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| The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act |
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created in 1975 in response to concerns of parents and educators over the exclusion of children with disabilities from school and the lack of support services for those children. The number of students in special education has grown dramatically in recent years, from 4.3 million students in 1990 to 6.9 million students in 2003. A large portion of the increase in identification can be attributed to successful outreach programs.
Legislative Outlook
Congress reauthorized IDEA in late 2004. After a lengthy rulemaking period, final IDEA Part B regulations were unveiled by ED on August 3, 2006 and published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2006. Although the final regulations include many technical changes from the proposed regulations, the rules do not include significant, substantive changes.
Several core items in the regulations, which generally follow the statute, are as follows:
- 15 percent of IDEA Part B funds can now be used on early intervention services for students who have not been identified as students with disabilities.
- Teachers of students with the most severe cognitive disabilities can be HQT if they establish subject matter knowledge in elementary education. If these students are taught to higher standards, then to be HQT, teachers must establish content knowledge applicable to the level of instruction, as determined by the state.
- The district in which a private school is located will still be responsible for providing services for students with disabilities attending the private school.
- The final regulations have been changed so as not to bar use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in determining whether a student has a specific learning disability, subject to specific requirements.
- HQT requirements are generally unchanged, although the final regulations clarify the option of using a separate HOUSSE for special education teachers. Also, private school teachers hired by a district to provide equitable services to parentally placed private school students with disabilities need not meet HQT requirements.
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document last updated 7/5/2007
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