Appropriately identifying children with disabilities--in ways that are timely, comprehensive, and accurate--is critical for ensuring that learners receive the supports they need to meet early milestones and succeed in school. In turn, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) charges states and school districts with: (1) finding all…

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if African American students were disproportionately represented between the years of 2004 and 2014 in the primary disability category of Speech or Language Impairment (S/LI) under the 2004 reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Method: S/LI enrollment data from the Office of…

The purpose of this paper is to explore 10-year trends in the use of Assistive Technology (AT). Using 2006 and 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, univariate analysis were performed, and the rate of change was calculated. In both 2006 and 2015 data, a higher per cent of Blacks were using AT compared to Whites and…

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…

Race-specific time trends in Autism Spectrum Disorder prevalence are tracked among 3-5 year-olds and 8 year-olds identified by the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, respectively. White ASD prevalence historically has been higher than other racial groups…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns in allegations of workplace discrimination by individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs). The goal of the research was to describe the discrimination, both actual and perceived, that has occurred against individuals with SUDs through analysis of the United States Equal Employment…

Historically, schools across the nation have struggled to address significant racial or ethnic disproportionality, including overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline practices, special education identification, and restrictive educational placements. The federal government has mandated that local education agencies monitor and address…

Background: In exploring the matter of sensory loss and job discrimination, the National EEOC ADA Research Project (NEARP) seeks to answer a singular question. Objective: How do persons with hearing loss (HL) vs. visual loss (VL) experience the nature and scope of workplace discrimination differently, if at all? Methods: The NEARP team uses an ex…

The annual National Deaf-Blind Child Count is the world's first and longest running count of children who are deaf-blind. Begun in 1986 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, it represents a collaborative effort between the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) and state deaf-blind projects throughout the country, including those in the…

Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) arose from the need to respond to the pervasive racial disparities in behavioral outcomes for students with, and at-risk, for disabilities. Initially, the use of culturally appropriate interventions was indirectly emphasized through PBIS (Sugai et al., 2000b). Researchers have often critiqued…

Classification changes are common in special education. Using the first four years of the Pre-elementary Education Longitudinal Study data set (N = 3000), we investigated national trends in classification changes among young children with disabilities, the relationship between classification changes and children's demographic information, and the…

Suspensions and expulsions have long been employed in schools to discipline students for disruptive behavior and maintain a safe school environment. However, a growing body of research suggests that these types of disciplinary interventions negatively impact student achievement and increase both students' risk of dropping out and their likelihood…

This report is the 34th edition of the annual National Deaf-Blind Child Count, the first and longest running count of children who are deaf-blind in the world. Begun in 1986 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, it represents a collaborative effort between the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB), its predecessors, and state…

School corporal punishment is currently legal in 19 states, and over 160,000 children in these states are subject to corporal punishment in schools each year. Given that the use of school corporal punishment is heavily concentrated in Southern states, and that the federal government has not included corporal punishment in its recent initiatives…

The report takes an in-depth look at the progress that was made between 2011 and 2016 in raising high school graduation rates and the state and district sources of those improvements, and identify where challenges remain. It also links improvements in high school graduation rates to the need to ensure that all students, including those…