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
ADR: To be or…?
Article analyzes success of mediation, arbitration, summary jury trials in general. Most studies cited did not relate to special ed mediation but might be useful to inform methodology of future studies. Article reports some data on special ed mediations, finding higher correlation with parental...Learn more
Advocates and IEPs: Parental Perspectives and Solutions Schools Can Offer
[Abstract] Parental perspectives regarding the utilization of professional advocates and attorneys is non-existent in the current academic literature base. The limited extant literature contains school personnel perspectives on the IEP process when advocates are involved. Thus, to investigate this...Learn more
Analysis of mediation and hearings to resolve parent-school disputes in special education.
Until recently, special education parent-school disputes in New Jersey were resolved using formal hearing procedures. Participant dissatisfaction with formal hearings has led to the use of an alternative form of dispute resolution, that is mediation. <P> The purpose of this study was to...Learn more
Balancing acts: Dispute resolution in the U.S. and English special education law.
Compares special ed. law in US and England. States that the lack of legal representation for low-income parents during dispute resolution affects the fairness of the process, and that parents that don’t have legal advice during mediation are more likely to pursue a due process hearing. Those that...Learn more
Creeping judicialization in special education hearings?: An exploratory study.
This article describes an exploratory study using data from the Iowa Department of Education. The authors examined outcomes of 145 hearing officer decisions and seven judicial variables. Outcomes revealed that parents were successful in 32% of the cases, defendant in 60%, and 8% had mixed outcome...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 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
Evaluation and cost estimation of special education mediation conferences in California (PL94-142).
Federal Law PL 94-142 provides handicapped children with appropriate education. Parents of handicapped children, if dissatisfied, can make and arbitrate a claim for a different education program for their child. In 1980, under this law California instituted mediation as a less expensive and...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
In the matter of Arons: Construction of the IDEA’s lay advocate provision too narrow?
Lay advocates are prohibited from representing parents and children in d.p. hearings under Arons. Part III of this article presents new empirical findings related to the supply of attorneys and lay advocates available to represent parents at any cost and at a reduced cost. Survey was sent to state...Learn more
Is mediation a fair way to resolve special education disputes? First empirical findings.
Examines whether special ed. mediations are successful and looks at parents’ and schools’ perceptions of fairness, satisfaction with results, implementation of agreements, and looks at SES of parents, characteristics of children, wealth of districts, and presence of advocates. Authors collected...Learn more
Law, culture, and children with disabilities: Educational rights and the construction of difference.
Pre-IDEA. Discusses research on use of interdisciplinary Committees on Special Education (CSE) when creating IEP. Discusses parental views and impressions and their effects on the decision-making process. When parents understood the role and perspective of the CSE members, their satisfaction with...Learn more
Lay advocates and parent experts under the IDEA.
The purpose of this article is to expand on the survey data provided in Seven and Zirkel (2002) and to trace the lower court case law between the two decisions related to Arons and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy. The interrelationship...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
Mediation as an alternative method of dispute resolution for the individuals with disabilities education act: A just proposal?
Reports results of Pennsylvania Due Process studies, which examined whether justice is promoted by the IDEA’s due process model. Study found that if parents have the ability to influence the admin. hearings, objective justice was promoted. If the parents were unable to use the process to their...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
Problems in due process: Factors which result In more adversarial procedures.
It is the purpose of this report to examine procedural safeguards beginning with the initial parent-school communication and continuing through notification, evaluation, programming, to the due process hearing in order to determine which factors at which points in the process result in more...Learn more
Putting square pegs into round holes: Mediation and the rights of children with disabilities under the IDEA.
This Article examines whether or not a mediation process can be created that fits squarely into the goals of the IDEA. Mediation has become the preferred method for settling disputes under the IDEA between schools and families. Article discusses prior research that found high rates of settlement,...Learn more
Representation in Mediation: What We Know from Empirical Research
This article provides an overview of research on representation in mediation, presenting both original research and a review of existing studies. With a primary focus on court-connected civil cases, Wissler explains "different mediation programs appear to have reached different conclusions about...Learn more
Resolution meetings: State supports and practices.
This In-Brief Policy Analysis is based on a survey sent to all special education units of state education agencies and interviews with eight states. Findings are synthesized for types of supports provided, frequency of resolution meetings, factors that impact the use of resolution meetings, and...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 attorney’s fees: of Buckhannon, the IDEA reauthorization bills, and the IDEA as civil rights statute.
Pt. IV, “Empirical Research on IDEA Disputes.” Focuses on costs and attorney’s fees, but also includes information on prevalence and dynamic of the disputes. First data mentioned is from 1989 report by GAO. Between 1984 and 1988, more disputes appeared to be resolved informally, as numbers of...Learn more