This article provide an analysis of the relevant court decisions from the end of 2016 to the end of 2019 specific to the IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] child find obligation. Questions investigated concerned trends with regard to frequency, distribution, and outcomes as well as whether particular factors (such as response to…

This update of the legislation/regulations and case law specific to pre-K-12 gifted students since a cluster of publications in 2004-2005 primarily focuses on the "gifted alone" category, with only secondary attention to twice-exceptional and other students in the "gifted plus" category. For the gifted-alone category, the…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) obligates school districts to identify students with disabilities and provide them with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), which includes specially designed instruction. Identification, FAPE, least restrictive environment (LRE), and various other issues under the IDEA sometimes…

During the past two decades, scholars, educators, and special interest organizations, including advocacy groups, have critically examined and debated the ethical and legal use of aversive interventions with individuals with disabilities. These interventions comprise a broad spectrum of behavior management techniques including but not at all…

An overview is provided of five recent legal developments that merit special attention of special educators: (a) the amended Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) regulations concerning parental consent, including subsequent agency interpretations concerning their practical application; (b) the IDEIA provisions and…

Given their pivotal position, school psychologists have understandable concerns about the possibility of becoming the target of the relatively frequent legal proceedings under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Indeed, the threat of litigation can contribute to a flight from the profession (Lange, 2011). Yet, an informal…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a major current issue at the intersection of general and special education, with the school psychologists in their usual central position. The literature is replete with scholarly and practical sources on RTI, but the legal sources are limited. A few articles provide systematic coverage of the relevant provisions…

Professionally, and ultimately legally, the definition of "specific learning disabilities" (SLD) has been "a long-standing source of controversy, conflict, and crisis." Yet students with SLD continue to be more numerous by far than any other group receiving special education services. The long-time controversy concerning the…

This article expresses the position that the current legal commentary and cases do not sufficiently differentiate response to intervention (RTI) from the various forms of general education interventions that preceded it, thus compounding confusion in professional practice as to legally defensible procedures for identifying children as having a…

Students with specific learning disability (SLD) continue to account for a higher proportion of all special education enrollments than any other classification under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Probably the most frequent topic in the special education literature since the 2004 amendments to IDEA has been the movement…

Response to intervention (RTI) remains a major issue in both the professional literature and school practice. A series of previous "snapshot" studies traced the development of RTI in state laws concerning identification of students with specific learning disability (SLD). In the last article in this series, Zirkel and Thomas (2010) reported that…

Specific learning disability (SLD), although moderately declining in recent years, continues to be the largest of the eligibility classifications under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; NCES, 2012). The recognition of response to intervention (RTI) in the 2004 amendments of the IDEA as an approach for identifying students with…

Touted as a more effective approach to determining eligibility for specific learning disability (SLD) than establishing a severe discrepancy between ability and achievement, response to intervention (RTI) represents various models that share these common characteristics: (a) multiple tiers of scientific, research-based interventions; (b)…

A comprehensive search identified 31 state statutes and regulations specific to functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) in the special education context. A systematic tabulation of the state law provisions that exceed the rather narrow foundation requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…

The legal source of schools' use of response to intervention (RTI) is a matter of federal and state special education laws, although its implementation is largely a matter of general education practice. The only mention of RTI is in the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and it is limited to identification of students with…