Final IDEA Regulations & Report on Implementation of IDEA

["Winters, Kirk" <Kirk_Winters@ed.gov>]

     TODAY THE DEPARTMENT issued final regulations for
     implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
     (IDEA) Amendments of 1997, the federal law that aims to help
     strengthen educational opportunities for America's 6 million
     students with disabilities.  Today the Department also
     released the "20th Annual Report to Congress on the
     Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities
     Education Act."  Below are 2 press releases -- one on the
     regulations, one on the report.
 
==========================================================
FINAL REGULATIONS PUBLISHED TO IMPLEMENT SPECIAL EDUCATION
AMENDMENTS.  U.S. Department of Education, March 12, 1999
==========================================================

As part of the effort to strengthen educational opportunities for
America's six million students with disabilities, the U.S.
Department of Education today published in the Federal Register
final regulations to implement the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997.

"The new IDEA focuses on teaching & learning & establishes high
expectations for disabled children to achieve real educational
results," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. 
"Our package of regulations reflects the many good changes
Congress made to the law with the IDEA Amendments which passed
with overwhelming bipartisan support."

"The thrust of IDEA has changed from one that merely provides
disabled children access to an education to one that improves
quality for all children in our schools."

Judith E. Heumann, assistant secretary for special education &
rehabilitative services, said, "We have prepared a user-friendly
package of regulations.  They are designed to help parents,
teachers & school administrators understand the federal
expectations for educating children with disabilities under the
law.

"Fundamentally, we have protected the basic rights of children
with disabilities to a free appropriate public education while
ensuring that schools have the flexibility & tools necessary to
offer a quality education in a safe environment."

In October 1997, the Department of Education published proposed
regulations based on the 1997 amendments to the IDEA.  Public
comments were solicited, & almost 6,000 were submitted to the
department.  Nearly two-thirds of the regulatory package responds
to the comments, while a quarter contains the actual text of the
regulations & statute.

Among the highlights:

  *  Students & the General Curriculum.  IDEA establishes the
     Individualized Education Program (IEP) as the major tool in
     a student's involvement & progress in the general
     curriculum.  The regulations offer guidance on the types of
     issues that the IEP should address to achieve the statutory
     requirements.

  *  Student Assessment.  Students with disabilities must be
     included in general state & district-wide assessment
     programs, according to IDEA `97.  The regulations offer
     guidance about the participation of children with
     disabilities in these assessments.

  *  Teacher Involvement.  The 1997 amendments provide that each
     IEP team 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 regulations
     clarify that attendance of regular education teachers at IEP
     meetings will be determined on a case by case basis in an
     effort to be less time consuming.

  *  Graduation with a Diploma.  The final regulations
     incorporate the department's long-standing policy that a
     student's right to a "free appropriate public education" is
     terminated upon graduation with a regular high school
     diploma, but not ended by any other kind of graduation
     certificate or diploma.

  *  Student Discipline.  IDEA '97 authorized schools to remove a
     student for up to 10 school days for minor disciplinary
     infractions & for up to 45 days for dangerous behavior
     involving weapons or drugs & gave schools the ability to ask
     a hearing officer to remove students who are serious threats
     to themselves or others.  The final regulations incorporate
     the statutory changes & clarify that services do not need to
     be provided during the first 10 days in a school year that a
     child with a disability is removed from his or her regular
     placement.  If a child is subsequently removed for up to 10
     school days for other violations of school conduct codes,
     services must be provided to the extent necessary to enable
     the child to continue to appropriately progress in the
     general curriculum & appropriately advance toward the goals
     of the IEP.  For example, if a child is subsequently removed
     for only one or two more days & is generally doing well in
     school, it could be that the only service that might be
     necessary is that homework or make-up assignments are sent
     home.  For longer periods, more services will likely be
     necessary.  The regulations also clarify the number of
     required meetings over disciplinary actions involving school
     personnel & make clear that school personnel do have the
     authority to remove children to preserve school safety.

"This regulatory package offers some much-needed guidance to
those working so hard to improve educational results for all
children," Riley said.

"We will be providing a lot of specific & ongoing technical
assistance," added Heumann.  "For the next few months, those
technical assistance efforts will be specific to the statute &
accompanying regulations.  Ongoing technical assistance
activities will incorporate specific & appropriate research-based
practices that work."

Congress overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan reauthorization of
the IDEA statute in May 1997, & President Clinton signed the bill
into law in June.

The regulations package was released today on the Government
Printing Office's website at:
     http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg/finrule.htm
     http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a990312c.html

Details of the regulations can be found at the Education
Department's website at:
     http://ed.gov/offices/OSERS/IDEA/regs.html

     NOTE: This webpage provides links to the regulations (which
     may be slow today because many may be accessing them), "How
     to Obtain a Copy of the Regulations," updated information on
     the March 18 Satellite Town Meeting, & technical assistance
     providers supported by the Office of Special Education
     Programs.  The webpage also provides an overview of the
     regulations, a summary of major issues, discipline questions
     & answers, & "topic briefs."  

Paper copies will be available in early April & may be ordered by
calling the department's "ED Pubs" service at 1-877-4-ED-PUBS. 
For TTY/TTD, call 877-576-7734.

