Special education eligibility determinations are decision making processes that involve multiple stakeholders who bring a variety of power, privilege, and influence that impacts the overall decision and trajectory of the evaluation team. Eligibility for special education is a prescriptive process outlined by federal and state regulations that…

In the United States, children with disabilities receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Evidence shows that parents of children who receive special education (SPED) experience conflict within…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) provides legal guidelines to include who participates in the individual education program team, how students with disabilities require least restrictive environment and free and appropriate public education and describes each eligibility category and criteria to meet the eligibility for…

As our student population becomes more culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), the field of school psychology continues to have demands to improve upon best-practice procedures in accurately evaluating and identifying students with disabilities, without pathologizing cultural and linguistic differences. Specifically, students in the Armenian…

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, parents are entitled to due process procedural safeguards. These safeguards are intended to ensure that parents of children with disabilities are offered the educational rights as those without disabilities. Research in due process hearing requests nationwide is limited, and non-existent in the Ninth…

Disproportionality in special education has been examined from various perspectives over a 50-year period. English Language Learner (ELL) students have been included in the discussion among researchers in the past two decades as a disproportionate number of ELL students are referred to special education. Though the problem of disproportionality…

Infants and toddlers who live in poverty are more likely to experience developmental delays or disabilities and less likely to access early intervention (EI) services. The federal initiative Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) was designed to increase access to high quality early learning programs for children at risk for…

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 dissertation offers empirical evidence for the ongoing debates over targeted and universal preschool. Specifically, I ask: (1) Does universal preschool narrow socioeconomic achievement gaps? (2) To what extent, and under what conditions, does the American public prefer universal to targeted preschool? (3) Is universal preschool better funded…

With the changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-446), educational leadership is now able to use the Response to Intervention (RtI) process for Specific Learning Disability (SLD) determination rather than the long-standing discrepancy model (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004).…

The labor market in America has undergone a fundamental transformation over the past 25 to 30 years. The large loss of jobs in the manufacturing sector has created a dual labor market largely made up of marginal jobs in the retail and service sector (with low wages, inadequate or no fringe benefits, and little or no chance for career advancement)…