II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1578

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to authorize

appropriations for fiscal years 1997 through 2002, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 27 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 23), 1996

Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1997 through

2002, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Individuals with Dis5 abilities Education Act Amendments of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Office of Special Education Programs.
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Sec. 104. Requirements for prescribing regulations.

Sec. 105. Eligibility for financial assistance.

Sec. 106. Administrative provisions applicable to discretionary grant programs.

Sec. 107. Repeals.

Sec. 108. Transition Rule.

Sec. 109. Effective date.

TITLE II—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES

Sec. 201. Entitlements and allocations.

Sec. 202. State eligibility.

Sec. 203. Local educational and State agency eligibility.

Sec. 204. Evaluations, individualized education programs, and educational

placements.

Sec. 205. Chapter 1 State agencies.

Sec. 206. Procedural safeguards.

Sec. 207. Withholding and judicial review.

Sec. 208. Administration.

Sec. 209. Evaluation and program information.

Sec. 210. Preschool grants.

Sec. 211. Payments.

Sec. 212. Applicability of definitions.

Sec. 213. Effective dates.

Sec. 214. Conforming and technical amendments.

TITLE III—SYSTEMS CHANGE

Sec. 301. Systems change.

Sec. 302. Reauthorization for fiscal year 1997 of authorities relating to centers

and services to meet special needs of individuals with disabilities.

Sec. 303. Effective date.

TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION

Sec. 401. Improving early intervention, educational, and transitional services

and results for children with disabilities through coordinated

research and personnel preparation.

Sec. 402. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 403. Reauthorization for fiscal year 1997 of authorities relating to training

personnel for the education of individuals with disabilities.

Sec. 404. Effective date.

TITLE V—TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

Sec. 501. Improving early intervention, educational, and transitional services

and results for children with disabilities through coordinated

technical assistance, support, and dissemination of information.

Sec. 502. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 503. Reauthorizations for fiscal year 1997.

Sec. 504. Effective date.

TITLE VI—INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

Sec. 601. Findings and policy.
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Sec. 602. Definitions.

Sec. 603. General authority.

Sec. 604. Eligibility.

Sec. 605. Continuing eligibility.

Sec. 606. Requirements for statewide system.

Sec. 607. Individualized family service plan.

Sec. 608. State application and assurances.

Sec. 609. Uses of funds.

Sec. 610. Procedural safeguards.

Sec. 611. State Interagency Coordinating Council.

Sec. 612. Conforming amendment.

Sec. 613. Allocation of funds.

Sec. 614. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.

Sec. 615. Study of definition of developmental delay.

Sec. 616. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 617. Effective date.

1 SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a

6 section or other provision of the Individuals with Disabil7 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).

8 TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

9 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

10 Section 601 (20 U.S.C. 1400) is amended to read as

11 follows:

12 ‘‘SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; POLICY; PURPOSES.

13 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the

14 ‘Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’.

15 ‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—With respect to the provisions of

16 this Act, Congress finds the following:

17 ‘‘(1)(A) That disability is a natural part of the

18 human experience and in no way diminishes the
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1 right of individuals to fully participate in all aspects

2 of American society, including education.

3 ‘‘(B) That the right to equal educational oppor4 tunities for all children with disabilities is guaran5 teed by the equal protection clause of the 14th

6 amendment to the United States Constitution.

7 ‘‘(C) That improving educational results for

8 children with disabilities is an essential element in

9 ensuring equality of opportunity in all aspects of so10 ciety.

11 ‘‘(D) That it is in the national interest that stu12 dents with disabilities leave school with the skills

13 necessary to be included and integrated in the eco14 nomic and social fabric of society and to live inde15 pendently.

16 ‘‘(2) That prior to the enactment of the Edu17 cation for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

18 (Public Law 94–142), 1,000,000 children with dis19 abilities in the United States were excluded entirely

20 from the public school system, and more than one21 half of all children with disabilities in the United

22 States did not receive appropriate educational serv23 ices, either because their disabilities were unde24 tected, or because of the lack of adequate services

25 within the public school system.
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1 ‘‘(3) That since the enactment of the Education

2 for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public

3 Law 19–142), significant progress has been made in

4 addressing problems that existed at the time the law

5 was enacted. Progress has been made in the follow6 ing manner:

7 ‘‘(A) Every State now ensures a free ap8 propriate public education to all children with

9 disabilities within the State between the ages of

10 3 and 18, and most States extend that provi11 sion through age 21.

12 ‘‘(B) Over 5,000,000 children with disabil13 ities are receiving special education and related

14 services.

15 ‘‘(C) All States now provide early interven16 tion services to infants and toddlers with dis17 abilities from birth through age 2 and to fami18 lies of such infants and toddlers.

19 ‘‘(4) That based on 20 years of experience and

20 research in the education of children with disabil21 ities, there is a general recognition of the following:

22 ‘‘(A) The provision of quality education

23 and services to children with disabilities must

24 be based on an individualized assessment of

25 each child’s unique needs and abilities.
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1 ‘‘(B) To the maximum extent appropriate,

2 children with disabilities must be educated with

3 children who are not disabled and children with

4 disabilities should be removed from the regular

5 educational environment only when the nature

6 and severity of the disability is such that edu7 cation in regular classes with the use of supple8 mentary aids and services cannot be achieved

9 satisfactorily.

10 ‘‘(C) Students with disabilities achieve at

11 significantly higher levels when schools have

12 high expectations (and establish high goals) for

13 such students, ensure the access of such stu14 dents to the general curriculum (whenever ap15 propriate), and provide such students with the

16 necessary services and supports.

17 ‘‘(D) That including children with disabil18 ities in general State and districtwide assess19 ments is an effective accountability mechanism

20 and a critical strategy for improving edu21 cational results for such children.

22 ‘‘(E) The provisions of this Act should be

23 aligned with general educational reforms with

24 respect to the improvement of education for all
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1 children, so that children with disabilities have

2 the opportunity to benefit from such reforms.

3 ‘‘(F) Parent participation is a crucial com4 ponent in the education of children with disabil5 ities, and parents should have meaningful op6 portunities, through appropriate training, dis7 semination of information and other supports,

8 to participate as partners with teachers and

9 other school staff in assisting their children to

10 achieve to high standards.

11 ‘‘(G) School administrators must have the

12 resources and skills needed to ensure that

13 school environments are safe and conducive to

14 learning.

15 ‘‘(5)(A) State and local educational agencies

16 must be responsive to the increasing racial, ethnic,

17 and linguistic diversity that prevails in the Nation’s

18 public schools today.

19 ‘‘(B)(i) Greater efforts are needed to prevent

20 the intensification of problems connected with inap21 propriately identifying and mislabeling children from

22 minority backgrounds as children with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(ii) More minority children continue to be

24 served in special education than would be expected
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1 from the percentage of such children in the general

2 school population.

3 ‘‘(iii) Poor African American students are 2.5

4 times more likely to be identified by their school as

5 mentally retarded than are their white counterparts,

6 and such students are also more likely to be edu7 cated in segregated settings.

8 ‘‘(iv) A disproportionate number of such stu9 dents drop out of school, fail to enroll in postsecond10 ary programs, and fail to participate in competitive

11 long-term employment.

12 ‘‘(v) Disproportionality in identification may be

13 explained in part by the relationship between poverty

14 and disability, which is well documented. Poor pre15 natal care and nutrition are factors that contribute

16 to higher rates of disability within minority popu17 lations. However, disproportionality may be due to

18 misclassification of minority children as disabled and

19 inappropriate placement of minority children, par20 ticularly in separate settings, which raises civil

21 rights concerns.

22 ‘‘(C) Children with limited English proficiency

23 continue to be underidentified as needing special

24 education services than would be expected from the
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1 percentage of such children in the general school

2 population.

3 ‘‘(D) Based on 20 years of experience in both

4 general and special education, there is general rec5 ognition today that the problems associated with en6 suring an appropriate education for children from

7 diverse backgrounds can be effectively addressed

8 when the following are done:

9 ‘‘(i) The procedures used for referring and

10 evaluating children with disabilities include ap11 propriate safeguards to prevent the over- or

12 underidentification of minority students requir13 ing special education.

14 ‘‘(ii) Prereferral intervention strategies are

15 adopted, as appropriate, especially in elemen16 tary schools.

17 ‘‘(iii) Services, supports, and other assist18 ance are provided in a culturally competent

19 manner.

20 ‘‘(iv) Greater efforts are made to improve

21 post-school results among minority students

22 with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(6) That it is in the national interest that the

24 Federal Government has a role with respect to the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(A) Assisting State and local efforts to

2 educate children with disabilities in order to im3 prove educational and transitional results for

4 such children, and to ensure equal protection of

5 the law.

6 ‘‘(B) Assisting States in the provision of

7 early intervention services.

8 ‘‘(C) Promoting the improvement of edu9 cational and transitional services and results for

10 children with disabilities and early intervention

11 services for infants and toddlers with disabil12 ities by supporting systems change activities

13 carried out by the State educational agency, co14 ordinated research and personnel preparation,

15 coordinated technical assistance, dissemination,

16 and support, and technology development and

17 media services.

18 ‘‘(c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

19 ‘‘(1)(A) ensure that all children with disabilities

20 have available to them a free appropriate public edu21 cation that emphasizes special education and related

22 services designed to meet the unique needs of such

23 children and enable such children to lead productive,

24 independent adult lives;
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1 ‘‘(B) ensure that the rights of children with dis2 abilities and their parents are protected; and

3 ‘‘(C) assist States and localities to provide for

4 the education of all children with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(2) assist States in the implementation of a

6 statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisci7 plinary, interagency system of early intervention

8 services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and

9 their families;

10 ‘‘(3) promote the improvement of educational

11 and transitional services and results for children

12 with disabilities and early intervention services for

13 infants and toddlers with disabilities by support14 ing—

15 ‘‘(A) systems change activities by State

16 educational agencies in partnership with other

17 interested parties;

18 ‘‘(B) coordinated research and personnel

19 preparation; and

20 ‘‘(C) coordinated technical assistance, dis21 semination, and support, and technology devel22 opment and media services; and

23 ‘‘(4) assess and ensure the effectiveness of ef24 forts to educate children with disabilities and to pro-
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1 vide early intervention services for infants and tod2 dlers with disabilities.’’.

3 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

4 (a) SECTION HEADING.—Section 602 (20 U.S.C.

5 1401) is amended—

6 (1) by striking the section heading and insert7 ing the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.’’;

9 and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘SEC. 602.’’.

11 (b) TERMS.—Section 602(a) (20 U.S.C. 1401(a)) is

12 amended—

13 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘(1)(A) The term’’ and all

15 that follows through ‘‘children—’’ and inserting

16 the following:

17 ‘‘(1) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY; CHILD WITH A

18 DISABILITY AGED 3 THROUGH 5; CHILDREN WITH

19 DISABILITIES.—

20 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The

21 term ‘child with a disability’ means a child—’’;

22 (B) in clause (i)—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘hearing impairments’’

24 and inserting ‘‘a hearing impairment’’;
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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘speech or language

2 impairments, visual impairments’’ and in3 serting ‘‘a speech or language impairment,

4 a visual impairment’’; and

5 (iii) by striking ‘‘other health impair6 ments, or specific learning disabilities’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘any other health impairment, or

8 a specific learning disability’’;

9 (C) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘need’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘needs’’; and

11 (D) by realigning the margins of clauses

12 (i) and (ii) so as to align with clauses (i) and

13 (ii) of paragraph 21(A);

14 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘(B) The term’’ and all

16 that follows through ‘‘include children—’’ and

17 inserting the following:

18 ‘‘(B) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY AGED 3

19 THROUGH 5.—At the discretion of the State,

20 the term ‘child with a disability’ includes a child

21 aged 3 through 5—’’;

22 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(i) experienc23 ing developmental delays’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)

24 who is experiencing a developmental delay’’;
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1 (C) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘need’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘needs’’;

3 (D) by realigning the margins of subpara4 graph (B) so as to align with subparagraph (B)

5 of paragraph (11); and

6 (E) by realigning the margins of clauses

7 (i) and (ii) so as to align with clauses (i) and

8 (ii) of paragraph (21)(A);

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1)(B), the fol10 lowing new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(C) CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.—The

12 term ‘children with disabilities’ means more than 1

13 child with a disability.’’;

14 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘The term’’

15 and inserting ‘‘CONSTRUCTION.—The term’’;

16 (5) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘The term’’

17 and inserting EQUIPMENT.—The term’’;

18 (6) in paragraph (6), to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of

20 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com21 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying

22 areas.’’;

23 (7) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘The term’’

24 and inserting ‘‘STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The

25 term’’;
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1 (8) in paragraph (8), to read as follows:

2 ‘‘(8) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term

3 ‘local educational agency’ means—

4 ‘‘(A) a public board of education or other

5 public authority legally constituted within a

6 State—

7 ‘‘(i) for either administrative control

8 or direction of, or to perform a service

9 function for, public elementary or second10 ary schools in a city, county, township,

11 school district, or other political subdivi12 sion of a State; or

13 ‘‘(ii) for a combination of school dis14 tricts or counties as are recognized in a

15 State as an administrative agency for the

16 public elementary or secondary schools of

17 the State;

18 ‘‘(B) any other public institution or agency

19 having administrative control and direction of a

20 public elementary or secondary school; or

21 ‘‘(C) an educational service agency, as de22 fined in paragraph (7).’’;

23 (9) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘The term’’

24 and inserting ‘‘ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term’’;
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1 (10) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘The term’’

2 and inserting ‘‘SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term’’;

3 (11) in paragraph (11), to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(11) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

5 The term ‘institution of higher education’—

6 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given to such term

7 by section 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act

8 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(a)); and

9 ‘‘(B) includes any community college re10 ceiving funding from the Secretary of the Inte11 rior under the Tribally Controlled Community

12 College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C.

13 1801 et seq.).’’;

14 (12) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘The term’’

15 and inserting ‘‘NONPROFIT.—The term’’;

16 (13) by striking paragraph (13);

17 (14) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘The term’’

18 and inserting ‘‘SECRETARY.—The term’’;

19 (15) in paragraph (15), to read as follows:

20 ‘‘(15) SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY.—The

21 term ‘specific learning disability’—

22 ‘‘(A) means a disorder—

23 ‘‘(i) in one or more of the basic psy24 chological processes involved in under-
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1 standing or in using language, spoken or

2 written; and

3 ‘‘(ii) that may manifest itself in im4 perfect ability to listen, think, speak, read,

5 write, spell, or do mathematical calcula6 tions;

7 ‘‘(B) includes such conditions as percep8 tual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain

9 dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental apha10 sia; and

11 ‘‘(C) does not include a learning problem

12 that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or

13 motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of

14 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cul15 tural, or economic disadvantage.’’;

16 (16) in paragraph (16)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘SPECIAL EDUCATION.—The term’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘or guardians’’;

20 (17) in paragraph (17)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘RELATED SERVICES.—The term’’;

23 (B) by striking ‘‘speech pathology and

24 audiology’’ and inserting ‘‘speech-language pa25 thology services and audiology services’’; and
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘rehabilitation counseling,’’

2 and inserting ‘‘rehabilitation counseling, ori3 entation and mobility services,’’;

4 (18) in paragraph (18)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION.—

7 The term’’; and

8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘re9 quired under section 614(a)(5)’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘requirements under subsections (d) through (j)

11 of section 614’’;

12 (19) by striking paragraph (19);

13 (20) in paragraph (20), to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(20) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM;

15 IEP.—The term ‘individualized education program’

16 and the term ‘IEP’ mean a written statement for

17 each child with a disability that is developed, re18 viewed, and revised in accordance with subsections

19 (d) through (j) of section 614.’’;

20 (21) in paragraph (21)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘EXCESS COSTS.—The term’’;

23 (B) in subparagraph (A)—

24 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘this

25 part’’ and inserting ‘‘part B’’;
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1 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘under

2 title I’’ and inserting ‘‘under part A of title

3 I’’; and

4 (iii) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘title

5 VII of the Elementary and Secondary Edu6 cation Act of 1965’’ and inserting ‘‘part A

7 of the Bilingual Education Act’’; and

8 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘such

9 part, chapter, or title’’ and inserting ‘‘a part re10 ferred to in subparagraph (A)’’;

11 (22) in paragraph (22)—

12 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘NATIVE LANGUAGE.—The term’’; and

14 (B) by striking ‘‘section 7003(a)(2)’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘section 7501(11)’’;

16 (23) in paragraph (23)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘The term ‘intermediate

18 educational unit’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘EDU19 CATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The term ‘edu20 cational service agency’ means’’; and

21 (B) by striking ‘‘local educational agency,’’

22 and inserting ‘‘local educational agency de23 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para24 graph (19),’’;

25 (24) in paragraph (24), to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(24) INDIAN; INDIAN TRIBE.—

2 ‘‘(A) INDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ means

3 an individual who is a member of an Indian

4 tribe.

