Students who need extra help and support in school may be eligible for special education services in the form of an individualized education program (IEP). This program is offered free of charge to families of kids in public schools and outlines the goals and any support services that may be needed for a child to succeed in school. Show
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says that parents and guardians of students with disabilities or special health care needs are important members of their child's education team. They should work with educators to develop a plan that helps kids succeed in school. Understanding how to get and use these services will help your child be as successful as possible in school. Who Needs an IEP?Students who are eligible for special education services need an IEP. While there are many reasons that students could be eligible, some common conditions include: How Are Services Offered?In most cases, the services and goals outlined in an IEP can be offered in a general school environment. This can be done in the regular classroom (for example, a reading teacher helps a small group of children who need extra help while the other kids in the class work with the regular teacher.) The small group serves students with similar needs who are brought together for help. Every effort is made to help kids learn alongside their peers who do not have disabilities. But sometimes the level of support needed can't be met in a general classroom, so students are educated in a specialized learning classroom that is more appropriate for their needs. These classes have fewer students per teacher and allow for more one-on-one instruction. The teacher usually has training in helping kids with special educational needs. Students spend most of their day in a small group classroom and join the regular classes whenever possible — for example lunch, gym, or the arts. What's the Referral and Evaluation Process?The referral process begins when a teacher, parent, or doctor is concerned that a child may be having trouble in the classroom, and the teacher notifies the school counselor or psychologist. The first step is to gather specific information about the student's progress or academic problems. This may be done through:
This information helps school officials decide the best next step. Sometimes new classroom strategies are all that's needed to help a child become more successful. If this doesn't work, the child will get an educational assessment, which can find a specific learning disability or other health impairment. Note: The presence of a disability doesn't automatically guarantee a child will get services. To be eligible, the disability must affect how the child does at school. To decide on a child's eligibility, a team of professionals will consider their observations, as well as how the child does on standardized tests and daily work such as tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework. Who's On the Team?As a guardian, you can decide whether to have your child assessed. If you choose to do so, you'll be asked to sign a permission form that will detail who is involved in the process and the types of tests they use. These tests might include measures of specific school skills, such as reading and math or developmental skills, like speech and language. The professionals on the evaluation team can include: When the team finishes the assessment, a comprehensive evaluation report is developed. This report includes an educational classification and outlines the skills and support the child will need. You can review this report before an IEP is developed. If there is something that you don't agree with, work together with the team to come up with a plan that best meets your child's needs. How Is an IEP Developed?The next step is an IEP meeting with you and the team to decide what will go into the IEP. A regular teacher should also attend this meeting to offer suggestions for how the plan can help your child progress through the standard education curriculum. At the meeting, the team will discuss your child's educational needs — as described in the evaluation report — and develop specific, measurable short-term and yearly goals for each of those needs. You can take an active role in developing the goals and determining which skills or areas will receive the most attention. The cover page of the IEP outlines the support services your child will get and how often they will be provided (for example, occupational therapy twice a week). Support services might include: Services might also include transportation, test help or modifications, participation in special programs, and the inclusion of transition planning beginning at age 14. If the team recommends several services, the amount of time they take in the child's school schedule can seem overwhelming. To ease that load, a professional may talk with your child’s teacher to come up with strategies that help but won’t offer hands-on instruction. For example, an occupational therapist may suggest accommodations for a child with fine-motor problems that affect handwriting, and the classroom teacher would incorporate these suggestions into the handwriting lessons taught to the entire class. Other services can be delivered right in the classroom, so the child's day isn't interrupted by therapy. The child who has trouble with handwriting might work one-on-one with an occupational therapist while everyone else practices their handwriting skills. When deciding how and where services are offered, the child's comfort and dignity should be a top priority. Your child's IEP should be reviewed annually to update goals and make sure your child is getting the support that's needed. However, IEPs can be changed at any time on an as-needed basis. If you think your child needs more, fewer, or different services, you can request a meeting and bring the team together to discuss your concerns. What Are My Legal Rights?Guidelines (sometimes called procedural safeguards) outline your rights as a parent to control what happens to your child throughout the IEP process. For example, timelines ensure that the development of an IEP moves from referral to providing services as quickly as possible. When your child is referred, ask about this timeline and get a copy of your parents' rights. The parents' rights also describe how you can proceed if you disagree with any part of the evaluation report or the IEP — mediation and hearings are some options. You can get information about low-cost or free legal representation from the school district or through early intervention programs. Attorneys and paid advocates familiar with the IEP process will provide representation if you need it. You also may invite anyone who knows or works with your child whose input you feel would be helpful to join the IEP team. Federally supported programs in each state support parent-to-parent information and training activities for parents of children with special needs. The Parent Training and Information Projects conduct workshops, publish newsletters, and answer questions by phone or by mail about parent-to-parent activities. What Else Should I Know?Parents have the right to choose where their kids will be educated. This choice includes public or private elementary schools and secondary schools, including religious schools. It also includes charter schools and home schools. But parents should know that the rights of children with disabilities who are placed in private elementary schools and secondary schools are not the same as children with disabilities who are enrolled in public schools. Two major differences that parents, teachers, school staff, private school representatives, and kids need to know about are:
The IEP process is complex, but it's also an effective way to address how your child learns. If you have concerns, be sure to ask about the evaluation findings or the goals recommended by your child's IEP team. You know your child best and should play a central role in creating a learning plan tailored to their specific needs.
Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), also known as the EHA, in 1975 to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families. This landmark law’s name changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, in a 1990 reauthorization. The law was last reauthorized in 2004, and the department has periodically issued new or revised regulations to address the implementation and interpretation of the IDEA. Before EHA, many children were denied access to education and opportunities to learn. In 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students, including children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or had an intellectual disability. Since the passage of EHA in 1975, significant progress has been made toward meeting major national goals for developing and implementing effective programs and services for early intervention, special education, and related services. The U.S. has progressed from excluding nearly 1.8 million children with disabilities from public schools prior to EHA implementation to providing more than 7.5 million children with disabilities with special education and related services designed to meet their individual needs in the 2018-19 school year. In 2018-19, more than 64% of children with disabilities were in general education classrooms 80% or more of their school day (IDEA Part B Child Count and Educational Environments Collection), and early intervention services were provided to more than 400,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families (IDEA Part C Child Count and Settings). Other accomplishments directly attributable to the IDEA include educating more children in their neighborhood schools, rather than in separate schools and institutions, and contributing to improvements in the rate of high school graduation, post-secondary school enrollment, and post-school employment for youth with disabilities who have benefited from the IDEA.
Before the EHA’s enactment, the fate of many individuals with disabilities was likely dim. Many individuals lived in state institutions for persons with intellectual disabilities or mental illness. Many of these restrictive settings provided only minimal food, clothing, and shelter, and persons with disabilities were often merely accommodated rather than assessed, educated and rehabilitated. Further, most families were not afforded the opportunity to take part in planning or placement decisions regarding their child, and resources were not available to enable children with significant disabilities to live at home and receive an education at neighborhood schools in their community.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government, with the strong support and advocacy of family associations, began to develop and validate practices for children with disabilities and their families. These practices laid the foundation for implementing effective programs and services of early intervention and special education in states and localities across the country. Early federal legislation supported improved programs and services. Notable examples included:
Landmark court decisions further advanced increased educational opportunities for children with disabilities. For example, the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth (1971) and Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972) established the responsibility of states and localities to educate children with disabilities. * A 2017 revision reflected changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by Rosa’s Law, which replaces references to “mental retardation” in Federal law with “intellectual disability” or “intellectual disabilities.”
On November 29, 1975, President Gerald Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), or the EHA. The EHA guaranteed a free, appropriate public education, or FAPE, to each child with a disability in every state and locality across the country. The four purposes of the EHA were:
The law authorized financial incentives to enable states and localities to comply with the EHA. The EHA was a response to Congressional concern for two groups of children: the more than 1 million children with disabilities excluded entirely from the education system and the children with disabilities who had only limited access to the education system and were therefore denied an appropriate education. This latter group comprised more than half of all children with disabilities who were living in the U.S. at that time. Facts and FiguresIn the 1976-77 school year, 3,694,000 students aged 3 through 21 were served under the EHA.
