Importance of IDEA and IEPs

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) only apply to K-12 public school settings. However, public and academic librarians will likely find value in learning about these important pieces of disability law through the content presented in this module. Public librarians will be able to better serve the student and parent populations that utilize their library by informing them about the services they may be eligible for. Likewise, academic librarians will benefit by better understanding the educational backgrounds of the students entering the institution, who have disabilities.

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Related Objectives

· Develop basic understanding of how federal disability laws impact school environments

· Identify best practices and available resources

Introduction to IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal statute requiring that "all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education (FAPE) that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs" (IDEA Title I, Part A, Section 601). It provides federal funding to schools to administer these services.

The 2004 reauthorization of the IDEA required schools to implement an intervention program for struggling children before special education eligibility is evaluated. In large part, this was Congress's response to an over-reliance on IQ testing (and overidentification of children as having specific learning disabilities) for determining special education eligibility.

Two early intervention methods are Early Intervention Services and Response to Intervention. First, Early Intervention Services (EIS) are for K-3 children who need additional academic and behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment. Second, Response to Intervention (RTI) requires schools to target instructional interventions to a child's specific needs as soon as those needs become apparent. Additionally, RTI involves carefully documenting the interventions used and their impacts, so as to provide information should it become necessary to refer the child for a special education evaluation.

Librarians and IDEA

The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities outlines a ten step process for determining special education eligibility and developing an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Students eligible for services under IDEA must meet one or more of the 14 categories of disabilities discussed in Module 1.

Of particular interest to school librarians, the reauthorization of the IDEA in 2004 included a provision for the timely procurement of accessible materials (e.g., textbooks, print materials, etc.) for students with reading or visual impairments. As part of this regulation, the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) was developed to facilitate the preparation of accessible materials, such as audio, Braille, and large print formats.

The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) was also developed as a national repository for NIMAS-compliant educational materials.

· By using the NIMAS system, you can request materials with direct contact to NIMAC or another provider of accessible materials.

· Publishers provide their materials to NIMAC, and a state educational agency can choose to coordinate with NIMAC to obtain materials for eligible students.

· This site allows your school to request any type of published material in an accessible format to accommodate students needing large print, Braille, or information converted to an audio format. For more information, be sure to check the resources (to your left), especially the NIMAC FAQ page.

References

U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Early intervening services (EIS). Building the Legacy: IDEA 2014. Retrieved from http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CTopicalArea%2C8%2C

U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). IDEA title I, part a, section 601. Building the Legacy: IDEA 2014. Retrieved from http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cstatute%2CI%2CA%2C601%2C

RTI Action Network. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://rtinetwork.org/