IDEA

IDEA is the acronym for “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act” and its origin was the 1975 “Education for All Handicapped Children Act” (EAHCA). The inception of EAHCA was a result of what was seen as serious limitations in educational opportunities for children with disabilities. Statistics from the 1970’s indicated that the number of children with disabilities who actually received educational services was about 20% while the remainder of nearly 5 million disabled children either received no educational services or received what was termed “inappropriate” services. The lack of availability of these services fostered tremendous burdens on families who were forced to try and fill the gap through other avenues if location and cost were not prohibitive. The purpose of EAHCA was to assist states in providing special education “unique” to the needs of each qualifying child through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and provide this at public expense from preschool through secondary school.

The law required that the Act be reauthorized every four years thus allowing for amendments each time it was reauthorized. In the 1990 reauthorization the name of the law was changed to IDEA (I did note that the most recent reauthorization of IDEA available from the U.S. Department of Education’s web site was 2004). The purpose of IDEA as enacted was not only to provide federal funding to support states activities in this realm but to also regulate instruction through the use of programs that are uniquely designed to meet the individual needs of a disabled student and other associated services. Provision of these services as a whole is termed FAPE in the act and incorporates the students IEP (Individualized Educational Program) as an integral element that incorporates input on individual goals and methodologies from parents and professional alike.

There are four main sections in IDEA. Part A refers to congressional findings of fact that support the rational for initiation of such a program and outline the specific purpose of the statute. These purposes are limited to four and in general terms include the provision of individualized special education at no cost to the recipient and protections for the rights of the child and their parents, support for establishing and conducting early childhood services, ensuring related concurrent efforts are in place for such things as research and technical assistance and lastly provide assessment that helps determine programming effectiveness. Part B outlines funding policies and procedures, guidelines for programming development, eligibility, evaluations and technical assistance. Part C refers to the infants and toddlers to age two and Part D covers the funding, administration, and distribution of “National Activities” that provide concomitant programs that can help supplement the educational experience. Examples would include such services as “parent resource centers, parent training and information centers,” or opportunities drawn from the latest research in the relevant sciences.

Sources:

Katsiyannis, Antonis, Mitchell Yell and Renee Bradley. “Reflections on the 25th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”. Remedial and Special Education 22.6 (2001): 324-34. Sagepub. Boise State University. 17 June 2009 <http://rse.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/6/324>

Public Law 108-446, 108th Congress. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs’ IDEA website. 17 June 2009 <http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cstatute%2C>

“The New IDEA: CEC’s summary of Significant Issues.” Council for Exceptional Children. 2004. 17 June 2009 <http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Advanced_Search&section=Policy_and_Advocacy1&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=723>