In 2013, the Minnesota Legislature appropriated $1.763M for Fiscal Year 2014 to create a statewide system for special education paperwork. In 2014, the Legislature greatly expanded the requirements of the system but did not appropriate additional resources to maintain ongoing operation of the system. The 2014 legislation codified the system in…

This report is meant as an imperative wake-up call for expanding the prevailing focus of school improvement policy and practice. The report provides analyses of responses from state departments of education, school districts, and leadership organizations about how they are pursuing the opportunity the "Every Student Succeeds Act"…

In this paper, I provide a window into the lived experience of a group of urban high school science students confronted with the stigma associated with special education, disability, and academic failure and present tools to understanding the ideological forces and institutional structures that undermine the ability of schools to create a culture…

To blunt the effects of the economic downturn that began in 2008, President Obama called for, and on February 13, 2009 the Congress passed, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This federal economic stimulus package had three primary goals: to save and create jobs, to cultivate economic activity and long-term growth, and to increase…

RTI has the potential to meet the challenges of increasing diversity in student populations and the need for increasingly complex systems of instructional design. Three fundamental shifts in understanding systems and systems change must ground RTI policy and implementation work. First, RTI must be seen as an activity system nested within a larger…

State Education Agencies (SEAs) lead the charge for effective change, impact, and sustainability in the adoption and implementation of programs and practices that promote school completion. Steps taken by state and local education agencies to decrease dropout include (a) collection, analysis, and public reporting of "dropout" rates and related…

Strategies to address the problem of work and family balance have begun emerging in recent years. Many American college and universities have begun to adopt this "family-friendly policies," such as tenure-clock extensions. Each of the policies to enable work and family balance, however, is situated within the broader academic culture.…

This report analyzes data from a survey of the 50 states and the District of Columbia designed to study changes in organizational structure within state education agencies (SEAs) and the impact of those changes on management and leadership in special education. completed forms were received from 48 SEAs or a 94 percent return rate. The report…

This study, based on the findings of a doctoral dissertation by the author, compared the policies and procedures adopted by state special education agencies concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education and evaluated the level of implementation of inclusive practices. Responses of 36 state directors of special…

This document presents the transcript of a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Education Reform concerning special education finance at the federal, state, and local levels as part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Highlights of the testimony include: how states are allocating the increased federal aid…

This final report of the Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (Utah) describes the Center's activities in support of services to children and youth with disabilities during the 2-year federal grant period (1991-1993). It notes accomplishment of its mandate and mission to strengthen state education agency (SEA) capacities by providing…

This bulletin edition presents highlights of the 1991 Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), held November 10-13 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The bulletin summarizes panel discussions that focused on how educational reform can meet the needs of students with disabilities, the establishment of a…

This report analyzes the uses of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B discretionary/set-aside, administrative, and flow-through funds for school reform activities. Telephone interviews were held with state directors of special education or staff from nine state education agencies (California, New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois,…

Federal, state, and local policy issues that affect models of school-linked integrated services and systems are examined. Barriers to school-linked service integration, state policy trends, the realities of finance, establishing state systems of support for the changing approach, examples of state approaches, and the impact of devolution are…

An analysis of four schools explored the degree to which positive outcomes of a 1990 state policy on educational reform had been sustained in the context of subsequent policies emphasizing standards-based reform. Results found an increased use of educational support systems, but also increased special education referrals and restrictive…