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Rehabilitation professionals have a major focus on competitive employment, which is a central component of adult life that provides not only economic benefits, but also a social network and enhanced self-esteem. The employment gap for individuals with disabilities has remained consistently high despite concerted efforts to provide access to quality job readiness training and a simultaneous increase in awareness of the value of diversity in the workforce. This study examined the outcomes of Project SEARCH, an employer-based transition program for young adults with disabilities that promotes partnerships among the school and community by utilizing a unique collaborative approach that brings the education system, employers, and rehabilitation services together to provide meaningful individualized employment experiences for students with disabilities. Findings suggest Project SEARCH appears to have the potential to address employment outcomes for young adults with various disabilities. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School discipline continues to be a challenge for schools, resulting in loss of instructional time for both teachers and students. With respect to discipline actions, school suspension is one of the most widely used, yet research continues to demonstrate an empirical link between receipt of suspension and poor student outcomes, including increased risk of dropping out of school. Therefore, interventions with empirical support for reducing school-wide disciplinary actions are needed. This study examined the effect of school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) on disciplinary actions using quasi-experimental design analysis. We (propensity score) matched 593 Florida schools implementing SWPBIS with fidelity with 593 Florida schools that have never been trained. Overall, we found statistically significantly fewer out-of-school suspensions for students with disabilities and Black students within schools implementing SWPBIS with fidelity and an effect size of −0.55, indicating meaningful improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SWPBIS) and school-level academic achievement has not been established. Most experimental research has found little to no evidence that SWPBIS has a distal effect on school-level achievement. Yet, an underlying assumption of SWPBIS is that improving social behavior and reducing problem behavior increasingly exposes all students to classroom instruction and the opportunity for academic success. Therefore, we examined the average treatment effect of SWPBIS implemented with fidelity on the treated schools by leveraging 10 consecutive years of school-level academic achievement data. All elementary schools in Florida (~2,033 schools), including an average of 235 schools implementing SWPBIS with fidelity each year, were included in this study. We estimated a two-level mixed-effects regression model, with schools nested in districts across time, and modeled the percentage of students at or above grade-level benchmark on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) reading and mathematics. Results indicate that schools implementing SWPBIS with fidelity had statistically significantly more students at or above grade-level benchmarks, however the effect sizes were small. The results are discussed within the context of distal effects and the fact that few evidence-based academic interventions have demonstrated larger effects when experimentally evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the rates of special education placement during middle school grades (sixth through eighth) among children who participated in the Linda Ray Intervention Program (LRIP) center-based and home-based learning modalities. The study sample included 113 children in Miami Dade County Public Schools who had gestational cocaine exposure and received early intervention services due to developmental delays. This study found that children who participated in the center-based (25 hours per week) learning modality had a significantly lower rate of special education placement (14%) than the students in the home-based (three hours per week) learning modality (30%) in middle school. Also, results indicated that children who were socioeconomically disadvantaged (free/reduced lunch) and in the home-based learning modality were three to four times more likely to be in special education. This study provides evidence for the long-term impact of the LRIP center-based modality on special education outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Located in the Florida panhandle, Apalachee High School has a student population of 1,894 students, 13% of whom have identified disabilities. The school has a highly experienced teaching staff and a special education faculty that provides acknowledged leadership in the school. Apalachee includes students with disabilities in all aspects of school life and sustains a high level of community involvement in students' success. The graphic metaphor used to represent Apalachee's approach is a set of globes and pathways that represent the academic programs and the support structures that students use to progress within and between programs. Three student case studies help to illustrate how the “pathways” respond to students with disabilities at different points on a continuum of academic and social needs and abilities. Four-year transcripts for 39 students reflect the range of opportunities and supports (pathways) that characterize Apalachee and are illustrated by the three students we shadowed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information was gathered from parents participating in the Florida McKay voucher program for students with disabilities. Based on survey responses, parents collect information on class size, academic quality, quality of teachers, special education, and curriculum. Education and income of parents was related to participation with parents at higher levels of both participating at higher rates. Racial and ethnic status did not appear to be a factor in information gathering, but it is a factor in selection of schools, as evidenced by more than 60% of African American and Hispanic respondents using the McKay scholarship to attend private religious schools. The data also indicate that parents of students using the McKay voucher are more satisfied with the school their child attends and with the information and information sources they used than are public school parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School choice initiatives such as open enrollment, magnet schools, charter schools, and voucher plans have been offered as methods of school reform. A publicly funded voucher plan in Florida targeting students with disabilities was considered as a possible model for the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Although the model was not adopted in the reauthorized law, the potential impact of such voucher plans must be examined.. The empirical evidence regarding the impact of vouchers on parent choice, student achievement, and fiscal school management is inconclusive and incomplete. Further, the impact of voucher plans on educational programs for students with disabilities has not been thoroughly studied. Such an examination requires a multiparadigmatic analysis of legal, economic, academic, sociological, and political dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article describes a pilot program that used local rehabilitation facilities to address the career-education needs of visually impaired students aged 14-21 in three Florida communities. The extensive planning, data collection, and evaluation process will allow this project to be improved and expanded throughout the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the special testing procedures that Florida has adopted and implemented for handicapped students including exemptions, special standards, and modification of test techniques. The 1976 Accountability Act, which was amended in 1977, classified educable mentally retarded, trainable mentally retarded, emotionally handicapped, specific learning disabled, or hearing impaired as exceptional students and were exempted from the testing requirement for graduation or promotion purposes. These students may participate in the testing program if they opt to, and if they did, special testing adaptations will be incorporated.

Presents the results of a survey on the involvement of interagency transition councils in activities extending additional services to students with disabilities in Florida. Assessment on the collaborative efforts between local and coordinating agencies toward transition services; Investigation on the delivery of transition services.

The article presents the sixth of a series of articles on the special aspects of educating various types of exceptional children, compiled by Darrel H. Mase at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. In this issue, the article focuses on the education of crippled children. The education of crippled children depends on the individual child to be educated, some may need no special attention, but others will need an educational program different from or in addition to that provided for the normal child in order to take advantage of their right to opportunity for education. Special buildings, individual and special equipment are crucial factors in making education to crippled children. It is also important that the teachers possess special professional and personal qualifications.

On February 14, 17 children and adults were shot and killed and 15 were injured inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said this: “We find ourselves once again filled with grief and horror, and we mourn alongside all those impacted by the shooting. As our hearts are in Parkland, our eyes are on Congress.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features the artworks of Anthony Reeves, a student with learning disability at Egret Lake Elementary School in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Focuses on the concept of meal time team for promoting nutritional goals in the individual educational plan in Florida. Use of school food service in affording nutritional foods to disabled children; Details on several nutrition-related health problems; Support of the Florida Department of Education for the development of training tools.

The article focuses on the success attained by the Orlando Course in Braille in Florida. The program receives a positive response by parents of healthy blind or nearly blind children. It teaches students to read the Braille. Moreover, the Orlando Course is fitted to adults who already know how to read the ordinary newspaper.