Special Education Resources
State Connections
Arizona Department of Education
Main Page http://www.ade.az.gov/ 602-542-4013
Special Education Page (Exceptional Students) www.ade.state.az.us/ess
On this page you can find qualification forms for each category of disability, the law and regulations for the state of Arizona, best practice recommendations and publications put out by the Arizona Department of Education.
Find a School in Arizona www.ade.state.az.us/edd
File a Complaint www.ade.state.az.us/ess/dispute/complaints/
Arizona Center for Disability Law
http://www.acdl.com/ 602-274-6287 or 1-800-927-2260
The Arizona Center for Disability Law is a not for profit public interest law firm, dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals with a wide range of physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory and cognitive disabilities. As part of the nationwide protection and advocacy (P&A) system, the Center provides free legal services under several major incentives:
Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI); Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities (PADD); Client Assistance Program (CAP); Assistive Technology Advocacy Program (AT); Protection & Advocacy of Individual Rights (PAIR); Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS); Protection & Advocacy for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury (PATBI); and Protection & Advocacy for Voting Access (PAVA).
Federal links on issues relating to Special Education
A U.S Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs funded project that helps build the capacity of State Education Agencies and Lead Agencies in improving programs and services for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. The MPRRC is the technical assistance division of the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University.
Topical Information page http://www.rrfcnetwork.org/content/view/21/49/
NICHCY (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)
http://www.nichcy.org/index.html
NICHCY stands for the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. We serve the nation as a central source of information on:
* disabilities in infants, toddlers, children, and youth,
* IDEA, which is the law authorizing special education,
* No Child Left Behind (as it relates to children with disabilities), and
* research-based information on effective educational practices.
Publication page http://www.nichcy.org/pubs1.htm
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
http://www.ada.gov/
Offers information and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act
Other resources
Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.cec.sped.org/
Dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.
Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights
http://www.pacer.org/
PACER, a national center, responds to thousands of parents and professionals each year. It provides assistance to individual families, workshops, materials for parents and professionals, and leadership in securing a free and appropriate public education for all children.
Workshop page http://www.pacer.org/workshops/
Articles Page http://www.pacer.org/articles/index.htm
CADRE
http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/
The Consortium for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) works to increase the nation’s capacity to effectively resolve special education disputes, reducing the use of expensive adversarial processes. CADRE works with state and local education and early intervention systems, parent centers, families and educators to improve programs and results for children with disabilities. CADRE is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education to serve as the National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education.
National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
http://www.pbis.org/main.htm
The Center has been established by the Office of Special Education Programs, US Department of Education to give schools capacity-building information and technical assistance for identifying, adapting, and sustaining effective school-wide disciplinary practices with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.
National Center for Learning Disabilities
http://www.ncld.org
A guide to essential information about learning disabilities, early literacy and learning resources, support for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities, public policy and advocacy tools. The NCLD tram is committed to providing accurate, up-to-date and helpful information through L.D.org.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are two of the nation’s most important federal laws relating to the education of children. While NCLB seeks to improve the education of all children — with an emphasis on children from lowincome families — IDEA focuses on the individual child and seeks to ensure specialized services for children with disabilities so that they may benefi t from education.
Lately, these two laws have taken on new importance to parents of students with disabilities. NCLB provisions apply to all students, including those whose disabilities require special education. So it’s important that parents understand the requirements of NCLB. IDEA, in its latest update by Congress, has been more closely aligned with NCLB, making it equally important that parents become familiar with the ways the two laws have been positioned to work together to improve academic achievement of students with disabilities.