Raven's Guide to
Special Education
Regulations - 2
The amendments enacted in 1990 renamed EHA the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These amendments included two new special education categories (autism and traumatic brain injury), assistive technology services, and transition services for older students with disabilities.
In 1997, IDEA was amended by Public Law 105-17, the IDEA Amendments of 1997. This was the fifth set of amendments to the Act. These amendments placed greater emphasis on the involvement of disabled students in the general curriculum and in State and district-wide assessment programs. The new legislation increased the role of regular education teachers on the IEP team. The amendments also added disciplinary procedures for students with disabilities and several new requirements relative to parental involvement in their child's education.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 aligned IDEA closely to the No Child Left Behind Act to promote equity, accountability and excellence in education for children with disabilities. The new law preserved the basic structure and civil rights guarantees of IDEA but also made some significant changes to the law. Some noteworthy changes are as follows:
Short-term objectives are only required for the very small percentage
of children (children with the most significant cognitive disabilities) who are
taking alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards.
IEP progress reports. The progress the child is making toward meeting the
annual goals must be reported, but there is no longer a reference to "the extent
to which the progress is sufficient to attain the goal by the end of the year."
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No Child Left Behind Act |
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IEP attendance and participation. IEP team members may be excused from meetings upon the consent of both parties if the subject matter of the IEP does not involve that member’s area of curriculum or services or, if it does, that member may submit information in writing prior to the
meeting. IEPs may be amended in writing without reconvening the IEP after the annual IEP has been held.
Transfers between school districts. Services comparable to those described in the IEP in effect before a child's transfer must be provided by the new school district. These services must continue until the previous IEP is adopted, or a new IEP is developed, adopted and implemented, in the case of a transfer in the same state or until a new IEP is developed, in the case of a transfer outside the state.
Pilot program for multi-year IEPs. The Secretary of Education is authorized to approve proposals from up to 15 states to allow local school districts to offer, with parental consent, a multi-year IEP, not to exceed 3 years.
Pilot program for paperwork reduction. The Secretary of Education is authorized to grant waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements, for a period not to exceed 4 years, to 15 states proposing to reduce excessive paperwork and non-instructional time burdens.
Transition planning is to begin not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child is 16 years of age. The vocational rehabilitation system will become more involved in secondary schools and transition planning. All disabled students who are leaving secondary school will receive a summary of their accomplishments and transition needs along with their report cards.
Schools will be able to use up to 15 percent of IDEA money to support students who have academic and behavioral problems in regular education, but who are not disabled. This will get services to children earlier and prevent future problems.
Schools are not required to use the the IQ-achievement discrepancy model to determine specific learning disability eligibility, but may use a process to determine whether the child responds to scientific, research- based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures.
A standard for highly qualified teachers is aligned with No Child Left Behind. To be highly qualified, all teachers must be fully certified in special education or pass State special education licensure exams, hold a bachelors degree and demonstrate subject knowledge.
The procedural safeguards notice will be distributed only once a year
except that a copy will be distributed upon initial referral, when a parent
makes a request for an evaluation, when a due process complaint has been filed
or if a parent requests a copy.
Statute of limitations. Parents are limited to two years in which to exercise their due process
rights after they knew or "should have known" that an IDEA violation has
occurred.
Resolution session. Parents must go through a mandatory "resolution
session" before due process.
Attorney's fees. Parent's attorneys may be responsible for paying the
school system attorney's fees if a cause of action in a due process hearing or
court action is determined to be frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.
Parents may be responsible for the school system's attorney fees if a cause of
action was presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause
unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation.
Stay put. A student with a disability no longer has the right to "stay put" in his
or her current educational placement pending an appeal for alleged violations of the school
code that may result in a removal from the student's current educational
placement for more than 10 days.
Manifestation Determination Review. Parents must now prove that the
behavior was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the
disability. The language requiring the IEP team to consider whether the
disability impaired the child's ability to control or to understand the impact
and consequences of the behavior has been deleted. The language that gave the
school an incentive to address behavior appropriately by requiring the IEP team
to consider whether the IEP was appropriate also has been deleted.
Special Circumstances. Now schools can unilaterally remove children for
45 days for "inflicting serious bodily injury" as well as for offenses involving
drugs and weapons. The 45 calendar day limit on the removal for these offenses
has been changed to 45 school days.
Case-by-case determination. School personnel may consider any unique circumstances on a case-by-case
basis when determining whether to change the placement of a child with a
disability who violates a school code of conduct.