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Reauthorization of the IDEA 2004

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the primary federal program that authorizes state and local aid for special education and related services for children with disabilities. On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, a major reauthorization and revision of IDEA. The new law preserves the basic structure and civil rights guarantees of IDEA but also makes significant changes in the law. Most provisions of Public Law (PL) 108-446 go into effect on July 1, 2005. The requirements regarding “highly qualified” special education teachers became effective immediately upon signature.

• Regulations
• Statute
• Technical Assistance Tools
• California Statute Changes
• Resources
• Training

Regulations

• Final Regulations to Implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) (PDF)
  The U.S. Department of Education (ED) published in the Federal Register on
  August 14, 2006, the final regulations to implement the IDEA 2004 and became effective on October 13, 2006.
• Policy Guidance
  Index of policy documents on the education of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities
  

Statute: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as amended in 2004, PL 108-446, 20 United States Code (USC) 1400 et seq.

• Full text of IDEA Statute, December 3, 2004 (PDF)
• General Table of Contents (Structure of the law):
  
  • TITLE I - Amendments To The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act

    Part A - General Provisions Findings Highly qualified special education teacher definition (Title I, Part A, Section 602(10)
    Part B - Assistance For Education Of All Children With Disabilities

    • Main section of the act describing special education services and procedural safeguards.

    Part C - Infants And Toddlers With Disabilities
    Part D - National Activities To Improve Education Of Children With Disabilities

    • Section 1450 Findings
    • Subpart 1 - State Personnel Development Grants, sections 1451-1455
      • Request for Proposal (RFP) for the State Personnel Development Grant This is the new federal grant competition. It is anticipated that the ED will post new RFPs as each annual competition is announced.
        
    • Subpart 2 - Personnel preparation, technical assistance, model demonstration projects, and dissemination of information
  • TITLE II - National Center For Special Education Research
  • TITLE III - Miscellaneous Provisions Effective dates (Title III - Miscellaneous Provisions, Section 1400 Note

• Order print version of the IDEA, as amended in 2004, from
  • Government Printing Office
    Superintendent of Documents
    P.O. Box 37195
    Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954
    888-293-6498

Technical Assistance Tools

• Major Topic Briefs
  Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has developed a series of topic briefs around several high-interest areas of IDEA. Topic briefs include a summary of all relevant statutory language around that topic, the citations and a cross-reference, when applicable, to other related briefs.
• Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities
  Research briefs, technical assistance, and information for improving instruction, assessment and accountability for students with disabilities. (Apr-2006)
• Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, ESEA Title II, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance (PDF)
  This Non-Regulatory Guidance explains how State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and State agencies for higher education can effectively and correctly use Title II, Part A funds to ensure that all teachers are qualified and effective.

  This revised guidance, now issued separately from the guidance on Highly Qualified Teachers (HQT), does not depart significantly from the previous version, August 3, 2005. The portion of the guidance that covers HQT is under revision and will be released in the near future.
  

California Statute Changes, October 7, 2006

Legislation was introduced during the 2007 state legislative session to align California Education Code (EC) to the final IDEA regulations.

• State Assembly Bill 1662 (Lieber and Daucher) made changes to California special education statutes to bring them into harmony with federal changes enacted through the 2004 reauthorization IDEA. The bill was signed by the Governor on October 7, 2005.
• Assembly Bill 1841 (Buchanan) aligns EC 56346 with the amended IDEA Part B regulations at 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 300.300(b)(4). This regulation requires that parental revocation of consent for the continued provision of special education and related services must be in writing, and that upon revocation of consent, a public agency must provide the parent with prior written notice, in accordance with 34 CFR Section 300.503. A letter, alerting all local education agencies addressing this issue, was mailed January 6, 2009.
• Laws and Regulations: California Special Education and Related Laws
  Education Code, Part 30, Other Related Laws and California Code of Regulations, Title 5.

Resources:

• IDEA Partnership
  The IDEA Partnership reflects the collaborative work of more than 50 national organizations, technical assistance providers, and organizations and agencies at state and local level. Together with the OSEP, the Partner Organizations form a community with the potential to transform the way we work and improve outcomes for students and youth with disabilities.
• Conference Report on HR 1350, "Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004"
• National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
  NASDSE offers a 200-page side-by-side that compares current law to the amended law signed by President Bush on December 3rd. Individual copies are $15 each; bulk orders of 100 copies or more receive a 15% discount. To order your copy, send a check or purchase order to NASDSE, 1800 Diagonal Road., Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22314, Attention: C. Burgman. The document is not available in electronic format.
• Council on Exceptional Children (CEC)
  Latest information on the reauthorization of the IDEA 2004 including summary and analysis of the new IDEA, press releases on the bill, and a link to the bill itself.
• Highly Qualified Teachers Improving Teacher Quality, State Grants, ESEA Title II, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance, August 3, 2005
  This Guidance also includes questions on highly qualified teacher flexibility policies, revisions to and expansions of answers to several questions, revisions to the deadline by which paraprofessionals must become highly qualified, and new information on highly qualified special education teachers that results from the reauthorization of the IDEA. This Guidance is under revision and will be released in the near future by the ED.

Training:

• IDEA Regulation Training
  • Building the Legacy: IDEA (NASDSE)
    This US Department of Education Web site was created to provide a "one-stop shop" for resources related to IDEA and its implementing regulations including training and technical assistance references.
    Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities (NASDSE)
    Research briefs, technical assistance, and information for improving instruction, assessment and accountability for students with disabilities. (Apr-2006)
  • IDEA Final Regulations - Free Webcast Training (Jan-2007)
    A free video cast delivered via the Internet, provides information on the final federal regulations implementing the IDEA.
  • IEP Web Module
    This self-paced Web training module provides information on how to write IEP goals tied to standards, student focused, and measurable.