Disability & Discipline
School-to-prison pipeline issues impacting students with disabilities
Seclusion, Restraint, and Handcuffing
Juvenile Justice
Federal Regulation on Race and Disability - Equity in IDEA
Key Facts and Data Trends
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Black Students and Students with Disabilities Remain More Likely to Receive Out-of-school Suspensions, Despite Overall Declines, Childtrends, April 29, 2019
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Lawsuit Alleges State Failing Flint Special Education Kids, The Detroit News, October 16, 2018
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Why Disabled Youth Are More at Risk of Being Incarcerated, TeenVogue, October 9, 2017
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5 Things to Know about Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Special Education, Child Trends, January 12, 2017
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Why Are We Criminalizing Behavior of Children with Disabilities?, Washington Post, April 25, 2017
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Why Schools Over-Discipline Children with Disabilities, The Atlantic, July 24, 2015
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Race, Disability and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, Colorlines, May 13, 2014
Major Reports
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Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies and Connections to the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students of Color with Disabilities, US Commission on Civil Rights, July 2019
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Disabling Punishment: The Need for Remedies to the Disparate Loss of Instruction Experienced by Black Students with Disabilities, The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the UCLA Civil Rights Project, April 2018
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Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities, US General Accounting Office, March 2018
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Suspensions are Not Support: The Disciplining of Preschoolers with Disabilities, Center for American Progress, January 17, 2018
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ACLU Comments to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Re: Students of Color with Disabilities and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, ACLU, January 16, 2018
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Key Trends in Special Education in Charter Schools, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools, February 2018
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Let Her Learn: Stopping School Pushout for Girls with Disabilities, National Women's Law Center, 2017
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Breaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Students with Disabilities, National Council on Disability, June 18, 2015
Seclusion, Restraint, and Handcuffing
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‘Thrown In A Box’: Missouri Schools’ Use of Isolation Rooms and Restraints Is Inhumane, Kansas City Star (editorial), January 15, 2020
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Students with Disabilities and the Use of Restraint and Seclusion in K-12 Public Schools, webinar, US Education Department, January 9, 2020
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When D.C. Schools Use Restraint or Seclusion, No Laws Govern Them. Allegations of Abuse Are Piling Up, Washington City Paper, December 13, 2019
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Illinois to Take Emergency Action to Halt Isolated Time Outs in Schools, ProPublica Illinois, November 20, 2019
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The Quiet Rooms, investigative report on seclusion in Illinois schools, ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune, November 19, 2019
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Restraint, Seclusion, Deception, investigative report by Searchlight New Mexico, October 8, 2019
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State Seeks Compromise on Student Seclusion Rules (Iowa), The Gazette, August 22, 2019
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Hawaii Provided ‘Inaccurate’ Data On Student Restraint And Seclusion, Honolulu Civil Beat, July 8, 2019
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K-12 Education: Education Should Take Immediate Action to Address Inaccuracies in Federal Seclusion and Restraint Data, US Government Accountability Office, June 2019
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Ed. Dept. Should Remedy Underreporting of Seclusion and Restraint Data, Government Watchdog Warns, the 74million, June 19, 2019
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How Some Schools Restrain Or Seclude Students: A Look At A Controversial Practice, NPR, June 15, 2019
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Handcuffed in Denver in the Fifth Grade: 'Whenever I Shut My Eye, I Saw the Cuffs Chalkbeat, May 30, 2019
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Desperation and Broken Trust: When Schools Restrain Students or Lock Them in Rooms, WAMU 88.5, June 5, 2019
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The Need for Federal Legislation on Seclusion and Restraint, The Century Foundation, February 28, 2019
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WA Special Ed Students Suffering from Trauma after Use of Restraints, Isolation, King 5 NBC News, March 14, 2019
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Isolated at School: Spokane Parents Claim Isolation Rooms Misused at District Schools, KREM TV, February 7, 2019
