can place them at risk for overly reactive behavior interventions with unwanted side effects. The current study examined the level of intrusiveness of behavioral treatments developed for 198 students with disabilities from 13 different states. Results demonstrated that students diagnosed with autism had proportionally more intrusive behavior interventions when compared to students in five other disability categories and indicated that many students with autism were unnecessarily subjected to highly intrusive behavior interventions. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.

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Effective practices in student data collection and implementation of data-based instructional decisions are needed for all educators, but are especially important when students have severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. Although research in the area of data-based instructional decisions for students with severe disabilities shows benefits for using data, there is limited research to demonstrate teachers in applied settings can acquire the decision-making skills required. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate how teachers from five states acquired a set of data-based decisions implementation guidelines through online professional development. Recommendations for practice and future research are included.

This pilot study sought to develop and evaluate the use of a treatment package that included systematic and direct instruction on acquisition of literacy skills aligned with middle school English/Language Arts standards for students with moderate to severe disabilities, including autism. Participants included five teachers and 15 middle school students with moderate to severe disabilities who were primarily served in a self-contained setting. A one-group, nonrandomized, pre-posttest design was implemented to measure vocabulary, comprehension of familiar text and unfamiliar text, poetry, research, and writing skills. Results indicated significant gains in vocabulary and comprehension of familiar text. Limitations, implications, and the need for future research are discussed.

Recently researchers have begun exploring the efficacy of interventions designed to improve text comprehension skills for students with developmental disabilities (DD). Text comprehension is essential for understanding academic content as students with disabilities make progress in the general education curriculum. This article focuses on single case design (SCD) studies of interventions and supports for improving text comprehension skills for students with DD. Specifically, the article examines elements essential for rigorous single case design research in this area. After reviewing the research, we provide recommendations for improving rigor of research in this area.

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of teachers’ experiences as they work with students who have the label of autism and ED in the same self-contained classroom. For this study, three main theoretical perspectives guided the researcher’s approach to understanding participant perceptions. This study used social constructivism, self-efficacy, and attribution theory to explore special education teachers’ perceptions. Study design included semi-structured interviews, multiple observations, and examination of artifacts of four participants working within self-contained classrooms. Both within case analysis and cross-case analysis was utilized to examine perceptions and attributions. These methods gave a voice to study participants by illustrating how they made meaning of teaching their students. Portraiture, as a tool, presented rich and thick descriptions of the participants as well as methodological approach for data collection. This study revealed obvious distinctions in how participants perceived causes of behavior, how participants described behaviors, and how they responded to student behaviors. Findings suggest participants attribute external factors to negative behaviors displayed by students with a label of ED. Findings suggest participants attribute the same negative behaviors to internal facts for students with a label of autism. Responses were driven by participants understanding of disability. Participant responses suggested participants used their perceptions of what external factors caused behaviors to rationalize negative student behaviors and used the same external factors to drive a therapeutic lens to address and move past these behaviors for students with labels of ED. Participants response to behaviors for students with autism were not attributed to external factors. Individual portraits highlighted how participants expressed student behaviors differently for students with an ED label in comparison to an autism label. There is little research on the experience of teachers who work with students with an ED label and autistic label in the same classroom. This research provided unique insight on how participants perceive these students and how they attribute aggressive behaviors to these disability categories. This study serves as a platform for future research exploring teacher perceptions of students with labels of ED and autism and how to support them in the classroom.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 is based on the principle that setting high academic expectations and establishing measurable goals can improve individual outcomes in education. Under NCLB, states are required to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades if those states are to receive federal funding for schools. The purpose of this study was to determine if reduced inclusion class sizes affect student's scores on the Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (ASK) test administered in one northeastern US state and to solicit teachers' opinions of smaller class sizes. Inclusions classes are those that enroll special needs students. Theoretical foundations guiding this study included social learning theory, constructivist theory, and the cooperative learning theory. The key question this study focused on was whether or not smaller class size has an effect on academic achievement for special needs inclusion students. Using archival data, this ex post facto study found a statistically significant difference using a MANOVA, F(2,34) = 14.55, p < 0.0001 for the research question investigating the effect class size has on special needs inclusion students. Positive social change implications include helping inform the efforts of local, state, and federal education officials to narrow the achievement gap between regular and special education students. These results could provide justification to school boards for hiring more staff, creating and passing building addition referendums, and providing professional development to identify ways to adjust school schedules and reduce class size.

Minimal research focuses on females with Asperger Syndrome (AS). Without understanding the experiences of this population, the knowledge and understanding necessary for the development of appropriate diagnosis and supports is unavailable. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain insights into the challenges faced by females with AS by describing the central phenomena of their lived experiences from a critical feminist theoretical framework. Four participants were included in the study that explored their lived experiences pertaining to academic, home, personal, and social experiences including their recollections pertaining to these social contexts during elementary, middle, and high school. Data was collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, observations, and artifacts. Data were examined for significant statements that aligned to the research focus, and these were then coded into four significant thematic units to inform textual description and synthesis of shared experience. Four significant units emerged including victimization, anxiety, social issues, and age-appropriate interests. The essential conclusion was that female adolescents with AS share common interests, though qualitatively different, with neurotypical peers while continuing to battle internal and external circumstances. Analysis of nonconforming information pointed to the utility of other theoretical models in understanding the AS experience of young females. This research contributes to positive social change by providing a voice to females with AS, lessening their invisibility as a minority within a minority. Contributing such knowledge of the lived experiences of female adolescents with AS can lead to the development of better diagnostic criteria and appropriate supports.

This study involved the inclusion of special needs students in the general education classroom as required by law. The problem centered on general educators' perceptions of their abilities to meet the education needs of included students and their lack of training in special education issues. Research questions studied perceptions general educators had regarding inclusion and whether professional development addressed those concerns, and improved their perception of inclusion. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) was the conceptual framework utilized throughout the sequential mixed-methods case study. Quantitative data of teachers' concerns were determined using the Survey of Concerns Questionnaire from the CBAM and the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale; interviews were used to provide clarifying qualitative data. Using mean percentile scores, independent t tests and paired samples t tests, quantitative data showed no statistically significant change in teachers' perceptions of inclusion, yet the qualitative data from interviews showed changes in participants' thought processes about inclusion. Data show a need for further research focusing on the effect of more training over a longer period of time. The study has social change implications in that it shows how the right training for general educators in special needs issues can help move those teachers past resistance of inclusion to acceptance of it, although the change may require multiple training sessions over an extended period of time. As general educators take responsibility for the success of special needs students in their classrooms, they can better assist those students to increase their potential for productivity within society.