Special Education Eligibility: When Is a Speech-Language Impairment Also a Disability?

Prevention Model Takes Off in Schools: A New Approach for Learning Disabilities

Schools as TBI Service Providers

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004 makes significant and controversial changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Two very significant changes in this law are provisions that (a) allow school districts to spend up to 15% of their IDEA Part B funds on early intervening services in general education settings and (b) prohibit states from requiring that school districts use discrepancy formulas to determine if students are eligible for special education services in the category of learning disabilities. Additionally, Congress recommended that school districts use a response to intervention procedure in both early intervening services and for the identification of students with learning disabilities. In this article we first describe two significant reports that recommended that Congress abandon the current eligibility system in special education for students with high-incidence disabilities. Second we explain how Congress and the U.S. Department of Education changed the special education eligibility system for learning disabilities in the IDEIA and the regulations that implemented the IDEIA. Third we review due process hearings and court cases that have addressed response to intervention. Fourth we offer recommendations to teachers, administrators, and teacher trainers to ensure that they meet the letter and spirit of these new requirements of the IDEIA.

State of the States in 2008

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) protects foster children's rights to have a special education decision maker. For foster children who do not have a natural or adoptive parent or a responsible adult in their life to take on this role, IDEIA requires that a special education surrogate parent be appointed by appropriate procedures. Under IDEIA, these procedures are delegated to the states. Each state must ensure that local education agencies (LEAs) delineate methods for recruiting and maintaining a pool of available special education surrogate parents. Due to differing state laws and LEA procedures, there are many discrepancies in the quality and availability of special education surrogate parents. To combat these problems, this Note proposes principles for administrative regulations establishing statewide special education surrogate parent programs by examining existing statewide programs. Administered through a state's Department of Education in collaboration with child welfare agencies, statewide special education surrogate parent programs guarantee well‐qualified decision makers who will advocate for all children eligible for special education services.

In this article, the authors briefly examine the legal requirements for assessing students' eligibility for special education services. They then analyze the major changes regarding assessment for eligibility determination in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) passed in 2004 and the regulations implementing the law, published in August 2006. (See the appendix for a description of the changes in IDEIA regarding eligibility determination; these changes are significant and will alter the ways in which school-based teams conduct the eligibility determination process.) Finally, they analyze school districts' obligations under IDEIA and provide suggestions for ensuring that the eligibility process is both educationally appropriate and legally correct. Because individual states will need to align their special education rules and regulations to those of IDEIA, readers will need to monitor developments in their respective states to determine how the new provisions will affect local school districts.

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic created novel challenges for school systems and students, particularly students with disabilities. In the shift to remote/distance learning, this report explores the degree to which children with disabilities did not receive the special education and related services defined in their individualized education program (IEP).MethodsPatients attending an outpatient tertiary care center for neurodevelopmental disabilities in Maryland were surveyed on the impact of the pandemic on educational services provision.ResultsNearly half (46%) of respondents qualified for special education and related services through an IEP before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among those with IEPs, 48% attested to reduced frequency and/or duration of special education and/or related services during the pandemic. The reduction was greatest in occupational therapy services (47%), followed physical therapy services (46%), and special education services (34%).ConclusionThis survey of children with disabilities observes a substantial reduction in IEP services reported in their completed surveys. To address the observed reduction in IEP services, we sought additional education for clinicians on the rights of students with disabilities in anticipation of students’ re-entry to the classroom. A special education law attorney provided an instructional session on compensatory education and recovery services to prepare clinicians to properly inform parents about their rights and advocate for patients with unmet IEP services during the pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Music therapy has been shown to be beneficial in treating and remediating learning deficits in students with various disabilities currently served through special education services. As public schools face more financial constraints, it is evident that the development and/or maintenance of therapy positions may be increasingly jeopardized. In this study, 81 surveys regarding Illinois special education program administrators' perceptions of therapy efficacy and practice were completed. Responses pertaining to demographics, knowledge, and perceptions of therapy were analyzed. Results indicated that graduate level studies and experience with therapy programs were the two variables that had a significant effect on administrators' perceptions. Implications and recommendations for educational programming and professional preparation are discussed. Music therapy has been shown to be beneficial in treating and remediating learning deficits in students with various disabilities currently served through special education services. Special education is federally guided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 (P.L. No. 105-17). This law requires that all children receive a free appropriate public education (FARE) through specially designed instruction at no additional cost to the family. Turnbull, Turnbull, Shank, and Smith (2004) reported that 11.4% of the public school population, or almost 5.75 million students, received special education during the 1999-2000 school year. On July 1, 2002, the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education (PCESE) reported that the number of students receiving services had reached 6 million, and one half of those had a specific learning disability (Koch, 2004). As reported in the 2003 annual report for the state of Illinois, the percentage of students receiving special education in that state is above the national average and continues to climb, having been over 14% in 2001, 2002, and 2003 (Koch, 2004). Considering these data and the fact that the first author is a member of the Illinois Music Therapy Association (IAMT), this study focused on perceptions of special education administrators in Illinois. The IDEA outlines requirements for special education eligibility, including thorough evaluation of the child's health and sensory status, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities. Information from these evaluations is then to design an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that provides for the FAPE that each student needs. The IDEA states that related services must be provided, as necessary, to complete the IEP. While therapy is not specifically listed and defined in the IDEA as a related service, it is included in Attachment 1 to IDEA '97 as an example of other related services that may be included in order for a student to receive FAPE (Mattson, 2001). Attachment 1 also lists artistic and cultural programs, art therapy, and dance therapy as related services. The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) website displays the American Music Therapy Association's (AMTA) definition of therapy and discusses therapy as a related service when it is used to strengthen nonmusical areas such as academic skills, physical coordination, communication, sensory-motor development, expression of emotions, and stress (AMTA, 2004). Music therapy involves the application of techniques to address non-musical behaviors including those related to physical, emotional, cognitive, and social concerns. The AMTA (1999) asserted that music therapy improves the quality of life for persons who are well and meets the needs of children and adults with disabilities or illnesses. Specific therapy interventions promote wellness, stress management, reduction and alleviation of pain, expression of feelings, memory enhancement, improved communication, and physical rehabilitation. …

