Special Education Vouchers: Four State Approaches - The number of voucher programs for students both with and without disabilities has grown significantly over the past several years. Florida’s special education voucher program was first implemented in 1999; programs in the other three states included in this analysis all began within the past three years; and legislation has recently been introduced in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia in support of special education voucher programs. Most if not all voucher programs have been instituted as part of a growing choice movement throughout the United States. Although these programs have created educational options for parents and students, there is a lack of public accountability under either NCLB or IDEA for students participating in states’ special education voucher programs and data remain unavailable as to whether or not students participating in voucher programs are receiving appropriate services and/or performing competitively with their public school peers. (Eve Muller and Eileen Ahearn, Project Forum, April 2007)...

School-based Medicaid for Children with Disabilities - This policy analysis provides a brief background of how the Medicaid program interfaces with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) and an analysis of how Medicaid resources are accessed and used in five states.(Kim Moherek Sopko, Project FORUM, September 2006) ...

The Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP): Synthesis of Findings and Policy Implications - This brief synthesizes the SEEP findings 23 different surveys used to collect data for the 1999-2000 school year at the state, district, school, teacher and student level. The synthesis provides insight into some of the details of special education provisions across the nation. Reflecting detailed service descriptions for over 10,000 special education students, it provides knowledge well beyond what was previously known regarding the exact mix of services that students with varying primary categories of disability receive in varying types of districts and in some cases across individual states. Beyond descriptive data, SEEP provides a wealth of information for informing future special education policy. (Thomas Parrish and Phil Esra, Project Forum at NASDSE, April 2006) ...