Nirvi Shah writes at the Education Week (5/16) "On Special Education" blog, "Nearly three years after US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan first sent states letters asking them to review policies and guidelines on the use of restraint and seclusion in schools, the Education Department has issued its own nonbinding guidance on the practices." Noting that the practice is intended to be used "in emergency situations" to prevent harm to students or others, Shah states that "several reports, including one by the US Government Accountability Office have found that the practices are being used inappropriately and incorrectly, leading to injuries, or even the deaths, of students."
Disability Scoop (5/16, Diament) reports that ED "weighed in" on the issue "with a 45-page resource document, but stopped short of issuing formal guidance to educators," calling the document "the most detailed instruction to date" on the topic. The article adds that an advocacy group's 2009 report on "widespread abuse and even deadly examples of restraint and seclusion in schools" resulted in pressure on Congress to legislate standards, though "such efforts have sputtered." ED's document, Disability Scoop reports, "emphasizes the importance of preventive measures and indicates that restraint and seclusion should never be used as punishment."
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