This article presents some conflict-related issues that school leaders encounter in resolving disagreements and misunderstandings between parents of students with disabilities and school representatives. Two examples of special education service disagreements are employed to illustrate how a trained and impartial education liaison representative…

Almost 7 million children aged 3 to 21 received special education services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in school year 2016-17. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review parents' use of the Individuals with IDEA dispute resolution options. This report examines (1) how often IDEA…

Parents who are knowledgeable of special education are more likely to engage in their child's education. Parents seek information about special education from a number of sources including State Departments of Education (SDEs). However, little is known about the web-based special education resources SDEs provide to parents. We sought to address…

This is the 44th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2022. Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free appropriate…

This report is part of a five-report series on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that examines the history and current process of federal monitoring and enforcement of IDEA, the role of the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and IDEA's options for resolving…

The originators of special education law anticipated disputes and provided due process hearings as a means to settle the disputes. However, due process proved to be unfair, costly (financially and emotionally), and destructive to school-family relationships. Years later, lawmakers offered mandated mediation along with resolution meetings in…

This is the "43rd Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2021." Section 664(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the provision of a free…

Parents who are knowledgeable of special education are more likely to engage in their child's education. Parents seek information about special education from a number of sources including State Departments of Education (SDEs). However, little is known about the web-based special education resources SDEs provide to parents. We sought to address…

This is the "41st Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2019." Section 664(d) of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA"), as reauthorized in 2004, requires that the Department of Education report annually on the progress made toward the…

Of the three formal dispute resolution procedures provided by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act of 2004(IDEA), due process hearings are the most costly in terms of time, fiscal resources, and impact on relationships between school personnel and parents. This study examined 258 due process hearings held over the past 8 years in…

Since the enactment of the "Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975" ("EHA"), Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 and its successor statute, the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" ("IDEA" or "act"), the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (secretary) (and her predecessor, the…

The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of an alternative to suspension intervention on students' subsequent major referrals. The intervention included activities designed to teach social coping strategies as well as mediation to resolve interpersonal conflicts. The intervention was implemented in a therapeutic high school, and…

Individual Education Program (IEP) teams are composed of diverse individuals, each bringing a unique set of experiences, knowledge, and skills to the table. Given this, it is not uncommon for team members to have different views on the special education and related services needs of the student whose plan is being developed. When divergent views…

The purpose of this study was to describe special education administrators' reports of the social supports (House, 1981) that ameliorate the stress inherent in their professional role. This study used a mixed methods design and was conducted in two sequential phases involving 153 special education administrators in a northeastern state. During…

Mediation was required by the Individuals With Disabilities Education (IDEA) 1997, and resolution sessions were added to the IDEA 2004. This study examines the perceptions of 260 special education directors in Georgia, Massachusetts, Washington, and Wisconsin to determine their perceptions regarding alternative dispute resolutions in which they…