This article describes the use of in-house funding, private contracts, and a mixture of the two for applications in public transit operations. Three transit agencies are presented as examples: SunLine Transit (Thousand Palms, California), Foothill Transit (Los Angeles County), and Phoenix Public Transport (Phoenix, Arizona). Private contracts are often less expensive due to cost-savings measures on the part of the private entity. One such example involves paying employees less money on an hourly wage than is possible within a public organization. In addition, organizations avoid paying for outsourced Social Security, Medical, unemployment, and workers' compensation for these contracts. Lastly, private contracts cut down on slow bureaucratic processes that hinder public organization. However, using in-house employees has advantages such as greater control over quality of service. In the case of a combined public and private operation, the author notes that, due to the potential for maximized efficiency, cost per ride rates are among the lowest for peers. Likewise, the agency is afforded some of the control of public employees while gaining the efficiencies of private.

Currently, there is limited research about the relationship between academic, mental health needs, and special education status among populations of incarcerated youth. Additionally, little is known about differences between special education and general education students, or about differences between detained and committed populations. This article reports the results of an investigation of the academic achievement, mental health history, and special education status of 555 detained and incarcerated boys in one mid-Atlantic state. Descriptive data and results from a logistic regression analysis are reported. We found that mean standard scores of participants on standardized achievement tests were one standard deviation below the population mean. We also found high rates of participants with disabilities, and high rates of participants reporting prior therapy and prior use of psychotropic medication. In addition, we found that student academic and mental health characteristics obtained through an intake screening protocol were predictive of special education status, but not of placement in detention or commitment settings. Finally, we found that African American students had a significantly higher risk of being committed than Caucasian students. Implications for future research and practice are discussed. ********** Special education service delivery rates in juvenile corrections settings are as high as seven times the rates in public school settings (Quinn, Rutherford, Leone, Osher, & Poirier, 2005). In addition, detained and committed (1) youth experience higher rates of academic underperformance, school failure, and identification of mental health needs than their peers in the community (Cocozza, 1992; Cocozza & Skowyra, 2000; Foley, 2001: Krezmien & Mulcahy, 2008). Researchers have identified high rates of mental health needs among incarcerated youth (Caufmann, 2004; Teplin, Abram, McClelland, Dulcan, & Mericle, 2002; Wasserman, Ko, & McReynolds, 2004), but they have not examined the academic abilities of these youth in the context of mental health needs and special education status. Additionally, there is a dearth of research examining whether youth in detention facilities awaiting adjudication exhibit different characteristics from those placed in commitment facilities. Knowing more about the academic, mental health, and special education needs of youth in juvenile corrections facilities is critical to the planning, development, and delivery of effective special education and related services. Understanding differences between characteristics of youth in detention and commitment placements is also essential for allocation of resources for special education and related services to short-term and long-term facilities based upon documented needs. Recently, investigators have used diagnostic instruments to identify specific psychiatric disorders among delinquent populations (Atkins et al., 1999; Cauffman, 2002; Duclos et al., 1998; Garland, Hough, McCabe, Yeh, Wood, & Aarons, 2001; Randall, Henggeler, Pickrel, & Brondino, 1999; Teplin et al., 2004). None of the studies however, determined if youth were eligible for services as disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA, 2004) nor have they examined the relationship between mental health needs and academic achievement. The absence of information about special education eligibility is problematic because disability status under the IDEIA directly affects students' access to mental health care and can provide a statutory entitlement to mental services for students in public schools and in juvenile corrections settings (20 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.). Current Knowledge about Detained and Committed Youth Several researchers have examined the mental health symptomology of juvenile detainees. Teplin and her colleagues (2002) used the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) with a sample of more than 1800 youth aged 10 to 18 in juvenile detention in Cook County, Illinois, and reported that approximately two thirds of the males met diagnostic criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders. …

