This page features copies of SLIIDEA reports, presentations, policy briefs, fact sheets, and related materials as soon as  they are approved for public release by the Office of Special Education Programs.

Reports

• Improving Results for Students with Disabilities: Key Findings from the 1997 National Assessment Studies (September 2006) PDF As part of the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA, Congress asked the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to conduct a national assessment "to examine how well schools, local education agencies, states and other recipients of assistance" were making progress toward various goals. OSEP commissioned seven studies, three topic specific studies, and four longitudinal child outcomes studies. This report provides a synthesis of key findings that have emerged to date across the currently available data from the seven national assessment studies. The synthesis focuses on three emergent themes: 1) From standards to access to outcomes. 2) As students grow, what happens? 3) The importance of function, health, and environment.

• Improving Results for Students with Disabilities: A Summary of Key Findings from the 1997 National Assessment Studies (September 2006) PDF This document is an 8-page summary of the report Improving Results for Students with Disabilities: Key Findings from the 1997 National Assessment Studies, which provides a synthesis of the key findings that have emerged to date across the currently available data from the seven national assessment studies that were funded as part of the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA.

• Marking the Progress of IDEA Implementation (April 2006): PDF | Word. This final report captures the distinctive and emerging findings and discusses the implications from the six-year Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of IDEA (SLIIDEA).

• The SLIIDEA Sourcebook Report (1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, and 2004–2005 School Years) (April 2006).
  Volume I: The SLIIDEA Sourcebook Report (1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, and 2004–2005 School Years (April 2006). PDF | Word
  Volume II: Data Tables for the SLIIDEA Sourcebook Report (April 2006). PDF
  Volume III: Technical Appendices for the SLIIDEA Sourcebook Report (April 2006). PDF | Word This report, which consists of three volumes, summarizes the research results from the Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of IDEA (SLIIDEA). Volume I summarizes the research results from all years of data collection related to each congressional topic. Volume II consists of tables that display state, district, and school-level data for each data collection year, and show changes, including trends over time, in responses to individual survey items. These tables can also be found in html format under Data Tables. Volume III provides a complete description of the sampling design and analytic approach used in SLIIDEA.

• Final Report on Focus Study IV: Providing Access to the General Curriculum (December 2005) : PDF| Word. This report is the fourth in a series of qualitative focus studies. The goal of this study was to provide an in-depth look at how states, districts and schools ensure access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities.

• Final Report on Focus Study III: The Burden of Paperwork and Administrative Duties in Special Education (September 2004) : PDF | Word.  The goal of this study was to learn what factors affect how much time school personnel spend on special education paperwork and administrative duties.

• Final 2nd Interim Report - 2002-2003 School Year (March 2005) : PDF | Word.
  

• Final Interim Report - 1999-2000 School Year (November 2003):
  Volume I: PDF | Word.
  Volume II (Technical Appendices): PDF | Word.

• Final Report on Focus Study II (August 2003): PDF.  This report is the second in a series of qualitative focus studies.  In it, we explored the nine Congressional areas of interest with a topical focus on the areas of parent participation and dispute resolution.

• Final Report on Selected Findings (January 27, 2003): PDF.  This report presents first-year data from the study and indicates how states and districts were implementing the 1997 IDEA Amendments.

• Highlights from the 1999-2000 School Year: PDF | Word.  In this brief, we use highlights from the study's first year of data collection to capture the status of implementation on a number of the congressional goals.

• Final Report on Focus Study I (July 22, 2002): PDF  | Word. This report summarizes the findings from the first set of case studies on selected school districts, in which we primarily explored the implementation of the reauthorization and how it affects district progress toward addressing the behavioral needs of students. Results also are presented on how districts are making progress toward developing accountability systems to report on the performance of children with disabilities in general scholastic activities and assessments; increasing the participation of parents in the education of their children with disabilities, including resolving disagreements; providing for the participation of children with disabilities in the general curriculum and increasing their placement in the least restrictive environment; easing early childhood and secondary transitions; and preventing dropouts.

Presentations

• Improving Results for Students with Disabilities: Key Findings from the 1997 National Assessment Studies in PowerPoint format. Fran O’Reilly (Abt Associates Inc.), Mary-Beth Fafard (Brown University) and Mary Wagner (SRI International) delivered this presentation at an OSEP-sponsored briefing on September 25, 2006. The briefing and presentation discussed key findings from the seven OSEP-funded national assessment studies following the reauthorization of IDEA in 1997.

