Influential Factors Identified by Mediators and Attorneys for Settling Claims under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal statute initially passed in 1975 and amended several times since then. The IDEA mandates a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all children with disabilities enrolled in public schools. A set of due process grievance procedures is built into the statute, including the use of both informal settlement and mediation. Although much has been studied and written about litigation under the IDEA, there is little research on settlement under the IDEA. This article discusses the results of an exploratory study of the factors that influence settlement under the IDEA to address this gap in the literature based on the perceptions of mediators,