The Marriage of Policy, Practices, and Data to Achieve Educational Reform

The policy decisions of state, district and school educators affect the extent to which students have access to high-quality practices. This is especially relevant for students with disabilities and their families. This article summarizes a presentation made at the 2019 AAIDD conference and proposes an operational role for policy makers. Two frequently cited advances in education are (a) the commitment to adopt "evidence-based practices," and (b) the impact of information technology and data systems on the active "use of data for decision making" in schools. This article reviews the integrative role that policy decisions make in transforming effective practices and good data systems into practical outcomes for children and families.

Final Requirement--State Technical Assistance Projects To Improve Services and Results for Children Who Are Deaf-Blind and National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center for Children Who Are Deaf-Blind (TA&D–DB). Final requirement

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a requirement under the Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (TA&D) program. The Assistant Secretary may use this requirement for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2018 and later years.

The Fallacy of Choice: the Destructive Effect of School Vouchers on Children With Disabilities

This Article addresses the impact of school voucher programs on students with disabilities. We show that for children with disabilities, the price of admission into so-called "school choice" programs is so high that it is effectively no real choice at all. School voucher programs require students with disabilities to sign away their robust federal rights and protections in the public school system. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)--the preeminent legislative safeguard for students with disabilities--these rights include the right to a "free and appropriate public education" delivered through an "individualized education plan." By giving up these protections, children with disabilities are left at the mercy of private schools that have no legal obligation to provide them with an appropriate education, and, in the vast majority of cases, are not legally prohibited from discriminating against them on the basis of their disability. We argue that school voucher programs--including a proposed federal voucher program--put the education of students with disabilities back decades, and likely constitute a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

A Texas Two-Step in the Right Direction--Looking Beyond Recent Legislation to Improve the Provision of Special Education Services in Texas

This article analyzes the current state of the special education system in Texas following the 85th Legislative Session, focusing on the practical and legal implications of the limitation imposed by the Texas Education Agency in 2004 before analyzing Senate Bill 160, which requires Texas to remove the limitation on special education services, and its future impact on special education in Texas. Additionally, this article addresses Senate Bill 927, which outlined a plan to ensure that students who were previously denied services receive an adequate evaluation, why the legislation failed, and potential remedies for students who have been negatively impacted by the limitation over the years. Following this discussion, policy recommendations on how to further improve the current state of special education in Texas are proposed.

State special education criteria for identifying intellectual disability: A review following revised diagnostic criteria and Rosa's Law

Across the last century, the condition known as intellectual disability (ID) has been labeled by assorted terms, its key features have varied, and recommendations for its identification have been divided. In light of recent changes to the diagnostic criteria for ID and to federal legislation, this study was designed to compile and summarize information about the state special education criteria for this condition and its associated assessment process, as they guide school-based and associated practices. Authors independently double-coded components of all ID regulations and guidelines from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia in pairs, which was then checked and corrected for inconsistencies. A total of 10% of states provided only the federal definition of ID. Intellectual disability was the most common term used across states, but it was used by only 63% of them. To meet the intellectual deficit criterion, 37% of states referenced a fixed IQ cutoff, and 49% referred to a flexible IQ cutoff. In contrast, most states did not refer to what score types or criteria should be referenced when identifying adaptive behavior deficits. The influence of the recently updated diagnostic criteria for ID and federal legislation was evident, as several patterns of changes were apparent since the last studies of this type. The assessment in intellectual functioning was more well defined than the assessment of adaptive behavior. Health-related features associated with ID were not commonly referenced. These results can inform school psychology practice, training, and related research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Assistance to States for the Education of Children With Disabilities; Preschool Grants for Children With Disabilities. Final regulations

The Secretary amends the regulations under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) governing the Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities program and the Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities program. With the goal of promoting equity under IDEA, the regulations will establish a standard methodology States must use to determine whether significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the State and in its local educational agencies (LEAs); clarify that States must address significant disproportionality in the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions, using the same statutory remedies required to address significant disproportionality in the identification and placement of children with disabilities; clarify requirements for the review and revision of policies, practices, and procedures when significant disproportionality is found; and require that LEAs identify and address the factors contributing to significant disproportionality as part of comprehensive coordinated early intervening services (comprehensive CEIS) and allow these services for children from age 3 through grade 12, with and without disabilities.

Final Priority--Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind Program. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a final priority under the Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind Program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year 2016 and later years. We take this action to provide training and technical assistance to better prepare novice interpreters to become highly qualified, nationally certified sign language interpreters.