To achieve the national goals for access to education for all children with disabilities, several special issues and special populations required federal attention. Key amendments to the law in the 1980s and 1990s reflected these national concerns. Reauthorizations
Birth Through Age 2The 1980s saw a national concern for young children with disabilities and their families. While the EHA mandated programs and services for children 3 to 21 years that were consistent with state law, the 1986 amendments to the EHA mandated that states provide programs and services from birth. These early intervention and preschool programs prepared young children with disabilities to meet the academic and social challenges that lie ahead of them, both while in school and in later life. Facts and FiguresIn the 1980-81 school year, 4,144,000 students aged 3 through 21 were served under EHA. By the 1990-91 school year, 4,710,000 infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities from birth through age 21 were served under IDEA. Ages 3 Through 21The 1980s and 1990s saw a push to expand the opportunities for educating children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. For example, in the early 1980s, EHA supported several “Severely Handicapped Institutes” to develop and validate effective approaches for integrating children with significant disabilities with their non-disabled family members at home and their non-disabled classmates at school. Model projects’ efforts led the way for millions of children with significant disabilities to attend their neighborhood schools and learn the life skills needed for full, active participation in integrated activities with their family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Additionally, in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed for the first time, what is meant by a free appropriate public education under EHA. In Hendrick Hudson Dist. Bd. Of Ed. v. Rowley, the Supreme Court concluded that to meet its obligation to provide FAPE, the school district must provide access to specialized instruction and related services which are individually designed to provide educational benefit to the child with a disability. In 2017, the Court revisited the question of what level of educational benefit the school district must confer on children with disabilities to provide FAPE, as noted in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1 (2017) below. The law has also supported the preparation of students for vocational success through new and improved transition programs. The law’s 1983 amendments (Public Law 98-199), 1990 amendments (Public Law 101-476) and 1997 amendments (Public Law 105-17) supported initiatives for transition services from high school to adult living. Because of these mandates, each transition-aged student’s IEP must include transition plans or procedures for:
The IEP must also specifically designate who is responsible for each transition activity. Facts and FiguresOf student with disabilities ages 14 through 21 who were known to have left school in the 1994-95 school year:
In 2004, the IDEA reauthorization aligned the IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act requirements. The 2004 reauthorization called for:
The 2000s and 2010s saw revised regulations to the IDEA. The department issued these periodic revisions to address the implementation and interpretation of the IDEA. In August 2006, the department issued regulations necessitated by the 2004 reauthorization. The 2006 IDEA regulations required schools to use research-based interventions in the process of assisting students with learning difficulties or determining eligibility for special education. The 2006 regulations also addressed other new requirements included in the 2004 reauthorization, such as:
In 2008, the department issued regulations it determined were needed to clarify and strengthen effective implementation and administration of IDEA programs. These IDEA regulations addressed:
Both 2011 and 2013 regulations included clarifications or revisions to the IDEA for infants and toddlers with disabilities programs. Additionally, the 2013 regulations revised the parental consent requirements related to a child’s or parent’s public benefits and ensured parent of children with disabilities are specifically informed of all their legal protections when public agencies seek access to public benefits or insurance to pay for services required under the IDEA. The 2015 revisions revised regulations governing the requirement that LEAs maintain fiscal effort; removed the authority for states to define modified academic achievement standards and develop alternate assessments based in those modified academic achievement standards or eligible students with disabilities. Notably, a 2017 revision reflected changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by Rosa’s Law, which replaces references to “mental retardation” in Federal law with “intellectual disability” or “intellectual disabilities.” Other 2017 revisions removed and revised IDEA definitions based on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA). In March 2017, the Supreme Court ruled on a landmark case that defines the scope of FAPE requirements under IDEA. In Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District Re-1, the Supreme Court determined that “[t]o meet its substantive obligation under the IDEA, a school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.” The Court additionally emphasized the requirement that “every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives.” Facts and FiguresBirth Through Age 2In 2005-06, 299,048 infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through age 2 were served under IDEA, Part C. By 2018-19, 409,315 infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through age 2 were served under IDEA, Part C. Ages 3 Through 21In the 2018-19 school year, 7,130,238 students with disabilities from 3 through 21 were served under IDEA, Part B. In the 2017-18 school year, 72.7% of students with disabilities, age 14-21, exiting school graduated with a regular high school diploma and 16% dropped out. Educators/Service ProvidersIn the 2005-06 school year, 695,466 teachers and related service personnel were employed to serve students age 3 through 21. By the 2017-18 school year, 942,446 teachers and related service personnel were employed to serve students age 3 through 21.
From the beginning of special education legislation, families of children with disabilities have been considered important partners in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. IDEA includes key principles to guide families and professionals to work together to enhance the educational opportunities for their children. IDEA requires active parent participation throughout the educational process including the development of the child’s IEP. IDEA 1997 amendments mandated that schools report progress to parents of children with disabilities as frequently as they report to parents of non-disabled children. The intent was to maintain an equal and respectful partnership between schools and families. Educators and Service ProvidersIDEA has continued the long-standing federal commitment to provide an adequate supply of qualified teachers. Today, hundreds of thousands of professionals specializing in early childhood and special education are being trained with IDEA support. These professionals include early intervention staff, classroom teachers, therapists, counselors, psychologists, program administrators, and other professionals who will work with future generations of children with disabilities and their families. IDEA has supported states and localities in meeting their identified challenges for personnel preparation. For example, IDEA has supported local communities who were developing and implementing early childhood programs; schools serving students with low-incidence disabilities, such as children who are blind or deaf or children with autism or traumatic brain injury; and schools in rural or large urban areas, where financial and other resources are often scarce. State Lead Agencies, State Educational Agencies, and Local Educational AgenciesThe IDEA requires states and other public agencies to implement programs designed to improve results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families. Additionally, the IDEA allows for the award of annual formula grants to states to support early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, and the provision of special education and related services to preschool children ages three through five, and children and youth with disabilities Discretionary Grant RecipientsIDEA discretionary grants award grants through a competitive process to state educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit organizations to support technical assistance and dissemination, technology and media services, state personnel development grants, personnel preparation, state data collections, and parent-training and information centers.
Last modified on March 18, 2022 |
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