This searchable database contains bibliographic information for literature (research-based and policy/practice) relating to dispute resolution in special education.
CADRE is interested in identifying additional articles and publications to include in this database. If you are aware of other such resources, please send an email to cadre@directionservice.org with as much information as possible about the resource (e.g., title, author, source, date), and include a copy of the publication or a URL link, if available. Interested in emerging research and knowledge gaps in IDEA dispute resolution?
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Adjudication under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Explicitly Plentiful Rights but Inequitably Paltry Remedies
This article proposes an invigoration in the exercise of the broad equitable authority of hearing officers under the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Providing a higher priority on, and an affirmative presumption for, remedying violations of the Act is in the interest of all parties, extending...Learn more
An Examination of Group Facilitator Challenges and Problem-Solving Techniques During IEP Team Meetings
[abstract] Special education professionals serve as facilitators of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team meetings. As special educators serve on many IEP teams during the course of an academic year, and as the member composition for each team varies, facilitators are confronted with a unique...Learn more
An Investigation of Facilitated Individualized Education Program Meeting Practice: Promising Procedures That Foster Family–Professional Collaboration
There is limited research about effective Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting practices that promote family–professional collaboration. One emerging practice, the Facilitated IEP (FIEP) meeting, has recently gained national attention for its team-based approach. In this study, the...Learn more
Applying systems‐based thinking to build better IEP relationships: a case for relational coordination
This paper explores methods by which the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) development process can be improved through the use of systems‐based thinking, specifically through the use of Gittell’s (2016) Relational Coordination Model. IEP development meetings have been described as meaningless...Learn more
Beyond the Dotted Line: Empowering Parents From Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families to Participate
Parent participation in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process is a critical factor in improving the effectiveness of children’s special education programs and services. However, many families, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds, are...Learn more
Challenges Providing Services to K-12 English Learners and Students with Disabilities during COVID-19
Due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, almost all school districts rapidly shifted to distance learning in spring of the 2019-2020 school year. This shift laid bare both the logistical and instructional challenges of distance learning, particularly for English learners and...Learn more
District-Initiated Due Process Hearing Decisions Under the IDEA: Frequency and Outcomes
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the primary federa legislation for special education in public schools. Its core obligation for school districts is the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to eligible students. The primary adjudicative mechanism, which...Learn more
Due Process Hearing and Written State Complaint Activity for COVID-19 Issues: A Six-Month Snapshot
In addition to the alternative forms of dispute resolution under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the two decisional avenues are adjudicative and investigative. The adjudicative avenue starts with a due process hearing (DPH) and culminates in court proceedings. The...Learn more
Due Process Hearings Under The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act: Justice Delayed...
Abstract: The authors report the average duration of fully adjudicated hearings was much longer than the regulatory timeline, and only 15% of the standard decisions for the six-year period were completed within the 75-day timeline. They note the 75-day benchmark serves as a guideline goal, with the...Learn more
Exhaustion of Section 504 and ADA Claims Under the IDEA: Resolving The Confusion
Abstract: The IDEA’s exhaustion provision is subject to confusion among courts as well as the parties. Its proper judicial compromise that this provision represents in reversing the Smith v. Robinson exclusivity ruling. The result of the confusion is making the adjudicative process under federal...Learn more
Frequency Trends in the State Complaint Procedures Under the IDEA
Introduction: One of the most active areas of litigation in K-12 education is in special education, an area of litigation that has risen steadily since the 1980s. While the primary focus for analyzing litigation trends has been court cases, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)...Learn more
Is Appealing A Hearing Officer's Decision Likely To Result In a Major Outcome Change In The Final Court Decision
[Abstract] Adjudications under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) continue to be an active area of education litigation at both the hearing officer (HO) and court levels. One of the many questions for IDEA litigants, in light of the considerable costs and time of this “ponderous...Learn more
Maryland Special Education Due Process Decisions: A Closer Look at the Issues and Outcomes
School districts are responsible for providing eligible students with disabilities with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Parents of eligible students with disabilities have three complaint mechanisms available when there are disputes with the school district regarding FAPE. One of those...Learn more
Outcome Trends in State Complaint Procedures Decisions Under the IDEA
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act1 (IDEA) provides two alternative administrative, decisional dispute resolution mechanisms: due process complaints/hearing (DPH) and the state complaint system. The state complaint process has garnered far less attention than that devoted to DPH. To...Learn more
Policy-to-Practice—A Portraiture Study of Special Education Implementations to Improve Student Outcomes through Mediation
Abstract: Improving student outcomes for students with disabilities is the primary goal of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA charges school districts to collaborate closely with parents to design and execute an individualized education program (IEP) that allows...Learn more
Safeguarding procedures under the IDEA: Restoring the balance in the adjudication of FAPE
In the landmark case Board of Education v. Rowley in 1982, the Supreme Court concluded that FAPE has two prongs—procedural compliance and a less specific substantive standard. In the succeeding decades, the courts have gradually eroded the procedural dimension to the point of near distinction by...Learn more
See You in Court! How to Avoid IDEA Transition–Related Mediations and Due Process Hearings
School compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) transition services language requirements in this country has been an issue of concern to parents of students with disabilities as well as special education attorneys and advocates for quite some time. Evidence exists in...Learn more
Special Education Directors’ Experiences Preventing and Responding To Requests for Due Process Hearings
This qualitative research study was conducted to (1) identify the leadership actions special education directors took to increase cooperation and mitigate conflict between families and schools and (2) analyze what special education directors experienced after receiving requests for impartial due...Learn more
Spotlight on Students With Disabilities
This brief discusses survey results about districts’ perceptions of the ease with which they were able to provide services for students with disabilities and to comply with federal law governing the education of students with disab ilities.Learn more
State Laws for Due Process Hearings Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The IDEA provides the fundamental framework for state-level resolution of special education disputes, while also allowing states to add to (but not subtract from) the regulations for state and local education agencies. In this article Zirkel presents how each state has supplemented the federal...Learn more