The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funds state Part C programs to provide early intervention services to support infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. All states and jurisdictions receiving Part C funding are required to report data annually to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S.…

The DaSy Center supports all 56 U.S. states and territories and provides individualized and cross-state technical assistance (TA) on data linking and integration. Early intervention (Part C) and early childhood special education (Part B 619) state programs are interested in linking their data to address critical questions about program quality in…

The term "child find" refers to a district's ongoing obligation to evaluate upon reason to suspect a child may meet IDEA eligibility standards. This obligation consists of two components: a reasonable suspicion of eligibility and initiating the evaluation within a reasonable period of time. Because child find is a procedural matter, it…

Within the Multi-Tiered Support System (MTSS) framework, Response to Intervention (RTI) seeks to advance educational equity by providing data-driven interventions and continuous progress monitoring. While RTI has been credited for increasing student academic achievement and promoting high-quality inclusive education, rigid assessment protocols,…

All states identify schools most in need of improvement by using school accountability systems and other metrics. State improvement strategies range in intensity from general technical assistance to alternative governance for identified schools or districts. This 50-State Comparison provides research into the K-12 school improvement policies in…

Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 has been increasingly utilized as a legal avenue by U.S. students with disabilities, particularly concerning remedies not typically awarded under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The purpose of this legal update is to briefly highlight recent case law in which guardians filed action in…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, P.L. 108-446) is primarily thought of as the nation's special education law, and Part B, which focuses on providing special education and related services to children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 years old, is the largest part of the IDEA both in terms of populations served…

After a review of AIR's policy review of fall 2017 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan submissions, and then a scan of the most current ESSA plans for each state, this table serves as a reference with most up-to-date information on each state's exit criteria for those schools requiring support. While CSI exit criteria is provided for all…

This article presents a structured blueprint for school psychologists to assess and intervene in cases of automatically maintained self-injurious behavior (SIB) while adhering to the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) mandate. We outline a six-step process for conducting Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) of automatically maintained SIB,…

The first Early Intervention Conference was in Georgia in August of 2023. The first day of the conference was a tremendous success. Attendees called their friends and colleagues encouraging them to attend the following day. There was evidence of enthusiasm and enjoyment throughout the venue from snippets of networking conversations to selfies…

Collaboration with caregivers and between disciplines and agencies is a recommended practice in the field of early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) as well as required by federal legislation for young children with disabilities. Review of relevant literature suggests that collaboration entails a complex set of…

Partnerships between the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program and Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) program can support and improve outcomes for children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families. Collaboration between these programs is specified in the IDEA Part C Regulations 34 CFR…

School psychologists are well served to stay up to date on trends in special education law, particularly with respect to determinations when school teams' decisions are challenged. This allows them to focus on proactive best practices that foster accurate specific learning disability (SLD) identification and active collaboration with parents. This…

Early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers support children who qualify for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). ECSEs generally serve children under the age of five and are often asked to guide the development of a plan to decrease persistent challenging…

Policies for talented students with disabilities, or twice-exceptional students, exist in very few states across the country. Historically, families of twice-exceptional students have found most of their support though implementation of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 Accommodation plans. Yet, there is no federal mandate for gifted…