This article summarizes Allen and Roberts's (2024) study on school psychologists' practices and perceptions regarding manifestation determination reviews (MDRs). It emphasizes the critical role of MDRs in protecting the rights of students with disabilities and highlights the challenges faced by school psychologists in this high-stakes process.

Background: Students with behavioral support needs are educated in elementary classrooms daily. However, teachers receive limited training to support students, resulting in limited preventative and intervention services for such students. It is currently unclear what types of training preservice and inservice teachers receive, their perceptions of…

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 central school district obligation for disciplinary changes in placement under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is to answer the question of whether the conduct at issue is a manifestation of the individual student's disability. School psychologists often play a key role in this team-based manifestation determination…

The literature base on Restorative Practice (RP) outcomes suggests that schools that adopt RP experience reductions in suspensions/expulsions and improved school climate. Yet data suggests disproportionality in exclusionary disciplinary practices persist. Less is known about whether there are differences among student populations in their…

Early childhood education teachers often feel underprepared for addressing behavior challenges in the classroom. This can limit a teacher's ability to teach academic and social skills and lead to interruptions in their educational experience such as suspensions or expulsions. Effective planning can help teachers create and manage positive learning…

The present study was conducted to determine whether the problem characteristics of U.S. students school-identified with emotional disturbance (ED) have changed over two decades. We used data from a teacher rating instrument designed to measure the five problem characteristics of ED, as stated in its Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act advocates the inclusion of students with disabilities among typically developing students. Students with disabilities receive special education services that accommodate their unique learning needs resulting from their disability. Unfortunately, general education teachers encounter various barriers…

An adapted grading system for students with disabilities in general physical education allows utilization of existing assessment tools such as rubrics and checklists and provides methods of individualization and modification based on the student's needs. Adapted grading methods include weighting components of class grades and unit assessments,…

Violence in schools remains a complex and challenging issue. In this article, we examine schools' responsibilities in placement and the provision of services for students who have chronically exhibited dangerous behaviors. Multiple court cases have provided schools guidance in evaluating when student removal through injunctive relief for dangerous…

A 2017 landmark case with the United States Supreme Court, Endrew vs. Douglas, would fundamentally change the provisions for a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities. Under Endrew vs. Douglas, special education services must confer academic and functional benefit. Emotional Impairment (EI) is one of 13…

There is an overrepresentation of students with disabilities within the population of students excluded (i.e., suspended or expelled) from school. Students with disabilities are suspended for behaviors that are, for the most part, nonviolent and not unlike the behaviors of their general education peers. The Individuals With Disabilities Education…

Students with disabilities (SWDs) are more likely to be suspended or expelled than their general education peers and more likely to be chronically absent. This study uses 5 years of student-level data for all Michigan special education students to examine the relationship between educational setting, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes. Using…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that secures special education services for children with disabilities from the time they are born until they graduate from high school. The law was reauthorized by Congress in 2004, prompting a series of changes in the way special education services are implemented. These…

The purpose of this study is to replicate a study conducted by Hux, Marquardt, Skinner, and Bond (1999) in which the researchers explored the frequency of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the special education population as compared to the frequency of TBI among students in general education. Hux and colleagues (1999) found that roughly…