• Department of Education Unveils New IDEA Website; IDEA Resources Made Easily Accessible
• Special Education Policy Makers Brief Broad Audience at OSEP Leadership Conference
• Final Regulations on NCLB 2 Percent Flexibility Expected Around New Year
• Rehabilitation Services Administration Holds 2006 National Employment Conference - Employment and Disability: Transition into High-Demand Industries
• Government Report Highlights Challenges to Implementing Head Start Transportation Regulations

Department of Education Unveils New IDEA Website; IDEA Resources Made Easily Accessible

On August 30, the Department of Education unveiled a new website dedicated solely to providing resources for IDEA Parts B and C. The new website -- http://idea.ed.gov -- was first announced during the Department’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Leadership Conference, which attracted over 700 attendees, including CEC.

In addition to reference materials such as the final IDEA part B regulations and the IDEA 2004 law, the website contains topic briefs on key areas to provide additional information and clarification. Organized by topic area, the website automatically provides users with numerous resources on the specific topic. For example, when searching on the topic area of highly qualified teachers, the topic brief, corresponding regulations and statute areas are automatically provided.

For more information, visit: http://idea.ed.gov

Special Education Policy Makers Brief Broad Audience at OSEP Leadership Conference

Earlier this week, the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) held its annual Leadership Conference to provide insight on the newly released IDEA Part B final regulations. The Conference attracted approximately 700 participants -- including CEC staff, state directors of special education, parent information center representatives, advocacy group representatives and many others. John Hager, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and Alexa Posny, Director, OSEP, led Department officials in briefing the attendees on the major topics of the new regulations including: highly qualified teachers; IEPs; children enrolled by their parents in private schools; due process procedures; monitoring/enforcement; response to intervention; and the National Instructional Materials Access Standards (NIMAS). In the upcoming weeks, CEC will release a critical analysis of the new regulations, how they relate to the IDEA 1997 regulations and the key issues special educators and administrators need to know! In addition, CEC will be holding a series of IDEA 2004 workshops in cities across the country. Click here for more information.

To continue the rollout of the final IDEA regulations, the Department will hold a series of public meetings to better inform the public on the new regulations. Below is the schedule released by the Department, for additional information visit: www.ed.gov/idea.

September 26 - Charlotte, NC
September 27 - Tampa, FL
October 17 - Philadelphia, PA
October 24 - Seattle, WA
October 25 - Minneapolis, MN
November 2 - Dallas, TX
November 8 - Denver, CO
November 14 - Sacramento, CA
The Department will also be holding regional implementation meetings which are designed to support States in their implementation of the Part B Final Regulations.

January 30-31, 2007 - Washington, DC (Region 1: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT and Region 2: DE, DC, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
February 12-13, 2007 - Los Angles, CA (Region 5: AZ, CO, Bureau of Indian Affairs, KS, MT, NE, NM, ND, SD, UT, WY and Region 6: AK, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, WA, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau)
February 15-16, 2007 - Kansas City, MO (Region 3: AL, AR; FL, GA, LA, MS, OK, PR, TX, VI and Region 4: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, MO, OH, PA, WI)
Look in future updates for information on CEC’s analysis if the IDEA 2004 regulations and schedule of CEC’s IDEA 2004 workshops!

More information on CEC’s IDEA 2004 Workshops.

Final Regulations on NCLB 2 Percent Flexibility Expected Around New Year

The Department of Education informed attendees at the OSEP Leadership Conference (see story above) that the final regulations for the NCLB 2 percent flexibility -- intended to provide flexibility in assessing 2 percent of students with disabilities who can take a modified assessment for purposes of meeting AYP -- is expected sometime around the beginning of 2007. The Department is still reviewing the numerous comments submitted by the public in response to the proposed 2 percent regulations, including those from CEC. (See CEC’s Public Policy Update, March 3, 2006) At the same time as the release of the final regulations, the Department also stated that additional guidance will be issued to help clarify some issues of concern. One issue that was discussed at the OSEP Leadership Conference was how to identify those students with disabilities who could fit into this 2 percent category. The Department stated that the individual states are responsible for developing guidelines to address this topic and that the IEP team must consider various data sources to qualify students into this 2 percent group. Another area discussed was the development of these modified assessments, that the Department stated that the final regulations will not address what the test should look like. However, the Department did stress that it should be easier to develop the modified assessment than the alternate assessment because there will be a collaborative effort between general and special education.

Read CEC’s response to the proposed 2 percent regulations.

Rehabilitation Services Administration Holds 2006 National Employment Conference - Employment and Disability: Transition into High-Demand Industries

The Rehabilitation Services Administration held its 2006 National Employment Conference, Employment and Disability: Transition Into High-Demand Industries, from August 21-23, 2006. Business leaders, representatives of public vocational rehabilitation agencies and other stakeholders with an interest in the transition and employment of students and young adults with disabilities came together to focus on effective strategies for achieving successful post-school outcomes for youths and young adults with disabilities.

At the conference, OSERS Assistant Secretary Hager released the latest version of the Disability Employment 101 publication and released the new companion brochure, Disability Employment 101 For Your Business. This brochure targets small- and medium-sized businesses that may or may not have thought of increasing their hiring pool by hiring employees with disabilities.

Materials will be available by visiting: http://www.gwu.edu/~rrcep under National Employment Conference.

Government Report Highlights Challenges to Implementing Head Start Transportation Regulations

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) -- the investigative arm of Congress -- released a report evaluating regulations released in 2001 concerning transportation serving children enrolled in Head Start programs. Head Start programs -- which are federally funded and run by local grantees -- provide early care and education to approximately 900,000 low-income children and often provide transportation to and from the facilities. The 2001 regulations addressed requirements surrounding the transportation of children for Head Start activities, including equipment, personnel, training and mandates the type of vehicles that can be used.

In it’s report, GAO found:

- Head Start grantees have made progress in implementing the regulations.

- Almost all grantees reported primarily using a vehicle type that complies with the regulations.

- Grantees reported taking a variety of actions to meet the restraint and monitor requirements.

Read the full GAO report.