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As the Parkland students continue to show the adults what mature behavior looks like, an unfortunate subtopic that we never thought that we would have to deal with is- should any special precautions be taken for children with disabilities in situations involving school lockdown, evacuations or other crises? Here is an interview of two special education professors on this topic. Here is an excerpt: What’s the best way for parents to address these problems? Dusty:  Start with the teacher and the IEP team. There has to be an administrator on the IEP team, and that initial discussion can happen with all of the professionals who have direct contact and influence over the child and the policy. We are certainly going to recommend having an  Individual Emergency and Lockdown Plan © (IELP) in place for the student. This way, we address teaching and progress on learning the required skills for surviving a lockdown or emergency at school as an integral part of the student’s le...

As we begin 2018, what will be the biggest issue in special education law? #hot button

The National Center for Education Statistics of the Institute of Education Sciences has released its annual data report the Digest of Education Statistics 2016. The report is a wealth of information about public education data. Here is a quote from page 71 of the report: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted in 1975, mandates that children and youth ages 3–21 with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate public school education. The percentage of total public school enrollment that represents children served by federally supported special education programs increased from 8.3 percent to 13.8 percent between 1976–77 and 2004–05 (table 204.30). Much of this overall increase can be attributed to a rise in the percentage of students identified as having specific learning disabilities from 1976–77 (1.8 percent) to 2004–05 (5.7 percent). The overall percentage of students being served in programs for those with disabilities decreased between 2004–05 (13.8 per...

We were recently honored again. This blog has been named the third best education blog by Feedspot. We appreciate the honor. You can study the entire list of the thirty best education blogs here. The list has links to other blogs that you may be interested in.

As we begin 2018, what will be the biggest issue in special education law? #hot button

The Office For Civil Rights of the federal Department of education has published a searchable database of schools that have had a complaint pending against them under §504, one of the federal anti-discrimination laws. The directory lists claims based upon disability discrimination and based upon all other unlawful types of discrimination. It should be emphasized that the listed items involve complaints filed and not findings of discrimination. Nonetheless, it is a valuable resource. Here is an article about the directory in Disability Scoop.  OCR issued the following "disclaimer" in its press release: OCR publishes as a public service, this list of elementary-secondary and post-secondary institutions under investigation. The list is a snapshot of data on aspects of law that OCR enforces as it existed at a particular point in time (i.e., the last Friday of each month). It is not real-time data. OCR will replace the list with a new data snapshot on the first Wednesday of each ...

As we begin 2018, what will be the biggest issue in special education law? #hot button

We have written extensively on the abuse of seclusion and restraint and the effects of such abuses on children with disabilities. Here is an article on the expose by the National Disability Rights Network on the issue titled "School Is Not Supposed To Hurt." Here is an article on the report on seclusion and restraint abuse by the Government Accountability Office .   Here is an article on guidance by the feds . Here is a post on the bill on this topic considered but not passed by Congress. Here is a post from 2010 concerning this topic as a hot button at conferences . Students with disabilities are subjected to seclusion and restraint at a very high rate. Last week, the Education Commission of the States issued a report on legislative activity by the states on this issue in the last couple of years. The Policy Snapshot On Restraint and Seclusion looks at the issue in terms of state level activity.  Here is an excerpt from the report: The practice of seclusion generally ...

We have written here a number of times about the  movement to replace traditional school discipline, which adversely affects students with disabilities, with restorative justice or restorative practices. Here is an article about a CADRE presentation on restorative justice. Here is a reference to the Department of Education blog concerning restorative justice as an alternative to discipline. Here is a post on restorative remedies . A report issued last week by the Education Commission of the States, A Policy Snapshot on Alternative School Discipline Strategies, examines the states use of alternatives to traditional discipline. The report shows that a number of states including Maryland, California, Michigan, Utah and Texas have specifically developed restorative practices alternatives.  Here is an excerpt from the report: Exclusionary and punitive school discipline policies, such as suspensions and expulsions, allow educators to remove students from the classroom for poor beh...

As we begin 2018, what will be the biggest issue in special education law? #hot button

Bullying in general and cyberbullying in specific often targets children with disabilities. We have had a number of series on bullying of children with disabilities on these pages. Some of the posts have dealt with cyber style bullying . Click on the links for further information. At stopbullying.gov , they have had two posts recently on the topic of how to talk to your kids about cyberbulling. This is part one . This is part two . Check out these posts and tell us what you think.