================================================================
31% MORE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES RECEIVE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS,
REPORT SHOWS.  U.S. Department of Education, March 12, 1999
================================================================

The number of students with disabilities who received high school
diplomas jumped 31 percent from 1986-87 to 1995-96, reflecting
the mandate of a "free appropriate public education" to which
America's nearly six million special education students have been
entitled since passage of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) almost a quarter-century ago.

Increased graduation rates have occurred as ever-greater numbers
of disabled students have been educated alongside their
nondisabled peers.  "Increasing the high school completion rate
of disabled children is very important to these young people,
their families, & America," said Secretary Riley.  "It opens
doors of opportunity & self-sufficiency." A record 45.4 percent
of disabled students ages 6-21 attended regular classes in the
1995-96 school year, extending a trend that began with enactment
of IDEA in 1975.

The figures are contained in the 20th Annual Report to Congress
on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, released today by the U.S. Education Department. 
The volume has become a benchmark on the progress the nation is
making toward promoting educational excellence for America's
nearly six million students with disabilities.

"We've emptied the institutions that warehoused students with
disabilities a generation ago that wasted their talents &
energy," said Judith E. Heumann, assistant secretary for special
education & rehabilitative services.  "These numbers show that
thanks to IDEA, disabled students can succeed in school & go on
to become productive, taxpaying citizens while enabling schools
to save money by keeping dual education systems to a minimum."

Among the highlights of the report:

  *  The number of students with disabilities ages 14-22
     graduating with diplomas increased 31 percent -- from 96,210
     in 1986-87 to 126,051 in 1995-96, the most recent year
     statistics are available.

  *  The number of disabled students ages 6 through 21 spending
     at least 80 percent of their day in regular classes has more
     than doubled -- from 1.1 million in 1986-87 to 2.3 million
     in 1995-96.

  *  Total numbers of students with disabilities ages 3 through
     21 served under IDEA rose 29 percent from 4.5 million in
     1987-88 to 5.8 million in 1996-97.  

  *  States with the highest graduation rates in 1995-96 -
     Hawaii 90 percent, Texas 81 percent & Pennsylvania, 77
     percent.  States with the lowest graduation rates - Alaska,
     43 percent, Michigan, 44 percent & Iowa, 48 percent.

  *  More than 90 percent of the school-aged students served
     under IDEA in 1996-97 were classified in one of four
     disability categories -- learning disabilities (51.1 percent
     or 2.7 million children), speech or language impairments
     (20.1 percent or 1.1 million children), mental retardation
     (11.4 percent or 0.6 million children) & emotional
     disturbance (8.6 percent or 0.4 million children).

  *  The per-child allocation of special education dollars from
     the federal government rose 107 percent -- from $258 per
     child in 1984 to $535 per child in 1997.  (Additional
     figures compiled after the report went to press showed the
     per-child allocation in 1998 was $636 & the estimate for
     1999 is $702.)

  *  States with the highest percentage of IDEA children ages 6
     through 17 during the 1996-97 school year, based on the
     estimated resident population: Rhode Island & Massachusetts,
     14.4 percent; New Jersey & West Virginia, 13.7 percent; &
     Connecticut, 13.2 percent.

  *  States with the lowest percentage of children ages 6 through
     17 served under IDEA, based on the estimated resident
     population: Hawaii 7.6 percent; South Dakota, 8.6; & Idaho,
     8.8.  The District of Columbia's rate was 8.7 percent.

  *  Although males & females comprise equal proportions of the
     school-aged population, males account for approximately 
     two-thirds of all students served in special education.  The
     disproportionate representation of males in special
     education seems greatest in the learning disability &
     emotional disturbance categories.

  *  Significant increases have occurred in the number of
     students with learning disabilities & orthopedic
     impairments.  From 1987-88 to 1996-97, learning disabilities
     grew 37.8 percent & orthopedic impairments 41.4 percent.

  *  Overall, girls with & without disabilities had better in-school 
     results than boys with & without disabilities.  However, despite 
     their better academic performance, females with disabilities have 
     less positive postschool results than their male peers.  They are 
     less likely to be employed, have lower wages & are less likely to 
     enroll in postsecondary education or training.

  *  Students with emotional disturbance fail more courses, earn
     lower grade point averages, miss more days of school, & are
     retained at grade more than students with other
     disabilities.  Fifty-five percent leave school before
     graduating.

  *  A "chronic" shortage exists of special education teachers
     who are fully certified in their positions.

  *  Graduation rates vary by disability.  Students with speech &
     language impairments, specific learning disabilities,
     hearing impairments & visual impairments were most likely to
     graduate with a diploma or certificate.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The 20th annual report is available at:
     http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/OSEP98AnlRpt/

Paper copies will be available in early April & may be ordered by
calling the department's "ED Pubs" service at 1-877-4-ED-PUBS,
faxing 1-301-470-1244 or writing ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup,
MD  20794-1398.

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          Patricia Adelstein, Jim Bradshaw, 
          Peter Kickbush, & Kirk Winters
          U.S. Department of Education
          patricia_adelstein@ed.gov