Aimed at parents of and advocates for special needs children, explains how to develop a relationship with a school, monitor a child's progress, understand relevant legislation, and document correspondence and conversations.

[This text] teaches you how to use the law as your sword and your shield. Learn what the law says about: Child's right to a free, appropriate education (FAPE); Individual education programs, IEP teams, transition and progress; Evaluations, reevaluations, consent and independent educational evaluations; Eligibility and placement decisions; Least restrictive environment, mainstreaming, and inclusion; Research based instruction, discrepancy formulas and response to intervention; Discipline, suspensions, and expulsions; Safeguards, mediation, confidentiality, new procedures and timelines for due process hearings.--Back cover.

Special Education Law, Sixth Edition, written by Laura Rothstein and Scott F. Johnson, provides a comprehensive and current overview of the major federal law, and judicial interpretations of those laws, that apply to special education students. School administrators and attorneys attend to special education issues on a regular basis, and local superintendents, principals, special education professionals, psychologists, and regional and state administrators must also be familiar with the legal requirements of educating students with disabilities. Classroom teachers in all types of classrooms need to be aware of the laws that affect them and their students. Special Education Law 6e is intended for students in education and educational administration, both graduate and undergraduate, as well as law students in courses on special education law, school law, and special education. The framework of this book begins with five introductory chapters on the major issues that are addressed in special education law. These topics include an overview the legal system, the history of special education, major statutes in special education law, stakeholders such as students, families, educators, and advocates, and finally, requirements for protection under various special education laws. The remainder of the text presents and analyzes special education case law within specific contexts. The text helps educators understand what the law requires so that they can make decisions that comply with these laws. Updates for the sixth edition include a major reorganization of the text. Chapters have been streamlined and edited for clarity, combining a previous chapter on Related Services with Free Appropriate Publication Education, and folding Eligibility into Identification, Evaluation, and Eligibility, so students can better see the connections between these topics. Many case excerpts have been shortened or summarized to provide students with a more straightforward and focused reading experience. The latest updates in statutes, regulations, and case law are included throughout the text.

"In Special Education Law, Sixth Edition, authors Laura Rothstein and Scott F. Johnson provide a comprehensive and current overview of the major federal laws-and judicial interpretations of those laws-that apply to the education of students with special needs. The text helps educators understand what the law requires so that they can make decisions that comply with these laws"--