This mixed methods study evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of Colorado's special education procedural safeguard notice (CPSN) through readability and design factors. Per IDEA, procedural safeguard notices must inform families of children with disabilities of their rights within special education. Local education agencies (LEAs) distribute the…

Claiming that free speech is dying on American campuses, a conservative think tank has led an effort to push states to adopt a model bill that, in the name of defending campus free speech, risks undermining it. This report seeks to understand the context and content of the "campus free-speech" movement, to track its influence within…

In this article, we analyze the Supreme Court's decision in "Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District RE-1" (2017), interpreting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its provisions creating a right of every student with a disability to have an appropriate education. We compare the "Endrew" decision with…

2017 saw every legislature in the West in session--including the 15 Western states, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam--with legislators addressing a diverse array of higher education topics and dealing with an equally wide variety of budgetary outlooks. As in past years, Western states featured some of the largest…

This dissertation examines state-level efforts to mandate the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, especially following 9/11. Despite longstanding Supreme Court precedent declaring mandatory flag salutes unconstitutional, various state legislatures sought to institute or strengthen pledge mandates irrespective of students' civil liberties.…

Today's education landscape, including how students experience school, can reflect pervasive educational inequities. Past federal administrations and congresses, recognizing their critical role in addressing inequality, often acted to address disparities and violations of students' civil rights that had been left unresolved by states and…

Public funding of private K-12 schooling through vouchers continues to be a contentious issue across the U.S., even though a solid majority of Americans continues to oppose them. The voucher plans run the risk of legal challenge for how they handle the rights of students with disabilities and whether they violate state constitutional provisions…

All public school children are entitled to quality public educational facilities--including those who attend public charter schools. Yet charter school leaders often spend substantial time and money searching for a facility. When they find one, they encounter significant costs associated with leasing or purchasing the building. They may have to…

This monograph details, in question-and-answer format, the rights of students and the responsibilities of guidance counselors under federal and Colorado state law. Prominent topics include: Confidentiality of student records, freedom of information, the boundaries separating the rights of students, the rights of parents, and the rights of school…

A study explored, through a review of the literature, specific problems that scholars have identified regarding free expression in student publications since "Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier" (1988). It then analyzed the six state statutes which were passed to clarify the extent of school administrators' rights to censor student journalism and…

Described in this pamphlet are Colorado parents' educational rights under federal and state special education rules and regulations. It addresses: (1) free appropriate public education and the termination of such; (2) required prior notice to parents if there is a proposed change or refusal to change a child's special education program; (3)…

This guidebook is designed to assist Colorado school and agency professionals in the identification of students with emotional disabilities and in the development and implementation of services for such students with emotional disabilities. Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 discusses federal and state law governing the identification…

This pamphlet, in Spanish, describes Colorado parents' educational rights under federal and state special education rules and regulations. It addresses: (1) free appropriate public education and termination of services; (2) required prior notice to parents if there is a proposed change or refusal to change a child's special education program; (3)…