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For the first time in IDEA’s nearly 40-year history, the U.S. Department of Education has included the performance of students with disabilities on state and NAEP assessments as part of determining how states are implementing IDEA.  And the results are humbling. 35 states and the District of Columbia were found to “need assistance” or “need intervention” after outcome data was combined with compliance measures that demonstrate adherence to the law. To be clear, the overwhelming majority of states “meet requirements” when just looking at compliance with IDEA, in fact only 9 were deemed as “needs assistance”. 

When: Wednesday, December 1, 2010 12:00 to 1:30 PM MT ABOUT THE WEBINAR: Marking the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), this presentation will review the six pillars of IDEA that support children, parents and teachers in educational settings. How these important precepts have changed through the years will be reviewed. The role parents and advocates have played in IDEA and how they must prepare to again impact the upcoming reauthorization of IDEA are covered. Time is provided for questions from participants. COST:  $35.00 (regularly $50.00) Price includes toll-free phone and web access to the 90 minute presentation, presentation handout and unlimited access to the event archive in both web and audio formats. Secure online purchasing >>>

Please join the Southwest ADA Center at ILRU for a webinar on “The Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in education.” Cheryl A. Theis (MA), with the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) will provide an overview of the rights and protections for children with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in elementary and secondary education. During this session we will: Give an overview of the rights and protections for children under the ADA, IDEA and Section 504 laws Update participants on the latest developments under these laws Discuss how to work collaboratively and effectively with school districts under IDEA and Section 504 laws Describe some of the latest resources available

Please take part in the IDEA National Survey, a survey of whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents are protected.  The IDEA National Survey Project is sponsored by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), Autism Society of America (ASA), Autism National Committee (AutCom), and The Advocacy Institute (AI). The survey is at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey looks at whether parents are treated as equal partners in their children’s education. Topics include whether the rights of students with disabilities and their parents protected throughout the special education process, including IEP meetings and IEP issues, eligibility (Child Find), Due Process hearings (impartial hearings), and other education issues.  All members of the community are welcome: parents; attorneys, advocates, other professionals; and self-advocates (people with disabilities).  We also welcome all disabilities, not just those our organizations focus on.  You can take the survey and read more about it at http://www.ideasurvey.org The survey will run March-May 2011.  The results will be compiled into a report about experiences under the IDEA that will be published this summer.   For more information, contact Jessica Butler, Coordinator, IDEA National Survey Project, at jessica@jnba.net

What: Ron Hager from the National Disability Rights Network will present information on the variety of funding sources available to preschool students needing AT.  One of the most important is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  Part C of the IDEA, the early intervention program for infants and toddlers, covers children with disabilities from birth through age two.  The school-age provisions of the IDEA, Part B, cover students beginning at age three. This session will look at meeting the AT needs of infants and toddlers under Part C, as well as selected issues for preschoolers under Part B.  To connect to the webinar visit: http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs0e572c05aff0 .  When: 1:00-2:15 pm Mountain

The Response-to-Intervention (RtI) movement is enabling public education in the United States to evolve from a reactive model in which students had to seriously deteriorate before being moved on to special education programs, to one that emphasizes early and high-quality research-based interventions in regular programs that generate useful data with which to make key decisions for each struggling student. This evolution, however, has taken place against a backdrop of legal requirements for special education referrals and evaluations that remain almost unchanged from those of more than 30 years ago. The meeting of RtI innovations and the traditional child-find requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) has many scratching their heads over exactly how the rules fit into the modern intervention era. Both the misconceptions that have become commonplace, as well as the legal disputes created by this juncture, make one wonder whether we truly grasp the fundamental child-find obligation of the IDEA in its present context.

The Response-to-Intervention (RtI) movement is enabling public education in the United States to evolve from a reactive model in which students had to seriously deteriorate before being moved on to special education programs, to one that emphasizes early and high-quality research-based interventions in regular programs that generate useful data with which to make key decisions for each struggling student. This evolution, however, has taken place against a backdrop of legal requirements for special education referrals and evaluations that remain almost unchanged from those of more than 30 years ago. The meeting of RtI innovations and the traditional child-find requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) has many scratching their heads over exactly how the rules fit into the modern intervention era. Both the misconceptions that have become commonplace, as well as the legal disputes created by this juncture, make one wonder whether we truly grasp the fundamental child-find obligation of the IDEA in its present context.

The IDEA State Complaint Resource Center provides information and resources to assist parents, advocates and attorneys in using the IDEA Written State Complaint process for advocacy. Get comprehensive information on the IDEA State Complaint process along with podcasts, webinars, and video presentations, data on the number of complaints filed by state, direct links to complaint procedures in each state, a bank of state complaints listed by topic, and a tool to share a complaint with us for posting.

Let's keep IDEA PTA alive with renewed parent input and involvement.    The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Mary Hall of PLUK, which is located at 380 Keith, which is the NW corner of Keith and Hilda in the University area.   Several of our wonderful MT CAAN members have already brainstormed some exciting ideas as to how parents can unite with enlightened educators to utilize this group as an important vehicle by which:  Parents can gain the empowerment and voice they should have in the special education process and at school, generally; We can work together systematically to achieve the kind of meaningful changes, opportunities, and supports that we want and need to see in the school environment, so that all children, regardless of diversity, get the free and appropriate education they are due by law and that they deserve by human right.

In accordance with the requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),  the state must report annually to the public on the performance of each local educational agency located in the state on the targets in the State's Performance Plan. Because baseline data and/or performance targets have not been established for all of the performance indicators, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), has informed states that they are only required to report district performance for students with disabilities on indicators 1-5 and 8-12 this year. These performance indicators address the following: Graduation, Dropout, Assessment, Suspension/Expulsion, Least Restrictive Environment (ages 6-21), Parent Involvement, Disproportionality As A Result Of Inappropriate Identification, Child Find Timelines, and Early Childhood Transition (transition from Part C to Part B). The district's performance data is 2008-2009 data that was submitted by the district to the OPI as a part of its child count, exiting, student discipline collections and/or collected during a compliance monitoring record review. Performance data for performance indicator #8, Parent Involvement, is based on parent survey data. The Parent Involvement Survey was distributed to districts that were compliance monitored in school year 2008-2009. Districts were asked to provide a copy of the survey to all parents of IDEA-eligible students receiving special education and related services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The District Public Reports can be found on the OPI Web site at:  http://data.opi.mt.gov/SPEDReporting/ .

“I’m advocating for greater alignment between ESEA and IDEA. Alignment does not mean the merger of IDEA and ESEA. Nor does it represent any intention whatsoever to diminish or weaken IDEA as a unique and freestanding civil rights statute. … The reauthorization of ESEA and IDEA will create an opportunity for a paradigm shift that will allow us to define one educational system, while also refining our policies and practices to make certain that we educate all students to the highest possible standards,” said Posny.