The purpose of this article is to provide special educators with significant and perhaps surprising recent lessons in special education law. These lessons under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act range from the threshold issues of child find and eligibility through the central obligation of…

The purpose of this article is to discuss sources of confusion for school district personnel that have resulted in overidentification (i.e., false positives) and underidentification (i.e., false negatives) of 504-only students. The organizing framework for these sources of confusion is the applicable three-pronged legal definition for eligibility…

For this 18th article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the topic is the IDEA's obligation of providing a comprehensive initial evaluation. More specifically, the focus here is determining eligibility for a gifted child with emotional and…

There is a discrepancy in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services between students who receive a 504 plan and those found eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act for special education services under the other health impairment category (Spiel et al., 2014). As school-based administrators are…

Teachers and parents often find special education law complex and confusing. As one step for a basic foundation in special education law, a previous "TEACHING Exceptional Children" article (Zirkel, 2005) provided a snapshot of the "top five case concepts" based on 10 decisions from the Supreme Court. Each of these decisions…

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…

This booklet has been developed in hopes that it may aid in keeping communication open and focused between families and schools. Building communication between parents and the school staff through letters offers a way of keeping records of ideas, concerns, and suggestions. This booklet provides general guidelines to writing letters as well as…

There are a variety of services and supports in Minnesota for children and youth with autism who are age 0-21. These include services and supports provided by state agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Health, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and…

Students with disabilities, especially those with non-apparent conditions, are entering universities in growing numbers. Yet more and more students are going off to college unprepared to manage their disabilities, in part because their high schools are overburdened, understaffed, and uninformed to identify and support them. A recent survey of…

This article provides a concise and objective synthesis of the federal legislation, regulations, and agency policy interpretations; state laws; and case law, including hearing officer and complaint investigation decisions, concerning specific learning disability (SLD) identification since the 2006 IDEA regulations. The results reveal wide latitude…

The public education of students with disabilities in the United States is governed by federal policies that promote school improvement, protect students from discrimination, and provide those who need it with special education and related services to meet their individual needs. This article explains the legal aspects of teaching students with…

The debate over school vouchers continues as more states offer government dollars to fund private schooling for students as a method of improving choice and quality in K-12 education. Previous research in the charter school sector has found that special education enrollment discrepancies between charters and traditional public schools is likely…

In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued two documents to clarify and provide guidance on Federal obligations of school districts to students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) under Section 504. This action was in response to numerous complaints (approximately 2,000 over 5 years)…

This booklet has been developed in hopes that it may aid in keeping communication open and focused between families and schools. Building communication between parents and the school staff through letters offers a way of keeping records of ideas, concerns, and suggestions. This booklet provides general guidelines to writing letters as well as…

This brief report summarizes research on dyslexia. It is intended to provide an initial look at this common type of learning disability that impacts 1 in 5 students. Included in the brief are links to the original source material and to supplementary resources and videos to learn more.