• Marking the Progress of IDEA Implementation in PowerPoint format. Ellen Schiller, Abt Associates, delivered this presentation to preview the summary findings from the 6 year study of SLIIDEA, March 3, 2006, for the co-sponsored AERA and IEL Education Policy Forum.

• An Emerging Profile of the Capacity of Districts and Schools to Meet the Needs of Teachers Educating Students with Disabilities in PowerPoint format.  The presentation was delivered by Ellen Schiller and Fran O'Reilly on March 17, 2004 at the Office of Special Education Programs’ Joint Personnel Preparation/SIG/CSPD Conference in Washington, DC.

• Accommodation Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample of Districts and Schools in PowerPoint format.  Handouts from the presentation are also available in PDF and Word format. The presentation was delivered on October 6, 2003 by Ellen Schiller of Abt Associates at a meeting hosted by the Education Policy Reform Research Institute. 

• What Do States and Districts Do to Influence Implementation of IDEA? in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered on May 29, 2003 by Kelly Henderson of the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. It was presented in a session titled "Headlines from the National Studies," as part of the Office of Special Education Annual Leadership Conference, held in Bethesda, MD.

• Standards and Accountability for Students with Disabilities, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered at the 2nd National Summit on the Shared Implementation of IDEA '97 in June 2003 by Fran O'Reilly and Ellen Schiller of Abt Associates and Kelly Henderson of the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education.

• Child's Academic Outcomes, Systems, and Expenditures: Findings from SLIIDEA, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered at the OSEP Research Project Director's Meeting in July 2003 by Fran O'Reilly and Ellen Schiller of Abt Associates.

• Social Adjustment and Behavior Outcomes and Systems: Findings from SLIIDEA, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered at the OSEP Research Project Director's Meeting in July 2003 by Fran O'Reilly and Ellen Schiller of Abt Associates and Tom Fiore of Westat.

• Accountability for Students with Disabilities: Year 1 Survey Findings and Year 1 and 2 Focus Study Findings, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered by Ellen Schiller and Fran O’Reilly at AERA on April 22, 2003.

• State, District, and School Findings on Dispute Resolution, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered at the Annual Meeting of OSEP's Part B Data Managers' Meeting on April 1, 2003 by Fran O'Reilly of Abt Associates.

• Presentation made to the Education Task Force of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, November 14, 2002, in PowerPoint format.

• Selected Findings from State and District Surveys – Year 1, in PowerPoint format.  This presentation was delivered at the April 2002 Annual Meeting of the Council for Exceptional Children by Ellen Schiller and Fran O'Reilly of Abt Associates and Tom Fiore of Westat.

Policy Briefs

• Providing Access to the General Education Curriculum: State, District and School Actions (December 2005). PDF. Fran O'Reilly and Ellen Schiller prepared this policy brief to share the findings from a SLIIDEA qualitative study on understanding how students with disabilities access the general education curriculum. This brief captures the instructional and curriculum practices of general education and special education teachers who teach students with learning disabilities, mental retardation and emotional disturbance in different placement options gain access to the general education curriculum. Interviews with teachers and district and school administrators contributed to the analysis of qualitative data to identify the school level resources, as well as state and district policies that contributed to teachers helping their students with disabilities gain access to the general education curriculum.
• Policy Brief III: Paperwork and Administrative Duties in Special Education: A View From the Field :  Word  | PDF.   Ellen Schiller, Fran O’Reilly, and John Kirlin prepared a policy brief based on findings from a focus study conducted in winter 2003. The goal of the qualitative study was to learn what factors affect how much time school personnel spend on special education paperwork and administrative duties and to identify strategies that have the potential to decrease time. Information collected included time logs completed by school staff documenting actual time spent on special education tasks. Findings describe differing perspectives from district and school staff on time and burden in a variety of areas.

• Policy Brief II: Building Opportunities for Students with Disabilities.  Ellen Schiller and Fran O'Reilly prepared an "InfoBrief" in May 2003 for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).  It presents findings describing how states, districts, and schools have:  addressed the establishment of accountability systems to report on the performance of students with disabilities in assessments; used positive behavior strategies for all students; and resolved disagreements between parents and district/school personnel. View the report on ASCD's web site.

• Policy Brief I: Using Implementation Data to Study State, District, and School Impacts:  Word  | PDF.   Presentations made by Ellen Schiller of Abt Associates and Kelly Henderson of the U.S. Department of Education support this policy brief; PowerPoint slides are available here.  The presentations were  at the Annual Meeting of the Council of Exceptional Children, Kansas City, Missouri on April 20th, 2001 and the OSEP Partnership Conference, Washington, DC, June 21, 2001.