Manifestation determination is a mandated provision within IDEA for deciding whether a student misbehavior is related to his disability. IDEA mandates that teams of school personnel expend time and effort reviewing records about the incident to ascertain the extent to which the student disability may have caused the misbehavior. Determining the relationship between disability and misconduct is a qualitative professional judgment and it is difficult to separate individuals' thoughts from their actions (Katsiyannis & Maag, 2001). Nonetheless, the manifestation determination process is required for removals from school exceeding 10 days and must occur no later than 10 days after disciplinary action is taken.

The purpose of the manifestation determination meeting is to review all relevant information in the student's file, including the IEP, any teacher observations, and any relevant information provided by the parents to determine whether the conduct in question was 1) caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the child's disability, or 2) whether the conduct was the direct result of the district's failure to implement the IEP

If the decision is that the misconduct is not related to the disability, the IEP team can apply the same disciplinary procedures they would apply to students without disabilities but the provision of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) must continue on the 11th day.