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called a Manifestation Determination Review, or MDR for short. What is the main goal of the MDR? Your child cannot be removed from class or suspended from school for behavior that was caused by your child’s disability or if the school is not following your child’s IEP. At the MDR, you and the school will answer two questions: 1.
- What Is A Manifestation Determination?
- What Is A Manifestation Determination Meeting (MDM)?
- When Does A Manifestation Determination Meeting occur?
- What Happens After A Manifestation Determination Meeting?
- What If The Student Needs An Alternative setting?
- What Happens If The Behavior Is Not A Manifestation of The Child’S Disability?
- How Do I Prepare For A Manifestation Determination Meeting?
- What If The School and Parents Do Not Agree?
- Resources
When a student who has an IEP is disciplined at school and is removed from services—think sent home early or in or out of school suspension—the school has to consider whether or not the student’s behavior was a manifestation of the child’s disability. If the child’s behavior was caused by or directly related to the child’s disability, then it was a...
A manifestation determination meeting (MDM) is a type of IEP meeting where the team, including the parents of the student, the teacher, a school administrator, and any other relevant people, comes together to discuss: 1. Was the behavior caused by or does it have a direct relationship to the child’s disability? 2. Was the behavior the result of a f...
An MDM is not held after one incident or after the student’s first suspension. An MDM is held within 10 school days if a child with a disability: 1. Has been suspended for 10 days in a row, or 2. Has been suspended for 10 total days across a school year for similar behaviors An MDM is also called if the school district is considering expelling the ...
There are a variety of next steps that can happen after an MDM. If the team determines that the child’s behavior is a manifestation of the child’s disability, the next step is to decide what to do next. The team may make school-level adjustments, like adjusting the child’s behavior intervention plan. Or they may change the child’s IEP to include ad...
A student whose behavior is having a significant impact on their learning, and possibly the learning of others, may be best served in an alternative setting. This could be: 1. A different school 2. A home setting (meeting with a teacher in their home or a library or community setting) 3. A virtual setting 4. Another setting A child can be placed in...
If the behavior is determined not to be related to a child’s disability, then the child can be disciplined like any other student, and this includes expulsion. For example, if a child gets involved in a fight, and the team determines that it is not related to the child’s disability (say, a learning disability), the school team would follow the dist...
If you are involved in an MDM, it’s likely because you have some expertise about the student or the incident. In either case, bring data. If you were involved in the incident, bring a write-up of what happened and any data you can provide (a behavior-tracking sheet, doctor’s report, etc). If you have expertise about the student, bring information t...
Manifestation determination meetings can get dicey. If the parents do not agree, they can follow procedures to request a mediation or a due process hearing. If the child is in an alternative placement and the parents disagree, the child will stay in that placement until the issue is resolved. Read more: PACER Center Overview
Additional reading about managing behavior: Better Than Carrots or Sticks: Restorative Practices for Positive Classroom Managementby Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey Motivating Students Who Don’t Care: Proven Strategies To Engage All Learnersby Allen Mendler THE Classroom Management Bookby Harry Wong and Rosemary Wong The Behavior Co...
What is Manifestation Determination? Manifestation determination is an important part of Special Education and Section 504 laws. It is intended to prevent discrimination of a student when behavior is part of their disability.
Manifestation Determination. The Consideration of Disability. A child with a disability typically face the same disciplinary actions as every other student, including suspensions. Having a 504 Plan or an IEP means that special considerations may apply to disciplinary actions the school can take in certain circumstances, which gives kids with ...
Nov 17, 2021 · What is an MDR? An MDR is a meeting that schools1 are required to hold when considering the exclusion of a student with a. disability that constitutes a change of placement. The process is required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). Notably, it is not a hearing.
particular piece of the discipline puzzle is that of making the manifestation determination— sometimes referred to as the “Manifestation Determination review” or “MDR.” This presentation will examine the provisions of the law related to the manifestation determination
A Manifestation Determination Review is a process to look at the behavior of the student and determine whether it is a result (a manifestation) of the student’s disability or the school’s. failure to follow the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).