5 ‘‘(B) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian

6 tribe’ means any Federal or State Indian tribe,

7 band, rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community,

8 including any Alaska Native village or regional

9 village corporation (as defined in or established

10 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

11 Act).’’;

12 (25) in paragraph (25), by striking ‘‘The term’’

13 and inserting ‘‘ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE.—

14 The term’’;

15 (26) in paragraph (26), by striking ‘‘The term’’

16 and inserting ‘‘ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE.—

17 The term’’;

18 (27) in paragraph (27), to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(27) UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED.—The

20 terms ‘unserved’ and ‘underserved’, with respect to

21 populations include populations such as individuals

22 with disabilities who are from racial and ethnic mi23 nority backgrounds, who are disadvantaged individ24 uals, who are individuals with limited English pro-
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1 ficiency, and who are individuals from underserved

2 geographic areas, both urban and rural.’’;

3 (28) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (5), (6),

4 (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (14), (15), (16), (17),

5 (18), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), and

6 (27) as paragraphs (4), (9), (30), (31), (19), (8),

7 (26), (18), (21), (27), (29), (28), (25), (11), (15),

8 (10), (20), (7), (14), (1), (2), and (34), respectively;

9 (29) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re10 designated by paragraph (28)) the following new

11 paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The

13 term ‘behavior management plan’ means a plan con14 sisting of strategies and services to address the be15 havior of a child with a disability and to help the

16 child learn socially appropriate and responsible be17 havior in the school and other community-based edu18 cational settings.’’;

19 (30) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re20 designated by paragraph (28)) the following new

21 paragraph:

22 ‘‘(6) DISABILITY.—The term ‘disability’, except

23 with respect to an infant or toddler with a disability,

24 means an impairment or other condition described in
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1 paragraph (4) (relating to the definition of a child

2 with a disability).’’;

3 (31) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as so

4 redesignated by paragraph (28)) the following new

5 paragraphs:

6 ‘‘(12) GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM.—

7 The term ‘general education curriculum’ means the

8 curriculum adopted by the local educational agency

9 for all children from preschool through secondary

10 school.’’;

11 ‘‘(13) INAPPROPRIATELY IDENTIFIED.—The

12 term ‘inappropriately identified’ with respect to pop13 ulation means a population of students from rural

14 and ethnic minority backgrounds in which students

15 are over- or under-identified as having disabilities.’’;

16 (32) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so

17 redesignated by paragraph (28)) the following new

18 paragraphs:

19 ‘‘(16) INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN;

20 IFSP.—The term ‘individualized family service plan’

21 and the term ‘IFSP’ mean a written plan for provid22 ing early intervention services to each infant and

23 toddler with a disability that meets the requirements

24 of section 677(d).
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1 ‘‘(17) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABIL2 ITY; INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES.—

3 The terms ‘infant or toddler with a disability’ and

4 ‘infants and toddlers with disabilities’ have the

5 meanings given the terms in section 672.’’;

6 (33) by inserting after paragraph (21) (as so

7 redesignated by paragraph (28)), the following new

8 paragraphs:

9 ‘‘(22) OUTLYING AREAS.—The term ‘outlying

10 areas’ means the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

11 Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is12 lands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated

13 States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

14 ‘‘(23) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ includes a

15 legal guardian.

16 ‘‘(24) PUBLIC OR PRIVATE NONPROFIT AGENCY

17 OR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘public or private

18 nonprofit agency or organization’ includes an Indian

19 tribe and tribally controlled schools funded by the

20 Department of the Interior.’’;

21 (34) by inserting after paragraph (31) (as so

22 redesignated by paragraph (28)) the following new

23 paragraph:

24 ‘‘(32) SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS AND SERVICES.—

25 The term ‘supplementary aids and services’ means
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1 aids, services, and other supports that are provided

2 in regular education classes to enable children with

3 disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children

4 to the maximum extent appropriate, in accordance

5 with section 612(a)(5).’’;

6 (35) by inserting after paragraph (32) (as so

7 redesignated by paragraph (28)) the following new

8 paragraph:

9 ‘‘(33) SYSTEMS CHANGE ACTIVITIES; SYSTEMS

10 CHANGE OUTCOMES.—

11 ‘‘(A) SYSTEMS CHANGE ACTIVITIES.—The

12 term ‘systems change activities’ means efforts

13 to design, implement, and evaluate strategies

14 and activities leading to systems change out15 comes.

16 ‘‘(B) SYSTEMS CHANGE OUTCOMES.—The

17 term ‘systems change outcomes’ means

18 systemswide changes in policies, procedures,

19 practices, training, or use of personnel, parents,

20 and school-age peers of children with disabilities

21 that benefit and improve the early intervention,

22 educational, and transitional services and re23 sults of children with disabilities.’’; and

24 (36) by striking ‘‘(a) As used in this title—’’

25 and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(a) TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided, the fol2 lowing terms have the following meanings as used in this

3 Act:’’.

4 (c) YOUTH WITH A DISABILITY.—Section 602(b) (20

5 U.S.C. 1401(b)) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘(b) REFERENCES TO ACT OR TITLE.—If a provision

7 of this title refers to the term ‘this title’ or ‘this Act’, the

8 provision shall be deemed to refer to the Individuals with

9 Disabilities Education Act.’’

10 SEC. 103. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

11 Section 603 (20 U.S.C. 1402) is amended by adding

12 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

13 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United

14 States Code, the Secretary is authorized to accept vol15 untary and uncompensated services in furtherance of the

16 purposes of this Act.’’.

17 SEC. 104. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULA18 TIONS.

19 Section 608(a) (20 U.S.C. 1407(a)) is amended by

20 striking ‘‘(a) For purposes’’ and all that follows through

21 ‘‘days.’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘(a) The Secretary

22 shall provide a public comment period of at least 90 days

23 on any regulation proposed under part B for which a time

24 period for an opportunity for public comment is otherwise

25 required.’’.
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1 SEC. 105. ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

2 Section 609 (20 U.S.C. 1408) is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 609. ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

5 ‘‘The Secretary may not make a grant under parts

6 C through E to a State, or to any local educational agency

7 or other public institution or agency in the State, that re8 lates exclusively to programs, projects, and activities per9 taining to children aged 3 through 5, unless the State is

10 eligible to receive a grant under section 619.’’.

11 SEC. 106. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO

12 DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAMS.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 610 (20 U.S.C. 1409) is

14 amended to read as follows:

15 ‘‘SEC. 610. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS FOR DISCRE16 TIONARY GRANT PROGRAMS.

17 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS WITH RESPECT TO ADDRESSING DI18 VERSITY UNDER PARTS D AND E.—With respect to this

19 section and parts D and E, Congress finds the following:

20 ‘‘(1)(A) The Federal Government must be re21 sponsive to the growing needs of an increasingly

22 more diverse society. A more equitable allocation of

23 resources is essential for the Federal Government to

24 meet its responsibility to provide an equal edu25 cational opportunity for all individuals.
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1 ‘‘(B) Recent data indicate that the number of

2 African American and Hispanic children in schools,

3 and in special education, continues to rise, and the

4 number of minority teachers and related services

5 personnel produced in the colleges and universities

6 of the United States continues to decrease.

7 ‘‘(2) There is a compelling national interest in

8 aiding institutions of higher education that have his9 torically served students who have been denied ac10 cess to postsecondary education because of race or

11 national origin and whose participation in the Amer12 ican system of higher education is in the interest of

13 the United States so that the access to, and the

14 quality of, postsecondary education are enhanced for

15 all students.

16 ‘‘(3)(A) Historically Black Colleges and Univer17 sities and other institutions of higher education with

18 substantial minority enrollments have an important

19 role in the development of a professional workforce

20 in special education and related services that reflects

21 the full participation of all members of society by

22 providing access and high-quality education to low23 income and minority students who will enter the

24 field of special education and other related fields.

25 Upon completing their education at such colleges
28

•S 1578 IS

1 and universities and institutions, many low-income

2 and minority students become teachers or profes3 sionals in related fields and provide services to chil4 dren with disabilities in inner-city urban and rural

5 areas that have experienced significant shortages in

6 qualified personnel.

7 ‘‘(B) Recent data indicate that the Historically

8 Black Colleges and Universities enroll nearly 50 per9 cent of the African American teacher trainees in the

10 United States. However, during the time period cov11 ered by the data, such colleges and universities re12 ceived only 4 percent of the discretionary funds for

13 special education and related services personnel

14 training under this Act.

15 ‘‘(b) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop

17 and implement a comprehensive plan for activities

18 under parts D and E in order to enhance the provi19 sion of educational, related, and early intervention

20 services to children with disabilities under parts B

21 and H. Such plan shall include mechanisms to ad22 dress early intervention, educational, and transi23 tional needs identified by States in applications sub24 mitted for systems change grants funded under

25 part C.
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1 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS IN PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—

2 In developing the plan described in paragraph (1),

3 the Secretary shall involve—

4 ‘‘(A) individuals with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(B) parents of children with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(C) appropriate professionals; and

7 ‘‘(D) representatives of State and local

8 educational agencies, private schools, institu9 tions of higher education, other Federal agen10 cies, the National Council on Disabilities, and

11 national organizations with an interest in, and

12 expertise in, providing services to children with

13 disabilities and their families.

14 The Secretary shall publish the plan in the Federal

15 Register for public comment.

16 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—In implement17 ing the plan described in paragraph (1), the Sec18 retary shall, to the extent appropriate, ensure that

19 funds are awarded to recipients under parts D and

20 E to carry out activities that benefit, directly or in21 directly, children with disabilities of all ages.

22 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro24 vided in this subsection, the following entities are el-
30

•S 1578 IS

1 igible to apply for a grant, contract, or cooperative

2 agreement under parts D and E:

3 ‘‘(A) A State educational agency.

4 ‘‘(B) A local educational agency.

5 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education.

6 ‘‘(D) Any other public agency.

7 ‘‘(E) A private nonprofit organization.

8 ‘‘(F) An outlying area.

9 ‘‘(G) An Indian tribe.

10 ‘‘(H) A for-profit organization, if the Sec11 retary determines that such organization is an

12 appropriate entity to be eligible to apply for a

13 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under

14 parts D and E.

15 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—The Secretary may limit

16 the award of a grant, contract, or cooperative agree17 ment to one or more categories of eligible entities

18 described in paragraph (1).

19 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON THE USE OF FUNDS BY

20 THE SECRETARY.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any

22 other provision of law and subject to subpara23 graph (B), the Secretary may use not more

24 than 20 percent of the total funds available
31

•S 1578 IS

1 under parts D and E to carry out an activity

2 or combination of activities, if—

3 ‘‘(i) the activity or combination of ac4 tivities is consistent with the purposes of

5 parts D and E (subject to such conditions

6 as the Secretary determines are appro7 priate to effectively carry out the purposes

8 of such parts); and

9 ‘‘(ii) the activity or combination of ac10 tivities involves coordinated research, per11 sonnel preparation, parent training and in12 formation, coordinated technical assistance

13 and dissemination, technology develop14 ment, demonstration and utilization, or

15 media services.

16 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.—

17 ‘‘(i) SINGLE ACTIVITY.—In carrying

18 out an activity described in subparagraph

19 (A), the Secretary shall use only the por20 tion of funds made available for an activity

21 under parts D and E (whichever is applica22 ble) that relates to the activity described in

23 subparagraph (A).

24 ‘‘(ii) COMBINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—

25 In carrying out a combination of activities
32

•S 1578 IS

1 described in subparagraph (A), the Sec2 retary shall use only the portion of funds

3 made available for activities under parts D

4 and E (whichever is applicable) that relate

5 to the combination of activities described

6 in subparagraph (A).

7 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENT.—In making

9 awards of a grant, contract, or cooperative agree10 ment under parts D and E, the Secretary shall, as

11 appropriate, require an applicant to demonstrate

12 how the applicant will address the needs of children

13 with disabilities from unserved, underserved, and in14 appropriately identified populations.

15 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST16 ANCE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this

17 Act, the Secretary—

18 ‘‘(A) shall ensure that at least 1 percent of

19 the total amount of funds appropriated for

20 parts D and E is used—

21 ‘‘(i) for outreach and technical assist22 ance to Historically Black Colleges and

23 Universities, and to institutions of higher

24 education with minority enrollments of at

25 least 25 percent, to promote the participa-
33

•S 1578 IS

1 tion of such colleges, universities, and in2 stitutions in activities under such parts;

3 and

4 ‘‘(ii) to enable the Historically Black

5 Colleges and Universities and the institu6 tions described in clause (i) to assist other

7 colleges, universities, and institutions in

8 improving educational and transitional re9 sults for children with disabilities; and

10 ‘‘(B) may reserve funds appropriated

11 under parts D and E to meet the requirement

12 of subparagraph (A).

13 ‘‘(e) PRIORITIES.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure

15 that a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement

16 under parts D and E is awarded only for activities

17 that are designed to benefit children with disabilities

18 and their families, and the personnel employed to

19 work with such children and their families.

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Subject to para21 graph (1), the Secretary in making an award of a

22 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under

23 parts D and E may, without rulemaking under sec24 tion 553 of title 5, United States Code, limit the

25 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement to, or oth-
34

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1 erwise give priority to, eligible entities that carry out

2 the following activities:

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Activities relating to

4 personnel preparation, training, research, dis5 semination of information, technical assistance,

6 technology development and educational media

7 services that address one or more of the

8 following:

9 ‘‘(i) The age ranges of children with

10 disabilities.

11 ‘‘(ii) The types of disabilities of chil12 dren.

13 ‘‘(iii) The school grades of children

14 with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(iv) The types of educational place16 ments or early intervention environments

17 of children with disabilities.

18 ‘‘(v) The types of services provided to

19 children with disabilities.

20 ‘‘(vi) Content areas such as reading.

21 ‘‘(vii) Effective strategies for helping

22 children with disabilities learn socially ap23 propriate and responsible behavior in the

24 school and other community based edu25 cational settings.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO GENDER2 BASED NEEDS.—Activities relating to personnel

3 preparation, training, research, dissemination of

4 information, technical assistance, technology de5 velopment and educational media services that

6 address the needs of children with disabilities

7 who are of a particular gender.

8 ‘‘(C) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SEVERITY

9 OF DISABILITY.—Activities relating to personnel

10 preparation, training, research, dissemination of

11 information, technical assistance, technology de12 velopment and educational media services that

13 address the needs of children based on the se14 verity of the disability of the children.

15 ‘‘(D) OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES.—Ac16 tivities relating to personnel preparation, train17 ing, research, dissemination of information,

18 technical assistance, technology development

19 and educational media services that address the

20 needs of the following individuals and areas:

21 ‘‘(i) Low-achieving students.

22 ‘‘(ii) Underserved populations.

23 ‘‘(iii) Children from low-income fami24 lies.
36

•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) Children with limited English

2 proficiency.

3 ‘‘(v) Unserved and underserved areas.

4 ‘‘(vi) Children whose behavior inter5 feres with their learning and socialization.

6 ‘‘(vii) Inappropriatedly identified pop7 ulations.

8 ‘‘(E) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Activities re9 lating to personnel preparation, training, re10 search, dissemination of information, technical

11 assistance, technology development and edu12 cational media services that are carried in par13 ticular areas of the country, to ensure broad ge14 ographic coverage.

15 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Any ac16 tivity that is expressly authorized in the appli17 cable part.

18 ‘‘(f) APPLICANT AND RECIPIENT RESPONSIBIL19 ITIES.—

20 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF

21 PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall require that an ap22 plicant for, and a recipient of, a grant, contract, or

23 cooperative agreement under parts D and E—

24 ‘‘(A) involve individuals with disabilities or

25 parents of individuals with disabilities in plan-
37

•S 1578 IS

1 ning, implementing, and evaluating projects;

2 and

3 ‘‘(B) where appropriate, determine whether

4 the project of the applicant and recipient has

5 any potential for replication and adoption by

6 other entities.

7 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—The

8 Secretary may require a recipient of a grant, con9 tract, or cooperative agreement under parts D and

10 E to—

11 ‘‘(A) share in the cost of the project of the

12 recipient;

13 ‘‘(B) prepare the research and evaluation

14 findings and products in formats that are use15 ful for specific audiences, including parents, ad16 ministrators, teachers, early intervention per17 sonnel, related services personnel, and individ18 uals with disabilities;

19 ‘‘(C) disseminate such findings and prod20 ucts; and

21 ‘‘(D) collaborate with other recipients in

22 carrying out the activities described in subpara23 graphs (B) and (C).

24 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION MANAGEMENT.—

25 ‘‘(1) STANDING PANELS.—
38

•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

2 establish and use standing panels of experts

3 who are competent, by virtue of their training,

4 expertise, or experience, to evaluate applications

5 under parts D and E that request more than

6 $75,000 a year in assistance.

7 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LIMITA8 TION.—A majority of each panel described in

9 subparagraph (A) shall be individuals who are

10 not employees of the Federal Government.

11 ‘‘(2) SELECTION AND PARTICIPATION OF PANEL

12 MEMBERS.—

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

14 establish criteria to use in the selection of panel

15 members. Such criteria shall ensure that the

16 membership of standing panels includes—

17 ‘‘(i) individuals with knowledge and

18 expertise on the issues addressed by the

19 activities authorized by parts D and E;

20 and

21 ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, parents

22 of children with disabilities, individuals

23 with disabilities, and persons from diverse

24 racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
39

•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—Standing panel

2 membership shall include, at a minimum, indi3 viduals who—

4 ‘‘(i) are representatives of institutions

5 of higher education that plan, develop, and

6 carry out programs of personnel prepara7 tion;

8 ‘‘(ii) design and carry out programs of

9 research targeted to the improvement of

10 special education programs and services;

11 ‘‘(iii) have recognized experience and

12 knowledge necessary to integrate and apply

13 research findings to improve educational

14 and transitional results for children with

15 disabilities;

16 ‘‘(iv) administer programs at the

17 State or local level in which children with

18 disabilities participate;

19 ‘‘(v) prepare parents of children with

20 disabilities to participate in making deci21 sions about the education of their children;

22 ‘‘(vi) establish policies that affect the

23 delivery of services to children with disabil24 ities;
40

•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(vii) are parents of children with dis2 abilities who are benefiting or have bene3 fited from coordinated research, personnel

4 preparation, and technical assistance; and

5 ‘‘(viii) are individuals with disabilities.

6 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall pro7 vide training to the individuals who are selected

8 as members of the standing panels under this

9 paragraph.

10 ‘‘(D) TERM.—Membership on any standing

11 panel shall be for a period of not more than 3

12 consecutive years.

13 ‘‘(3) SECRETARY’S DISCRETION OVER LIMITED

14 USE OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRA15 TIVE PURPOSES.—

16 ‘‘(A) EXPENSES AND FEES OF NON-FED17 ERAL PANEL MEMBERS.—The Secretary may

18 use funds available under parts D and E to pay

19 the expenses and fees of non-Federal panel

20 members.

21 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The

22 Secretary may not use more than 1 percent of

23 the funds available under parts D and E to pay

24 non-Federal entities for administrative support

25 related to application management.
41

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1 ‘‘(C) MONITORING.—The Secretary may

2 use funds available under parts D and E to pay

3 the expenses of Federal employees to conduct

4 onsite monitoring of projects receiving

5 $500,000 or more, for any fiscal year.

6 ‘‘(h) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—The Secretary may

7 use funds appropriated to carry out parts D and E to

8 evaluate activities carried out under such parts.

9 ‘‘(i) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—

10 ‘‘(1) REFERENCES TO EARLY INTERVENTION

11 SERVICES.—

12 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a

13 provision of part C, D, or E refers to services

14 for a child with a disability (or a family mem15 ber of the child), and the services include early

16 intervention services, the provision shall be

17 deemed to refer to—

18 ‘‘(i) early intervention services for an

19 infant or toddler with a disability (or a

20 family member of the infant or toddler, as

21 appropriate); and

22 ‘‘(ii) the other services referred to in

23 the provision for a child with a disability

24 (or a family member of the child, as appro25 priate).
42

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1 ‘‘(B) PERSON WITH A RELATIONSHIP TO A

2 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a provision of

3 part C, D, or E refers to a benefit (such as

4 training or research) for a person (such as a

5 parent or education professional) with a rela6 tionship to a child with a disability (or a family

7 member of the child), and the benefit is pro8 vided with respect to services that include early

9 intervention services, the provision shall be

10 deemed to refer to—

11 ‘‘(i) the benefit, provided with respect

12 to early intervention services, for a person

13 with a relationship to an infant or toddler

14 with a disability (or a family member of

15 the infant or toddler, as appropriate); and

16 ‘‘(ii) the benefit, provided with respect

17 to the other services referred to in the pro18 vision, for a person with a relationship to

19 a child with a disability (or a family mem20 ber of the child, as appropriate).

21 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO EARLY INTERVENTION

22 RESULTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a

24 provision of part C, D, or E refers to results for

25 a child with a disability, and the results include
43

•S 1578 IS

1 early intervention results, the provision shall be

2 deemed to refer to—

3 ‘‘(i) early intervention results for an

4 infant or toddler with a disability; and

5 ‘‘(ii) the other results referred to in

6 the provision for a child with a disability.

7 ‘‘(B) PERSON WITH A RELATIONSHIP TO A

8 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a provision of

9 part C, D, or E refers to a benefit (such as

10 training or research) for a person described in

11 paragraph (1)(B)(ii) that is provided to achieve

12 results for a child with a disability, and the re13 sults include early intervention results, the pro14 vision shall be deemed to refer to—

15 ‘‘(i) the benefit, provided to achieve

16 early intervention results, for a person with

17 a relationship to an infant or toddler with

18 a disability; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the benefit, provided to achieve

20 other results referred to in the provision,

21 for a person with a relationship to a child

22 with a disability.’’.

23 SEC. 107. REPEALS.

24 (a) PROVISIONS.—Section 605 (20 U.S.C. 1404) and

25 section 607 (20 U.S.C. 1406) are repealed.
44

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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of enactment

3 of this Act.

4 SEC. 108. TRANSITION RULE.

5 (a) RULE.—The Secretary of Education shall use

6 funds appropriated under the Individuals with Disabilities

7 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) for fiscal year

8 1997 to carry out such administrative activities as may

9 be necessary (including activities described in section 610

10 of such Act (as amended in section 106), evaluation of

11 applications for financial assistance for fiscal year 1997

12 under subsection (d)(2) of such section 610 and parts C,

13 D, and E of such Act (as amended in titles III, IV, and

14 V), selection of recipients of such assistance, and promul15 gation of regulations), to ensure the efficient implementa16 tion by October 1, 1997, of—

17 (1) such parts C, D, and E; and

18 (2) the provisions of part A of such Act that re19 late to activities carried out under such part C, D,

20 or E, with respect to such activities, and subsection

21 (d)(2) of such section 610.

22 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section or the

23 amendments made by section 106 shall be construed to

24 grant the Secretary the authority to provide assistance to

25 any person, prior to October 1, 1997, to carry out any
45

•S 1578 IS

1 activity under section 610(d)(2) of the Individuals with

2 Disabilities Education Act (as amended in section 106)

3 or part C, D, or E (as amended in titles III, IV and V)

4 of such Act.

5 (c) FISCAL YEARS 1996 AND 1997.—Section 610 of

6 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (as in ef7 fect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act)

8 shall apply with respect to administrative activities related

9 to the provision of financial assistance for fiscal years

10 1996 and 1997 under parts C through G of such Act (as

11 in effect on such date).

12 (d) EFFECTIVE.—This section shall take effect on the

13 date of enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 109. EFFECTIVE DATE.

15 Except as provided in section 107, the amendments

16 made by this title shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

17 TITLE II—ASSISTANCE FOR EDU18 CATION OF ALL CHILDREN

19 WITH DISABILITIES

20 SEC. 201. ENTITLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.

21 (a) WITHIN STATE DISTRIBUTIONS.—Section 611

22 (20 U.S.C. 1411) is amended—

23 (1) in the matter immediately following sub24 section (b)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and all that fol-
46

•S 1578 IS

1 lows through ‘‘(1) Of the funds’’ and inserting the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(c)(1) Of the funds’’;

4 (2) in the matter immediately following sub5 section (c)(1) (as amended by paragraph (1)), by

6 striking ‘‘(2)’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(A)

7 From the funds’’ and inserting the following:

8 ‘‘(2)(A) From the funds’’; and

9 (3) in subsection (c) (as amended by paragraph

10 (1))—

11 (A) in paragraph (1)—

12 (i) by realigning the margins of sub13 paragraphs (A) and (B) so as to align with

14 subclause (i) of paragraph (4)(A); and

15 (ii) in subparagraph (B)—

16 (I) by striking ‘‘paragraph (4)’’

17 and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)(3)’’;

18 (II) by striking ‘‘and intermedi19 ate educational units’’; and

20 (III) by striking ‘‘, for use in ac21 cordance with priorities established

22 under section 612(3)’’;

23 (B) in paragraph (2)(A) (as so redesig24 nated by paragraph (2))—
47

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1 (i) by realigning the margins of

2 clauses (i) and (ii) so as to align with

3 subclause (i) of paragraph (4)(A);

4 (ii) by realigning the margins of

5 subclauses (I) and (II) so as to align with

6 subclause (I) of subsection (d)(2)(A)(i);

7 (iii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘admin8 istrative costs related to carrying out sec9 tions 612 and 613; and’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘the purpose of administering this part;’’;

11 (iv) in clause (ii)—

12 (I) in subclause (I), by striking

13 ‘‘in accordance with priorities estab14 lished under section 612(3); and’’ and

15 inserting a semicolon;

16 (II) in subclause (II), by striking

17 the period at the end thereof and in18 serting a semicolon;

19 (III) by adding at the end thereof

20 the following:

21 ‘‘(III) to establish and implement the me22 diation process required by section 615(e); and

23 ‘‘(IV) for activities at the State and local

24 levels to meet the performance goals established

25 by the State under section 612(a)(16); and
48

•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) may use the remainder—

2 ‘‘(I) to develop and implement systems

3 change activities under part C;

4 ‘‘(II) to supplement other funds used to

5 develop and implement a statewide fully inte6 grated and coordinated services system that

7 links education, health, social welfare services,

8 support systems, private entities, and commu9 nity entities in a manner designed to improve

10 the educational and transitional results for chil11 dren and families (including children with dis12 abilities and their families), but not to exceed 1

13 percent of the amount received by the State

14 under this section; or

15 ‘‘(III) for other appropriate activities as

16 determined by the State educational agency.

17 The system described in subclause (II) of clause (iii) shall

18 be coordinated with, and to the extent appropriate, sup19 port the coordinated, services developed by the State

20 under part H.’’;

21 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘section

22 613(a)(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘section

23 612(a)(18)(A) (ii) and (iii)’’; and

24 (D) by striking paragraph (4).
49

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1 (b) SUBGRANTS.—Section 611(d) (20 U.S.C.

2 1411(d)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (1)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or intermediate edu5 cational unit’’;

6 (B) by striking ‘‘or unit’’; and

7 (C) by striking ‘‘and units’’;

8 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following

9 new paragraphs:

10 ‘‘(3)(A) A State may elect not to distribute funds to

11 any local educational agency under this section or under

12 section 619 for any fiscal year if the total amount the local

13 educational agency would receive, from the combination

14 of funds under this section and section 619, is less than

15 $7,500.

16 ‘‘(B) When a State elects to use its authority under

17 subparagraph (A), the State shall use the funds that

18 would otherwise be provided to the local educational agen19 cy to ensure the provision of a free appropriate public edu20 cation to children with disabilities residing in the area

21 served by that agency.

22 ‘‘(C) A State’s authority under subparagraph (A)

23 does not apply to a State agency that is eligible for a pay24 ment under paragraph (2) or section 619(g).
50

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1 ‘‘(4) If a State educational agency determines that

2 a local educational agency is adequately providing a free

3 appropriate public education to all children with disabil4 ities residing in the area served by that agency with State

5 and local funds, the State educational agency may reallo6 cate any portion of the funds under this part that are not

7 needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate

8 public education to other local educational agencies in the

9 State that are not adequately providing special education

10 and related services to all children with disabilities resid11 ing in the areas such other local educational agencies

12 serve.’’.

13 (c) OUTLYING AREAS.—Section 611 (20 U.S.C.

14 1411) is amended—

15 (1) in the matter immediately following sub16 section (d), by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and all that follows

17 through ‘‘effect).’’ and inserting the following:

18 ‘‘(e)(1)(A) The jurisdictions to which this subsection

19 applies are the outlying areas as defined in section 602.’’;

20 and

21 (2) in paragraph (2)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘such jurisdictions are so’’

23 and inserting ‘‘such outlying areas are so’’;

24 (B) by striking ‘‘such jurisdiction’’ and in25 serting ‘‘of the outlying areas’’; and
51

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1 (C) by striking ‘‘(2) Each jurisdiction’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘(B) Each of the outlying areas’’; and

3 (3) in paragraph (3)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘each jurisdiction’’ and in5 serting ‘‘each of the outlying areas’’;

6 (B) by striking ‘‘such jurisdiction’’ and in7 serting ‘‘each of the outlying areas’’; and

8 (C) by striking ‘‘(3) The’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘(2) The’’; and

10 (4) by adding at the end thereof the following

11 new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) The provisions of section 501 of Public Law 95–

13 134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a), permitting the consolidation of

14 grants to outlying areas, shall not apply to funds such

15 areas receive under this section.’’.

