Individualized education plans (IEPs) have the potential and responsibility of providing individuals with the highest level of learning opportunities. In this guide, discover the essential steps and vital understandings for team members to create student-centered IEPs. This book simplifies the IEP writing process and provides practical strategies…

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…

The 2017 Supreme Court ruling in "Endrew vs. Douglas County" charged educators to provide evidence toward the attainment of Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals beyond "de minimus" educational benefit. The purpose of this article is to present two methods that may be useful for supporting IEP teams in evaluating progress…

This chapter describes possible effects of the 2017 "Endrew F." Supreme Court decision that raised the "de minimus" standard established in 1982 in "Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson School District v. Rowley." In Rowley, the court held school districts provided an appropriate education to students with…

The special education literature has included a continuing line of articles and chapters that have translated for practitioners the legal meaning of the progress monitoring provisions in the successive versions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This article examines this line of publications in light of the language of the…

In 1974, the Education for all Handicapped Protection Act was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. This law which was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, established a federal entitlement to special education for eligible students with disabilities. In 1982 and again in 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are frequently included in regular music classrooms, yet little is known about teachers' and students' classroom experiences. We sent a 35-question survey to all members of the National Association for Music Education who had identified themselves as elementary music teachers. We received a total of 569…

The prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown dramatically, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires educators to use evidence-based practices to improve academic and/or behavior outcomes for children with ASD. There is definitive scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of applied behavior…

The 2017 Supreme Court decision "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District" highlighted the importance of monitoring students' progress toward appropriately challenging individualized educational program (IEP) annual goals and making changes to students' educational programs when needed. The process for setting an IEP goal should be…

For this 23rd article in the series reviewing recent court decisions concerning appropriate school psychology practice from both professional and legal perspectives, the topic is the substantive standard for free appropriate public education (FAPE) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), with a focus on the classification of…

The authors speculate only about relatively short-term advances in special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. Speculation is confined to the overlapping areas of core values, technologies, neuroscience, and law/policy. In core values, the authors hope to see a resurgence of commitment to special, effective instruction…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that school districts provide eligible students with specially designed instruction that confers a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Depending on the unique needs of a student, FAPE may include physical education services. The IDEA also requires that a student's individualized…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) continues to account for an expansive and expensive segment of education litigation. The most longstanding remedy under the IDEA is tuition reimbursement, interpreted broadly to include not only private school tuition, but also related transportation and stand-alone related services. Probably…

When education initiatives set out to help those who have been "historically disadvantaged or historically marginalized," they perfectly describe students with disabilities. Yet too often, these students have been excluded from conversations about equity in education. Congress opened public school doors for millions of children with…

In contrast with professional norms and best practices, the legal requirements for functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) are meager in scope and specificity (Collins & Zirkel, 2017). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (2017) makes no mention of FBAs or BIPs, and the Individuals with Disabilities…