The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) is a piece of federal legislation that directs schools and districts to provide students with disabilities a "free appropriate public education." It contains numerous legal tools that parents can use to compel schools to develop appropriate educational programming for their…

In this qualitative comparative case study, we drew from institutional theory and cultural historical activity theory to explore how educators wrote, used, and conceptualized the role of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with specific learning disabilities within secondary inclusive settings. We found that students' IEPs were…

The reauthorization of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 strongly encourages the use of a response-to-intervention (RtI) model to reduce the number of students identified as learning disabled, to increase student achievement, and to close learning gaps between subgroups of students. RtI is based on the systematic assessment of…

Special education as practiced today remains firmly anchored in the original logic of the Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act (PL 94-142). Subsequent reauthorizations of the statute have included language designed to increase access to the general curriculum by special needs students but have not addressed the underlying…

Mandates through legislative and policy changes for increased student outcome accountability have intensified demands for meaningful school reform and an emphasis on scientifically based practices. However, there continues to be a major disconnection between an ever-growing body of research on effective educational practices and what is actually…

Raises the questions of where school psychologists fit into school reform and whether they have the organizational knowledge and skill to contribute to this comprehensive process. Critical to success of programs is the use of a collaborative problem-solving consultative model, which incorporates a four-stage process: problem identification,…

Explosive changes in social, demographic, economic, and ideological factors in America require public education to respond with its own changes to assure competent citizens for the 21st century. School psychologists play an active role in school reform. Too frequently, school psychologists have been limited to testing to the exclusion of other…

Examines the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) diagnostic and placement process of special-needs students in one urban school district from the perspective of shared power. Argues that intent of reauthorized IDEA is to shift power from school administrators and staff members to the parent/guardian members of Individualized…