How Special Education Law Has Changed
By Cynthia Moore, MACMH Advocate
A new version of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was signed into law on December 3, 2004. The new law’s provisions are due to take effect on July 1, 2005. If you wrote a new IEP for a student during the spring of 2005, you may wish to re-convene the team and revise the plan in light of the new provisions. If you have questions about this process, please call a MACMH advocate (651-644-7333 or 1-800-528-4511) or email info@macmh.org. The following websites are also excellent resources:
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/index.html (if this link doesn’t work, try typing the address in)
www.wrightslaw.com
www.nichcy.org/idealist.htm
NOTE: Comments in italics were written by MACMH’s educational advocates.
Overall Definitions & Provisions
IDEA 2004 requires districts to align special education programs with other local, state, and federal programs designed to improve education to ensure that children with disabilities “…can benefit from such efforts and that special education can become a service for such children rather than a place where such children are sent.”
The reauthorized law calls for “high-quality, intensive pre-service preparation and professional development for all personnel who work with children with disabilities in order to ensure that such personnel have the skills and knowledge necessary to improve the academic achievement and functional performance of children with disabilities…”
IDEA 2004 calls for incentives for whole-school approaches that “reduce the need to label children as disabled in order to address the learning and behavioral needs of such children.” These include scientifically based early reading programs, positive behavioral intervention and supports, and early intervening services.
These provisions can strengthen parents’ arguments for a stronger educational component that more closely matches age-appropriate academic curriculum, more support in mainstream classes, and specialized teacher training both before certification and as needed while teaching.
The Individualized Education Program (IEP) must include:
- A statement of academic achievement and functional performance; and
- A statement of measurable annual goals, both academic and functional
- A statement of any individual accommodations that are necessary to measure academic achievement and functional performance on state or district assessments
- A description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured
- A description of when periodic progress reports will be provided to the parents
- Quarterly, or
- Other periodic reports concurrent with issuance of report cards
- A statement that special education and related services and supplementary aids and services for the child are based on peer-reviewed practice to the extent practicable.
- A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided for the child.
We read “functional performance” to mean such things as behavioral and social skills. Note that this list no longer includes short-term goals or “benchmarks” as a standard part of the IEP except as noted below. Non-traditional related services may now be included if the services are approved by the team and written into the IEP.
If the student will take “alternative assessments” aligned to alternate achievement standards (instead of district-wide or statewide testing), the IEP must also include
- A description of benchmarks, or short-term objectives, and
- A statement indicating why the IEP selected a particular alternative assessment and why it is appropriate for the child
If the student has turned 16 since the last IEP, the new IEP must include
- Appropriate, measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate assessments related to training, education, employment, and independent living skills, where appropriate
- Transition services needed to assist the child in reaching those goals, including courses of study
- Beginning not later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority under state law, a statement that the child has been informed that the rights under this title, if any, will transfer to him or her on reaching the age of majority.
Note that transition services that began at age 14 under IDEA 97 have been eliminated.
Team Meetings and Changes to the IEP
A member of the IEP team is not required to attend a meeting, or may be excused from a meeting if the parent and the LEA (Local Educational Agency) agree, if that member’s area of the curriculum or related services is not being modified or discussed. The parent’s agreement must be in writing and the member must submit, in writing to the parents and the team, his or her input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting.
Note that the parent’s approval must be in writing. If you arrive at a meeting and a key team member is not present, you may ask that the meeting be rescheduled.
Making changes to the IEP
In making changes to an IEP after the annual IEP meeting for the school year, the parent of a child with the disability and the LEA may agree not to convene an IEP meeting for the purpose of making such changes, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify the child’s current IEP. Changes to the IEP may be made either by the entire IEP team or . . . by amending rather than redrafting the entire IEP. Upon request, the parent shall be provided with a revised copy of the IEP with the amendments incorporated. The LEA will encourage the consolidation of reevaluation meetings and other IEP team meetings for the child.
Note that the parent must agree to waive the IEP team meeting. According to this revision, you will NOT receive a copy of the revised or rewritten IEP unless you request one. We suggest you make this request in writing.
When conducting IEP team meetings, placement meetings, status conferences, and other such meetings, the parent and the LEA may agree to use alternative methods of meeting participation such as videoconferences and conference calls.
Concerning Discipline
- School personnel have new authority to consider any unique circumstances on a case-by-case basis when deciding to order a change in placement for a child with a disability who violates a student conduct code
- Manifestation Determination: Within 10 days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the LEA, parent, and relevant members of the IEP team shall review all relevant information in the student’s file, including the child’s IEP, any teacher observations, and any relevant information provided by the parents to determine if the conduct was
- Caused by, or was in direct and substantial relationship to, the child’s disability, or
- A direct result of the LEA’s failure to implement the IEP
- If the team determines that the conduct was a manifestation of the child’s disability, the team shall
- Conduct a functional behavioral assessment and implement a behavioral intervention plan for the child, or
- If a behavioral intervention plan has been developed, review the existing plan and modify it as necessary to address the behavior
Provision 1 allows greater flexibility for school officials, which can work for or against students with disabilities. The “relevant information” provided under Provision 2 should now have added importance. Provision 3 aligns closely with Minnesota’s current procedures as outlined in the “Pupil Fair Dismissal Act.”
Concerning Secondary Transition
- “The purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.”
- The definition of “transition services” is changed. Transition services means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that
- Is designed to be within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education; vocational education; integrated employment (including supported employment); continuing and adult education; adult services; independent living or community participation; and
- Is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences, and interests.
This provision strengthens parents’ call for transition programs that create a coordinated plan aimed at a specific goal, including facilitating entry into higher education or employment. It would seem to support more individualization of opportunities available during secondary transition.
Information about the changes in early childhood, eligibility, and evaluation will be addressed in a later article.
|
165 Western Avenue North
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: 651-644-7333
1-800-528-4511
Fax: 651-644-7391
|
 |
|
