Were the Student’s Actions a Manifestation of the Student’s Disability? - The Need for Policy Change and Guidance

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag

Under federal special education law, before a school district may discipline a student with a disability for more than 10 days, it must first decide whether the student’s actions were a manifestation of the disability (IDEA, 2004). This requirement, the manifestation determination review (MDR), seeks to prevent a significant disciplinary change in placement based on disability-caused behavior. The article traces the legal standard’s evolution and explains policy implications using findings from 80 MDR decisions in a large urban school district.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Policy implementation and variation in special education

MDR requirements under IDEA and policy aims

Research gap and study focus

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal | | | --- | --- | | Arizona State University | | | Volume 25 Number 50 May 22, 2017 ISSN 1068-2341 | | Were the Student’s Actions a Manifestation of the Student’s Disability? The Need for Policy Change and Guidance Maria M. Lewis The Pennsylvania State University United States Citation: Lewis, M. M. (2017) . Were the student’s actions a manifestation of the student’s disability? The need for policy change and guidance. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 25(50) . [http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2880](http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2880) Abstract: Under federal special education law, before a school district may discipline a student with a disability for greater than 10 days, it must first determine whether the student’s actions were a manifestation of his or her disability (IDEA, 2004) . This requirement, referred to as manifestation determination review (MDR), aims to ensure that students with disabilities do not experience a significant disciplinary change in placement for actions that are caused by their disabilities. This article will discuss the evolution of the legal standard and the policy implications of a study that examined 80 MDR decisions in one large urban school district. Keywords: policy implementation; special education; education law; student discipline ¿Dónde está la manifestación de la deficiencia del aluno? Una necesidad de cambio de políticas y orientación Resumen: De acuerdo con el derecho federal de educación especial, antes de un distrito escolar punir un déficit con una deficiencia de más de 10 días, o incluso el primer determinar se como acciones de aluno para una manifestación de su deficiencia (IDEA, 2004) . Esta exigencia, como una manifestación determinación revisión (MDR), una visa que los estudiantes con deficiencia no experimente una cambio disciplinar significativa en la colocación de acciones que son causadas por sus deficiencias. Este artículo aborda laevolución del patrón jurídico y las implicaciones políticas de un estudio que analiza 80 años. Palabras-clave: implementación de políticas; educación especial; direito da educação; punición estudiantil As ações do aluno eram uma manifestação da deficiência do aluno? A necessidadede mudança de políticas e orientação Resumo: De acordo com a lei federal de educação especial, antes de um distrito escolar punir um aluno com deficiência por mais de 10 dias, o mesmo deve primeiro determinar seas ações do aluno foram uma manifestação de sua deficiência (IDEA, 2004) . Esta exigência, referida como manifestation determination review (MDR), visa garantir que os alunos com deficiência não experimentem uma mudança disciplinar significativa na colocação de açõesque são causadas por suas deficiências. Este artigo discutirá a evolução do padrão jurídico e as implicações políticas de um estudo que analisou 80 decisões MDR em um grande distrito escolar urbano. Palavras-chave: implementação de políticas; educação especial; direito da educação; punição estudantil Introduction The implementation of state and federal policy is a part of the everyday work of educators (Odden, 1991; Honig, 2006) . However, research demonstrates that policies are not always implemented as intended or with fidelity (Cohen and Hill, 2001; Correnti and Rowan, 2007; Kennedy 2005; Rigby, Woulfin & März, 2016; Rowan and Miller, 2007). According to Young and Lewis (2015),“variation in implementation is the rule, not the exception”(p. 14) . Given the complex, individualized nature of special education law, it is not surprising that it is an area of law where variation occurs frequently (O'Laughlin, L., & Lindle, J. C., 2014) . Under federal special education law, before a school district may discipline a student with a disability for greater than 10 days, it must first determine whether the student’s actions were a manifestation of his or her disab

FAQs

What is the manifestation determination review (MDR) requirement under IDEA?

Before disciplining a student with a disability for more than 10 days, the district must determine whether the misconduct was a manifestation of the student’s disability (IDEA, 2004). MDR is designed to avoid a significant disciplinary change in placement for actions caused by the disability.

Why is implementing MDR challenging in practice?

MDR requires decision makers to judge the strength of the connection between the disability and the reviewed misconduct. Because the process is individualized, the determination is inherently subjective, and the relationship between MDR theory and MDR practice has not been fully explored.

What does the article analyze to understand MDR implementation?

It is grounded in findings from a study examining 80 MDR decisions in one large urban school district, using this evidence to discuss how the standard operates beyond legal theory.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by ahduag