16 (d) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—Section 611(f)

17 (20 U.S.C. 1411(f)) is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘for these children’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘for children with disabilities aged 3

21 through 21, who are enrolled in programs affili22 ated with the BIA’’;

23 (B) by striking ‘‘aggregate amounts avail24 able for all States under this section for that

25 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘amount appro-
52

•S 1578 IS

1 priated under subsection (h) for that fiscal

2 year’’;

3 (2) in paragraph (3)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘an application that—’’

5 and inserting ‘‘information that—’’;

6 (B) in subparagraph (A), to read as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that the Department of the

9 Interior meets the appropriate requirements, as de10 termined by the Secretary of Education, of sections

11 612 (including monitoring and evaluation activities)

12 and 613’’;

13 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘sec14 tion 618(b)(1)’’ and all that follows through

15 ‘‘required in section 618(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec16 tion 618’’;

17 (D) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘an

18 assurance that, by October 1, 1992, the Sec19 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of

20 Health and Human Services’’ and all that fol21 lows through ‘‘memorandum of agreement’’ and

22 inserting ‘‘information that describes activities

23 undertaken with regard to the memorandum of

24 agreement between the Secretaries of Interior

25 and Health and Human Services’’; and
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•S 1578 IS

1 (E) in subparagraph (F)—

2 (i) by striking ‘‘its exercise of’’ and

3 inserting ‘‘the Department of Edu4 cation’s’’;

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘of this application’’

6 and inserting ‘‘related to information sub7 mitted to the Secretary of Education under

8 this paragraph’’; and

9 (iii) by striking ‘‘its duties’’ and in10 serting ‘‘the duties of the Department of

11 the Interior’’;

12 (3) in the matter immediately following para13 graph (3)(F), by striking ‘‘application.’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘information. The Secretary of the Interior shall

15 submit annually to the Secretary of Education a re16 port that provides a status on the activities as de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F) that the

18 Secretary of the Interior is carrying out.’’;

19 (4) in paragraph (4)—

20 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

21 (i) by striking ‘‘Beginning with’’ and

22 all that follows through ‘‘under section

23 611(a) for fiscal year 1992,’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘With funds appropriated under subsection

25 (h),’’;
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•S 1578 IS

1 (ii) by striking ‘‘aggregate amounts

2 available for all States under this section’’

3 and inserting ‘‘amount appropriated under

4 subsection (h)’’; and

5 (B) in subparagraph (B), to read as fol6 lows:

7 ‘‘(B) The Secretary of the Interior shall distribute the

8 total amount of the 0.25 percent under subparagraph (A)

9 by allocating to each tribe or tribal organization an

10 amount based on the number of children with disabilities,

11 aged 3 through 5, residing on reservations as reported an12 nually divided by the total of such children served by all

13 tribes or tribal organizations.’’;

14 (C) in subparagraph (D)—

15 (i) by striking ‘‘is encouraged to’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘shall’’;

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘The above entities’’

18 and inserting ‘‘The tribe and tribal organi19 zation’’; and

20 (iii) by striking ‘‘diagnosis.’’ and in21 serting ‘‘diagnosis of the children’’;

22 (D) in subparagraph (E)—

23 (i) by striking ‘‘a biennial report’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘an annual report’’;
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•S 1578 IS

1 (ii) by striking ‘‘following the one in

2 which’’ and inserting ‘‘following the year in

3 which’’;

4 (iii) by striking ‘‘a biennial basis’’ and

5 inserting ‘‘an annual basis’’; and

6 (iv) by striking ‘‘under this sub7 section’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph

8 (3) of this subsection’’;

9 (E) in subparagraph (F)—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘(where appropriate,

11 intermediate educational units)’’; and

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘its divisions and of13 fices’’ and inserting ‘‘any appropriate divi14 sion or office of the Department of the In15 terior’’;

16 (5) in paragraph (5)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘January 1, 1992’’ and in18 serting ‘‘June 1, 1997’’;

19 (B) by striking ‘‘Committee on Education

20 and Labor’’ and inserting ‘‘Chairman of the

21 Committee on Economic and Educational Op22 portunities’’;

23 (C) by striking ‘‘Committee on Labor’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘Chairman of the Committee on

25 Labor’’;
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•S 1578 IS

1 (D) by striking ‘‘interested and involved

2 parties’’ and inserting ‘‘interested and involved

3 parties, including parents of Indian children

4 with disabilities’’; and

5 (E) by striking ‘‘interested parties’’ and in6 serting ‘‘interested agencies, organizations, or

7 individuals’’; and

8 (6) in paragraph (6)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘sections 613(a)(12) of

10 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 612(a)(20)’’;

11 (B) by striking ‘‘, within 6 months’’ and

12 all that follows through ‘‘Bureau of Indian Af13 fairs (BIA),’’;

14 (C) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘in15 fants, toddlers, children, and youth’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘infants and toddlers and children’’;

17 (D) in subparagraph (D), by striking

18 ‘‘and;’’ and inserting a semicolon;

19 (E) in subparagraph (E), by striking the

20 period at the end thereof and inserting ‘‘and;’’;

21 and

22 (F) by adding at the end thereof the fol23 lowing new subparagraph:

24 ‘‘(F) prepare a status report on the educational

25 and transitional results for Indian children with dis-
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•S 1578 IS

1 abilities, to be submitted to the Secretary of the In2 terior on January 2, 1997.’’.

3 (e) REPORTING DATES FOR FUNDING ESTIMATES.—

4 Section 611(g) (20 U.S.C. 1411(g)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘and in6 termediate educational units’’; and

7 (2) in paragraph (2)—

8 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or

9 intermediate educational unit’’; and

10 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

11 (i) by striking ‘‘and intermediate edu12 cational units’’ each place it appears; and

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘or unit’’ each place it

14 appears.

15 SEC. 202. STATE ELIGIBILITY.

16 Section 612 (20 U.S.C. 1412) is amended to read as

17 follows:

18 ‘‘SEC. 612. STATE ELIGIBILITY.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible for assistance

20 under this part for any fiscal year if the State dem21 onstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the

22 State has in effect policies and procedures to ensure that

23 the State meets each of the following conditions:

24 ‘‘(1) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU25 CATION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A free appropriate

2 public education is available to all children with

3 disabilities aged 3 through 21 who are residing

4 in the State.

5 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph (A)

6 does not apply with respect to children aged 3

7 through 5 and 18 through 21 in a State to the

8 extent that the application of such subpara9 graph to such children would be inconsistent

10 with the State law or practice, or the order of

11 any court, respecting the provision of public

12 education to children in such age ranges.

13 ‘‘(2) FULL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

14 GOAL.—The State has established a goal of provid15 ing full educational opportunity to all children with

16 disabilities and a detailed timetable for accomplish17 ing the goal.

18 ‘‘(3) CHILD FIND.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All children with dis20 abilities residing in the State are identified, lo21 cated, and evaluated, regardless of the severity

22 of the disability of the children.

23 ‘‘(B) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

24 Act requires that children be classified by their

25 disability provided that each child who has a
59

•S 1578 IS

1 disability listed in section 602(a)(4)(i) and who,

2 by reason of that disability, needs special edu3 cation and related services is regarded as a

4 child with a disability under this part.

5 ‘‘(4) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

6 An individualized education program (or an individ7 ualized family service plan that meets the content

8 requirements of section 677(d)) is developed, re9 viewed, and revised in accordance with subsections

10 (d) through (j) of section 614.

11 ‘‘(5) LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex13 tent appropriate, children with disabilities (in14 cluding children in public or private institutions

15 or other care facilities) are educated with chil16 dren who are not disabled, and special classes,

17 separate schooling, or other removal of children

18 with disabilities from the regular educational

19 environment occurs only when the nature or se20 verity of a child’s disability is such that edu21 cation in regular classes with the use of special

22 education and related services and supple23 mentary aids and services cannot be achieved

24 satisfactorily.

25 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the State uses a

2 funding mechanism by which the State dis3 tributes State funds on the basis of the

4 type of setting in which a child is served,

5 the funding mechanism does not result in

6 placements that violate the requirements of

7 subparagraph (A).

8 ‘‘(ii) ASSURANCE.—If the State does

9 not have policies and procedures to ensure

10 compliance with clause (i), the State shall

11 provide the Secretary an assurance that

12 the State will revise the funding mecha13 nism used by the State as soon as feasible

14 to ensure that the funding mechanism does

15 not result in such placements.

16 ‘‘(C) DISPROPORTIONALITY.—

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Data are exam18 ined by the State educational agency to de19 termine if significant racial

20 disproportionality is occurring in the iden21 tification of children as children with dis22 abilities (including the classification of

23 such children according to a particular im24 pairment described in section 602(a)(4)) or
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•S 1578 IS

1 in the placement of such children in par2 ticular types of settings.

3 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW AND REVISION OF POLI4 CIES.—In the case of an occurrence de5 scribed in clause (i), the placement and

6 evaluation policies, procedures, and prac7 tices are reviewed and, if appropriate, re8 vised, to ensure that such policies, proce9 dures, and practices comply with the re10 quirements of this Act.

11 ‘‘(6) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—Children

12 with disabilities and their parents are afforded the

13 procedural safeguards required by section 615.

14 ‘‘(7) EVALUATION.—Children with disabilities

15 are evaluated in accordance with subsections (a)

16 through (c) of section 614.

17 ‘‘(8) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Agencies in the State

18 comply with section 617(c), relating to the confiden19 tiality of records and information.

20 ‘‘(9) TRANSITION FROM PART H TO PRESCHOOL

21 PROGRAMS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Children who are par23 ticipating in early intervention programs under

24 part H and who will participate in preschool

25 programs assisted under this part, are provided
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•S 1578 IS

1 an effective transition to such preschool pro2 grams.

3 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION PLANNING.—Local edu4 cational agency personnel will participate in

5 transition planning conferences convened by a

6 designated or established lead agency under

7 section 678(a)(8)(A)(ii)(II).

8 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PRO9 GRAM; INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE

10 PLAN.—By the third birthday of a child who

11 participates in the programs described in sub12 paragraph (A), an individualized education pro13 gram or, if consistent with section 614(d)(1)(B)

14 or 677(d), an individualized family service plan,

15 has been developed and is being implemented.

16 ‘‘(10) CHILDREN IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—

17 ‘‘(A) CHILDREN PLACED IN PRIVATE

18 SCHOOLS BY THEIR PARENTS.—To the extent

19 consistent with the number and location of chil20 dren with disabilities in the State who are en21 rolled by their parents in private elementary

22 and secondary schools, provision is made for the

23 participation of such children in the program

24 assisted or carried out under this part by pro-
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•S 1578 IS

1 viding for such children special education and

2 related services.

3 ‘‘(B) CHILDREN PLACED IN, OR REFERRED

4 TO, PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Children with dis6 abilities in private schools and facilities are

7 provided special education and related

8 services, in accordance with individualized

9 education programs, at no cost to their

10 parents, if such children are placed in, or

11 referred to, such schools or facilities by the

12 State or a local educational agency in

13 order to comply with this part or with any

14 other law requiring the provision of special

15 education and related services to all chil16 dren with disabilities in the State.

17 ‘‘(ii) STANDARDS.—In all cases de18 scribed in clause (i), children with disabil19 ities are placed in, or referred to, only pri20 vate schools and facilities that meet stand21 ards that apply to State and local edu22 cational agencies, and children with dis23 abilities served in such schools and facili24 ties have all the rights such children would

25 have if served by such agencies.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT FOR EDUCATION OF CHIL2 DREN PLACED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS WITHOUT

3 CONSENT OF OR REFERRAL BY THE PUBLIC

4 AGENCY.—If as a result of mediation described

5 in section 615(d), or as a result of a decision

6 rendered under the procedural safeguards of

7 section 615, the parents of a child with a dis8 ability who previously received special education

9 and related services under the authority of a

10 local educational agency enroll their child in a

11 private elementary or secondary school without

12 the consent of, or a referral by the local edu13 cational agency, the local educational agency

14 may be required to reimburse the parents for

15 the cost of the enrollment. The amount of the

16 reimbursement may be reduced or denied—

17 ‘‘(i) if, prior to the removal of the

18 child from the public school, the parents do

19 not provide a statement to the local edu20 cational agency rejecting the placement

21 proposed by the local educational agency;

22 or

23 ‘‘(ii) upon a judicial finding of

24 unreasonableness with respect to actions

25 taken by the parents.
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1 ‘‘(11) SEA RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERAL SU2 PERVISION.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational

4 agency is responsible for ensuring the following:

5 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS.—The require6 ments of this part are carried out.

7 ‘‘(ii) EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.—All

8 educational programs for children with dis9 abilities in the State, including all such

10 programs administered by any other State

11 or local agency, are under the general su12 pervision of the persons in the State edu13 cational agency who are responsible for

14 educational programs for children with dis15 abilities and meet educational standards of

16 the State educational agency.

17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Subparagraph (A)

18 shall not be construed as limiting the obliga19 tions of agencies other than educational agen20 cies to provide, or pay for some or all of the

21 costs of, a free appropriate public education for

22 any child with a disability in the State.

23 ‘‘(12) OBLIGATIONS RELATED TO AND METH24 ODS OF ENSURING SERVICES.—
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any public agency

2 other than an educational agency is responsible

3 for providing or paying for the services (such as

4 mental health services, transition services, and

5 health services) that are also necessary for en6 suring a free appropriate public education to

7 children with disabilities within the State, such

8 public agency shall pay for, or provide directly

9 or through contract or other arrangement, such

10 services to children with disabilities. In a case

11 in which a local educational agency provides

12 such services to such children, as a result of a

13 contract or other arrangement with a public

14 agency described in this subparagraph, the local

15 educational agency may seek reimbursement

16 from such public agency for the services pro17 vided.

18 ‘‘(B) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT OR

19 OTHER MECHANISM.—Each State shall ensure

20 that an interagency agreement or other mecha21 nism for interagency coordination is in effect

22 between each public agency described in sub23 paragraph (A) and the appropriate educational

24 agency within the State, in order to ensure that
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•S 1578 IS

1 all required services are provided. Such agree2 ment or mechanism shall include the following:

3 ‘‘(i) AGENCY FINANCIAL RESPON4 SIBILITY.—An identification of, or a meth5 od for defining, the financial responsibility

6 of each agency for providing a free appro7 priate public education to children with

8 disabilities.

9 ‘‘(ii) CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF RE10 IMBURSEMENT.—The conditions and terms

11 of reimbursement under which a local edu12 cational agency may be reimbursed by

13 other agencies.

14 ‘‘(iii) INTERAGENCY DISPUTES.—Pro15 cedures for resolving interagency disputes

16 (including procedures under which local

17 educational agencies may initiate proceed18 ings) under the agreement or other mecha19 nism to secure reimbursement from other

20 agencies or otherwise implement the provi21 sions of the agreement.

22 ‘‘(iv) COORDINATION OF SERVICES

23 PROCEDURES.—Procedures for agencies to

24 determine and identify the interagency co-
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•S 1578 IS

1 ordination responsibilities of each agency

2 with respect to the provision of services.

3 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE.—The requirements of

4 subparagraph (B) may be met through—

5 ‘‘(i) State statute or regulation;

6 ‘‘(ii) signed agreements between re7 spective agency officials; or

8 ‘‘(iii) other appropriate methods.

9 ‘‘(13) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ELIGI10 BILITY.—The State educational agency will not

11 make a final determination that a local educational

12 agency is not eligible under this part without first

13 affording the local educational agency reasonable no14 tice and an opportunity for a hearing.

15 ‘‘(14) COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL

16 DEVELOPMENT.—The State has in effect, consistent

17 with the purposes of this Act and with section

18 676(b)(8), a comprehensive system of personnel de19 velopment that is designed to ensure an adequate

20 supply of qualified special education and related

21 services personnel necessary to carry out this part

22 and that includes the following:

23 ‘‘(A) STATEWIDE DATA.—Statewide data

24 that include the number of personnel providing

25 special education and related services, and of
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•S 1578 IS

1 that number, the number of individuals with

2 temporary certification, and the number of va3 cancies.

