This study examines the community-wide effects of investments in two early childhood initiatives in North Carolina (Smart Start and More at Four) on the likelihood of a student being placed into special education. We take advantage of variation across North Carolina counties and years in the timing of the introduction and funding levels of the two…

While special education law has been amended several times since the statutory definition of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) was created in 1968, there continues to be ambiguity within the field regarding the definition as well as the diagnostic criteria. This inevitably leads to a lack of consistency in diagnosis within states and among…

This report highlights the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's 2015-2016 achievements and continuing efforts made toward maintaining a record of meeting requirements under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), reorganizing their system of student and family supports, and improving outcomes for students…

Many parents feel intimidated when talking with special education professionals. There is much in our society which encourages us to look at professionals and to accept what they say without question. However, that does not mean you should be intimidated. The discussion is about your child and you know your child better than anyone, giving you the…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be considered an everyday practice in many parts of the United States, whereas, in Finland, only recently has a new framework for support in learning taken shape. Choosing Finland as the comparative partner for this policy paper is justified as its educational system has been widely referenced on the basis of…

Based on the latest U.S. Department of Education data, this article presents the enrollment figures for students identified with specific learning disabilities (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for the school years from 1995-1996 to 2011-2012. The figures for each year are (a) the number of students with SLD ages 6…

In 2007, the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) law was passed in Minnesota mandating newborn hearing screening. Recognizing that a number of state-level agencies and statewide advocacy and direct services organizations share responsibility for serving deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing children and youth, the Minnesota Commission…

This article reviews critical issues with integrating different procedures for identifying children with specific learning disabilities permitted in the federal regulations of the 2004 Individual With Disabilities Education Act 2004. Theoretical differences between behavioral approaches that focus on recording behavioral responses based on…

Special education is the most highly litigated area within the field of education. Therefore, the purpose of the current article is to highlight cases (court decisions, Office of Civil Rights rulings, and State Educational Agency hearings) involving students with disabilities in 2015. Highlights from the case law point to the need for school…

Response to Intervention (RtI) has been widely accepted by many school districts in the United States as an instructional method that can be used to consistently decrease learning gaps and ultimately enhance learning for all students. Though implementation of RtI as an instructional method has not been legally mandated, many school districts have…

Recently in a "New York Times" op-ed entitled "Is Special Education Racist?" Morgan and Farkas (2015) confront conventional wisdom that there are too many minority students in special education stating, "The real problem is that Black children are underrepresented in special education classes when compared with White…

In this article, we provide an overview of current knowledge on the underlying cognitive deficits associated with mathematics learning disabilities (MLD). We highlight difficulties surrounding the identification of MLD that include inconsistency in defining MLD, comorbidity with other disabilities, problems associated with assessment tools and…

From its inception as a disability category in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, serving students under the special education category Emotional Disturbance (ED) has been a challenging task for school psychologists. In particular, the vague and ambiguous federal definition has created an environment in which inconsistent assessment…

What do we know about young children with delays and disabilities, and how can we help them succeed in prekindergarten through third grade? To begin with, Kathleen Hebbeler and Donna Spiker write, identifying children with delays and disabilities to receive specialized services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act poses several…

This study used a statewide longitudinal sample to examine mathematics achievement gaps and growth in students with and without disabilities and to examine the impact of different methods of determining disability group membership on achievement gaps and growth. When disability status was determined on the basis of special education placement each…