print this pageIDEA 1997 Final Regulations
MAJOR ISSUES
The final regulations accompanying the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) amendments of 1997 appear in the March 12th Federal Register. Here are some of the major issues addressed in this package of regulations:
1) IEPS & General Curriculum:
Prior to 1997, the law did not specifically address general curriculum involvement of disabled students. The 1997 Amendments shifted the focus of the IDEA to one of improving teaching and learning, with a specific focus on the Individualized Education Program (IEP) as the primary tool for enhancing the child's involvement and progress in the general curriculum.
The final regulations reflect the new statutory language which requires that the Individualized Education Program for each child with a disability include:
- A statement of the child's present levels of educational performance including how the child's disability affects the child's involvement and progress in the general curriculum;
- A statement of measurable annual goals related to meeting the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum;
- A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services; and
- A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided for the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals, be involved and progress in the general curriculum, and participate in extra curricular and other nonacademic activities and to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled children.
2) General State and District-wide Assessments
The 1997 amendments specifically require that, as a condition of State eligibility for funding under Part B of IDEA, children with disabilities are included in general State and district-wide assessment programs. The amendments also address timelines and reporting requirements.
The final regulations essentially incorporate these statutory provisions on general State and district-wide assessments verbatim. These provisions require that States and LEAs must:
- Provide for the participation of children with disabilities in general State and district-wide assessments - with appropriate accommodations and modifications in administration, if necessary;
- Provide for the conduct of alternate assessments not later than July 1, 2000 for children who cannot participate in the general assessment programs; and
- Make available, and report, to the public on the assessment results of disabled children, with the same frequency and in the same detail as reported on the assessment results of non-disabled children.
3) Regular Education Teacher Involvement
Prior to 1997, the law did not include a regular education teacher as a required member of the Individualized Education Program team. Under the 1997 IDEA amendments, the IEP team for each child with a disability now must include at least one of the child's regular education teachers, if the child is, or may be, participating in the regular education environment. The new law also indicates that the regular education teacher, to the extent appropriate, participates in the development, review and revision of the IEP of the child.
The final regulations package clarifies that:
- If a child has more than one regular education teacher, the LEA may designate which teacher (or teachers) will be on the IEP team;
- Depending upon the child's needs and the purpose of the specific IEP team meeting, the regular education teacher need not be required to participate in all decisions made as part of the meeting or to be present throughout the entire meeting or attend every meeting;
- The extent to which it would be appropriate for the regular education teacher member of the IEP Team to participate in IEP meetings must be decided on a case-by-case basis; and,
- Each of the child's teachers, including the regular education teacher(s) and provider(s) must be informed of his or her responsibilities related to implementing the child's IEP and the specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided for the child.
4) Graduation with a Regular Diploma
Neither the old or revised IDEA speaks directly to the issue of students with disabilities graduating with a regular high school diploma. However, the 1997 Amendments placed greater emphasis on involvement of disabled students in the general curriculum and in State and district-wide assessment programs.
The final regulations incorporate the Department's long-standing policy position clarifying that:
- Graduation from high school with a regular diploma is considered a change in placement requiring written prior notice;
- A student's right to FAPE is terminated upon graduation with a regular high school diploma (The statutory requirement for reevaluation before a change in a student's eligibility does not apply.); and,
- A student's right to FAPE is not terminated by any other kind of graduation certificate or diploma.
5) Discipline
Prior to 1997, the statute only specifically addressed the issue of discipline in a provision that allowed personnel to remove a child to an interim alternative educational placement for up to 45 days if the child brought a gun to school or to a school function. The IDEA '97 incorporated prior court decisions and Department policy that allows schools to remove a child for up to ten school days at a time for any violation of school rules as long as there is not a pattern, and children with disabilities can not be long-term suspended or expelled from school for behavior that is a manifestation of his or her disability and services must continue for children with disabilities who are suspended or expelled from school. The IDEA '97 also expanded the authority of school personnel to remove to an interim alternative educational placement for up to 45 days to apply to all dangerous weapons and to knowing possession of illegal drugs and sale or solicitation of the sale of controlled substances and added a new ability of schools to request a hearing officer to remove a child for up to 45 days if keeping the child in his or her current placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or others. The amendments added provisions requiring schools to assess children's troubling behavior and develop positive behavioral interventions to address that behavior, and defining how to determine whether behavior is a manifestation of a child's disability.
The final regulations incorporate these statutory provisions and provide additional specificity on a number of key issues:
- Services During Periods of Disciplinary Removal:
Schools do not need to provide services during the first ten school days in a school year that a child is removed.- During any subsequent removal that is for ten school days or less, schools provide services to the extent determined necessary to enable the child to appropriately progress in the general curriculum and appropriately advance toward achieving the goals of his or her IEP. In cases involving removals for ten school days or less, school personnel, in consultation with the child's special education teacher, make the service determination.
- During any long-term removal for behavior that is not a manifestation of disability, schools provide services to the extent determined necessary to enable the child to appropriately progress in the general curriculum and appropriately advance toward achieving the goals of his or her IEP. In cases involving removals for behavior that is not a manifestation of the child's disability, the child's IEP team makes the service determination.
- Conducting Behavioral Assessments & Developing
Behavioral Interventions:
Meetings of the IEP team to develop behavioral assessment plans or if the child has one, review the behavioral intervention plan, are only required when the child has first been removed from his or her current placement for more than ten school days in a school year and when commencing a removal that constitutes a change in placement. If other subsequent removals occur, the IEP team members review the child's behavioral intervention plan and its implementation to determine if modifications are necessary, and only meet if one or more team members believe that modifications are necessary. - Manifestation Determinations:
Manifestation determinations are only required if a school is implementing a removal that constitutes a change of placement. - Change of Placement:
The final regulations clarify that a change of placement occurs if a child is removed for more than ten consecutive school days or is subjected to a series of removals that constitute a pattern because they cumulate to more than ten school days in a school year, and because of factors such as the length of each removal, the total amount of time the child is removed, and the proximity of the removals to one another. - Removals of Up to Ten School Days at a Time:
The final regulations clarify that school personnel may remove a child with a disability for up to ten school days and for additional removals of up to ten school days for separate acts of misconduct as long as the removals do not constitute a pattern.