4 ‘‘(B) PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—

5 A personnel development plan that meets the

6 following requirements:

7 ‘‘(i) CONSULTATIONS.—The plan is

8 developed in consultation with parents of

9 children with disabilities, State and local

10 educational agencies, institutions of higher

11 education, and professional associations.

12 ‘‘(ii) PERSONNEL.—The plan address13 es or includes the following:

14 ‘‘(I) PERSONNEL NEEDS.—The

15 current and projected needs for spe16 cial education and related services

17 personnel throughout the State.

18 ‘‘(II) SERVICE PREPARATION OF

19 PERSONNEL.—The plan addresses the

20 need for the preservice and inservice

21 preparation of personnel throughout

22 the State, including regular education

23 personnel, to provide educational and

24 related services to children with dis25 abilities.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(III) RECRUITMENT.—The plan

2 includes a system or procedures for

3 recruiting, preparing, and retaining

4 qualified personnel, including person5 nel with disabilities and personnel

6 from groups that are

7 underrepresented in the field of spe8 cial education and related services.

9 ‘‘(IV) INTEGRATION WITH OTHER

10 PLANS.—The plan is integrated, to

11 the maximum extent possible, with

12 other professional development plans

13 and activities, including plans and ac14 tivities developed or carried out under

15 other Federal law and State law that

16 address personnel recruitment and

17 training.

18 ‘‘(iii) REVISION.—The plan is revised

19 every 3 years.

20 ‘‘(15) PERSONNEL STANDARDS.—The State

21 educational agency has established policies and pro22 cedures relating to the establishment and mainte23 nance of standards to ensure that personnel nec24 essary to carry out the purposes of this part are ap-
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•S 1578 IS

1 propriately and adequately prepared and trained, in2 cluding the following:

3 ‘‘(A) STANDARDS.—The establishment and

4 maintenance of standards that are consistent

5 with any State approved or recognized certifi6 cation, licensing, registration, or other com7 parable requirements that apply to the area in

8 which such personnel are providing special edu9 cation or related services.

10 ‘‘(B) RETRAINING AND HIRING.—To the

11 extent such standards described in subpara12 graph (A) are not based on the highest require13 ments in the State applicable to a specific pro14 fession or discipline, the State is carrying out

15 measures to require the retraining or hiring of

16 personnel that meet appropriate professional re17 quirements in the State.

18 ‘‘(C) USE OF PARAPROFESSIONAL.—Noth19 ing in this Act, including subparagraphs (A)

20 and (B) of this paragraph, prohibits the use of

21 paraprofessionals who are appropriately trained

22 and supervised, in meeting the requirements of

23 this part.

24 ‘‘(16) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND INDICA25 TORS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) GOALS.—The State has established

2 goals for the performance of children with dis3 abilities in the State that are consistent with

4 the purposes of section 601(c)(1) and that are

5 consistent, to the maximum extent appropriate,

6 with other goals and standards established by

7 the State.

8 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The

9 State has established performance indicators

10 that the State will use to assess the progress to11 ward achieving the goals described in subpara12 graph (A) and that, at a minimum, address the

13 performance of children with disabilities on as14 sessments and the dropout rates and gradua15 tion rates of such children.

16 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—The State will report every

17 2 years to the Secretary and the public on the

18 progress of the State, and of children with dis19 abilities in the State, toward meeting the goals

20 established under subparagraph (A).

21 ‘‘(17) PARTICIPATION IN ASSESSMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(A) ASSESSMENTS.—

23 ‘‘(i) STATE AND DISTRICTWIDE AS24 SESSMENTS.—Children with disabilities are

25 included in general State and districtwide
73

•S 1578 IS

1 assessment programs, with appropriate ac2 commodations, where necessary.

3 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS.—

4 The State educational agency or local edu5 cational agency, as appropriate, will de6 velop guidelines for the participation of

7 children with disabilities in alternate as8 sessments for such children who cannot

9 participate in State and districtwide as10 sessment programs and as soon as feasible,

11 but not later than July 1, 1999, will con12 duct such alternate assessments.

13 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The State

14 educational agency shall, as soon as feasible,

15 but not later than July 1, 2000, make reports

16 to the public, with the same frequency and in

17 the same detail as the State makes reports on

18 the assessment of nondisabled children, on the

19 following information with respect children with

20 disabilities:

21 ‘‘(i) REGULAR ASSESSMENTS.—The

22 number of children with disabilities partici23 pating in regular assessments.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS.—

2 The number of such children participating

3 in alternate assessments.

4 ‘‘(iii) PERFORMANCE.—The perform5 ance of children with disabilities on regular

6 assessments and on alternate assessments

7 when doing so meets generally accepted

8 professional standards and would not re9 sult in the disclosure of performance re10 sults identifiable to individual children.

11 ‘‘(18) USE OF FUNDS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

13 ‘‘(i) EXPENDITURES.—Funds paid to

14 the State under this part will be expended

15 in accordance with all provisions of this

16 part.

17 ‘‘(ii) NONCOMMINGLING.—The funds

18 described in clause (i) will not be commin19 gled with State funds.

20 ‘‘(iii) SUPPLEMENT—NOT SUP21 PLANT.—Except as provided in subpara22 graph (B), the funds described in clause (i)

23 will be used to supplement State, local, and

24 other Federal funds (including funds not

25 under the direct control of State or local
75

•S 1578 IS

1 educational agencies) expended for special

2 education and related services, and not to

3 supplant such funds.

4 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive,

5 in part, the requirements of clause (iii) of sub6 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines that

7 the State has provided clear and convincing evi8 dence that all children with disabilities in the

9 State have available a free appropriate public

10 education.

11 ‘‘(19) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Prior to the

12 adoption of any policies and procedures needed to

13 comply with this section (including any amendments

14 to such policies and procedures), there are public

15 hearings, adequate notice of the hearings, and an

16 opportunity for comment available to the general

17 public, including individuals with disabilities and

18 parents of children with disabilities. In a case in

19 which policies and procedures have been developed

20 by a State educational agency or through a State

21 legislative hearing and comment process that pro22 vides an opportunity for comment by the general

23 public prior to the adoption of any policies and pro24 cedures by the State, no further public review or

25 public comment period is required.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(20) STATE ADVISORY PANEL.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State has an ad3 visory panel, appointed by the Governor or any

4 other official authorized under State law to

5 make such appointments, that is representative

6 of the State population and that is composed of

7 individuals involved in, or concerned with, the

8 education of children with disabilities, including

9 the following:

10 ‘‘(i) Parents of children with disabil11 ities.

12 ‘‘(ii) Individuals with disabilities.

13 ‘‘(iii) Teachers.

14 ‘‘(iv) Representatives of institutions of

15 higher education that prepare special edu16 cation and related services personnel.

17 ‘‘(v) State and local education offi18 cials.

19 ‘‘(vi) Administrators of programs for

20 children with disabilities.

21 ‘‘(vii) Representatives of other State

22 agencies involved in the financing or deliv23 ery of related services to children with dis24 abilities.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(viii) At least one representative of a

2 vocational, community, or business organi3 zation concerned with the provision of

4 transition services to children with disabil5 ities.

6 ‘‘(ix) Any other individual, as deter7 mined by the State educational agency.

8 ‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The advisory panel shall

9 carry out the following duties:

10 ‘‘(i) Advise the State educational

11 agency of unmet needs within the State in

12 the education of children with disabilities.

13 ‘‘(ii) Comment publicly on any rules

14 or regulations proposed by the State re15 garding the following:

16 ‘‘(I) The education of children

17 with disabilities.

18 ‘‘(II) The procedures for dis19 tribution of funds received by the

20 State under this part.

21 ‘‘(iii) Advise the State educational

22 agency with respect to developing evalua23 tions and reporting on data to the Sec24 retary under section 618.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) Advise the State educational

2 agency with respect to developing correc3 tive action plans to address findings identi4 fied in Federal monitoring reports under

5 this part.

6 ‘‘(v) Advise the State educational

7 agency with respect to developing and im8 plementing policies relating to the coordi9 nation of services for children with disabil10 ities.

11 ‘‘(C) CONSOLIDATION OF PANELS.—Any

12 State panel that meets the requirement of sec13 tion 306 of the Goals 2000: Educate America

14 Act (20 U.S.C. 5886), or any committee of

15 practitioners created under section 1603(b) of

16 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

17 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6513(b)), may also serve as

18 the State Advisory panel under this part if such

19 State panel or committee meets the require20 ments of this part.

21 ‘‘(b) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AS PROVIDER OF

22 SERVICES.—If the State educational agency provides free

23 appropriate public education to children with disabilities,

24 or provides such children direct services, the State edu25 cational agency—
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1 ‘‘(1) shall comply with any additional require2 ments of section 613(a) as if the State educational

3 agency were a local educational agency; and

4 ‘‘(2) may use funds that are otherwise available

5 to the State educational agency under this part to

6 serve such children without regard to section

7 613(a)(3)(B) relating to excess costs.

8 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION OF ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION.—

9 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—Except as

10 provided in paragraph (2), a State that wishes to es11 tablish its eligibility under this section shall submit

12 to the Secretary such information as the Secretary

13 may reasonably require.

14 ‘‘(2) EXISTING INFORMATION ON POLICIES AND

15 PROCEDURES.—If a State has on file with the Sec16 retary policies and procedures that demonstrate that

17 the State meets any requirement of this section, in18 cluding any policies and procedures filed under this

19 part as in effect prior to the enactment of the Indi20 viduals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments

21 of 1996, the Secretary shall consider the State as

22 meeting that requirement.

23 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS OF POLICIES AND PROCE24 DURES.—The Secretary may require a State to sub25 mit additional eligibility information if the State
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1 modifies the policies and procedures that the State

2 has filed with the Secretary consistent with para3 graphs (1) and (2).

4 ‘‘(d) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines

6 that a State is eligible under this section, the Sec7 retary shall notify the State of the determination.

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary shall make

9 a final determination that a State is not eligible

10 under this section only after providing the State—

11 ‘‘(A) reasonable notice; and

12 ‘‘(B) an opportunity for a hearing.

13 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE UNDER OTHER FEDERAL PRO14 GRAMS.—Nothing in this Act permits a State to reduce

15 medical and other assistance available, or to alter eligi16 bility, under titles V and XIX of the Social Security Act

17 with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public

18 education for children with disabilities within the State.

19 ‘‘(f) BYPASS FOR CHILDREN IN PRIVATE

20 SCHOOLS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, on the date of enact22 ment of the Education of the Handicapped Act

23 Amendments of 1983, a State educational agency is

24 prohibited by law from providing for the participa25 tion in special programs of children with disabilities
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1 enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools

2 as required by subsection (a)(10)(A), the Secretary

3 shall waive such requirement, and shall arrange for

4 the provision of services to such children through ar5 rangements that shall be subject to the requirements

6 of subsection (a)(10)(A).

7 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—When the Secretary

9 arranges for services pursuant to this sub10 section, the Secretary, after consultation with

11 the appropriate public and private school offi12 cials, shall pay to the provider of such services

13 an amount per child that does not exceed the

14 amount determined by dividing—

15 ‘‘(i) the total amount received by the

16 State under this part; by

17 ‘‘(ii) the number of children with dis18 abilities served by the State in the preced19 ing year as reported to the Secretary under

20 section 618.

21 ‘‘(B) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS.—Pending

22 final resolution of any investigation or com23 plaint that could result in a determination

24 under this subsection that the State is prohib25 ited from complying with subsection (a)(10)(A)
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1 by State law, the Secretary may withhold from

2 the allocation of the affected State educational

3 agency the amount the Secretary estimates

4 would be necessary to pay the cost of such serv5 ices.

6 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATIONS BY THE SEC7 RETARY.—Any determination by the Secretary

8 under this subsection shall continue in effect

9 until the Secretary determines that there will

10 no longer be any failure or inability on the part

11 of the State educational agency to meet the re12 quirements of subsection (a)(10)(A).

13 ‘‘(3) FINAL ACTION.—

14 ‘‘(A) OBJECTIONS.—The Secretary may

15 not take any final action under this subsection

16 until the State educational agency affected by

17 such action has had an opportunity, for at least

18 45 days after receiving written notice thereof,

19 to submit written objections and to appear be20 fore the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee

21 to show cause why such action should not be

22 taken.

23 ‘‘(B) PETITION FOR REVIEW.—If a State

24 educational agency is dissatisfied with the Sec25 retary’s final action after a proceeding under
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1 subparagraph (A), the State educational agency

2 may, within 60 days after notice of such action,

3 file with the United States court of appeals for

4 the circuit in which such State is located a peti5 tion for review of that action. A copy of the pe6 tition shall be forthwith transmitted by the

7 clerk of the court to the Secretary. The Sec8 retary thereupon shall file in the court the

9 record of the proceedings on which the Sec10 retary based the Secretary’s action, as provided

11 in section 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

12 ‘‘(C) FINDINGS.—The findings of fact by

13 the Secretary, if supported by substantial evi14 dence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for

15 good cause shown, may remand the case to the

16 Secretary to take further evidence. The Sec17 retary may thereupon make new or modified

18 findings of fact and may modify the Secretary’s

19 previous action, and shall file in the court the

20 record of the further proceedings. Such new or

21 modified findings of fact shall likewise be con22 clusive if supported by substantial evidence.

23 ‘‘(D) COURT’S ACTION.—Upon the filing of

24 a petition under subparagraph (B), the court

25 shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of
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1 the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in

2 part. The judgment of the court shall be subject

3 to review by the Supreme Court of the United

4 States upon certiorari or certification as pro5 vided in section 1254 of title 28, United States

6 Code.’’.

7 SEC. 203. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AND STATE AGENCY ELIGI8 BILITY.

9 Section 613 (20 U.S.C. 1413) is amended to read as

10 follows:

11 ‘‘SEC. 613. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND STATE

12 AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency is eli14 gible for assistance under this part for any fiscal year if

15 the local educational agency demonstrates to the satisfac16 tion of the State educational agency that the local edu17 cational agency meets each of the following conditions:

18 ‘‘(1) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE POLICIES.—

19 The local educational agency, in providing for the

20 education of children with disabilities within the ju21 risdiction of the local educational agency, has in ef22 fect policies, procedures, and programs that are con23 sistent with the State policies and procedures estab24 lished under section 612 with respect to the follow25 ing:
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1 ‘‘(A) The availability of a free appropriate

2 public education under section 612(a)(1).

3 ‘‘(B) The goal of providing full educational

4 opportunity to all children with disabilities

5 under section 612(a)(2).

6 ‘‘(C) The identification, location, and eval7 uation of children with disabilities under section

8 612(a)(3).

9 ‘‘(D) Individualized education programs

10 under section 612(a)(4).

11 ‘‘(E) Education of children in the least re12 strictive environment under section 612(a)(5).

13 ‘‘(F) Procedural safeguards under section

14 612(a)(6).

15 ‘‘(G) Evaluation under section 612(a)(7).

16 ‘‘(H) Confidentiality under section

17 612(a)(8).

18 ‘‘(I) Transition of children from early

19 intervention programs under part H to pre20 school programs under section 612(a)(9).

21 ‘‘(J) Children in private schools under sec22 tion 612(a)(10).

23 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL

24 DEVELOPMENT.—The local educational agency, to

25 the extent appropriate, contributes to and uses the
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•S 1578 IS

1 State’s comprehensive system of personnel develop2 ment established under section 612(a)(14).

3 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided to the

4 local educational agency under this part will be ex5 pended or used in the following manner:

6 ‘‘(A) EXPENDITURES.—Funds will be ex7 pended in accordance with the applicable provi8 sions of this part.

9 ‘‘(B) EXCESS COSTS.—Funds will be used

10 only to pay the excess costs of providing special

11 education and related services to children with

12 disabilities.

13 ‘‘(C) SUPPLEMENT—NOT SUPPLANT.—

14 Funds will be used to supplement State, local,

15 and other Federal funds and not to supplant

16 such funds.

17 ‘‘(D) LEVEL OF EXPENDITURES.—Except

18 as provided in subparagraph (E), funds will not

19 be used to reduce the level of expenditures for

20 the education of children with disabilities made

21 by the local educational agency from State or

22 local funds below the level of such expenditures

23 for the preceding fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding the

25 limitation in subparagraph (D), a local edu-
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1 cational agency may reduce the level of expendi2 tures for the education of children with disabil3 ities if such reduction is the result of—

4 ‘‘(i) the voluntary departure, by re5 tirement or otherwise, of special education

6 personnel who are paid at or near the top

7 of the agency’s salary scale;

8 ‘‘(ii) decreases in enrollment of chil9 dren with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(iii) the end of the agency’s obliga11 tion, consistent with this part, to provide

12 an exceptionally costly program of special

13 education to a particular child with a dis14 ability because the child—

15 ‘‘(I) has left the agency’s juris16 diction;

17 ‘‘(II) has reached the age at

18 which the agency’s obligation to pro19 vide a free appropriate public edu20 cation to the child terminates; or

21 ‘‘(III) no longer needs the pro22 gram; or

23 ‘‘(iv) the termination of unusually

24 large expenditures for such long-term pur-
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•S 1578 IS

1 poses as the acquisition of equipment and

2 the construction of school facilities.

3 ‘‘(4) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—Notwith4 standing paragraph (3)(B) or section

5 612(a)(18)(A)(ii) (relating to commingled funds),

6 funds provided to the local educational agency under

7 this part may be used for the following activities:

8 ‘‘(A) SERVICES AND AIDS THAT ALSO BEN9 EFIT NONDISABLED CHILDREN.—For the costs

10 of special education and related services and

11 supplementary aids and services provided in a

12 regular class to a child with a disability in ac13 cordance with the individualized education pro14 gram of the child, even if one or more non15 disabled children benefit from such services.

16 ‘‘(B) SERVICES AND AIDS THAT ALSO BEN17 EFIT OTHER DISABLED CHILDREN.—For the

18 costs of special education and related services

19 and supplementary aids and services provided

20 to a child with a disability in accordance with

21 the individualized education program of the

22 child, even if one or more children with disabil23 ities who are protected by section 504 of the

24 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and title II of the
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•S 1578 IS

1 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 benefit

2 from such services.

3 ‘‘(C) INTEGRATED AND COORDINATED

4 SERVICES SYSTEM.—To develop and implement

5 a fully integrated and coordinated services sys6 tem in accordance with subsection (f).

7 ‘‘(D) SCHOOL-BASED IMPROVEMENT

8 PLAN.—To design, implement, and evaluate a

9 school-based improvement plan (in accordance

10 with subsection (g)) that is consistent with the

11 purposes and authorized activities of part C

12 and that is designed to improve educational and

13 transitional results for all children with disabil14 ities and, as appropriate, other children consist15 ent with subparagraphs (A) and (B).

16 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION; PRIOR LOCAL

17 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—Except as

19 provided in paragraph (2), a local educational agen20 cy that desires to establish its eligibility under this

21 section shall submit to the State educational agency

22 information demonstrating that the local educational

23 agency meets the requirements of subsection (a).

24 ‘‘(2) EXISTING INFORMATION ON POLICIES AND

25 PROCEDURES.—If a local educational agency has on
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1 file with the State educational agency policies and

2 procedures that meet any requirement of this sec3 tion, including any policies, procedures, or applica4 tions filed under this part as in effect before the

5 date of enactment of the Individuals with Disabil6 ities Education Act Amendments of 1996, the State

7 educational agency may consider the local edu8 cational agency as meeting such requirement.

9 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS OF POLICIES AND PROCE10 DURES.—The State educational agency may require

11 a local educational agency to submit additional eligi12 bility information if the local educational agency

13 modifies the policies and procedures that the local

14 educational agency has filed with the Secretary con15 sistent with paragraphs (1) and (2).

16 ‘‘(c) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPROVAL.—

17 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the State edu19 cational agency determines that a local edu20 cational agency or State agency under sub21 section (i) is eligible under this section, the

22 State educational agency shall notify the agency

23 of the determination.

24 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON STATE NOTIFICA25 TION.—A State educational agency may not
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1 give the notice to an agency described under

2 subparagraph (A) until the Secretary has noti3 fied the State educational agency that the State

4 is eligible under section 612.

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON FINAL DETERMINATION.—

6 The State educational agency may not make a final

7 determination that a local educational agency or

8 State agency under subsection (i) is not eligible

9 under this section until after providing the local edu10 cational or State agency—

11 ‘‘(A) reasonable notice; and

12 ‘‘(B) an opportunity for a hearing.

13 ‘‘(d) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND STATE

14 AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the State educational

16 agency, after reasonable notice and an opportunity

17 for a hearing, finds that a local educational agency

18 or State agency under subsection (i) that has been

19 found eligible under this section is not in compliance

20 with any of the eligibility requirements described in

21 subsection (a), the State educational agency shall

22 make no further payments to the local educational

23 agency or State agency under section 620 until the

24 State educational agency has determined that the
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1 agency is complying with the eligibility requirements

2 described in subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF PENDENCY OF AC4 TION.—Section 616(a) with respect to notification of

5 a pending action shall apply to any agency that re6 ceives a notice from the State educational agency

7 under this subsection.

8 ‘‘(3) ADVERSE DECISIONS.—In carrying out its

9 responsibilities under paragraph (1), the State edu10 cational agency shall consider any decision made in

11 a hearing held under section 615 that is adverse to

12 the local educational agency or State agency involved

13 in that decision.

14 ‘‘(e) JOINT ESTABLISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency

16 may join with another local educational agency to

17 meet the eligibility requirements of this section if the

18 State educational agency determines that the local

19 educational agency would be ineligible under this

20 section because the local educational agency—

21 ‘‘(A) would not be able to establish and

22 maintain programs of sufficient size and scope

23 to effectively meet the needs of children with

24 disabilities; or
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1 ‘‘(B) does not qualify for the minimum

2 grant under section 611(d)(3)(A), if the State

3 elects to use its authority under such section.

4 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(A) FUNDING.—If a State educational

6 agency requires a local educational agency to

7 join with another local educational agency to

8 meet the eligibility requirements under para9 graph (1), the total amount of funds made

10 available to the affected local educational agen11 cies shall equal the sum of the payments that

12 each such local educational agency would have

13 received under section 611(c) if such local agen14 cies were eligible for such payments.

15 ‘‘(B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND AD16 MINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS.—Local edu17 cational agencies that establish joint eligibility

18 under this subsection shall—

19 ‘‘(i) adopt policies and procedures

20 that are consistent with the State’s policies

21 and procedures under section 612(a); and

22 ‘‘(ii) be jointly responsible for imple23 menting programs receiving assistance

24 under this part.

25 ‘‘(C) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—
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1 ‘‘(i) If an educational service agency

2 is required by State law to carry out this

3 part, the joint responsibilities given to local

4 educational agencies under subparagraph

5 (B)(ii) shall—

6 ‘‘(I) not apply to the administra7 tion and disbursement of any pay8 ments received by that service agency;

9 and

10 ‘‘(II) be carried out only by that

11 service agency.

12 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in this subsection re13 lieves an educational service agency of its

14 responsibility to provide for the education

15 of children with disabilities in the least re16 strictive environment, as required by sec17 tion 612(a)(5) and subsection (a)(1)(E).

18 ‘‘(f) COORDINATED SERVICES SYSTEM.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency

20 may use not more than 5 percent of the amount the

21 agency receives under this part for any fiscal year,

22 in combination with other funds (which shall include

23 funds other than education funds), to develop and

24 implement a fully integrated and coordinated service

25 system that links education, health, social welfare
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1 services, support systems, private entities, and other

2 community entities in a manner designed to improve

3 educational and transitional results for all children

4 and their families, including all children with disabil5 ities and their families.

6 ‘‘(2) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Activities that

7 a local educational agency may carry out under this

8 subsection include—

9 ‘‘(A) improving the effectiveness and effi10 ciency of service delivery, including developing

11 strategies that promote accountability for the

12 educational and transitional results;

13 ‘‘(B) service coordination and case man14 agement that facilitate the linkage of individ15 ualized education programs under this part and

16 individualized family service plans under part H

17 with individualized service plans under other

18 Federal and State programs, such as title I of

19 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (vocational reha20 bilitation), title XIX of the Social Security Act

21 (Medicaid), and title XVI of the Social Security

22 Act (Supplemental Security Income);

23 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing inter24 agency financing strategies for the provision of

25 education, health, mental health, and social
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1 services, including transition services and relat2 ed services under this Act; and

3 ‘‘(D) interagency personnel development

4 for the persons involved in the delivery of co5 ordinated services.

6 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—If a

7 local educational agency is carrying out a coordi8 nated services project under title XI of the Elemen9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and a

10 coordinated services project under this part in the

11 same schools, the local educational agency shall use

12 funds under this subsection in accordance with that

13 title.

14 ‘‘(g) SCHOOL-BASED IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational

16 agency may, in accordance with paragraph (2), use

17 funds made available under this part to permit a

18 local school within the jurisdiction of the local edu19 cational agency to design, implement, and evaluate

20 a school-based improvement plan that is consistent

21 with the purposes and authorized activities described

22 in part C and that is designed to improve edu23 cational and transitional results for all children with

24 disabilities and, as appropriate, for other children
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1 consistent with subsection (a)(4) (A) and (B) in

2 such local school.

3 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—A State educational agency

4 may grant authority to a local educational agency to

5 permit a local school described in paragraph (1)

6 (through a school-based standing panel established

7 under paragraph (4)(B)) to design, implement, and

8 evaluate a school-based improvement plan described

9 in paragraph (1) for a period not to exceed 3 years.

10 ‘‘(3) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—A school-based

11 improvement plan described in paragraph (1)

12 shall—

13 ‘‘(A) be designed to be consistent with the

14 purposes and authorized activities described in

15 part C and to improve educational and transi16 tional results for all children with disabilities

17 and, as appropriate, for other children consist18 ent with subsection (a)(4) (A) and (B), who at19 tend the school for which the plan is designed

20 and implemented;

21 ‘‘(B) be designed, evaluated, and, as ap22 propriate, implemented by a school-based stand23 ing panel established in accordance with para24 graph (4)(B);
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1 ‘‘(C) include goals and measurable indica2 tors to assess the progress of the local school in

3 meeting such goals; and

4 ‘‘(D) ensure that all children with disabil5 ities receive the same level of services in such

6 school as required by the individualized edu7 cation programs of such children.

8 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LOCAL EDU9 CATIONAL AGENCY.—A local educational agency that

10 is granted authority under paragraph (2) to permit

11 a local school to design, implement, and evaluate a

12 school-based improvement plan shall—

13 ‘‘(A) select each school under the jurisdic14 tion of such agency that is eligible to design,

15 implement, and evaluate such a plan;

16 ‘‘(B) require each school selected under

17 subparagraph (A), in accordance with criteria

18 established by such local educational agency

19 under subparagraph (C), to establish a school20 based standing panel to carry out the duties de21 scribed in paragraph (3)(B);

22 ‘‘(C) establish—

23 ‘‘(i) criteria that shall be used by such

24 local educational agency in the selection of

25 an eligible school under subparagraph (A);
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1 ‘‘(ii) criteria that shall be used by a

2 local school selected under subparagraph

3 (A) in the establishment a school-based

4 standing panel to carry out the duties de5 scribed in paragraph (3)(B) and that shall

6 ensure that the membership of such panel

7 reflects the diversity of the community and

8 includes, at a minimum—

9 ‘‘(I) parents of children with dis10 abilities who attend such local school,

11 including parents of children with dis12 abilities from unserved and under13 served populations, as appropriate;

14 ‘‘(II) special education and gen15 eral education teachers of such local

16 school;

17 ‘‘(III) special education and gen18 eral education administrators, or the

19 designee of such administrators, of

20 such local school; and

21 ‘‘(IV) special education and relat22 ed services providers who are respon23 sible for providing services to the chil24 dren with disabilities who attend such

25 local school; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) criteria that shall be used by

2 such local educational agency with respect

3 to the distribution of funds under this part

4 to carry out this subsection;

5 ‘‘(D) disseminate the criteria established

6 under subparagraph (C) to local school district

7 personnel and local parent organizations within

8 the jurisdiction of such local educational agen9 cy;

10 ‘‘(E) require a local school that desires to

11 design, implement, and evaluate a school-based

12 improvement plan to submit an application at

13 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

14 such information as such local educational

15 agency shall reasonably require; and

16 ‘‘(F) establish procedures for approval by

17 such local educational agency of a school-based

18 improvement plan designed under this sub19 section.

20 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—A school-based improve21 ment plan described in paragraph (1) may be sub22 mitted to a local educational agency for approval

23 only if a consensus with respect to any matter relat24 ing to the design, implementation, or evaluation of

25 such plan (including any matter relating to the goals
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1 and measurable indicators included in such plan) is

2 reached by the school-based standing panel that de3 signed such plan.

4 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(A) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—In carry6 ing out the requirements of this subsection, a

7 local educational agency shall ensure that the

8 parents of children with disabilities are involved

9 in the design, evaluation, and, where appro10 priate, implementation of school-based improve11 ment plans in accordance with this subsection.

12 ‘‘(B) PLAN APPROVAL.—A local edu13 cational agency may approve a school-based im14 provement plan of a local school within the ju15 risdiction of such agency for a period of 3

16 years, if—

17 ‘‘(i) the approval is consistent with

18 the policies, procedures, and practices es19 tablished by such local educational agency

20 and in accordance with this subsection;

21 and

22 ‘‘(ii) all members of the school-based

23 standing panel that designed such plan

24 agree in writing to such plan.
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1 ‘‘(7) EXTENSION OF PLAN.—If a local school

2 within the jurisdiction of a local educational agency

3 meets the applicable requirements and criteria de4 scribed in paragraphs (3) and (4) at the expiration

5 of the 3-year approval period described in paragraph

6 (6)(B), such agency may approve a school-based im7 provement plan of such school for an additional 3-

8 year period.

9 ‘‘(h) DIRECT SERVICES BY THE STATE EDU10 CATIONAL AGENCY.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

12 shall use the payments that would otherwise have

13 been available to a local educational agency or to a

14 State agency under subsection (i) to provide special

15 education and related services directly to children

16 with disabilities residing in the area served by that

17 local agency, or for whom that State agency is re18 sponsible, if the State educational agency determines

19 that—

20 ‘‘(A) the local educational agency or the

21 State agency—

22 ‘‘(i) has not provided the information

23 needed to establish the eligibility of the

24 local educational agency or the State agen25 cy under this section; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) is unable or unwilling to estab2 lish and maintain programs of free appro3 priate public education that meet the re4 quirements of subsection (a) of this sec5 tion; or

6 ‘‘(B) the local educational agency—

7 ‘‘(i) is unable or unwilling to be con8 solidated with other local educational agen9 cies in order to establish and maintain

10 such programs; or

11 ‘‘(ii) has one or more children with

12 disabilities who can best be served by a re13 gional or State program or service delivery

14 system designed to meet the needs of such

15 children.