Final Priority--Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind Program. Final priority

Rehabilitative Services announces a final priority under the Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who Are Deaf-Blind program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year 2016 and later years. We take this action to provide training and technical assistance to better prepare novice interpreters to become highly qualified nationally certified sign language interpreters.

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for Children With Special Educational Needs

The pediatric health care provider has a critical role in supporting the health and well-being of children and adolescents in all settings, including early intervention (EI), preschool, and school environments. It is estimated that 15% of children in the United States have a disability. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entitles every affected child in the United States from infancy to young adulthood to a free appropriate public education through EI and special education services. These services bolster development and learning of children with various disabilities. This clinical report provides the pediatric health care provider with a summary of key components of the most recent version of this law. Guidance is also provided to ensure that every child in need receives the EI and special education services to which he or she is entitled.

Provision of Early Intervention and Special Education Services to Eligible DoD Dependents. Final rule

This rule reissues the current regulations and: Establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and implements the non-funding and non-reporting provisions in DoD for: Provision of early intervention services (EIS) to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, as well as special education and related services to children with disabilities entitled under this part to receive education services from the DoD; implementation of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary program of EIS for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families who, but for age, are eligible to be enrolled in DoD schools; provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE), including special education and related services, for children with disabilities, as specified in their individualized education programs (IEP), who are eligible to enroll in DoD schools; and monitoring of DoD programs providing EIS, and special education and related services for compliance with this part. This rule also establishes a DoD Coordinating Committee to recommend policies and provide compliance oversight for early intervention and special education.

IEP, IHP, and Section 504 Primer for New School Nurses

Three types of documents and their frequently used acronyms play a vital role in ensuring that students with disabilities have the planning, services, and accommodations necessary to facilitate attendance and success in the school setting. Federal and state laws, as well as state nurse practice acts, govern the process and eligibility of students for these services. School nurses play a vital role in these processes, and new school nurses benefit from a comparison of the terms along with a historical explanation of the acronyms.

The Road to Prison is Paved with Bad Evaluations: The Case for Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans

In 1997, Congress amended the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA") to include provisions meant to assist school districts in educating students with behavioral needs. These amendments required schools to use functional behavioral assessments ("FBA") and behavior intervention plans ("BIP") under certain circumstances. Congress did not, however, include a definition of or substantive requirements for either system of behavior management. As a result, although BIPs and FBAs are now federally mandated requirements, and it is clear that disregarding behavioral issues is a denial of a free appropriate public education ("FAPE"), the IDEA’s adjudicative standard, there is no clear consensus as to whether a student with behavioral needs must have an FBA or a BIP or what either must include. The IDEA’s lack of guidance has resulted in inconsistent and often contradictory court rulings, and the lack of specific definitions and procedures has allowed schools to develop purportedly legal but substantively deficient behavior evaluations and intervention plans for special needs students. Despite this confusion, some courts have properly looked to the administrative record for guidance on the substantive elements of FBAs and BIPs. Deference to hearing officers, along with other provisions within the IDEA, such as Child Find and inclusion obligations, may assist courts in determining whether a school’s failure to use an FBA and a BIP for a student with behavioral needs falls short of Board of Education v. Rowley’s requirements for FAPE. FBAs and BIPs aim to prevent and correct student misconduct before it escalates and results in drastic disciplinary action. Given the impact punitive school discipline policies have had on students with special needs, the added procedural safeguards these proactive behavior management schemes could provide are imperative to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.

Processing Disability

This Article argues that the practice of holding so many adjudicative proceedings related to disability in private settings (e.g., guardianship, special education due process, civil commitment, and social security) relative to our strong normative presumption of public access to adjudication may cultivate and perpetuate stigma in contravention of the goals of inclusion and enhanced agency set forth in antidiscrimination laws. Descriptively, the law has a complicated history with disability--initially rendering disability invisible; later, underwriting particular narratives of disability synonymous with incapacity; and, in recent history, promoting the full socio-economic visibility of people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the marquee civil rights legislation for people with disabilities (about to enter its twenty-fifth year), expresses a national approach to disability that recognizes the role of society in its construction, maintenance, and potential remedy. However, the ADA’s mission is incomplete. It has not generated the types of interactions between people with disabilities and nondisabled people empirically shown to deconstruct deeply entrenched social stigma. Prescriptively, procedural design can act as an "ntistigma agent"to resist and mitigate disability stigma. This Article focuses on one element of institutional design--public access to adjudication--as a potential tool to construct and disseminate counter-narratives of disability. The unique substantive focus in disability adjudication on questions of agency provides a potential public space for the negotiation of nuanced definitions of disability and capacity more reflective of the human condition.

