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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Summary

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 is a Federal law that ensures children (from ages 3 to 21) have a "free appropriate public education" in public elementary and secondary schools and that the rights of these children and their parents are protected. It also provides for help to the states and school districts who have responsibility for this education and evaluates their effectiveness in providing it.

The IDEA applies only to youth that have been determined eligible, are under 21 years old and have not graduated from high school. The public schools have a great deal of responsibility to ensure that those eligible are identified and provided with an appropriate education.

The IDEA does not apply to individuals with disabilities who attend college. College students must learn how and to what extent their access to instruction is guaranteed. College students must also learn how to establish their eligibility and request accommodations and modifications. One of the most common errors made by individuals with disabilities moving from high school to college is not learning what they must do to establish eligibility to receive services and accommodations.

Questions and Answers About the IDEA

The IDEA is a very lengthy law that has even longer regulations. To help you gain an understanding of the most important parts of the law; Post-ITT has posed several questions and provided answers.

What do the words "free appropriate public education" (sometimes called FAPE) mean?

FAPE is defined in the law as "special education and related services" which in turn is defined as an education:

provided at public expense to youth with disabilities
meeting the standards of the state including preschool, elementary and secondary school, based on decisions made by an Individual Educational Program (IEP) committee and documented in writing.

What are the rights of youth with disabilities and their parents?

The Supreme Court determined that a free public education is a property right that is protected under our country's constitution. Among the rights that youth with disabilities and their parents have are:

the right to be evaluated to see if the youth is eligible
the right to be part of the evaluation process
the right to participate in deciding what is an appropriate education
the right to know about plans to change an education program and be part of that planning
the right to disagree about an appropriate education program and to have an impartial judge hear both sides of the disagreement

Youth and parent rights are much more extensive than this summary list. You can learn more about these rights by visiting the NICHCHY Web site at: www.nichcy.org

What does the term "related services" mean?

The Federal regulations (rules) that apply to the IDEA define related services as "transportation and such other developmental, corrective, and other supportive services that are required for the youth with a disability to benefit from special education."

Examples commonly given are: psychological services, physical therapy, audiology, diagnostic medical services, counseling services and transportation.

Who has responsibility for finding and evaluating youth that might have a disability?

The school district has primary responsibility for finding, evaluating and determining eligibility of youth with disabilities.

If the student is not making progress reaching the goals of the IEP, who has responsibility for reconvening the IEP committee to redefine the appropriate educational program?

The responsibility is shared. However, the school district has the ultimate responsibility to reconvene IEP teams to evaluate progress toward reaching individual instructional goals.

Contact Information

400 E. University Way
Ellensburg, WA 98926
963-2171
email: dahlberc@cwu.edu