16 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF PROVISION OF SERVICES.—

17 The State educational agency may provide special

18 education and related services under paragraph (1)

19 in such manner and at such locations (including re20 gional or State centers) as the State educational

21 agency considers appropriate, so long as the edu22 cation and services are provided in accordance with

23 this part.

24 ‘‘(i) STATE AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—Any State agency

25 that received funds under section 614A (as such section
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1 was in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment

2 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amend3 ments of 1996) and desires to receive a subgrant for any

4 fiscal year under section 611(c) or 619(g) shall dem5 onstrate to the satisfaction of the State educational agency

6 that—

7 ‘‘(1) all children with disabilities who are par8 ticipating in programs and projects funded under

9 this part receive a free appropriate public education,

10 and that the children and their parents are provided

11 all the rights and procedural safeguards described in

12 this part; and

13 ‘‘(2) the State agency meets such other condi14 tions of this section as the Secretary finds appro15 priate.

16 SEC. 204. EVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION

17 PROGRAMS, AND EDUCATIONAL PLACE18 MENTS.

19 Section 614 (20 U.S.C. 1414) is amended to read as

20 follows:

21 ‘‘SEC. 614. EVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION

22 PROGRAMS, AND EDUCATIONAL PLACE23 MENTS.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

25 ‘‘(1) INITIAL EVALUATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A local educational

2 agency shall conduct a comprehensive initial

3 evaluation, in accordance with this paragraph

4 and subsections (b) and (c), before the initial

5 provision of special education and related serv6 ices to a child with a disability.

7 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—An initial evaluation

8 shall include procedures to—

9 ‘‘(i) determine whether a child is a

10 child with a disability as defined in section

11 602(a)(4); and

12 ‘‘(ii) determine the educational needs

13 of the child.

14 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL CONSENT.—

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local edu16 cational agency proposing to conduct an

17 initial evaluation to determine if a child

18 qualifies as a child with a disability as de19 fined in section 602(a)(4) shall, prior to

20 the conduct of such evaluation, obtain in21 formed consent from the parents of the

22 child.

23 ‘‘(ii) REFUSAL.—If the parents of

24 such child refuse to consent to an evalua25 tion described in clause (i), a local edu-
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1 cational agency may continue to pursue the

2 evaluation by utilizing the mediation proce3 dures under section 615(e) and due proc4 ess procedures under section 615(f).

5 ‘‘(2) REEVALUATIONS.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A local educational

7 agency shall ensure that a reevaluation of each

8 child with a disability is conducted—

9 ‘‘(i) whenever the child’s parents or

10 teacher, other school personnel, or other

11 appropriate individuals, request the re12 evaluation; and

13 ‘‘(ii) a natural transition point for the

14 child following the child’s initial evaluation

15 described under paragraph (1).

16 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of

17 subparagraph (A), the term ‘natural transition

18 point’ means the period that is close in time to

19 the transition of a child with a disability—

20 ‘‘(ii) from preschool to elementary

21 grades;

22 ‘‘(iii) from elementary grades to mid23 dle or junior high school grades;
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1 ‘‘(iv) from middle or junior high

2 school grades to high school grades (at

3 least every 3 years); and

4 ‘‘(v) from high school grades to

5 postschool activities.

6 ‘‘(C) CONDUCT OF REEVALUATION.—Each

7 reevaluation shall be conducted in accordance

8 with subsections (b) and (c).

9 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The local educational agen11 cy shall provide notice to the parents of a child with

12 a disability, in accordance with section 615 (b)(3),

13 (b)(4), and (c), that describes any evaluation proce14 dures the local educational agency proposes to con15 duct.

16 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF EVALUATION.—In conducting

17 the evaluation, the local educational agency shall—

18 ‘‘(A) use—

19 ‘‘(i) a variety of evaluation tools and

20 strategies to gather relevant functional and

21 developmental information (including eval22 uations and information provided by the

23 child’s parents) that may assist in deter24 mining whether the child is a child with a

25 disability; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the content of the individualized

2 education program of the child, including

3 information related to enabling the child to

4 participate and achieve in the general cur5 riculum or, for a child who is in preschool,

6 in developmentally appropriate activities;

7 and

8 ‘‘(B) not use any single procedure as the

9 sole criterion for determining—

10 ‘‘(i) whether a child is a child with a

11 disability; or

12 ‘‘(ii) an appropriate educational pro13 gram for the child.

14 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION TESTS AND MATERIALS.—

15 Each local educational agency shall ensure that—

16 ‘‘(A) tests and other evaluation materials

17 used to assess a child under this section are—

18 ‘‘(i) selected and administered so as

19 not to be racially or culturally discrimina20 tory;

21 ‘‘(ii) provided and administered in the

22 native language of the child or other mode

23 of communication unless it is clearly not

24 feasible to do so; and
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) consistent with generally accept2 ed professional standards for assessments;

3 ‘‘(B) any standardized tests that are given

4 to the child—

5 ‘‘(i) have been validated for the spe6 cific purpose for which the tests are used;

7 ‘‘(ii) are administered by trained per8 sonnel; and

9 ‘‘(iii) are administered in accordance

10 with any instructions provided by the pro11 ducer of the tests.

12 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE ON TESTS.—Tests shall

13 provide relevant information that directly assists

14 persons involved in providing services to a child with

15 a disability in determining the educational needs of

16 the child, including information with respect to in17 structional strategies and content that should be re18 flected in the individualized education program of

19 such child.

20 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EVALUA21 TIONS AND REEVALUATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF EXISTING EVALUATION

23 DATA.—As part of an initial evaluation (if appro24 priate) and as part of any reevaluation under this

25 section, the following tasks shall be carried out:
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1 ‘‘(A) A review of existing evaluation data

2 on the child, including evaluations and informa3 tion provided by the parents of the child, and

4 current classroom-based assessments and teach5 er observation.

6 ‘‘(B) On the basis of the review, the pro7 fessional judgment of appropriate individuals,

8 and the input from the parents of the child, an

9 identification of what additional data, if any,

10 are needed to determine the following:

11 ‘‘(i) Whether the child has a particu12 lar category of disability, as described in

13 section 602(a)(4)(A)(i), or, in the case of

14 a reevaluation of a child, whether the child

15 continues to have such a disability.

16 ‘‘(ii) The present levels of perform17 ance and educational needs of the child.

18 ‘‘(iii) Whether the child needs special

19 education and related services, or in the

20 case of a reevaluation of a child, whether

21 the child continues to need special edu22 cation and related services.

23 ‘‘(iv) Whether any additions or modi24 fications to the special education and relat25 ed services are needed to enable the child
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1 to meet the objectives set out in the indi2 vidualized education program of the child

3 and to participate, as appropriate, in the

4 general curriculum.

5 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF DATA.—The local educational

6 agency shall administer such tests and other evalua7 tion materials as may be needed to produce the data

8 identified under paragraph (1)(B).

9 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL DATA.—If it is determined by

10 appropriate individuals based on their professional

11 judgment, that no additional data are needed to de12 termine whether the child is or continues to be a

13 child with a disability, the local educational

14 agency—

15 ‘‘(A) shall notify the parents of the child

16 of—

17 ‘‘(i) the result of that determination

18 and the reasons for the determination; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the right of the parents to re20 quest an evaluation to determine whether

21 the child is or continues to be a child with

22 a disability; and

23 ‘‘(B) is not required to conduct the evalua24 tion described in clause (ii) of subparagraph

25 (A) unless requested by the parents.
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1 ‘‘(d) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IEP TO BE IN EFFECT AT THE BEGINNING

3 OF EACH SCHOOL YEAR.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of

5 each school year, each local educational agency

6 shall have in effect an individualized education

7 program for each child with a disability within

8 its jurisdiction.

9 ‘‘(B) IEP FOR A CHILD AGED 3 THROUGH

10 5.—In the case of a child with a disability aged

11 3 through 5 (or, at the discretion of the State

12 educational agency, a 2-year-old child with dis13 abilities who will turn age 3 during the school

14 year), an IFSP that contains the material de15 scribed in section 677(d) and that is developed

16 in accordance with this section may serve as the

17 IEP of the child if using the plan as the IEP

18 is—

19 ‘‘(i) consistent with State policy; and

20 ‘‘(ii) agreed to by the agency and the

21 parents of the child.

22 ‘‘(2) IEP TEAM.—The IEP of each child shall

23 be developed in a meeting by a team (hereafter in

24 this section referred to as the ‘IEP team’), composed

25 of—
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1 ‘‘(A) a representative of the local edu2 cational agency who is qualified to provide, or

3 supervise the provision of, specially designed in4 struction to meet the unique needs of children

5 with disabilities, and who is knowledgeable

6 about the general curriculum;

7 ‘‘(B) at least one special education pro8 vider who is knowledgeable about the disability

9 of the child, including, if appropriate, the spe10 cial education teacher of the child;

11 ‘‘(C) to the extent practicable, at least one

12 regular education teacher who knows the child

13 or is familiar with the curriculum of the child,

14 if the child is, or may be, participating in the

15 regular education environment;

16 ‘‘(D) the parents of the child;

17 ‘‘(E) whenever appropriate, the child;

18 ‘‘(F) an individual who is capable of inter19 preting the instructional implications of evalua20 tion results; and

21 ‘‘(G) other individuals, at the discretion of

22 the parents or the agency, including, as appro23 priate, related services personnel who are or will

24 be working with the child.
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1 The team member described in subparagraph (F)

2 may be an existing team member described in sub3 paragraphs (A) through (C), if the existing team

4 member is qualified to interpret the results described

5 in subparagraph (F).

6 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENT OF THE IEP.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In developing each

8 child’s IEP, the IEP team shall consider—–

9 ‘‘(i) the strengths of the child and the

10 concerns of the parents for enhancing the

11 education of their child; and––

12 ‘‘(ii) the results of the initial evalua13 tion or most recent reevaluation of the

14 child.

15 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF SPECIAL FAC16 TORS.—As appropriate, the IEP team shall—

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a child whose be18 havior impedes the learning of the child or

19 that of others, consider strategies, includ20 ing behavior management plans, to address

21 that behavior;––

22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a child with limited

23 English proficiency, consider the language

24 needs of the child as the needs relate to

25 the child’s IEP;
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a child who is

2 blind or visually impaired, consider wheth3 er the child needs instruction in braille or

4 in the use of braille;––

5 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a child who is deaf

6 or hard of hearing, consider the commu7 nication needs of the child, including op8 portunities to communicate directly with

9 other individuals;

10 ‘‘(v) in the case of a child with expres11 sive or receptive language deficits, consider

12 techniques to ensure that the child under13 stands what is being spoken; and

14 ‘‘(vi) in the case of a child with sen15 sory or motor communication, or physical

16 impairment, consider the provision of

17 assistive technology devices and services.

18 ‘‘(e) CONTENT OF IEP.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The IEP of each child with

20 a disability shall include the following:

21 ‘‘(A) PRESENT LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL

22 PERFORMANCE.—A statement of the present

23 levels of educational performance of the child,

24 including how the disability of the child affects

25 the progress of the child in meeting the stand-
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•S 1578 IS

1 ards of the general curriculum (or, for a pre2 school child, as appropriate, how the disability

3 of the child affects the progress of the child in

4 developmentally appropriate activities related to

5 transition to kindergarten and elementary

6 school);

7 ‘‘(B) MEASURABLE ANNUAL OBJEC8 TIVES.—A statement of measurable annual ob9 jectives related to meeting each of the edu10 cational needs of the child that result from the

11 disability of the child, including objectives relat12 ed to enabling the child to progress in meeting

13 the standards of the general curriculum at the

14 educationally appropriate level for the child.

15 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED

16 SERVICES.—A statement of the special edu17 cation and related services and supplementary

18 aids and services to be provided to the child and

19 any program modifications necessary for the

20 child to attain the annual objectives, to progress

21 in the general curriculum, to participate in

22 extra-curricular and nonacademic activities and

23 other educational activities, and to be educated

24 and participate with nondisabled children in the

25 activities described in this subparagraph.
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1 ‘‘(D) EXTENT OF PARTICIPATION WITH

2 NONDISABLED CHILDREN.—An explanation of

3 the extent, if any, to which the child will not

4 participate with nondisabled children in the reg5 ular class and in the activities described in sub6 paragraph (C).

7 ‘‘(E) PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL ASSESS8 MENTS.—

9 ‘‘(i) MODIFICATIONS.—A statement of

10 any modifications in the administration of

11 State or districtwide assessments that are

12 needed in order for the child to participate

13 in the assessments.

14 ‘‘(ii) NONPARTICIPATION.—If a child

15 will not participate in a particular State or

16 districtwide assessment (or part of such

17 assessment), a statement of why the as18 sessment is not appropriate for the child

19 and how the child will be assessed.

20 ‘‘(F) PROJECTED DATES, FREQUENCY,

21 AND DURATION OF SERVICES.—The projected

22 date for the beginning of the services and pro23 gram modifications described in subparagraph

24 (C), and the anticipated frequency and duration

25 of such services and modifications.
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1 ‘‘(G) INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHILD’S

2 PROGRESS.—A statement of how the progress

3 of the child toward the measurable annual ob4 jectives will be measured and how the parents

5 of the child will be regularly informed of the

6 child’s progress, in accordance with subsection

7 (f).

8 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL IEP REQUIREMENTS FOR A

9 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY WHO IS OF SECONDARY

10 SCHOOL AGE.—The IEP for each student who is a

11 child with a disability and who is of secondary school

12 age (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘stu13 dent’) shall include additional information related to

14 transition services and the transfer of rights at the

15 age of majority, as described in subparagraphs (A)

16 through (C).

17 ‘‘(A) ADDRESSING THE STUDENT’S TRAN18 SITION NEEDS.—For a student aged 14

19 through 21 (or younger than age 14 if deter20 mined appropriate by the IEP team), the tran21 sition services needs of the student shall be con22 sidered and, as appropriate, addressed under

23 the applicable components of the student’s IEP

24 described in paragraph (1) relating to present

25 levels of educational performance, measurable
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•S 1578 IS

1 annual objectives, special education and related

2 services, and other applicable components.

3 ‘‘(B) STATEMENT OF TRANSITION SERV4 ICES AND SUPPORTS.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In meeting the re6 quirements of subparagraph (A), the IEP

7 team shall give consideration to the stu8 dent’s participation in the general edu9 cation curriculum (such as participation in

10 advanced-placement courses or a vocational

11 education or school-to-work program, or

12 independent living skills training, which

13 lead to successful transition from second14 ary school to postschool adult environ15 ments).

16 ‘‘(ii) TRANSITION SERVICES STATE17 MENT.—Beginning no later than age 16,

18 the student’s IEP shall include a state19 ment of needed transition services as de20 fined in subsection (i) including, when ap21 propriate, a statement of the interagency

22 responsibilities and needed linkages among

23 agencies to ensure delivery of services be24 fore the student leaves the school setting.
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1 ‘‘(C) TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AT THE AGE

2 OF MAJORITY.—Beginning at least 1 year be3 fore the student reaches the age of majority

4 under State law, the IEP shall include a state5 ment about the rights under this Act, if any,

6 that will transfer to the student on reaching the

7 age of majority under section 615(j).

8 ‘‘(f) REPORTING EACH CHILD’S PROGRESS TOWARD

9 OBJECTIVES.—The local educational agency shall ensure

10 that—

11 ‘‘(1) the parents of each child with a disability

12 are regularly informed of the progress of the child,

13 toward the measurable annual objectives, and the ex14 tent to which such progress is sufficient to enable

15 the child to achieve the objectives by the end of the

16 school year; and

17 ‘‘(2) in implementing the requirement in para18 graph (1), the parents are informed (by periodic re19 port cards or other appropriate means) at least as

20 often as parents of nondisabled children are in21 formed of the progress of their nondisabled children.