Final priority; Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program--rehabilitation specialty areas. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Rehabilitation Training: Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years in order to fund any of the rehabilitation specialty areas listed in this notice. The specific rehabilitation specialty areas to be funded in a given year will be listed in a notice inviting applications. This priority is designed to ensure that the Department funds high-quality rehabilitation programs in the following nine rehabilitation specialty areas of national need: Rehabilitation Administration (84.129C); Rehabilitation Technology (84.129E); Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment (84.129F); Rehabilitation of Individuals Who Are Mentally Ill (84.129H); Rehabilitation Psychology (84.129J); Rehabilitation of Individuals Who are Blind or Have Vision Impairments (84.129P); Rehabilitation of Individuals Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (84.129Q); Job Development and Job Placement Services (84.129R); and Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (84.129W). These programs must meet rigorous standards in order to provide rehabilitation professionals the training and qualifications necessary to meet the current challenges facing State vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies and related agencies and assist individuals with disabilities in achieving high-quality employment outcomes.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation and Research Training Centers. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for an RRTC on Employment for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2014 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend for this priority to contribute to improved employment outcomes of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, this notice announces a priority for an RRTC on Improving Employment Outcomes for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities. We take this action to focus research attention on an area of national need. We intend this priority to contribute to improved employment outcomes for individuals with psychiatric disabilities.

Reducing the risks of delegation: use of procedure skills checklists for unlicensed assistive personnel in schools, Part 1

School nurses are challenged by federal civil rights laws and the standards of school nursing practice to care for a burgeoning population of students with special health care needs. Due to the realities of current school nurse-to-student ratios, school nurses are frequently responsible for directing unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs) to support the health and safety needs of students, where State Nurse Practice Acts, state legislation, and local policy mandates allow. The delegation of health care tasks to UAPs poses many professional, ethical, and legal dilemmas for school nurses. One strategy to reduce the risks of delegation is through the use of procedure skills checklists, as highlighted by the experience of one large urban school district. Part 1 of this two-part article will explore the scope of the problem and the principles of delegation, including legal and ethical considerations.

Final priority; technical assistance to improve state data capacity--National Technical Assistance Center to improve state capacity to accurately collect and report IDEA data. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority under the Technical Assistance to Improve State Data Capacity program. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus attention on an identified national need to provide technical assistance (TA) to States to improve their capacity to meet the data collection and reporting requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We intend this priority to establish a TA center to improve State capacity to accurately collect and report IDEA data (Data Center).

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Research Training Centers. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for a Rehabilitation Research Training Center (RRTC) on Disability Statistics and Demographics under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for a competition in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend to use this priority to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

Final Priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers. Final priority

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). Specifically, we announce a priority for a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Community Living and Participation for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities. The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend this priority to improve outcomes among individuals with disabilities.

Addressing public stigma and disparities among persons with mental illness: the role of federal policy

Stigma against mental illness is a complex construct with affective, cognitive, and behavioral components. Beyond its symbolic value, federal law can only directly address one component of stigma: discrimination. This article reviews three landmark antidiscrimination laws that expanded protections over time for individuals with mental illness. Despite these legislative advances, protections are still not uniform for all subpopulations with mental illness. Furthermore, multiple components of stigma (e.g., prejudice) are beyond the reach of legislation, as demonstrated by the phenomenon of label avoidance; individuals may not seek protection from discrimination because of fear of the stigma that may ensue after disclosing their mental illness. To yield the greatest improvements, antidiscrimination laws must be coupled with antistigma programs that directly address other components of stigma.

The right to language

We argue for the existence of a state constitutional legal right to language. Our purpose here is to develop a legal framework for protecting the civil rights of the deaf child, with the ultimate goal of calling for legislation that requires all levels of government to fund programs for deaf children and their families to learn a fully accessible language: a sign language.

What every school nurse needs to know about Section 504 eligibility

The Americans With Disabilities Amendment Act of 2008 (ADAA), effective January 1, 2009, expanded the definition ofdisability. These changes in turn impact which students qualify for Section 504 plans in the school setting and will no doubt strain school resources as implementation of the law progresses. Therefore, it is essential that school nurses be well versed in the changes in order to continue to perform a lead role in advocating for students with disabilities in the school setting and to assist with Section 504 compliance.

