IDEA
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Who is covered under IDEA?
IDEA covers children with disabilities from birth to 21 years old.
What are the 14 mandates of IDEA?
1. Free and Appropriate Public Education
2. Categories of disabilities
3. Special Education
4. Related Services
5. Child Identification/Find
6. Full Education Opportunities
7. Physical Education
8. Priorities
9. Individualized Education Plan/Program
10. Due Process
11. Protection
12. Least Restrictive Environment
13. Confidentiality
14. Transition
What was covered in the 1997 Amendments to IDEA?
- Identifying children with special needs before they enter school and providing services to help them,
- Developing individualized education programs (IEPs) that focus on improving educational results through the general curriculum,
- Educating children with disabilities with their nondisabled peers,
- Setting higher expectations for students who are disabled and ensuring schools are held accountable,
- Strengthening the role of parents and fostering partnerships between parents and schools,
- Reducing unnecessary paperwork and other burdens.
What was covered in the 2004 Amendments to IDEA?
- Every state must develop specific criteria, in accordance with the requirements in the regulations, to determine whether a child has a specific learning disability and, as a result of that disability, requires special education. A state’s criteria must not require the use of a “severe discrepancy” between intellectual ability and achievement as part of LD determination and must permit the use of a process based on a child’s response to scientific, research-based interventions. All school districts within a state must use the criteria developed by the state.
- Determination of the existence of a specific learning disability is done by the child’s parents and a team of qualified professions
- Determining factors now include:
- Inadequate achievement measured against expectations for a child’s age or the grade-level standards set by the state
- Insufficient progress when using a process based on response to scientific, research-based interventions (frequently referred to as RTI)
- Evidence of a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age, grade-level standards or intellectual development
What was covered in the 2008 Amendments to IDEA?
parental consent for continued special education and related services;
• non-attorney representation in due process hearings, State monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement; allocation of funds; and
• positive efforts to employ and advance in employment individuals with disabilities.
Parental consent, State issues, and hearing right have been identified, with input from a member advisory group, as important to the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology.