The California State Board of Education authorized the study to document the overall costs of special education due process fair hearings to all parties--the parents, local education agencies, and the state. The study also analyzed the factors that enter into the costs of hearings, and some conclusions were drawn and recommendations made for…

The document reports a study for the California State Department of Education to provide clarification of existing studies and reports on the cost of special education in California. Chapter 1 covers the background of the study, purpose and plan, study design (which included review of existing cost reports and studies and structured interviews…

A study was conducted to develop baseline information on special education early intervention programs. A review of the literature revealed the following: the effects of a stimulating or depriving environment appear to be most powerful in the early years of childhood; there is evidence that the effects of early intervention programs for children…

This study evaluated costs associated with implementation of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) for infants and young children with disabilities at four California sites. Specifically the study examined: (1) IFSP and existing service planning process costs in time and dollars; (2) the impact of IFSP processes on agencies and families; and…

The guide provides information to eligible recipients on how programs and services for handicapped and disadvantaged students who are enrolled in vocational education programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act, 1984 (Public Law 98-524) must be documented in California. Documentation is intended to provide answers to the following…

The report updates aspects of the 1977 report on California's Master Plan for Special Education. Reasons are sought for the intense debate over state funding for special education, which has substantially increased over recent years while special education enrollments have increased only modestly. In visits to nearly 100 local education agencies,…

Under federal and California law, cost alone cannot be used as a defense for modifying or denying education and support services to a student with a disability. This has contributed to growth in special education spending. However, funding has not kept up with costs, forcing school administrators to "encroach" upon general education…

This legislatively mandated study is an outgrowth of California's new special education finance law that changed the basis of special education funding to a census system based on the total number of students enrolled in a school district. The study interviewed program directors, school administrators, and policy advisors on whether the state…