School leaders and special educators are expected to be experts on all levels and types of special education law and services, types of disability, and aspects of academic and functional programming. With the increasing demands of the job and the ever-changing legal and educational climate, many administrators and teachers are overwhelmed, and few feel adequately prepared to meet the demands. "Trends and Legal Issues in Special Education" helps you build and support timely, legally sound, and effective special education services and programs. Readers will find: (1) the most up-to-date information on how to effectively implement special education programs, processes, and procedures; (2) examination of a wide variety of issues, from developing and implementing individual education programs (IEPs) that confer a free appropriate public education, Section 504, least restrictive environment (LRE), and successfully collaborating with parents, to issues regarding accountability, staffing, bullying, early childhood special education, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), evidence-based practices, transition, discipline, and the school-to-prison pipeline; and (3) extensive references and resources. Written as a comprehensive reference for all who work with students with disabilities, this book offers the most up-to-date research and field-tested strategies from a range of experts that special education professionals can confidently and immediately apply. Chapters in the book include: (1) Hot Topics for Litigation (David Bateman and Mitchell Yell); (2) Comprehensive, Integrated, Three-tiered (Ci3T) Models of Prevention: Considerations for the Field (Kathleen Lane, Wendy Oaks, Mark Buckman, and Holly Menzies); (3) A Free, Appropriate Public Education (David Bateman and Mitchell Yell); (4) Working with Parents (Meghan Burke and Samantha Goldman); (5) Current Special Education Legal Trends for Transition-Age Youth (Angela Prince, Anthony Plotner, and June Gothberg); (6) Discipline and Students with Disabilities (Kelly Carrero, Kimberly Vannest, and Courtney Lavadia); (7) The Research-to-Practice Gap in Special Education (Bryan Cook and Cynthia Farley); (8) What Educators Need to Know about Accountability (Jim Shriner and Martha Thurlow); (9) Taking Aim at Current Trends in Early Childhood Special Education (Kate Ascetta); (10) Current Trends in Bully Prevention: Implications for Youth with Disabilities (Chad Rose, Stephanie Hopkins, Gloria McGillen, and Jessica Simpson); (11) Innovation in Schools: Expanded School Mental Health (Seth Bernstein, Lauren Young, Ameet Bosmia, Samantha Hartley, Cameron Massey, and Mark Weist); (12) Current Trends in Preparing General Education Teachers to Work with Students with Disabilities (David Bateman and Jenifer Cline); (13) The School-to-Prison Pipeline (Christine Christle, Joseph Ryan, and Michelle Dunn); (14) Teacher Shortages and Teacher Attrition in Special Education: Issues and Trends (Tim Landrum, Lauren Collins, and Chris Sweigart); and (15) Preparing Future Leaders and Administrators of Special Education (Mary Lynn Boscardin).