The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) gives states the flexibility and responsibility under Section 618 to define "significant disproportionality" based on race or ethnicity at the state (SEA) and local education agency (LEA) levels. This applies to the identification, placement and…

Response to intervention (RTI) arose, in part, from the limited success of the pre-referral process, an approach advocated in the 1980s and 1990s, and accurately measuring the discrepancy between aptitude and achievement in young children. Reflecting these concerns, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in…

States and localities face a range of issues related to English language learners (ELLs) or limited English proficient (LEP) students with disabilities, including referral and identification, service delivery, staffing, data collection and parent outreach. Much of the research has focused on the identification process and has shown that there are…