Special Education Policy
Get insights into the federal, state, and local rules and polices regarding special education
Special Education
No Child Left Behind Waivers Leave Behind Students With Disabilities
What concerns the National Center for Learning Disabilities about the applications 11 states filed with the Education Department seeking waivers from the No Child Left Behind law? What they don't say.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Schools Ask for Easier Access to Medicaid for Special Education Services
The federal Education Department's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services has proposed changes to rules about Medicaid paperwork to make things easier on schools.
Special Education
Price of ESEA Bill Too Steep for Students With Disabilities?
Some fear the proposed bill reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, would, if passed, undo years of progress regarding students with disabilities.
Special Education
Feds Offer Guidance on Making P.E. More Inclusive
Physical education classes should use equipment that all students, including those with disabilities, can use. And students with disabilities should participate in team sports for an invaluable, irreplaceable learning experience, new guidance from the U.S. Education Department says.
Special Education
Disability Groups React to Obama's NCLB Waiver Plan
While many wanted a departure from NCLB, some unknowns remain about what states will do with their new-found flexibility when it comes to students with disabilities.
Special Education
ESEA Proposals, NCLB Waivers Trouble Special Ed. Advocates
Change the No Child Left Behind law in the short and long terms could erase some of the progress the law has made for students with disabilities.
Special Education
Federal Health Agency Must Do More on Restraints, Seclusion
A federal committee wants more done to ensure children and adults subjected to restraints or seclusion are kept safe.
Special Education
Rules Finally Issued on Infants, Toddlers With Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education has issued new rules about how states and school districts should work with infants and toddlers with disabilities.
Education Funding
S.C.'s Penalty for Cutting Special Ed. Spending Delayed
The delay raises questions about whether such penalties for states that cut education spending without federal approval are meaningful.
Education Funding
Bill Would Boost Federal Spending on Students with Disabilities
A new bill proposes the federal government live up to its promise to pay 40 percent of the costs of educating students with disabilities.
Federal
1 Percent Means 1 Percent, Except When There's an Exception
For years, the U.S. Department of Education has allowed Ohio to count more than 1 percent of the test scores of students with severe cognitive disabilities who take alternate exams as passing when calculating adequate yearly progress, or AYP.
Education Funding
Education Secretary Answers Teachers' Special Ed. Questions
Education Secretary recently answered questions from special education teachers all over the country who wanted to know about performance pay, funding, testing, and more.
Early Childhood
The Connection Between Pre-K and Special Ed
In some school districts, high-quality prekindergarten programs kept some students out of special education when they started kindergarten, saving money districts would have spent on intensive, expensive services required for kids who hadn't been in the same pre-K programs.
Special Education
Updated: Bipartisan TALENT Act Puts Spotlight on Gifted Students
A bill introduced in Congress would expand the focus of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or No Child Left Behind, to put a spotlight on gifted and high-ability students.