According to the news release from the Education Department, "The Department has prepared a user-friendly package to help guide the public through these changes." This package "includes an analysis of the public's comments, a summary of the major changes since publication of the proposed regulations, and several appendices, including an index and additional guidance for implementing the regulations."
The user-friendly package was also 1,710 pages long!
You can download the user-friendly package from the Department of Education site at http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html
Wrightslaw Reformats IDEA 2004 Regs - and Why
When we downloaded the package from the Education Department, we saw that the regulations were buried deep in the 1,700 page document and were very difficult to read (double-spaced, Courier, 12 points).
Regulations include sections, subsections, and subsections to a subsection. They are intended to be read and understood in an outline format. The package from the Department of Education did not visually indent the subsections, making them difficult to follow and understand.
We decided to reformat the regulations. We divided the large file into shorter files (i.e. Subpart A, Subpart B, etc) that track the IDEA statute and indented the text. These changes should make the regulations easier to understand. The IDEA 2004 regulations are now about 100 pages long.
You may be interested in the Summary of Changes in the IDEA 2004 Regulations (10 pages, pdf)
Table of Regulations (5 pages, pdf)
Subpart A - General - Includes Purposes, Definitions (11 pages, pdf)
Subpart B - State Eligibility, General - Includes FAPE and LRE requirements, ESY, services to children in private schools, state and LEA eligibility (25 pages, pdf)
Subpart C - Local Educational Agency Eligibility - Includes Early Intervening Services (6 pages, pdf)
Subpart D - Evaluations, Reevaluations, Eligibility, Individualized Education Programs, and Educational Placements
(12 pages, pdf)
Subpart E - Procedural Safeguards - Includes due process procedures, procedural safeguards notice, mediation, due process hearings, model due process form, resolution process, timelines, attorneys fees, child's status during proceedings; discipline, manifestation determination; transfer of rights at age of majority, etc. (14 pages, pdf)
Subpart F - Monitoring, Enforcement, Confidentiality, and Program Information (8 pages, pdf)
Subpart G - Authorization; Allotment; Use of Funds; Authorization of Appropriations (10 pages, pdf)
Subpart H - Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities (3 pages, pdf)
Model Forms Not Published
According to 20 USC Section 1417(e), model IEP, IFSP, Procedural Safeguard Notice, and Prior Written Notice forms shall be published "No later than the date that the Secretary publishes final regulations ..." (See page 124 of Wrightslaw: IDEA 2004.) When we searched the regs, we did not find the model forms. Will the model forms be available when the regs are published in the Federal Register?
We don't know. According to the August 3 news release published by the Education Department, "Once the final regulations are published in the Federal Register, the Department will also publish and widely disseminate through its Web site a set of model forms for individualized education programs (IEPs), notices of procedural safeguards and prior written notices as required under IDEA." Read full text of news release
Guidance from Dept of Ed
Since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 took effect on July 1, 2005, the Department of Education has published documents about changes in the law. Each document focuses on a specific topic (IEPs, assessments, discipline, etc.) See Changes in IDEA 2004: Documents from OSEP
Learn more about the law and regulations at the IDEA 2004 Statute and Regulations page.
