The role of parents in placement decisions is not mentioned in the foundational paper written by Agran et al. This essay explores the various ways parents are absent in the bureaucracy and in the everyday life of schools and communities. Some of the principles of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are thought to be at the heart of the…

The Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a federal grant program that assists states in operating a comprehensive statewide program of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, ages birth through age 2 years, and their families. This…

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if eligibility for special education and related services (SERS) in New Jersey (NJ) is biased based on a child's racial/ cultural background or socioeconomic status (SES). Method: A Qualtrics survey was administered to NJ child study team personnel including speech-language pathologists, school psychologists,…

What impact did the 1988 Education Reform Act (1988 ERA) have on higher education from the perspectives of professors working in the sector at the time? How did it reshape the sector's structures? How did it contribute to the conditions that have unleashed the so called 'undergraduate monster'? These questions are addressed in this paper. I draw…

In this study, the relationships between child social functioning, parenting stress, and Part C Early Intervention (EI) enrollment were examined in 227 ethnically and racially diverse, low-income families of 15- to 27-month-old children. All toddlers in the sample were identified with or at high risk for developmental delay via universal screening…

We examined differences in the receipt and delivery of extended school year (ESY) services in the United States by locale as being rural, urban, or suburban. We found that there were significant differences in the percentage of students receiving ESY services according to locale, with rural local education agencies (LEAs) having a significantly…

The inclusion of students with disabilities in general education settings has steadily increased since the 1990s. Yet little is known about whether inclusive education is effective for these students or their non-disabled peers. I examine the impacts and associated costs of inclusive education on both student groups through the lens of one…

This paper examines how government approaches to education were contested by Aboriginal communities in the late 1930s, through organised political actions designed in part to ensure access to the same standard of education and schooling available to non-Aboriginal people. It explores some of the ways that Aboriginal campaigns for education were…

This article examines the needs in New York State for public policy to address disparities in educational outcomes, opportunities to learn and appropriate evaluations that assess student readiness to advance in their education or work opportunities. Several proposals for educational public policy changes and practices are offered in the conclusion…

This mixed method sequential explanatory study provided analysis of North Carolina (NC) school leaders' dispositions in eliminating opportunity gaps, outlined in NC's strategic plan. The study's quantitative phase used descriptive and correlation analysis of eight Likert subscales around four tenets of transformative leadership (Shields, 2011) and…

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has recently been positioned as a serious problem requiring urgent policy response among partisan media outlets. Making a case for pressing policy demands, several policy makers have proposed federal, state, and local level legislation and other measures to restrict how race, racism, or American history in general can be…

Effective collaboration among team members is a fundamental responsibility for all Early Intervention (EI) professionals. EI can be described as a particular type of service and support for infants and toddlers with delays/disabilities under three and their families provided through Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) indicates students should participate in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings whenever appropriate (IDEA, 2004), yet many students are uninformed of the purpose of these meetings and are not meaningful or active participants in the development of their IEPs (Martin, Van Dycke,…

This position paper identifies the complexity of the special education teacher (SET) shortage and the social injustices of the already marginalized population of students with disabilities (SWD). Nationally, policy reforms and teacher certification initiatives may have unknowingly perpetuated the shortage of SET in an attempt to increase the…

As per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004), students who receive school-based special education services must be educated in the least restrictive environment and participate in the general education curriculum used for instruction of all students. This includes students with extensive support needs who may require…