sade096

Part of what I do involves being a special education mediator, hearing officer and complaint investigator. Another part of what I do involves teaching/training others who do these jobs. When I am training- it sometimes helps to discuss best practices. Another way to learn these jobs is to look at cases that were not handled well, the bad examples. Here is a bad example: an IDEA case goes to a due process hearing. The hearing officer limits each party to three witnesses. Let's stop there, this limit has an arbitrary ring to it, something that reviewing courts do not like. I understand time limits to ensure that a hearing is not unreasonably long, but three witnesses seems like a tough limit. But that was not the issue here... The school district presented its evidence first. After the district's case, the parents move for judgment. This is the functional equivalent of of a motion for directed verdict in a civil trial. I really do not like these motions in an administrative heari...

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

The National Center for Education Statistics of the Institute of Education Sciences has released new data compilations about school bullying. The report includes data from the 2015 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The Web Tables show the extent to which students with different personal characteristics report being bullied. Estimates include responses by student characteristics: student sex, race/ethnicity, grade, and household income. The U.S. Census Bureau (Census) appended additional data from the 2013–14 Common Core of Data (CCD) and the 2013–14 Private School Universe Survey (PSS) to the SCS to show the extent to which bullying victimization is reported by students in schools with different characteristics.2 School characteristics appended to the file are region; sector (public or private); locale; level; enrollment size; student-to-full-time-equivalent (FTE) teacher ratio; percentage of combined American Indian/Alaska Native, Asi...

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

Always one of my favorite holidays- happy St. Patrick's Day. To help us celebrate, here are some fun facts from our friends at the Census Bureau Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration of all things Irish. The world’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred on March 17, 1762, in New York City, featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military. This parade became an annual event, with President Truman attending in 1948. The following facts are made possible by the invaluable responses to the  U.S. Census Bureau’s   surveys . We appreciate the public’s cooperation as we continuously measure America’s people, places and economy.  Did You Know? 32.3 million or 10% The number and percentage of U.S. residents who claimed Irish ancestry in 2016. Source:  2016 American Community Survey 125,840 The number of foreign-born U.S. residents who reported...

We sometimes get questions about younger children with disabilities. Here is a video that discusses educating young children with disabilities that appeared on the website of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: What do you think of this resource?

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

We have written often about school bullying. For example, here is an index to a series on bullying of children with disabilities that we ran a few years ago. A new survey commissioned by the cartoon network found that as of September 2017, school bullying is still prevalent. The key findings of the survey of 9 to 11 year old students included the following: A large majority, 77 percent, reported witnessing bullying at some point. 1 in 5 kids admitted to being a bully. Only 14 percent strongly agreed that our nation's leaders model how to treat people with kindness.  The study also interestingly found that three quarters of 9 to 11 year olds thought that caring about others was important. You can read the entire 30 page study here. You can read the NPR account of the study here. A related story about stressed kids in the Trump era is available here.

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

The federal Department of Education has released its 39th Annual Report to the Congress, The voluminous report is a wealth of data about special education. If you work in this area, this report contain s a lot of helpful information. Here are just some of the key Part B findings: In 2015, a total of 6,050,725 students ages 6 through 21 were served under IDEA, Part B, in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, BIE schools, Puerto Rico, the four outlying areas, and the three freely associated states. Of these students, 5,936,518 were served in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and BIE schools. This number represented 8.9 percent of the resident population ages 6 through 21. In 2006, the total number of students ages 6 through xxv 21 served under IDEA, Part B, in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, BIE schools, Puerto Rico, and the four outlying areas, was 6,081,890. In each year between 2006 through 2011, the number of students served was less than in the previous year. How...