Research & Policy Hub: Research-Informed Resources for Special Education
The IncluShift Research & Policy Hub is a curated, peer-reviewed-cited resource for IEP teams, SPED directors, researchers, and families working under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq.). Every definition, regulation summary, and research deep-dive carries inline citations to primary sources (federal regulations, RCTs, and systematic reviews) and is maintained to reflect current U.S. law and the 2024-2026 update cycle.
Curated by Davit Janunts, M.Ed. Special Education (Lehigh University, Fulbright Foreign Student Program), peer-reviewed co-author in Exceptional Children (Morin, Janunts, et al. 2024, 90(2):126-147; doi:10.1177/00144029231165506).
Straight answers to common special-education technology questions
Answer-first responses: the short version up top, then peer-reviewed sources and links to the relevant product. For parents, SLPs, teachers, and district teams.
Is there a free AAC app for nonverbal and minimally verbal students?
Communication / AAC
What is privacy-first (zero-PII) special education software, and what should districts look for after the PowerSchool breach?
Privacy & Procurement
What math instruction helps students who struggle with math? The CRA framework
Math Intervention
What tools support student self-determination and IDEA Indicator 13 transition planning?
Transition (Ages 14–22)
Where can parents get free help understanding an IEP?
Family-School Communication
Primary-source summaries of the federal laws governing U.S. special education
IDEA Part B
Ages 3-21 special education under 34 CFR Part 300.
IDEA Part C
Infants and toddlers (0-3) early intervention under 34 CFR Part 303.
Section 504
Rehabilitation Act disability discrimination protections.
FERPA
Federal student-records privacy under 34 CFR Part 99.
COPPA 2025 Amendments
FTC children's privacy rule, April 2026 effective date.
ADA Title II (2024 DOJ Rule)
Web accessibility compliance, April 2026 deadline.
Pillar pages on the foundational frameworks of modern SPED practice
Each deep-dive is a 1,500-2,500-word synthesis of peer-reviewed evidence, written in an answer-first structure and cited inline so AI assistants can extract and attribute passages accurately.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
Three-tier prevention framework integrating academic (RTI) and behavior (PBIS) supports. 2026 guide with evidence base and implementation roadmap.
CRA Framework in Math Intervention
Concrete-Representational-Abstract sequence for students with math learning disabilities. Tau-BC = 0.9965 across 30 single-case studies.
Science of Reading: Structured Literacy Explained
Orthographic mapping, systematic phonics, and the 40-year dyslexia research base (Hall et al. 2023, g=0.33).
AAC: Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Aided and unaided communication for individuals with complex communication needs. Core-vocabulary, LAMP, and presumed competence.
Original mechanism analyses on the failure modes that drive U.S. SPED policy
Short, citation-dense briefs that work backward from a measurable problem (due-process cost, Indicator 13 stagnation, AAC abandonment, the 85 % learning-success rule) to the smallest set of structured signals that explain it.
FAPE Risk Signals in IEP Data
A mechanism analysis of due-process cost drivers, and the structured signals that precede most filings.
Indicator 13 at the National Stagnation Rate
Why federal transition-planning compliance has not moved in a decade, and the four field-level checks that close the gap.
Zero-PII Architecture for Special-Education Software
The post-COPPA-2025 trust surface, and the three architectural commitments (UUID-only IDs, device-local inference, PII-stripping) that close it. AI/LLM calls are the focal example.
Substitution Limits: Why Paper Cannot Replace Screen-Based Assistive Technology
The Sweden/Denmark return-to-books trend does not carve out disability. For SPED, IDEA AT mandate and AAC-as-voice make screen access a federal civil-rights matter.
Special Education Terminology: Plain-Language Definitions with Primary Citations
Every glossary entry opens with a 40-80-word AI-citable answer block, followed by regulatory citation, a worked example, and related peer-reviewed research.
Editorial standards
Hub content is written in answer-first prose with inline peer-reviewed citations following the Aggarwal et al. 2024 (KDD '24) finding that inline attribution correlates with +30-40% AI citation lift. All claims trace to primary sources; research-informed language follows IncluShift's legal-language standards: no product has been evaluated in its own RCT, and no page offers legal or clinical advice.
This hub provides educational information, not legal or clinical advice. Consult a qualified attorney or licensed clinician before making decisions that rely on these summaries. Product features described on IncluShift.com are research-informed adaptive tools; individual products have not been evaluated in independent controlled studies.