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.
Officials in the U.S Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) have release another policy document. A few weeks ago, OSERS releases the “Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of Individualized Education Programs in the Least Restrictive Environment under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” […]
On September 30, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the U.S. Department of Education issued a guidance document interpreting the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in light of the challenges school personnel are facing from the Covid 19 pandemic. The document titled […]
In previous blog posts, we have written about the two Supreme Court decisions that created a standard for determining if a school district had provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to a student with a disability who had been determined eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). […]
This year the Special Education Legislative Summit (SELS), which is usually held in Washington D.C., will be held virtually from July 13 to 23. It is sponsored and planned by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). It is an opportunity for […]
President Budget released the budget for fiscal year 2022. It contains a large increase in IDEA funding. For full details on the Education portion of the budget go to CEC’s Policy and Advocacy page.
This afternoon (May 13) at 4:00 eastern standard time there will be a free webinar sponsored by Let’s Go Learn on Developing Education Meaningful and Legally Sound IEPs. In this free webinar, Drs. Mitchell Yell and Kurt Hulett will discuss the most critical issues of the developing and implementing the […]
The Indiana IEP Resource Center is inviting out-of-state participants to their Focus on Inclusion Week, a week-long virtual professional learning event, focusing on inclusion and IEP Development for general and special education teachers and administrators. The virtual event is from Feb. 1 to 2 and includes 3 presentations a day […]
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is hosting a free webinar, “What’s Happening in Washington: 2021 and Education Policy, Priorities, and People.” The webinar will be conducted by Kuna Tavalin, CEC’s Senior Policy & Advocacy Advisor, on January 27, 2021 from 4:00 to 5:00 PM Eastern Standard time. The webinar […]
In Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE), school districts must develop individualized education programs (IEPs) that are reasonably calculated to enable a student to make progress appropriate in light of his or her circumstances. To […]
The Progress Center (promotingprogress.org), which is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education, is hosting a virtual event for local educators and leaders who are interested in improving outcomes for students with disabilities by moving beyond compliance to develop high-quality educational programming […]
On October 14, 2020 the United States District Court in New Mexico issued a ruling in the case of Hernandez v. Grisham. One of the issues the court addressed was the provision of a FAPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the plaintiffs in the case, Shannon Woodworth, had a […]
The case of Independent School District v. E.M.D.H. (2020) involved a gifted secondary student, E.M.D.H. (hereinafter E.M.), who had school phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe depression, attention deficit hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder, and a panic disorder. In this case, the parents filed for a due process hearing under […]
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