Appropriately identifying children with disabilities--in ways that are timely, comprehensive, and accurate--is critical for ensuring that learners receive the supports they need to meet early milestones and succeed in school. In turn, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) charges states and school districts with: (1) finding all…

The purpose of the current study was to determine the probability that a student with a disability not being served by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) would be expelled. Expulsion data were obtained from the Civil Rights Data Collection produced by the U.S. Office of Civil Rights. The latest data from all 50 states and the…

The annual National Deafblind Child Count is the world's first and longest-running count of children who are deafblind. Begun in 1986 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, it represents a collaborative effort between the National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB) and state deafblind projects throughout the country, including those in the…

This presentation seeks to explore the various complexities of racial and ethnic disproportionality in special education. We discuss the many competing and often contradictory findings in the current literature (Dever et al.,2016; Morgan et al., 2015; Sullivan, 2011; Voulgarides & Thorius, 2017). We briefly discuss the implementation of the…

Particular racial/ethnic and class groups remain underrepresented within gifted and talented education (GATE). However, students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) or gifted and disabled are also underrepresented but are often excluded from analysis. A cross-sectional design was to evaluate gifted enrollment data gathered by the…

Purpose: New policy proposals to increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)--including recent efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to "fully fund" IDEA--bring a new sense of urgency to understanding how federal special education dollars are distributed among states. In this study, we evaluate…

This article draws parallels between the concept of "Black lives matter" and the efforts of caregivers to advocate for the value of the lives of their children who have disabilities. The authors identify three key concepts that undergird their argument: first, the concept of systemic bias as built in to the hierarchical valuing of…

The Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) is the State Lead Agency for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C program for Washington State. Within DCFY, the Part C programmatic home is the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program. During Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2017, the ESIT program held contracts…

Today, and on any given day in the U.S., tens of thousands of students are attending school behind bars. Juvenile justice education fails many of these students, resulting in a double punishment for youth: the punitive experience of incarceration for their alleged offense and the potentially catastrophic disruptions of their educational pathway.…

The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a mandatory survey of all public schools and school districts in the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It gathers information about student access to educational programs, activities, staff, and school climate factors from public schools serving students in preschool…

Students with disabilities (SWDs) are more likely to be suspended or expelled than their general education peers and more likely to be chronically absent. This study uses 5 years of student-level data for all Michigan special education students to examine the relationship between educational setting, absenteeism, and disciplinary outcomes. Using…

Many early intervention systems are focused on "fixing" children to support development and inclusion. However, we need to acknowledge systemic racism and bias to focus on early settings, schools, and practitioners who are ready for all children. Furthermore, knowledge about the existence of bias and its possible harmful effects support…

Race-specific time trends in Autism Spectrum Disorder prevalence are tracked among 3-5 year-olds and 8 year-olds identified by the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, respectively. White ASD prevalence historically has been higher than other racial groups…

Historically, schools across the nation have struggled to address significant racial or ethnic disproportionality, including overrepresentation in exclusionary discipline practices, special education identification, and restrictive educational placements. The federal government has mandated that local education agencies monitor and address…

The 2017-18 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a survey of nearly all public schools and school districts in the United States. The CRDC measures student access to courses, programs, staff, and resources that relate to Federal civil rights laws. The CRDC has long provided important information used by the U.S. Department of Education's…