All wordsdefault
autism iepReturns documents that mention bothterms. Order doesn’t matter.
Guide
How to get the most out of the site.
A quick reference for searching the database and understanding what you see in your results, with examples you can copy.
01
Searching the database
By default, a query matches documents that contain every word you type. These operators let you broaden, narrow, or sharpen that match.
"extended school year" autism -denied
An exact phrase, plus a required keyword, with one term excluded, all in one query.
Any ofOR
autism OR dyslexiaBroadens the search; either word may appear. Useful for synonyms or related conditions.
ExcludeNOT · -
compensatory -deniedFilters out any document containing the excluded term. NOT works too.
Exact phrase"…"
"extended school year"Words must appear together, in order. Best for statutory phrases and terms of art.
Issue tagissue:
issue:stay-putNarrows to one of the built-in issue categories, like IEE, ESY, placement, discovery, or compensatory education.
Word stems*
neuro*Matches every word that starts with the stem, like neurological, neuropsych, neurodevelopmental, &c.
Near each other/n /s /p
parent /s prevailedSame sentence. Use /5 for within five words, /p for same paragraph.
Combine for precision
Mix any of the above in a single query. The filters in the sidebar (year, hearing officer, district…) layer on top.
"extended school year" autism -denied year:202402
Jurisdictions & appeals
NewBy default, searches cover the administrative due process appeals. You can add in federal court appeals, the appeals of those administrative hearings, with a checkbox under each state.
ADMINISTRATIVEincluded by default
Hearing decisions & rulings
The starting point for almost every dispute, which are issued by hearing officers in the administrative process. This is the bulk of the database.
APPEALopt‑in scope
Federal court appeals
When a party appeals to federal court, the resulting opinion sits alongside the original decision and can be searched together with it.
Open the Jurisdiction filter in the results sidebar, then tick “Fed Appeals” under a state (try it below).
Jurisdiction1
Search for more
- CaliforniaComing soon
Massachusetts only
DECISIONNo. 25‑01933
Nov 1, 2024In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools
District Prevailed· Sara Berman
RULINGNo. 25‑00461
Oct 22, 2024Ruling on Hingham Public Schools’ Motion for Directed Verdict
Amy Reichbach
03
Appeal alerts
NewWhen a decision is affected by an appeal, either its own or one of the cases it relies on, a small colored appeal alert appears at the top of the decision page. Click an alert to read what happened.
How the alerts appear in the decision header
Back to resultsDECISIONNo. 25‑03348District Prevailed
Relies on overturned authority
Click another alert to swapThis ruling relies on a BSEA decision later reversed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, so the cited proposition should be checked before relying on it.
Michelle K. v. Pentucket Reg'l Sch. Dist., 79 F. Supp. 3d 361 (D. Mass. 2015)View related case
Caution
Relies on overturned authority
The decision cites a case that was later reversed, vacated, or modified. The reasoning may no longer be good law.
Warning
Reversed or modified on appeal
This decision was reversed, vacated, modified, or remanded by a federal court. Read the appellate opinion before relying on the result.
On appeal
Currently on appeal
A notice of appeal has been filed. Briefing or argument is in progress; no appellate decision has issued yet.
04
Summaries
NewDecisions and rulings have a plain-language summary. Summaries are off by default; switch them on with the Summaries toggle in the results toolbar, and the site remembers your choice.
Results toolbar
DECISIONNo. 25‑01933
Nov 1, 2024In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools
District Prevailed· Sara Berman
Summary
The hearing officer found that Parents did not prove the student was eligible for special education based on the information available to the Team in October 2023.
The highlighted document icon is the Summaries toggle. A tinted background means result cards show summary text.
In search results
Each result shows its full summary in place of the usual text excerpt.
On a decision page
A short Summary heading sits above the decision text. Click it to expand or collapse the summary.
Summaries are a research aid, not a substitute for the decision itself. Please review the full text before relying on a case.
05
Reading a result card
Every result is summarized at a glance with a handful of labels. Here’s what each one means.
APPEAL1st Cir.No. 21‑1505P
Doe v. Newton Public Schools
Parent PrevailedNewton Public Schools·1st Cir.
…the First Circuit affirmed reimbursement for the parents’ placement at Franklin Academy after finding Newton failed to provide FAPE for the student’s final high-school years…
APPEAL
Type, Appeal
A federal court decision in a case that started administratively. Tan badge.
DECISION
Type, Decision
A final administrative decision on the merits. Neutral gray badge.
RULING
Type, Ruling
An interlocutory or procedural ruling (motions, discovery, scheduling). Cool gray.
1st Cir.
Court (appeals only)
Which federal court issued the opinion, like the Circuit Court of Appeals, District Court, &c.
Outcome labels
Parent Prevailed
The student or family won the principal claim.
District Prevailed
The school district or agency was upheld.
Mixed Result
Each side won on some claims, lost on others.
Dismissed
Resolved without a ruling on the merits, whether withdrawn, settled, or procedurally dismissed.
LEA Responsibility
The decision allocates responsibility among districts or agencies rather than deciding a parent-versus-district claim.
Everything else on a card
- Case #
- Docket or case number.
- Date
- When the decision was issued.
- District
- The school district or agency involved.
- Officer
- The hearing officer or judge who authored the decision.
- Issue tags
- Built-in categories that make it easier to narrow Massachusetts results.
06
Citing decisions
Every decision page builds a properly formatted citation for you. There are two ways to grab one, depending on whether you want the bare cite or the cite alongside a quoted passage.
Way 1 · Click the Cite button for the bare citation
Decision page action barSaveCiteShare
Cite This Case
In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools, BSEA No. 25-01933 (November 1, 2024)
Copy Citation
For federal appeals, a pinpoint page field appears so you can drop in a reporter page.
Way 2 · Highlight a passage to pair it with the citation
The hearing officer found Parents had not met their burden because the information available to the Team...supported its conclusion.
Quote with citation
Citation with quote in parentheses
Add case to folder with quote
Quote with citation
“the information available to the Team...supported its conclusion.” In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools, BSEA No. 25-01933 (November 1, 2024).
Quote leads, citation supports.
Citation with quote in parentheses
In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools, BSEA No. 25-01933 (November 1, 2024) (“the information available to the Team...supported its conclusion.”).
Citation leads, quote parenthetical.
07
Save to folders
Sign in with an account to organize cases into private folders, jot notes about each one, and pick up your research where you left off. Highlighted quotes go straight into the folder’s notes.
One click to file a case into any folder you’ve made
Decision page action bar · signed inSaveCiteShare
Save to Folder
Placement12
Discipline4
Reading & Language7
New folder
Your dashboard collects everything you’ve saved
Dashboard
Manage your folders and saved decisions
My FoldersSavedSearches
Placement
12 decisions
Updated May 12
Discipline
4 decisions
Updated May 8
Reading & Language
7 decisions
Updated Apr 30
Recently saved
In Re: Student v. Chelmsford Public Schools
Decision · Nov 1, 2024 · Sara Berman
Reading & Language
In Re: Isa and Hingham Public Schools
Decision · Nov 22, 2024 · Amy Reichbach
Placement
In Re: Student v. Norwood Public Schools
Decision · Oct 10, 2024 · Alina Kantor Nir
Discipline
Private
All folders are private to your account. No one else can see what you’ve saved or noted.
Notes per case
Each saved decision has a freeform notes field, and quotes you highlight append themselves to it.
Export
Dashboard › Export to Excel ships every saved decision and its notes in a single spreadsheet.