Resource library

Every source this manual cites, grouped: Rules and Record, the federal regulations, federal guidance and forms, Section 504, records, parent centers and dispute resolution, and practitioners. All free.

Every link below was fetched and read on 2026-10-23. We check every link again by 2027-10-23, and sooner when a source changes. Nothing here is sold, and no link carries a referral or tracking code. Paid courses we compared while planning this manual are not listed.

Two habits help with any source here. First, check the date on the page: federal guidance can be withdrawn, and the Department of Education's policy guidance page marks rescinded documents. Second, a state's own notice outranks a national explainer on what that state does.

Rules and Record (this manual's state layer)

• Rules and Record: home page: what the site covers and the dispute routes as states describe them.
• Special education, state by state: the index of 51 state pages, with each page's last-checked date.
• School discipline: the discipline index, one page per state, for every student.
• The records: a checklist for keeping a family's records.
• The organizer: a local-only tool that turns saved PDFs and emails into a chronology and exhibit index.
• About this site: the method: first-party sources, double dates, change logs.
• The change record: what states changed each month, with an Atom feed.
• Pennsylvania: this manual's worked state example.
• California: the state notice this manual quotes on recording meetings.
• Texas: the ARD committee, Texas's name for the IEP team.
• Minnesota: the dispute options Minnesota's notice lists.
• Ohio: used in the fictional case of a student leading his own meeting.

Federal regulations: IDEA Part B (34 CFR Part 300)

• 300.8 Child with a disability: the categories and the two-part test.
• 300.9 Consent: informed, written, revocable consent.
• 300.17 Free appropriate public education: the definition of FAPE.
• 300.22 Individualized education program: what an IEP is.
• 300.30 Parent: who counts as a parent.
• 300.34 Related services: the list of related services.
• 300.39 Special education: specially designed instruction.
• 300.42 Supplementary aids and services: supports in regular classes.
• 300.43 Transition services: the definition of transition services.
• 300.105 Assistive technology: devices and services.
• 300.106 Extended school year services: decided individually by the team.
• 300.111 Child find: finding children who may need services.
• 300.114 LRE requirements: education with children without disabilities.
• 300.115 Continuum of alternative placements: the range of placements.
• 300.116 Placements: how placement is decided.
• 300.124 Transition from Part C to preschool: by the third birthday.
• 300.137 Equitable services: children placed in private schools by their parents.
• 300.148 Placement by parents when FAPE is at issue: named to mark a boundary.
• 300.153 Filing a state complaint: the one-year window.
• 300.160 Participation in assessments: test accommodations and alternate assessments.
• 300.300 Parental consent: consent to evaluate and to services.
• 300.301 Initial evaluations: who may ask, and the timeline.
• 300.303 Reevaluations: how often.
• 300.304 Evaluation procedures: what an evaluation must include.
• 300.305 Additional requirements for evaluations: review of existing data.
• 300.306 Determination of eligibility: who decides, and the parent's copy.
• 300.320 Definition of IEP: the required contents.
• 300.321 IEP team: members and excusal.
• 300.322 Parent participation: notice, scheduling, interpreters, the parent's copy.
• 300.323 When IEPs must be in effect: timing, access, transfers.
• 300.324 Development, review, and revision of IEP: what the team considers; annual review; amendments.
• 300.328 Alternative means of meeting participation: video and phone.
• 300.501 Records and meeting participation: what is and is not a meeting.
• 300.502 Independent educational evaluation: the IEE.
• 300.503 Prior notice: prior written notice and its content.
• 300.504 Procedural safeguards notice: when it is given.
• 300.506 Mediation: voluntary, at the state's cost.
• 300.507 Filing a due process complaint: the two-year limit or the state's.
• 300.510 Resolution process: the resolution meeting.
• 300.518 Child's status during proceedings: stay put.
• 300.520 Transfer of rights at age of majority: rights at adulthood.
• 300.530 Authority of school personnel: discipline and manifestation determination.
• 300.613 Access rights: seeing records before a meeting.
• 300.618 Amendment of records: asking to correct a record.

Federal guidance, forms and data

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: the federal IDEA website.
• About IDEA: history and the model forms.
• Parents and Families: the Department of Education's parent page.
• Policy Guidance: current and rescinded guidance.
• Model Form: Individualized Education Program: the federal model IEP form (PDF).
• Model Form: Prior Written Notice: the five content items (PDF).
• Model Form: Procedural Safeguards Notice: the model state notices follow (PDF, June 2009).
• Questions and Answers on IEPs, Evaluations, and Reevaluations: OSERS, revised June 2010 (PDF).
• Dear Colleague Letter on FAPE: OSEP, November 2015, standards-aligned IEPs (PDF).
• Questions and Answers on Endrew F.: OSERS, December 2017 (PDF).
• Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District: the Supreme Court's 2017 opinion (PDF).
• List of Guidance Documents Rescinded, October 2017: history of federal guidance on recording meetings (PDF).
• ED and HHS interagency agreement: federal grant administration, updated June 15, 2026 (PDF).
• Students With Disabilities: NCES data on students served under IDEA.

Section 504 and civil rights

• 34 CFR 104.33 Free appropriate public education: FAPE under Section 504.
• 34 CFR 104.34 Educational setting: the 504 setting rule.
• 34 CFR 104.35 Evaluation and placement: 504 evaluations.
• 34 CFR 104.36 Procedural safeguards: 504 safeguards.
• Parent and Educator Resource Guide to Section 504: OCR, December 2016 (PDF).
• Frequently Asked Questions About Section 504 and FAPE: OCR's questions and answers.
• File a Civil Rights Complaint: OCR's complaint page.
• OCR Guide to Section 504: CPIR's summary of the OCR guide.

Student records

• 34 CFR 99.10 Rights to inspect and review education records: FERPA's access rule.
• FERPA: the law and regulations as the Student Privacy Policy Office publishes them.
• File a Complaint: FERPA complaints to the Student Privacy Policy Office.

Parent centers and dispute resolution

• Find Your Parent Center: the national map of parent centers.
• The Short-and-Sweet IEP Overview: the process in brief.
• Contents of the IEP: each required part with the regulation text.
• Meetings of the IEP Team: notice, scheduling and participation.
• Evaluating Children for Disability: the evaluation process.
• Special Factors in IEP Development: the five special factors.
• Supplementary Aids and Services: examples of aids, modifications and supports.
• Transition to Adulthood: transition planning and the student's role.
• Behavior at School: behavior supports and assessments.
• Building the Legacy training modules: federal training modules on IDEA.
• Glossaries: special education glossaries, including Spanish.
• CADRE: the federally funded center on special education dispute resolution.
• CADRE Continuum: dispute resolution from prevention to legal review.
• IEP Facilitation: CADRE's parent guide to facilitated meetings, in 12 languages.
• Quick Guide to Special Education Dispute Resolution Processes: a two-page comparison of six processes.
• What is an IEP and how does it support my child?: PACER Center, Minnesota's parent center.

Evaluation scores

• Making Sense of Your Child's Test Scores: a practitioner's explanation of standard scores and percentiles (PDF, 2014).
• Interpretation problems of age and grade equivalents: a test publisher's caution.
• The importance of understanding the confidence interval: Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Understanding the standard error of measure: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Practitioners and nonprofits

• The difference between IEPs and 504 plans: Understood, a side-by-side for families.
• Letter to the Stranger: Wrightslaw's letter-writing method.
• Family: Center on PBIS, family engagement in behavior supports.