First Published in 2004. The No Child Left Behind legislation signed into law in January 2002 provides guidelines for educational reform and accountability for all student learning. This legislation includes students with disabilities in all of its mandates including Reading First, state-wide assessments, and annual progress reports. Based on the belief that research from the special education community provides an excellent resource of scientifically based reading research that can influence instruction for students with disabilities as well as other students at risk for reading difficulties. This special issue features the work of four researchers and their teams who have contributed to the excellent research base on reading practices for students with disabilities and those at risk for reading difficulties.