Special Education Law: Secondary Sources

Special Education Law, Fifth Edition provides a comprehensive, and student-friendly overview of the major federal laws--and judicial interpretations of those laws--that apply to the education of children with special needs. Laura Rothstein and Scott F. Johnson thoroughly present the most up-to-date information on special education statutes, regulations, and judicial interpretations, including substantial changes in the interpretation of the legistlation. The text helps students understand what the law requires so that they can develop policies and make decisions that comply with these laws.

School Law and the Public Schools is a practical, easy to read, comprehensive guide to the legal issues facing public schools in the U.S. today. An essential reference for all teachers, educational leaders, and policymakers at all levels, the book is organized and written in a style that is accessible to all, even those with little or no knowledge of the legal issues in education.

This one-volume treatise summarizes and explains a myriad of legal trends and principles in the rich and varied field of American education law. The second edition of Practical Education Law for the Twenty-First Century is divided into ten chapters, each dealing with a substantive area in education law. Topics covered include school finances, school search and crime issues, residency and fee issues, basic labor law, alternative education and vouchers, injuries to students, athletics, and the overall organization and regulation of public education. Within each chapter are a number of concise sections that address specific legal concerns. Citations are nationwide in scope and include references to updated federal and state case law, federal statutory law, and state statutory law. Practical law tips appear throughout the volume.

This highly readable text is extremely accessible to nonlegal audiences, as well as useful to the legally trained reader and to the law student.

The over-representation of minority students in special education continues to be a persistent and challenging issue in education. This is a complicated issue because it is often difficult to determine if a student is struggling in school because of a disability or, as some suggest, other factors such as poverty, limited English proficiency, or factors within the school environment, such as a lack of high quality instruction or cultural bias. To illustrate, a 6th grade Hispanic girl who is not proficient in English may be diagnosed as having a learning disability because she is not reading at grade level. Similarly, an African American boy who may be acting out in school because of problems at home may be diagnosed as having an emotional disability. The consequences of over-representation have serious implications for students who may be inappropriately identified as having a disability because these students are placed in an educational track that is different than their peers which may negatively impact their academic and career outcomes. This book examines the dis-proportionality issues and early intervention services of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.