Three years after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District which held that IEPs “must be appropriately ambitious in light of (a student’s) circumstances, just as advancement from grade to grade is appropriately ambitious for most children in the regular classroom.,” a new analysis suggests the ruling hasn’t changed things much.
The N.Y.U. Journal of Legislation & Public Policy looked at federal court decisions in 142 special education cases between March 2017 and March 2020. School districts won 115 of the decisions that were reached after the Endrew F. ruling. The report’s author, William Moran, noted that Endrew F. could be playing a larger role behind the scenes than court rulings might suggest. “It is possible that Endrew F. has had a more student-friendly impact than these data can possibly represent if many school districts — or student advocates, for that matter — opted to settle their cases in light of its holding,” he wrote.
Advocates, too, suggest the ruling may be having as yet unseen positive effects. Selene Almazan, legal director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a nonprofit that represents special education attorneys, said it’s important to note that half of federal court circuits have raised their FAPE standard in light of the Endrew F. decision. “I do think that the progress component of Endrew F. has been something that parents and advocates can use on the ground in IEP meetings. Endrew F. has now clarified the importance of seeing actual, measurable progress under a student’s IEP.”