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Democrats Seek to Sharply Curtail Restraint, Seclusion of Students, Education Week, November 13, 2018
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Children Cruelly Handcuffed Win Big Settlement Against the Police in Kentucky, ACLU, November 2, 2018
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ACLU Sues Flint Police for Handcuffing Seven-Year-Old Boy with Disabilities, ACLU of Michigan, July 31, 2018
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Students with Disabilities Are More Likely to Be Restrained or Arrested at School, The Mighty, April 2018
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How Washington Winks at Violent Discipline of Special Needs Kids, Politico, November 29, 2017
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Excessive Force’: Judge Rules in Favor of Children Who Were Handcuffed at School, Washington Post, October 17, 2017
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70,000 Students With Disabilities Secluded, Restrained in School, Education Week, May 16, 2017
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Kids in Cuffs: Why Handcuff a Student With a Disability, NBC News, February 20, 2017
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Lawsuit: Kenton County Deputy Sheriff Shackled two Elementary Students Who Had Disabilities, also learn more about the case here and watch a video
Juvenile Justice
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Criminalizing Disability: Special Needs Kids Who Don’t Get Help in School are Ending Up in Jail, Alamagordo Daily News, May 9, 2019
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Justice-Involved Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Call to Action for the Juvenile Justice Community, The Arc’s National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability, 2015
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Pipeline to Prison: Special Education Too Often Leads to Jail for Thousands of American Children, The Hechinger Report, October 26, 2014
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Students with Disabilities & the Juvenile Justice System: What Parents Need to Know, Pacer Center, 2013
Federal Regulation on Race and Disability - Equity in IDEA
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Betsy DeVos Shows Her True Colors with Effort to Block Help for Disabled Students Alternet, July 11, 2019
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How Disability Rights Advocates Turned Back the Trump Administration’s Attack on Students of Color, ACLU, March 18, 2019
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Catching Up on a Federal Rule Involving Bias in Special Education, Education Week , March 20, 2019
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COPAA Challenges Secretary Devos’s Decision to Delay Implementation of Equity in Idea Regulation, Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, July 12, 2018
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US Education Department Delays Implementation of 'Equity in IDEA' Rule, Federal Register, July 3, 2018
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Trump Directive Spurs Proposal To Delay IDEA Rule, Disability Scoop, February 27, 2018
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National Association of State Directors of Special Education's Letter to Sec. DeVos Urging Prompt Implementation of the Equity in IDEA Rule, February 6, 2018
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ACLU Comments on Equity in IDEA Compliance Delay, ACLU, May 2018
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Federal Regulation on "Significant Disproportionailty" in the Identification, Placement, and Discipline of Students with Disabilities based on Race or Ethnicity, US Department of Education, December 12, 2016, [Delayed by the Trump Administration, July 3, 2018]
Federal Publications
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Questions and Answers (Q&A) on U. S. Supreme Court Case Decision Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1 (Free Appropriate Public Education), US Department of Education, December 7, 2017
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A Transition Guide to Postsecondary Education and Employment for Students and Youth with Disabilities, US Department of Education, January 17, 2017
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"Dear Colleague" Letter on the Rights of Students with Disabilities in Public Charter Schools under Section 504 and IDEA, US Department of Education, December 28, 2016
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Dear Colleague Letter: Preventing Racial Discrimination in Special Education, US Department of Education, December 12, 2016
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The Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, US Department of Education, December 2016
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"Dear Colleague" letter and Fact Sheet on the Use of Restraint or Seclusion on Students with Disabilities, US Department of Education, December 2016
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Dear Colleague Letter on Supporting Behavior of Students with Disabilities, U.S. Department of Education, August 1, 2016
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Know Your Rights: Students with ADHD, U.S. Department of Education, July 2016
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Standards Needed to Improve Identification of Racial and Ethnic Overrepresentation in Special Education, US General Accounting Office, Feb 27, 2013
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Glossary of IDEA Terms, The Equity Project at Indiana University