Understanding the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Brief History:
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1968 the government supported the training of special education teachers and
related specialists
1971 & 1972 court decisions support right of every child, including children with
disabilities, to be educated
1975 Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act (EHA) (PL 94-142)
guaranteed free, appropriate public education for children with disabilities ages 321
1983 EHA (PL 98-199) Established services to facilitate transition from school to
work, parent training and information centers (PTI’s)
1986 Education for All Handicapped Children’s Act (EHA)Amendments (PL 99457) mandated and established early intervention for children birth to three (Part
H)
1990 (EHA) amendments changed name of act to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) (Pl 101-476), mandated transition services, defined
assistive technology and added autism and traumatic brain injury to special
education categories
1997 IDEA Amendments (PL 105-17) amendments from 1992-1997 strengthened
transition initiatives, especially from high school to adulthood and reporting of
progress to parents as often as children without disabilities.
2004 IDEA Amendments changed name to Individuals with Disabilities
Education Improvement Act
Funding
IDEA authorizes grants to states for funding early intervention, special education and
national programs.
State and local funding summary
http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,dynamic,TopicalArea,9,
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Parts of IDEA
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Part A- outlines the purpose of the law and definitions
Part B- special education for children 3-21, guarantees FAPE for all students in
public education
Part C- early intervention for children 0-3 with option for some states 0 through 5
Part D- national activities for parent training, personnel preparation and
technology
Reauthorization
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Laws can be discretionary meaning they expire at a predetermined time and have
to be reauthorized or they can be permanent and do not expire. IDEA has both
permanent and discretionary parts to the law and requires reauthorization
Parts A, C and D are discretionary and must be reauthorized about every 5 years
Part B, FAPE is permanent and although it does not require reauthorization, both
the discretionary and permanent Parts of IDEA are reexamined and amended
during the reauthorization process
There is an allowance for 1 year automatic reauthorization when parts of IDEA
expire and the federal funding stays the same for that time period
Once reauthorized, regulations are required to guide states in implementing the
law
References
The Education Advocate, Special Edition Oct/Nov Vol 1 No. 4 The ARC of New Jersey.
Available at http://www.arcnj.org/pdfs/edad_Oct2002.prn.pdf
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
http://old.nichcy.org/reauth/goodman.htm
Regulations
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After IDEA is reauthorized, regulations to implement the law are drafted, put up
for public comment and finalized by the US Department of Education
Regulation processes usually takes more than one year and often longer
Regulations for Part B of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA were finalized in
December of 2008
The draft regulations for Part C were withdrawn in January 2009 for further
review by the US Department of Education and are still pending
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Resources
Archived 25 Year History of IDEA
http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.html
Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004
http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
Part C Updates, 10th Edition (2008)
http://www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/partcupdate2008.pdf
Primer on IDEA Regulations
http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/Content
Display.cfm&CONTENTID=7601
Progress in Providing Services to Young Children with Special Needs and Their
Families: An Overview to and Update on the Implementation of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
http://www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/nnotes12.pdf
619 Profile, 16th Edition 2009
www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/sec619_2008-09.pdf
Parent Mentors of Ohio
http://www.thelinkto.org/parentmentor/history_of_idea.htm
Wrightslaw.com
http://www.wrightslaw.com/us.htm
Cite As: Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.
Contemporary Practices in Early Intervention: Understanding the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Factsheet. 2009. Available online at
http://www.gucchdgeorgetown.net/CPEI.
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