As outlined in the 2024 National Educational Technology Plan; digital health, safety, and citizenship skills reflect the full set of knowledge and habits students can adopt to protect themselves and others in online spaces. For schools and districts, protecting student health and safety while those skills develop means taking an approach that can…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has deep roots in the civil rights movement; however, the legislation, as currently applied, has done little to address racial inequities in services students with disabilities receive. Too often, schools, districts, and states focus on complying with the regulations, while failing to make necessary…

The confusing variations of terminology that connect "home" with instruction warrant special care in relation to students with disabilities. The underlying core of these varying terms amounts to three distinct placement options in relation to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), here identified as homebound…

Despite increasing animal prevalence in public spaces, few districts have proactively developed policies to integrate assistance, therapy, service, and emotional support animals that are both legally sound and support the needs of individual students. Federal legislation defines a variety of animals that could accompany students, but only those…

Indefinite school closures have left some school districts unprepared to manage the necessary provisions to provide an equitable education for all students. As learning hubs were launched for at-home learning guided by parents and students, accommodations for English Learners (EL), students with disabilities, and students receiving Special…

As the charter sector grows and evolves, information regarding these autonomous public schools of choice evolves as well. Prior to 2015, only a handful of reports included information about the status of students with disabilities in charter schools. In fall 2015, the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (NCSECS) published a…

Bullying is a common occurrence in U.S.'s schools and is currently at the forefront of national attention. Unfortunately, students with disabilities are frequently the targets of peer-on-peer bullying. The purpose of this article is to examine the legal ramifications when students with disabilities are bullied in school settings. We address court…

The National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (the Center) is deeply committed to ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access to charter schools and that charter schools are designed and operated to enable success for all students. To accomplish this goal, the Center conducts analyses and releases a comprehensive…

Paraeducators perform multiple roles in U.S. classrooms, including among others preparing classroom activities, working with students individually and in small groups, supporting individualized programming for students with disabilities, managing classroom behavior, and engaging with parents and communities. Yet, little research provides insights…

Scant information exists regarding the status of students with disabilities in the charter sector. With the release of the most recent U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools (NCSECS) embraced the opportunity to examine these issues across the universe of…

Scant information exists regarding the status of students with disabilities in the charter sector. While there is some understanding of several high-profile issues (e.g., enrollment gaps, counseling out, the provision of special education services, and growth of specialized charter schools), to date, little has been published to verify or disprove…

Despite the importance of special educators in the current era of educational reform, there is no overarching portrait of special educators' roles, especially in rural schools where the provision of services is especially challenging. Using latent class analysis and data from a national sample of rural school districts, we identified four distinct…

The National High School Center continues to receive inquiries about how to support high school implementation of response to intervention (RTI). Given the National High School Center's previous work on the topic, the authors wanted to better understand the conditions that contribute to or inhibit implementation of tiered frameworks in high…

Medically fragile children need special supervision and care. Educators' concerns center on the time it takes to perform needed services, adequate preparation, and potential liability. Offers nine guidelines that address the needs of medically fragile children while minimizing the threats of liability. A related page summarizes issues raised by…

This book provides school business administrators with an introduction to a variety of legal issues relevant to their professional roles. The book is divided into three major sections: management issues, employment issues, and constitutional issues. The topics covered in the seven-chapter section on management issues include board and district…