In recent years, countries of the Pacific have been moving strongly towards enhancing inclusive educational practices within a previously segregated education system. Through the Pacific Education Development Framework (PEDF) approved by 14 Pacific Island Education Ministers in 2009, the implementation of regional policies of inclusive education…

The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) discovered that infants and toddlers who were referred for Part C services and initially found ineligible for a full evaluation through screening were being re-referred and later found eligible for services at a high rate. This report presents the systematic evaluation process that TDOE's Tennessee…

The purpose of Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) is to protect the rights of students with disabilities and to assure that all students receive equitable access to a free and appropriate public education; yet there are explicit exclusions written in the law for students who may have experienced environmental,…

State accountability systems have been a primary school reform initiative in the US for the past 20 years, but often produce unintended negative consequences. In 2004, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) implemented the Performance Based Monitoring and Analysis System (PBMAS), which included an accountability indicator focused on the percentage of…

"For valid disability determination to occur, a diagnostic team needs to be able to determine that a student has received appropriate instruction in the general education classroom" (Johnson, Mellard, Fuchs, & McKnight, 2006, p. 4.2). The purpose of the study was to determine whether a middle school Response to Intervention (RTI)…

This article reports an analysis of RTI information provided on the websites of all 50 State Departments of Education, based on the assumption that school districts rely on this information when developing their RTI programs. Our analysis revealed little consistency in (a) the methods used to identify students to be served in RTI interventions,…

About 13 percent of children aged 3 through 21 enrolled in public schools received special education services in school year 2015-16, and about 3 percent of children from birth through age 2 received special education services. Concerns about the difficulties identifying and evaluating children for special education have been raised by the media,…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education for children from birth through age 21. IDEA protects the rights of children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also supplements state and local funding to pay for some of the additional or excess costs of…

This Education Policy Brief provides an update on the positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) efforts in Indiana by showcasing an Indianapolis school district's endeavors in the implementation of PBIS; explores strategies for schools to expand efforts to identify children and adolescents with internalizing disorders and to develop and…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a process by which schools identify students with disabilities using research-based interventions. As schools across the United States struggle to redefine district structures and processes required for RTI, special education administrators have become primarily responsible for implementation. Research describing…

In education today there is a heightened emphasis on teacher accountability for improving student outcomes. The law requires that in order for a student to qualify as a student with a disability, the child's IEP team must ensure that the child's problem is not due to poor instructional programming. Therefore, the general education teacher is…

This resource conveys policies, procedures, and guidelines that support the delivery of special education services in British Columbia's (Canada) public schools. It was originally published in 1995 (ED414703), following an extensive provincial Special Education Review (1993-94). The purpose of this manual is to provide a single point of reference…

The Ministry of Education's special education policy (commonly referred to as SE2000) has been progressively implemented since 1996. Although it is a funding rather than a professional-practice policy, it has had some negative and unintended consequences for the practice of educational psychology, for special education and it is suggested, for…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 is the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal legislation specifically focused on the education of children with disabilities. Section 664(b) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 requires…

Education reform has been on a new path over the last 15 years; a path that leads to more accountability, more choice for students and parents, highly qualified teachers, as well as, best practices in instruction. In an effort to move along the path of reform and as a result of previous reform, the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA reviewed the field…