​Disability

Supporting Students with Disabilities

Articles, Publications, and Reports

• Inclusive Practices, Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Bureau of Special Education, Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) – This online resource page includes links to information about optimized inclusive practices, supplementary aids and services consideration toolkit, strategies for instructional access in general education classrooms, natural peer supports, co-teaching materials, and other tools and resources.

• Behavior: Providing Effective Supports for Students, PaTTAN – This online resource page provides links to resources, including Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), guidance, and other information.

• Increasing Graduation Rates and Decreasing Dropout Rates, PaTTAN – This web resource provides information and resources to support Pennsylvania's State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP), which identified increasing graduation rates and decreasing dropout rates as a key performance indicator. The webpage includes resources related to improving school climate and student engagement to promote these goals.

Lesson Plans and Activities

• Teaching Tolerance, Classroom Resources – Provides activities, exchanges, and lesson plans by topic, including ability.

• "Creating Effective Multi-tiered Systems of Support to Meet the Academic, Social-Emotional, & Behavioral Needs of Our Students," Mid-Atlantic Equity Center (MAEC), March 2016 – This webinar explores evidence-based practices for multi-tiered systems of support at the state and district levels.

• "Culturally Responsive Practices," PaTTAN – This video provides an overview of culturally responsive practices.

• "Examining Equity: A Personal, School-wide, and Community-Based Approach," PaTTAN – This video provides an overview of a school district's approach to examining and promoting equity.

Other Resources

Federal Resources

• U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs

• Disability Discrimination, USDE, Office for Civil Rights – This webpage features links and information related to disability discrimination, including an overview of relevant federal laws and regulations, questions and answers on disability discrimination, and other resources.

• Guidance on Bullying of Students with Disabilities, USDE, Office for Civil Rights, October 2014 – On October 21, 2014, the Office for Civil Rights published a Dear Colleague Letter regarding disability-based harassment. USDE also published a parent fact sheet in conjunction with the guidance letter that provides an overview of what school are required to do when students with disabilities experience bullying and harassment.

• Dear Colleague Letter on Bullying of Students with Disabilities, USDE, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2013 – This Dear Colleague Letter provides information and guidance regarding bullying and harassment of students with disabilities, including recommendations and requirements for preventing and responding to these behaviors.

• Guidance on Schools' Obligations to Protect Students from Student-on-Student Harassment on the Basis of Sex; Race, Color and National Origin; and Disability, USDE, Office for Civil Rights, October 2010 – This Dear Colleague Letter outlines schools' obligations to address peer-to-peer harassment and bullying on the basis of sex, race, color and national origin, and disability under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

State Resources

• Special Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)
• Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Basic Education Circulars (BECs)
• Guidelines for English Learners with Individualized Education Programs, PDE, February 2017
• PaTTAN Publications

Other Resources

• National Association of School Psychologists
• The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools (Metro Center)
• Mid-Atlantic Equity Center (MAEC)