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The Study of State and Local Implementation and Impact of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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SLIIDEA Home

Study Description

Data Collection Instruments

Reports

Data Tables

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Abt Associates Inc.

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Bobby 508 Approved


Reports


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

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.

Fact Sheets

The fact sheets were designed to quickly communicate timely facts and figures from the study of state and local implementation of IDEA. Below are five fact sheets from the 2002-2003 school year on the following topics:
  • To What Extent are Students with Disabilities Participating in Statewide Reading Assessments?  PDF.
  • How Do States and Districts Report Test Scores and Dropout Rates of Students with Disabilities?  PDF.
  • What Data Do Districts and Schools Collect or Have Access to and How Do They Use Them?  PDF.
  • How Well Prepared Are Teachers to Educate Students with Disabilities? PDF.
  • How Are Districts Engaged in Disputes with Parents of Students with Disabilities? PDF.
Seven additional fact sheets based on data collected during the 2004-2005 school year address the following topics:
  • Easing Transitions between School and Adult Life.  PDF.
  • Access to and Use of Data.  PDF.
  • Resolving Disagreements between Families and Schools.  PDF.
  • Teacher Preparedness and Professional Development to Educate Students with Disabilities. PDF.
  • Educational Accountability for Students with Disabilities. PDF.
  • Easing Transitions between Preschool and School.  PDF.
  • Integrating Alternate Assessments into State Accountability Systems.  PDF.

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