Graduation requirements and diploma options for students with disabilities who participate in the general assessment has been a topic of interest for many years. The recent push for all students, including those with disabilities, to leave school ready for college and career has heightened the importance of understanding what states are requiring…

Detailed qualitative case studies of four early childhood special education programs, representing a variety of approaches to decision making as well as different community settings (urban, suburban, and rural), present information regarding their diagnostic assessment procedures. In general, programs reported that the main objective of diagnostic…

Relevant policy issues for early childhood special education (ECSE) programs to consider in the areas of exit decision making and follow-up procedures are identified in this report. These issues were generated through extensive naturalistic case studies of four ECSE programs located in urban, suburban, and rural communities and were selected to…