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National Center for Learning Disabilities Applauds Congressional Action to Reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
New focus on early intervention will help improve educational opportunities for millions of children
November 23, 2004
NEW YORK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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New York, NY"The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) applauds action taken by Congress last week to complete the much-awaited reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The compromise bill (H.R. 1350), passed on Friday, November 19, will continue to provide a free, appropriate, public education for students in special education. One of the most important aspects of the new bill is language that promotes early intervention for students who are struggling in school and ensures that students with learning disabilities are identified sooner and more accurately. Previously, students had to wait until about third grade and receive IQ testing before being eligible for support and services"thus creating a wait-to-fail model in our schools.
"NCLD fought hard to ensure that this bill would change the outdated wait-to-fail model," says NCLD Executive Director James H. Wendorf. "Now, as soon as children are struggling in school, in fact, as early as kindergarten, they can begin to receive services that can help them succeed in school before they fail."
Importantly, for the first time, IDEA and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) are aligned and emphasize early intervention. This means that IDEA and NCLB funds now can be used together to create new opportunities to help low-achieving students, including the three million students with learning disabilities, to meet challenging academic standards and to make certain that there is a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.
"NCLD congratulates Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chairman John Boehner (R-OH), Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE), Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Representative George Miller (D-CA) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) for their leadership and commitment to children with disabilities, their parents, to teachers and other school personnel who strive to provide a free, appropriate, public education to our children each day," says NCLD Chairman Fred Poses.
Other major provisions within the compromise bill are:
Special education teachers must meet the highly qualified standards set by NCLB
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) must contain measurable annual goals and a description of how the child's progress will be measured and reported
Changes to IEPs can be made without convening the IEP team if both the school district and parent agree
Schools may not find a child to be a child with a disability solely based on the school's inability to meet the requirements for early reading instruction under NCLB
Schools must continue to take into account how a child's disability affects behavior when making decisions about the placement of the child; however, school personnel can make decisions regarding a change in placement on a case-by-case basis when the student violates a code of student conduct
There is no provision requiring mandatory full funding of IDEA by Congress.
"NCLD looks forward to working with the U.S. Department of Education as they write the regulations and work with states to implement the reauthorized law," says Wendorf. "NCLD will be paying specific attention to how schools are expected to step up their efforts to provide research-based services to struggling students. In the past, millions of children were forced to wait for years for help. With implementation of this law, they will have the opportunity to succeed."
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The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) works to ensure that the nation's 15 million children, adolescents, and adults with learning disabilities have every opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals, and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities. To learn more about NCLD's work, please visit us at www.LD.org, and www.GetReadytoRead.org . To download a copy of Making the "No Child Left Behind Act" Work for Children Who Struggle to Learn: A Parent's Guide, go to: www.LD.org/NCLB
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