The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a nationwide law that makes free, appropriate public education available to eligible children with disabilities, and ensures special education and related services to those children. The Act governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities.
20 U.S. Code § 1400: "Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities."
The Endrew case delivered a landmark ruling that clarified the substantive standard for determining whether a student’s IEP—the centerpiece of each child’s entitlement to FAPE under IDEA—is sufficient to enable a student with a disability to make progress appropriate in light of his or her circumstances.
As such, it resulted in a monumental shift away from rote adherence to the administrative tasks of IEP development, placing far greater emphasis on decision-making that considers the individualized needs of students with disabilities. In short, the Endrew ruling provided a consistent standard regarding the quality of the education, as laid out in their IEPs, to which students with disabilities are entitled.
State Laws
1% and Maine's Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Academic Achievement Standards (AA-AAAS)
Special Education required forms procedural manual.
In Maine, laws that are specific to the education of children with disabilities are set forth in three chapters of 20-A MRSA (Maine Revised Statutes Annotated).
- Chapter 301. General Provisions
- Chapter 303. Children with Disabilities
- Chapter 304. Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf
Rule chapter that is specific to the education of children with disabilities in Maine Department of Education Regulations, Chapter 101, Maine Unified Special Education Regulation Birth to Age Twenty (MUSER).
- English Companion Document
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Federal Laws
ESSA requires that all teachers of students with disabilities be fully certified.
IDEA is the federal law governing grants to states to ensure that children with disabilities (age birth to 20) are identified for timely evaluation and if eligible, provided appropriate services in the least restrictive setting.
- Federal Implementing Regulations. These federal regulations set forth additional requirements that states must follow in implementing IDEA by means of state plans upon which grant approval is based.
- 34 CFR Part 300. Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities
- 34 CFR Part 303. Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
These federal regulations set forth the requirements that states must follow in protecting the confidentiality of education records.
These federal guidelines provide scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to buildings and facilities by individuals with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.