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?
Program Measure
Specific Emphasis
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
COVID-19 and Students with Disabilities: A Snapshot of Legal Activity to Date
The COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of public schools in March 2020 and the return from remote to inperson instruction for varying periods depending on the state and locality, would appear to be a fertile field for legal activity under the Individuals with Disabilities Education...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
Impartial Hearings Under the IDEA: Updated Legal Issues and Answers
This updated question-and-answer document is specific to impartial hearing officers (IHOs) and the hearings that they conduct under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The coverage does not extend to the alternate third-party dispute decisional mechanism under the IDEA, the...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
OSEP Policy Guidance for IDEA Impartial Hearing Officers
This annotated overview of the policy letters of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) available on their website covers the period 2001 to the present. Among these IDEA policy interpretations, the selection is largely limited to those within the basic building blocks of the IDEA, free...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
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
Schaffer v. Weast’s Effects on California Special Education Hearing Decisions
This research examined the associations between Schaffer v. Weast (2005) and special education due process hearing decisions in California. Using a database we coded from the state’s due process hearings for cases that reached a decision (years 1995–2019), this study analyzed (1) how legal...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
State Due Process Hearing Systems Under the IDEA: An Update
Abstract As part of its structure of cooperative federalism, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act delegates to the states implementation, within broad specifications, of administrative adjudication systems. In light of the centrality of these systems of dispute resolution and the limited...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
The IDEA and the Use of Mediation and Collaborative Dispute Resolution in Due Process Disputes
Abstract This Comment discusses the future of alternative dispute resolution in special education conflicts by first examining a brief history of the IDEA and the areas it covers. Due process complaints under the IDEA and mediation as a solution to due process complaints will then be addressed...Learn more
The Outcomes of Fully Adjudicated Impartial Hearings under the IDEA: A Nationally Representative Analysis with and without New York
The purpose of this study was to determine the national outcomes distribution of DPH decision outcomes for a relatively recent six-year period. A secondary purpose was to determine whether New York decisions were such a distinct and major outlier to justify omitting them for a more precise picture...Learn more
Trends in Special Education Case Law: Frequency and Outcomes of Published Court Decisions 1998-2012
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) obligates school districts to identify students with disabilities and provide them with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), which includes specially designed instruction. Identification, FAPE, least restrictive environment (LRE),...Learn more