Mitchell L. Yell, Ph.D., is the Fred and Francis Lester Palmetto Chair in Teacher Education and a Professor in Special Education at the University of South Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. in special education from the University of Minnesota. His professional interests include special education law, IEP development, progress monitoring, and parent involvement in special education. Dr. Yell has published 124 journal articles, 6 textbooks, 32 book chapters, and has conducted numerous workshops on various aspects of special education law, classroom management, and progress monitoring. His textbook, Special Education and the Law, is in its 5th edition. He also had been awarded almost $16 million in grants. Dr. Yell also serves as a State-level due process review officer in South Carolina. Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Yell was a special education teacher in Minnesota for 14 years.
On March 21, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools. In the 9-0 ruling, which was written by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, the High Court reversed and remanded the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit for further […]
School district officials respond to challenging and disruptive behavior in a variety of ways and determining the appropriate response to students’ problem behavior is a difficult and complex issue. This becomes especially true when a student has a disability. Different rules and regulations apply to disciplining students with disabilities under […]
On Tuesday, January 18 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools. The student, Miguel Perez, alleged that the Sturgis school district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide him with appropriate special education services. For example, […]
On January 18, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a special education case, Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools. In this case, the Supreme Court will consider whether families that have settled claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) can pursue lawsuits under the Americans […]
Researching Special Education Law Online Mitchell L. Yell, Ph.D. With the availability of online resources, today’s administrators and teachers can become more legally literate about special education laws, policies, and procedures. Moreover, they should be better able to identify legal issues and applicable laws or legal standards and apply relevant […]
The essential obligation of special educators is to collaboratively develop an individualized program of special education and related services for eligible students with disabilities that confers a free appropriate public education (FAPE). When a student with disabilities exhibits serious problem behavior, providing a FAPE often means including behavioral programming in […]
The OSEP-funded Progress Center (promotingprogress.org) is hosting a free virtual program titled “Prepping for PROGRESS! Adding New Tools to Your Backpack (Toolbox) for the Start of School.” The purpose of the event is to assist teachers who are looking for resources and strategies to help prepare educators to promote progress […]
On September 26, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Rehabilitation Act, including Section 504, into law. Although the law was passed, it was almost five years later before the U.S Department of Education promulgated regulations implementing the law. The Section 504 education regulations can be found here. On May 6th, […]
On April 28, 2022, OCR (U.S. Department of Education, 2022) issued its findings and an agreement with the second largest school district in the U.S., the Los Angeles Unified School District (hereinafter LA Unified). The Office of Civil Rights investigated LA Unified to determine whether the district failed to provide […]
In two seminal special education cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, Board of Education v. Rowley (1982) and Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017), the High Court fashioned a two-part test that hearing officers and judges were to apply to the facts of the case when determining […]
As of 2019, 31 states had laws or local ordinances that criminalized student misbehavior that occurred in or around schools. These laws often criminalize behaviors committed by students that may be socially inappropriate but fall short of criminal behavior. Moreover, the criminalized behaviors are often indistinguishable from behaviors that receive […]
In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) became law. The law, which was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, promised financial incentives to states that submitted plans to provide educational services to eligible students with disabilities in accordance with the terms of the […]
SPED LAW BLOG 