K-12 special education policies and practices that ensure students with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment are coming under pressure from the rapid expansion of online learning. Forty-six state and non-state jurisdiction special education directors responded to a brief survey about K-12 online learning. Findings demonstrated an increase in the number of states providing online instruction; indicated that students with many different types of disabilities participate in online learning; and described the directors' reflections on current issues as well as anticipated barriers to students with disabilities participating in online learning. Ambiguity and variability existed across state policies regarding online education as each state may have been in a different stage of adopting this relatively new approach to K-12 education. As a result, students bring to their undergraduate education a wide array of perceptions, attitudes, and prior experiences that may affect their learning outcomes.

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Dramatic increases in K-12 online education for all students, including those in traditionally underserved populations, necessi tate a reconceptualization in the way educators plan and implement instruction. In this article the authors examine the complex array of variables and implementation models that must be accounted for during the pivot from a purely brick-and-mortar educational sys tem to one that makes use of both virtual and blended environ ments. The authors call for enhanced emphasis on instructional goals and design principles, rather than the capabilities of available technology. They conclude that educational leaders and researchers must play a role in three key areas: using technology to enhance the accessibility and usability of curricular materials to meet the needs of different types of learners, advancing the understanding and practices of in-service and pre-service teachers through preparation that focuses on online learning, and fostering collaboration between educational researchers and technology innovators and developers to build a research base that will inform K-12 online education.

The passage of No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has strengthened the conditions for instructional accountability for all learners. The standards‐based approach promulgated by curriculum and state assessments is central to the accountability of conditions in today's schools; however, national and state data continue to document a performance gap between students with learning disabilities (LD) and their nondisabled peers. Building on 5 years of experience in developing and testing the Blending Assessment with Instruction Program in mathematics, we present three basic principles that are essential to ensuring that students with LD achieve curriculum standards: (1) instruction must be aligned with curriculum standards, (2) teachers' content knowledge is essential to translating curriculum standards into aligned instruction, and (3) instructional methodology should receive greater attention during teacher preparation.