High quality family-professional partnerships promote the personal, social, and academic growth of students with disabilities. However, due to systemic barriers, such partnerships can be difficult, especially for families from low-resourced communities. Using the Sunshine Model, the purpose of this systematic literature review was to characterize…

The central obligation under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is to provide each eligible student with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). In "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1" (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court revised the prior substantive standard for determining FAPE that the court had developed in…

Disproportionality and inequity exist in the special education services that U.S. children receive based on factors such as race, geographic location, and resources of the school system. Overrepresentation and underrepresentation are both prevalent issues and can vary by region or school district and are likely due to multiple factors. Although…

Students in the United States who receive special education services are entitled to receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that provides an appropriate level of benefit. Although IEP content is informed by policy mandates and practice recommendations, research has yet to investigate the degree to which school practice is in alignment.…

The Children and Families Act, 2014 and the new Special Educational Needs and Disability SEND Code of Practice (DfE and DoH, 2014) has led to reforms in how children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities are supported in England. Now, five years on, research has begun to emerge exploring the implementation of the new…

Representing a sequel to a similar case law snapshot in mid-2010, this article provides an updated overview of the judicial and administrative case law concerning students with traumatic and nontraumatic brain injury in the P-12 school context. The scope is limited to cases under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the pair of…

Opportunities for children to be involved in the decisions made about them is a part of current statutory educational legislation. Person-centred planning (PCP) has been proposed as an appropriate method of meeting statutory requirements. However, there is a dearth of research into its application within education. The paper describes a systematic…

To provide a missing piece to the legal foundation of professional development and practice for the individualized education program (IEP) process, the authors report the results of a comprehensive systematic analysis of court decisions specific to IEP-related procedural violations after the 2004 amendments of the Individuals With Disabilities…

Parents who are knowledgeable of special education are more likely to engage in their child's education. Parents seek information about special education from a number of sources including State Departments of Education (SDEs). However, little is known about the web-based special education resources SDEs provide to parents. We sought to address…

The originators of special education law anticipated disputes and provided due process hearings as a means to settle the disputes. However, due process proved to be unfair, costly (financially and emotionally), and destructive to school-family relationships. Years later, lawmakers offered mandated mediation along with resolution meetings in…

Thirty years after the Council for Exceptional Children's first symposium on Asian American youth with disabilities, this study synthesizes research on the key experiences of this population and their families. Results show that most studies focused on the views of Asian American parents, especially their perceptions of and attitudes toward…

Inclusive education is a learning system where learners with various disabilities learn in an environment with equitable educational opportunities alongside non-disabled peers. The theoretical framework forming the foundation of this paper is disability studies which include the social model of disability, which pushes back against the medical…

This multi-method study examined (a) preparation and licensure practices of the 50 states with respect to students with low-incidence sensory disabilities (LISD) and (b) the experience of Ohio school districts (including "community schools") in providing services to students with LISD. The 50-state phase of the study used document review…

During the past two decades, scholars, educators, and special interest organizations, including advocacy groups, have critically examined and debated the ethical and legal use of aversive interventions with individuals with disabilities. These interventions comprise a broad spectrum of behavior management techniques including but not at all…

This article reviews the historical context in which Canadian legislation and policy for children with special needs has evolved. The potential for the rights of students with special needs in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is outlined. The role of the Federal and Provincial governments in legislation and policy vis-à-vis…