Has public policy exceeded our knowledge base? This is a two-part question

This article is presented as a reaction to the Nelson, Roberts, Mathur, and Rutherford (1999) article as well as the other five follow-up articles app earing in this Forum series. The purpose of the presentation is to expand t he focus of the series by widening the discussion of "policy" as originally raised in the article by Nelson and colleagues. Two critical concerns were raised in the series: concerns about the research base for functional asse ssment and concerns about the practicality of implementing functional asses sment Each of these concerns is addressed within the context of speculation about the possible functions that may have been served by mandating the us e of functional assessment within the 1997 amendments to the Individuals wi th Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It is suggested that the nature of pu blic policy may, at rimes, deserve as much of our attention as research fin dings.