Court Decisions and IDEA 1997 Compliance Issues that Affect Special Education Programs in Rural Schools

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
James O. Tate
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Idea 1997 ◽  
Special Education Programs ◽  
Education Act

This article reviews court decisions and compliance issues of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 1997, that impact rural public school special education programs. IDEA funding, alternative placement options, and qualitative standard requirements. Select elements of the IDEA 1997 Amendments are of particular importance to rural schools. Those elements are funding compliance requirements, changes in the identification and evaluation of eligible students with disabilities, and the qualitative standards required for providing special education and related services. Rural schools do not receive special compliance exemptions under the IDEA. The article presents court decisions in which litigation has produced guidelines for school administrators regarding use of resources, accommodations, modifications, and qualitative standards in rural special education programs.

The Effect of School Funding on Opportunity Gaps for Students With Disabilities: Policy and Context in a Diverse Urban District

2020 ◽  
pp. 104420732097054
Author(s):  
Rebecca A Cruz ◽  
Joon-Ho Lee ◽  
Alexandra G. Aylward ◽  
Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
School Finance ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Funding ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Local Control Funding Formula ◽  
Special Education Programs ◽  
Opportunity Gaps

School finance reform has recently centered on providing schools with more equitable access to resources to reduce opportunity gaps for students. Although special education is often a prominent part of larger equity conversations, special education funding is commonly excluded from school funding reform initiatives. Given the costly nature of special education programs, it is imperative that scholars and policy makers understand the effects of funding changes on outcomes for these students. In this study, we examined the effect of California’s Local Control Funding Formula, in addition to school context and student compositional characteristics, to identify changes in special education students’ achievement rates. Using a combination of publicly available data sources and local district data, we assessed differences in academic outcomes (i.e., achievement scores) between elementary students with and without disabilities in both high- and low-poverty schools, given increases in spending for special education programs.

Changes in Technology Use in California's Special Education Programs

1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rena B. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Special Education Programs ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
Technology In Instruction ◽  
Drill And Practice

Abstract This study investigated changes in technology use in california's special education programs between the late 1980s and mid-1990s. two groups representing districts that participated in an earlier study were surveyed: special education administrators ( n = 149) and special educators who routinely use technology in instruction ( n = 189). Results suggest that computers and other technologies are more available today and used more often by administrators, teachers, and students with disabilities. Students are more likely to have technology goals on their individualized education programs, interact with technology in general education settings, and use computers as tools rather than for drill-and-practice. Administrators and teachers remain enthusiastic about technology's benefits. However, although technologies used in school programs have become more sophisticated and more plentiful, barriers to full implementation still exist.

Free Appropriate Public Education and Endrew F. v. Douglas County School System (2017): Implications for Personnel Preparation

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell L. Yell ◽  
David F. Bateman
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Personnel Preparation ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Free Appropriate Public Education ◽  
District Personnel ◽  
Special Education Programs ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Definition Of

The purpose of this article is to examine the free appropriate public education (FAPE) requirements of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The authors first briefly examine the definition of FAPE in the IDEA. Second, they delve into the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Board of Education v. Rowley and Endrew F. v. Douglas and how these decisions have affected the definition of FAPE. They next address the procedural, substantive, and implementation errors school district personnel often make when developing students’ special education programs. They offer suggestions on how faculty members can prepare their preservice teachers to understand and avoid these errors and develop educationally meaningful and legally correct special education programs that confer a FAPE.

Unpacking the Logic of Compliance in Special Education: Contextual Influences on Discipline Racial Disparities in Suburban Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 003804072110133
Author(s):  
Catherine Kramarczuk Voulgarides ◽  
Alexandra Aylward ◽  
Adai Tefera ◽  
Alfredo J. Artiles ◽  
Sarah L. Alvarado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Problem Behaviors ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
School Level ◽  
Social Force ◽  
Idea 2004 ◽  
Race And Racialization ◽  
Education Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ([IDEA] 2004; IDEA Amendments 1997) is a civil rights–based law designed to protect the rights of students with disabilities in U.S. schools. However, decades after the initial passage of IDEA, racial inequity in special education classifications, placements, and suspensions are evident. In this article, we focus on understanding how racial discipline disparities in special education outcomes relate to IDEA remedies designed to address problem behaviors. We qualitatively examine how educators interpret and respond to citations for racial discipline disproportionality via IDEA at both the district and the school level in a suburban locale. We find that educators interpret the inequity in ways that neutralize the racialized implications of the citation, which in turn affects how they respond to the citation. These interpretations contribute to symbolic and race-evasive IDEA compliance responses. The resulting bureaucratic and organizational structures associated with IDEA implementation become a mechanism through which the visibility of race and racialization processes are erased and muted through acts of policy compliance. Thus, the logic of compliance surrounding IDEA administration serves as a reproductive social force that sustains practices that do not disrupt locally occurring racialized inequities.

Legal Issues in Early Childhood Special Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 104420732110231
Author(s):  
Susan Larson Etscheidt ◽  
Stephanie L. Schmitz ◽  
Andi M. Edmister
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Transition Planning ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Early Childhood Special Education ◽  
Educational Planning ◽  
Professional Collaboration ◽  
Education Act

Family and professional collaboration is beneficial to students, families, and educators. The importance of such collaboration was recognized for families of students with disabilities, resulting in provisions in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which ensure parental participation in educational planning. Despite the benefits of family and professional collaboration and IDEA mandate, many parents disagree with the educational planning decisions provided to their children and request due process hearings. Parents perceive a lack of opportunity to provide input and/or to disagree with schools’ perspectives. Parents of early childhood students report significant concerns about their child’s readiness for the transition to kindergarten and their limited role in transition planning as their children prepared to enter preschool programs. The purpose of this article was to examine the issues identified in parental complaints in early childhood special education (ECSE) through a qualitative content analysis of recent court cases. The results revealed six themes related to current issues in ECSE programs. We conclude with several recommendations for state policy makers to improve services in ECSE based on the DEC Recommended Practices.

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