The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that requires each state to ensure that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is available to all eligible children with disabilities residing in that state. The information in this booklet explains the provisions related to, and benefits available to, children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private schools, including religious schools, when the provision of FAPE is not at issue.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is issuing this guidance to provide charter schools, States, State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), other public agencies, parents, and other stakeholders with information regarding the rights of children with disabilities attending charter schools and their parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA or Act).

This document is designed to help parents, students, and the charter school community better understand the rights of students with disabilities under Federal disability-related laws. This includes information about Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The purpose of this brief is to summarize some of the past exclusionary practices that resulted from low expectations for students with disabilities, and how those were addressed in policies related to standards-based reform. The brief highlights answers to critical questions about expectations for students with disabilities, including those with the most significant cognitive disabilities, answers that have been developed over time based on lessons learned.

This section from the Training Manual: Collaborative Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution in Special Education, focuses on communication skills which are essential for effective collaboration, including collaborating with parents and families within the development and implementation of high-quality educational programming. This section of the training manual covers types of communication, receiving information, sharing information, and barriers to effective communication.

A Tale of Two Conversations is a two-part video, originally developed by the Office for Dispute Resolution in Pennsylvania, showing actors playing a parent of a child with a disability and a school administrator. The meeting was requested by the parent and takes place in the administrator’s office. Take One shows the parent and administrator talking about the child’s special education program. They are talking, but not listening. Their communication is unproductive.

This brochure offers specific communication skills that may be helpful to parents as they develop and maintain partnerships with their child's school. This document was originally published in May 2004 and developed in partnership with the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY). This resource is available in multiple languages

In this multi-part webinar from the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) presenters Lorig Charkoudian, Ph.D. and Erricka Bridgeford of Community Mediation Maryland introduced participants to the concepts and strategies of Inclusive Listening, a system for listening and reflecting for mediation and facilitation. Inclusive Listening has been developed over the last 15 years by mediators and trainers in Maryland. Inclusive listening honors participants' experiences, supporting them to have the conversation in an authentic way.

IEP teams are intentionally composed of parents, educators, and service providers who bring different expertise to the development of effective educational programs. This resource from the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) includes suggestions on how educators and service providers can effectively collaborate with parents including specific recommendations for IEP meetings.

The National Center on Intensive Intervention has developed the tools charts to assist educators and families in becoming informed consumers who can select academic and behavioral interventions. The charts display reviews of studies of interventions including information about the quality of the study, outcomes, and implementation information. The charts are interactive so that users can filter, sort, compare, and review the data in order to select an intervention that meets their needs.