With the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDE-IA) school districts are given the opportunity to use the response to intervention (RTI) model in the identification of individuals with disabilities. RTI is an intervention model which provides students with progressively more intense interventions, across three tiers. The implementation of interventions, using the RTI model, prior to formal assessment provides the opportunity for the student’s academic outcomes to improve and possibly not need special education services. Regular education and special education teachers may be involved in RTI activities, as well a school psychologists. This study investigates the amount of time school psychologists spend in response to intervention activities. Participants include over 170 school psychologists from 39 states who completed a questionnaire investigating percentage of time spent in RTI activities. The results indicate that school psychologists spend on average only 22% of their time in RTI activities. The results also suggest that although IDE-IA provides an intervention option using the RTI model in the identification of students with disabilities, school psychologist spend more time in traditional activities (e.g., assessment, consultation, and eligibility activities).

Education rights and the special needs child

Incorporating Academic and Health-Related School Needs into Pediatric Nursing Practice

The disproportionate representation of minority students in special education has long been recognised as a problem in the United States. It is, however, only with the 2004 authorisation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) that Congress has tried to prescribe a remedy for this. Beginning with a deconstruction of the case law, public law and policy interpretations built around IDEA, this paper will first use an understanding of the concept of ‘institutional ablism’ as it has been developed within disability studies, to challenge the widely accepted view of IDEA as civil rights legislation. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, the article will then offer a further deconstruction of IDEA focusing on the IDEA’s attempt to address the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. The analysis of the law illustrates the use of a mechanism that I will call transposition: the use of the legally accepted segregation of special education to maintain the effects of the unacceptable and illegal segregation by race. The analysis will make the case that the development of special education in the United States offers yet another example of interest convergence, specifically that of the marginal disability rights gained with the creation of special education converging with the white interest of recouping the losses of the US Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision.

In the early 1900s, a surge in immigration and the enforcement of compulsory school attendance laws led to exponential growth in the public schools in the United States, especially in urban areas (Chapman, 1988). To meet the needs of an increasingly large and diverse student body, school systems maximised efficiency by differentiating the school curriculum and by grouping students according to educational aptitude. By 1910, school psychologists were involved in the process of identifying children and youth at-risk for educational failure (Fagan and Sachs-Wise, 2007). Starting in the 1920s, group intelligence tests began to be used in many urban school systems to track students by instructional level (e.g. vocational or college-bound tracks; Kranzler, Benson, and Floyd, 2016). From then until the mid-1970s, the practice of testing and grouping students became a permanent fixture in American education. During that period, however, only a small percentage of children and youth with disabilities were educated in public schools. This changed dramatically in 1975 with the passage of the Education for All Children Act (P.L. 94–142). Now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), this federal law mandates that the public school system has a responsibility to provide a free and appropriate education to all children and youth between the ages of 3 to 21 years. Eligibility for special education and related services is based on the presence of a disability that adversely affects academic performance and demonstration of a need for special education and related services. The following disability categories are used in IDEA: Specific learning disability (SLD), other health impairment (e.g. attention deficit hyperactive disorder [ADHD]), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), emotional disturbance, speech or language impairment, visual impairment (including blindness), hearing impairment (including deafness), orthopedic impairment, intellectual disability (ID), traumatic brain injury, and multiple disabilities. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2018), in the 2014–2015 academic, year 6.6 million children and youth (13 per cent of all students) received special education and related services in the public schools.