Legal and definitional issues affecting the identification and education of adults with specific learning disabilities in adult education programs

Although the exact prevalence is not determined, a noticeable subset of individuals who enroll in adult education and training programs have either diagnosed or undiagnosed specific learning disabilities (SLD). Understanding SLD is important basic information for adult educators to inform program policies as well as determine effective instructional practices. This article discusses the development of definitions of SLD and current agreement on the nature of SLD relevant to working with adults. It concludes with implications for adult education programs.

School law for the child psychiatrist: legal principles and case implications

Schools are evolving to support all students, including those with mental health issues. Clinicians can help patients and schools by providing diagnostic clarity about a child’s condition, how that condition interferes with school progress, and what interventions are needed in the school setting. State and Federal legislation supports timely response by schools to mental health issues emerging in students through special education laws and general education accommodations, such as Response To Intervention (RTI), which encourages schools to implement evidence-based interventions for students exhibiting mental health conditions. Case examples illuminate important legal considerations when clinicians are faced with issues such as therapeutic placements, home hospital forms, and substance abuse, and student misconduct.

Ridiculous statements by mental health experts

When mental health experts express their opinions in testimony, reports, and articles in professional literature, it is expected that their statements will accurately reflect the current state of knowledge. Experts may disagree about the data that they collected. In some cases, however, disagreement occurs because an expert has employed a methodology that is far outside usual procedures or simply disregarded objective facts. When that occurs, the expert's opinions may be considered ridiculous. The author presents examples of ridiculous statements by mental health experts and provides suggestions for how a forensic practitioner might address ridiculous statements by mental health experts.

Education of deaf and hard of hearing students and accountability reform: issues for the future

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has had a monumental impact over the past decade on how educational reform is viewed in the United States. As a result of how the law is structured, schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing have been the focus of attention for educational reform under NCLB. While there have been some shifts in policy, reauthorization of NCLB will need to respond to some of the larger calls for changes to the law. The author discusses some key issues related to assessment and accountability that are central to how the reauthorization of NCLB affects the education of deaf and hard of hearing students.

[The psychiatric revolution in Quebec, 1950-1962. From asylum to community psychiatry and the open door]

Psychiatry opens to the world at a time when the very basis of psychiatric practice, namely the asylum, is called into question. Studies appear in Quebec and Canadian journals concurrent to the introduction of new formulas for care, such as the delivery of psychiatric services in general hospitals and clinics, that allow patients to be treated outside the walls of psychiatric hospitals. In addition, postwar psychiatry takes an optimistic view toward the future of children with impairments through the creation of specialized schools and workshops. From the mid-20th century onward, the thinking in psychiatry centres on the open door.

The persistence of low expectations in special education law viewed through the lens of therapeutic jurisprudence

For more than thirty-five years a paradigm of low expectations has infected efforts to educate children with disabilities and has been a persistent and stubborn obstacle to the successful implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and its predecessor, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA). This dilemma raises questions addressed in this paper: What is meant by low expectations in the context of Special Education Law? What are the root causes of this phenomenon, and what makes it so resistant to change? How does it impede implementation of the IDEA? And lastly, in what ways does the paradigm of low expectations impact children with disabilities socially, emotionally, and psychologically? The primary purpose of this paper is to consider these questions, particularly the last, utilizing therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), a theoretical lens through which the emotional and psychological impact of the law and its processes upon those who interact in its context may be viewed and analyzed.

Response to intervention: are the Emperor's clothes really new?

With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004, Response to Intervention (RTI) was officially introduced. Unlike the discrepancy model, which determines eligibility in special education with a discrepancy between achievement and ability, RTI was designed to provide intensive instruction to students in the general classroom as soon as difficulties in acquiring requisite reading skills are detected. The proposed goals of RTI include the improvement of reading achievement and the identification of students with learning disabilities (LD). Although RTI holds promise for the former goal when certain conditions are met, the latter goal is more elusive. The Component Model of Reading (CMR) is described in the current paper as an alternative to the discrepancy model and RTI. CMR, which consists of three domains, evaluates a poor reader's performance multidimensionally, so the most appropriate instruction for the reader can be designed to ensure reading success. Empirical evidence of CMR is presented.

