Florida Expands Medicaid — For KidsRepublican lawmakers in Florida snubbed the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for adults, but their states did broaden the program this year — for school-age children.

Due Process Hearings On Decline The number of due process hearings nationwide declined from over 7,000 during the 2004-2005 school year to 2,262 by the 2011-2012 academic year, according to a review released Wednesday from the Government Accountability Office.
Supreme Court Turns to Administration for Opinion on Special Education CaseThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked President Barack Obama’s administration for its views on whether it should take up a case involving an important interpretation of federal special education law.

Bill’s View: Ten Supreme Court Special Education Cases You Need to Know

In Board of Education v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176 (1982), the Supreme Court rendered its first opinion regarding the contours of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and, importantly, the “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) mandate within it.

Where Do We Stand on NCLB? A Progress Report for Congress

More than 40 states may have waivers from many of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind, but that doesn’t mean the U.S. Department of Education is off the hook when it comes to reporting on states’ progress toward meeting the goals of the NCLB law to Congress.
Tearing Down the Walls Between Software Silos

To save teachers time and provide them with easier access to better data about student learning, school leaders increasingly want to tear down the walls separating the myriad software programs, apps, and educational content used in their classrooms.
Creating Common-Core-Aligned IEPs Still a Challenge for Many Teachers

The Common Core State Standards are well on the way to implementation across the country, but many special educators are still finding it a struggle to connect those standards to their students’ individualized education programs—and still meet their students’ varying needs.
D.C. Council Approves Special-Education Bills, Aims To Speed Delivery Of Services

The D.C. Council has unanimously approved a trio of bills designed to overhaul special-education services in the city, aiming to speed delivery of services to students with special needs and give parents better information and resources they can use to advocate for their children.

Common Core State Standards in 2014: Districts’ Perceptions, Progress, and Challenges

This report, based on a survey of a nationally representative sample of school districts in Common Core-adopting states, examines school districts’ efforts to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).