Autism in the U.S.: social movement and legal change

The social movement surrounding autism in the U.S. has been rightly defined a ray of light in the history of social progress. The movement is inspired by a true understanding of neuro-diversity and is capable of bringing about desirable change in political discourse. At several points along the way, however, the legal reforms prompted by the autism movement have been grafted onto preexisting patterns of inequality in the allocation of welfare, education, and medical services. In a context most recently complicated by economic recession, autism-driven change bears the mark of political and legal fragmentation. Distributively, it yields ambivalent results that have not yet received systemic attention. This article aims to fill this analytical vacuum by offering, first, a synoptic view of the several legal transformations brought about or advocated for by the autism movement and, second, a framework for investigating their distributive consequences.

Epistemologies, deafness, learning, and teaching

The study of Deaf epistemologies is in a nascent stage relative to, e.g., the study of feminist or African American epistemologies. It has only recently begun attracting the widespread attention it deserves. The present article addresses Deaf epistemologies as they relate to the sometimes conflicting trends in American society and education. In a relatively short period, the education of deaf students has gone from an independent enterprise under the aegis of special education to heavy influence by No Child Left Behind legislation that applies to virtually all American students. American education at one and the same time embraces and celebrates diversity, imposes uniform, rigid learning standards for all children, and mandates that all children be tested in the same way. An oxymoron exists of individualized educational planning and one-size-fits-all curricula and assessment of academic achievement. Implications for teaching and learning of deaf students are explored.

Objective criteria for classification of postsecondary students as learning disabled: effects on prevalence rates and group characteristics

This study examined the consequences of classifying postsecondary students as learning disabled (LD) using five objective sets of criteria: IQ-achievement discrepancies (1.0 to 1.49 SD, 1.5 to 1.99 SD, and >or= 2.0 SD), DSM-IV criteria, and chronic educational impairment beginning in childhood. The participants were 378 postsecondary students from two universities who had been previously classified as LD and were receiving instructional and/or testing accommodations. The agreement between diagnostic models was often low, both in terms of the proportion of students identified as well as which students were identified by the models. The discrepancy models identified the largest proportions of students as LD (10% to 42%), whereas fewer than 10% of participants met either of the other sets of criteria, and 55% of the participants were not classified as LD by any of the models. Implications for further research and practices in postsecondary settings are discussed.

[Children with special needs: counterpoints between law and reality]

This study is as theoretical and philosophical reflection and it aims to confront the Brazilian legislation (which is about children who have special needs) with the daily practice Although children's rights have been legalized in 1990 by Statute for Children and Teenagers, we can daily see that there is a gap between what the law guarantees and what is performed in practice. It is necessary to put this legislation into practice so that it is possible to break off with a historical trajectory of prejudice which is imposed against these children. However in order to reach such practicality it is essential that families of children with special needs know their rights in order to exercise their citizenship and enjoy a better quality of life According to the available literature, reality can be changed through the exercise of children and family citizenship and this fact makes them aware of their rights.

Student experiences of neurodiversity in higher education: insights from the BRAINHE project

The number of students with identified learning differences (LDs) of all kinds is increasing in higher education. This qualitative study explored the experiences of 27 current and previous students with a range of specific LDs by means of semi-structured interviews, using a thematic approach. The findings revealed that participants shared many life experiences and preferences for learning irrespective of their type of LD. Participants generally held one of two views about their identity as 'neurodiverse': a 'difference' view--where neurodiversity was seen as a difference incorporating a set of strengths and weaknesses, or a 'medical/deficit' view--where neurodiversity was seen as a disadvantageous medical condition. The former view was associated with expressions of greater career ambition and academic self-esteem, while the latter view was associated more with processes for obtaining the Disabled Students' Allowance. Many of the participants reported similar experiences in education and with university support; many did not feel adequately supported by their institutions. Recommendations are made for increased awareness training among lecturers and better liaison between university departments.

Implementation of response to intervention: a snapshot of progress

This article provides a snapshot of how all 50 states are progressing with the development and implementation of response-to-intervention (RtI) models 1 year after the final regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were passed. Data were collected through a review of existing state department of education Web sites and conversations with representatives in each state department of education. Information related to RtI model type, implementation status, professional development, criteria for eligibility, and specific features of individual state RtI models are presented. Findings indicate that most states are in some phase of RtI development, although approaches vary widely throughout the country. Implications for research and practice are discussed.