22 ‘‘(g) REVIEW AND REVISION OF IEP.—The local edu23 cational agency shall ensure that the IEP team for each

24 child—
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1 ‘‘(1) reviews the child’s IEP periodically, but

2 not less than annually, to determine whether the an3 nual objectives for the child are being achieved; and

4 ‘‘(2) revises the IEP, as appropriate, to ad5 dress—

6 ‘‘(A) continued progress in, or any lack of

7 expected progress toward, achieving the annual

8 objectives and in the general curriculum, where

9 appropriate;

10 ‘‘(B) the results of any reevaluation con11 ducted under this section;

12 ‘‘(C) information about the child provided

13 to the parents under subsection (f);

14 ‘‘(D) the anticipated needs of the child; or

15 ‘‘(E) other matters, as appropriate.

16 ‘‘(h) FAILURE TO MEET TRANSITION OBJEC17 TIVES.—If an entity (other than the local educational

18 agency) involved in planning or providing transition serv19 ices to a child with a disability fails to provide the transi20 tion services described in the IEP in accordance with sub21 section (e)(2)(A), the local educational agency shall recon22 vene the IEP team to identify alternative strategies to

23 meet the transition objectives for the student set forth in

24 the IEP.
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1 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF TRANSITION SERVICES.—For

2 the purpose of this section, the term ‘transition services’

3 means a coordinated set of activities for a student, de4 signed within an outcome-oriented process, which pro5 motes movement from school to postschool activities, in6 cluding postsecondary education, vocational training, inte7 grated employment (including supported employment),

8 continuing and adult education, adult services, independ9 ent living, or community participation. The coordinated

10 set of activities shall be based upon the individual needs

11 of the student, taking into account the preferences and

12 interests of the student, and shall include instruction,

13 community experiences, the development of employment

14 and other postschool adult living objectives, and, when ap15 propriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional

16 vocational evaluation.’’.

17 ‘‘(j) CONSTRUCTION CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sec18 tion shall be construed to require the IEP team to include

19 information under one component of a child’s IEP that

20 is already contained under another component of such

21 IEP.

22 ‘‘(k) PLACEMENTS.—Each local educational agency

23 shall ensure that the parents of each child with a disability

24 are members of any group that makes decisions on the

25 educational placement of their child.
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1 SEC. 205. CHAPTER 1 STATE AGENCIES.

2 Section 614A (20 U.S.C. 1414a) is repealed.

3 SEC. 206. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

4 (a) PROCEDURES.—Section 615(a) (20 U.S.C.

5 1415(a)) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘Any State educational agency,

7 any local educational agency, and any intermediate

8 educational unit which’’ and inserting ‘‘Any State

9 educational agency or local educational agency

10 that’’;

11 (2) by striking ‘‘subsection (b) through sub12 section (e) of’’;

13 (3) by striking ‘‘or guardians’’; and

14 (4) by striking ‘‘and units’’.

15 (b) TYPES OF PROCEDURES.—Section 615(b) (20

16 U.S.C. 1415(b) is amended—

17 (1) by striking paragraph (2);

18 (2) in paragraph (1)—

19 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A)

20 an opportunity for the parents or guardian’’

21 and inserting ‘‘(1) an opportunity for the par22 ents’’;

23 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

24 (i) by striking ‘‘(B) procedures’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘(2) procedures’’;
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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’ each

2 place it appears; and

3 (iii) by striking ‘‘local educational

4 agency, or intermediate educational unit’’

5 and inserting ‘‘the local educational agen6 cy, or any other agency that is’’;

7 (C) in subparagraph (C)—

8 (i) by striking ‘‘(C) written prior no9 tice to the parents or guardian of the child

10 whenever such agency or unit’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘(3) written prior notice in accordance

12 with subsection (c) to the parents of the

13 child whenever such agency’’;

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘(i) proposes’’ and in15 serting ‘‘(A) proposes’’;

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘(ii) refuses’’ and in17 serting ‘‘(B) refuses’’; and

18 (iv) by striking ‘‘public education to

19 the child’’ and inserting ‘‘public education

20 to the child, in accordance with subsection

21 (c)’’;

22 (D) in subparagraph (D), to read as fol23 lows:

24 ‘‘(4) procedures designed to ensure that the no25 tice required by paragraph (3) is provided in the na-
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1 tive language of the parents or other mode of com2 munication used by the parents, unless it clearly is

3 not feasible to do so;’’;

4 (E) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘(E)

5 an opportunity’’ and inserting ‘‘(6) an oppor6 tunity’’; and

7 (F) by inserting after paragraph (4) (as so

8 redesignated by subparagraph (D)) the follow9 ing new paragraph:

10 ‘‘(5) an opportunity for mediation in accordance

11 with subsection (e); and’’; and

12 (3) by striking ‘‘(b)(1) The’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)

13 The’’.

14 (c) OTHER PROVISIONS OF SECTION 615.—Section

15 615 (20 U.S.C. 1415) is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (c)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2) of sub18 section (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘or an intermediate edu20 cational unit’’;

21 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsections

22 (b) and (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and (g)’’;

23 (3) in subsection (e)—
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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para2 graph (2) of subsection (b)’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘subsection (f)’’;

4 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘decision

5 made under subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘de6 cision made under subsection (f)’’;

7 (C) by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ each place

8 it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (g)’’;

9 (D) in paragraph (3)—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’ each

11 place it appears; and

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 602(a)(20)’’

13 and inserting ‘‘section 602(a)(15);

14 (E) in paragraph (4)—

15 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking

16 ‘‘or guardian’’;

17 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking

18 ‘‘For the purpose of this subsection, fees’’

19 and inserting ‘‘Fees’’;

20 (iii) in subparagraph (D)—

21 (I) by striking ‘‘No award of at22 torneys’ fees and related costs may be

23 made’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro24 vided in subparagraph (E), attorneys’
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1 fees may not be awarded and related

2 costs may not be reimbursed’’; and

3 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

4 each place it appears;

5 (iv) in subparagraph (E)—

6 (I) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding

7 the provisions of subparagraph (D)’’

8 and inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding sub9 paragraph (D)’’; and

10 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

11 (v) in subparagraph (F)—

12 (I) by striking ‘‘(F) Whenever’’

13 and inserting ‘‘(F) Except as provided

14 in subparagraph (G), whenever’’; and

15 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

16 (vi) in subparagraph (G), by striking

17 ‘‘or there was a violation of section 615 of

18 this Act’’; and

19 (vii) by adding at the end thereof the

20 following new subparagraphs:

21 ‘‘(H) For the purpose of this section, the determina22 tion of whether a party is a prevailing party under this

23 section shall be made in accordance with the law estab24 lished by the Supreme Court in Hensley v. Eckerhart, 461

25 U.S. 424 (1983).
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1 ‘‘(I) For the purpose of this section, an IEP meeting

2 shall not, in and of itself, be deemed to be a proceeding

3 triggering the awarding of attorneys’ fees.’’;

4 (4) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e)

5 as subsections (g) through (i), respectively;

6 (5) redesignating subsection (f) as subsection

7 (k);

8 (6) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow9 ing new subsections:

10 ‘‘(c)(1) The notice required by subsection (b)(3) with

11 respect to the proposal or refusal to initiate or change the

12 identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a

13 child described in such subsection or the provision of a

14 free appropriate public education to such child shall—

15 ‘‘(A) include—

16 ‘‘(i) a description of the action proposed or

17 refused by the agency;

18 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of why the agency pro19 poses or refuses to take the action; and

20 ‘‘(iii) a description of any other options

21 that the agency considered and the reasons why

22 the options were not chosen;

23 ‘‘(B) describe each evaluation procedure, test,

24 record, or report that the agency used as a basis for

25 the proposed or refused action;
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(C) describe any other factors that are rel2 evant to the proposal or refusal of the agency;

3 ‘‘(D) include a full explanation of the proce4 dural safeguards available under this section, and

5 under the regulations of the Secretary, relating to

6 independent educational evaluations, notice, parental

7 consent, mediation, and the placement of the child

8 during the pendency of due process proceedings;

9 ‘‘(E) include at least a brief summary of the

10 procedural safeguards under this section relating to

11 due process hearings, State-level appeals (if applica12 ble in that State), civil actions, and attorneys’ fees;

13 ‘‘(F) include a statement that the agency will

14 provide a full explanation of the procedural safe15 guards available to parents under this section, and

16 under the regulations of the Secretary, relating to—

17 ‘‘(i) access to educational records, when18 ever requested by the parents; and

19 ‘‘(ii) the hearings, appeals, actions, and

20 fees described in subparagraph (E) whenever

21 the parents request such explanation or file a

22 complaint under subsection (b)(6); and

23 ‘‘(G) include the name, address, and telephone

24 number of the Parent Information and Training

25 Center in the State and other resources in the State
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•S 1578 IS

1 that will assist a parent understand protections and

2 opportunities under this part.

3 ‘‘(2) Each State educational agency and each local

4 educational agency that receives assistance under this part

5 shall provide the explanation described in paragraph

6 (1)(F) in the cases described in such paragraph.

7 ‘‘(d)(1) The parents of a child with a disability or

8 a suspected disability shall provide to the local educational

9 agency written notice of their intention to file a complaint

10 under subsection (b)(6) regarding the identification, eval11 uation, or educational placement of the child or the provi12 sion of a free appropriate public education to the child,

13 10 calendar days prior to the date of the filing of the com14 plaint if—

15 ‘‘(A) the parents have new information regard16 ing the identification, evaluation, or educational

17 placement of the child or the provision of a free ap18 propriate public education to the child; or

19 ‘‘(B) the parents are initiating a complaint

20 about the identification, evaluation, or educational

21 placement of the child or the provision of a free ap22 propriate public education to the child and the par23 ents have signed the most recent IEP of the child.

24 ‘‘(2) Prior to filing a complaint, if the parents have

25 new information regarding the identification, evaluation,
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•S 1578 IS

1 or educational placement of the child or the provision of

2 a free appropriate public education to the child, the par3 ents shall provide the information to the local educational

4 agency along with the notice of their intent to file a com5 plaint.

6 ‘‘(3) If the parents were duly informed by the local

7 educational agency with respect to their obligation to file

8 a notice of intention to file a complaint under this sub9 section and the parents fail to provide such notice, the

10 timeline for a final decision on the complaint shall be ex11 tended by 10 calendar days.

12 ‘‘(e)(1) Each State educational agency shall ensure

13 that procedures are established and implemented to allow

14 parties to disputes involving matters described in sub15 section (b)(6) to resolve such disputes through mediation.

16 ‘‘(2)(A) The procedures described in paragraph (1)

17 shall ensure—

18 ‘‘(i) that whenever a hearing is requested on

19 any matter in dispute under subsection (b)(6), the

20 parents are offered an opportunity for mediation to

21 resolve the dispute; and

22 ‘‘(ii) that mediation—

23 ‘‘(I) is voluntary on the part of the parents

24 and may be waived by the parents at any time

25 during such process;
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1 ‘‘(II) is not used to deny a parent to the

2 right of a, or delay access by a parent to, due

3 process hearings under subsection (f) or to deny

4 the parents any other rights afforded under this

5 part; and

6 ‘‘(III) is conducted by a qualified and im7 partial mediator who is not an employee of a

8 local educational agency or State agency de9 scribed in section 613(i) that is involved in the

10 education or care of the child or who is not a

11 person having a personal or professional conflict

12 of interest;

13 ‘‘(iii) that mediators are appointed from the list

14 described in subparagraph (B)(i);

15 ‘‘(iv) that whenever a mediator is not selected

16 on a random basis, both the parents and the local

17 educational agency are involved in selecting the me18 diator and are in agreement with the individual who

19 is selected;

20 ‘‘(v) that each session in the mediation process

21 shall be scheduled in a timely manner and shall be

22 held in a location that is convenient and accessible

23 to the parties to the dispute;

24 ‘‘(vi) that no statements made by either party

25 during the mediation under this subsection shall be
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1 offered or used as evidence in any hearing, review of

2 a hearing decision, or civil action under this section;

3 and

4 ‘‘(vii) that an agreement reached by the parties

5 to the dispute in the mediation process shall be set

6 forth in a written mediation agreement.

7 ‘‘(B)(i) Each State educational agency shall compile

8 and maintain a list of individuals who are—

9 ‘‘(I) trained in mediation; and

10 ‘‘(II) knowledgeable about the educational

11 needs of children with disabilities and applicable

12 statutes and regulations relating to the educational

13 rights of such children, including the requirements

14 of this part and the regulations of the Secretary

15 under this part.

16 ‘‘(ii) The State educational agency shall ensure that

17 mediation will be provided to parents at no cost.

18 ‘‘(3) If a State has on file with the Secretary docu19 mentation that the State has an established mediation

20 process that is comparable to the mediation process de21 scribed in this subsection, the mediation process of the

22 State shall be considered to be in compliance with this

23 subsection. Within 4 years after the date of enactment of

24 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amend25 ments of 1996, such State shall establish a mediation
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1 process program that complies with the requirements of

2 this subsection.

3 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this part shall prohibit employees or

4 former employees of a State educational agency from serv5 ing as mediators in resolving disputes about any matter

6 described in subsection (b)(6), unless the dispute directly

7 involves such agency.

8 ‘‘(f) Whenever a complaint has been received under

9 subsection (b)(6), the parents shall have an opportunity

10 for an impartial due process hearing that shall be con11 ducted by the State educational agency or by the local edu12 cational agency, as determined by State law or by the

13 State educational agency. No hearing conducted pursuant

14 to the requirements of this subsection shall be conducted

15 by an employee of such agency involved in the education

16 or care of the child.’’; and

17 (7) by inserting after subsection (i) (as so re18 designated by paragraph (4)) the following new sub19 section:

20 ‘‘(j)(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2),

21 any State that receives funds under this part may provide

22 that, when a student with a disability reaches the age of

23 majority under State law—
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1 ‘‘(A) the public agency shall provide any notice

2 required by this section to both the individual and

3 the parents;

4 ‘‘(B) all other rights accorded to parents under

5 this part transfer to the child; and

6 ‘‘(C) the agency shall notify the individual and

7 the parents of the transfer of rights.

8 ‘‘(2)(A) If, under State law, a student described in

9 paragraph (1) is determined to not have the ability to pro10 vide informed consent with respect to the educational pro11 gram of the student, the State shall have in effect proce12 dures for appointing the parent or other individual to rep13 resent the educational interests of the student throughout

14 the student’s eligibility under this part.

15 SEC. 207. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

16 Section 616 (20 U.S.C. 1416) is amended to read as

17 follows:

18 ‘‘SEC. 616. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

19 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Secretary,

21 after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing

22 to the State educational agency involved (and to any

23 local educational agency or State agency affected by

24 any failure described in subparagraph (B)), finds—
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1 ‘‘(A) that there has been a failure by the

2 State to comply substantially with any provision

3 of this part; or

4 ‘‘(B) that there is a failure to comply with

5 any condition of a local educational agency’s eli6 gibility or State agency’s eligibility under this

7 part,

8 the Secretary shall, after notifying the State edu9 cational agency, withhold any further payments to

10 the State under this part.

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—If the Secretary withholds

12 further payments under paragraph (1), the Sec13 retary may determine that such withholding will be

14 limited to programs or projects, or portions thereof,

15 affected by the failure, or that the State educational

16 agency shall not make further payments under this

17 part to specified local educational agencies or State

18 agencies affected by the failure. Until the Secretary

19 is satisfied that there is no longer any failure to

20 comply with the provisions of this part, as specified

21 in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), no

22 further payments shall be made to the State under

23 this part or payments by the State educational agen24 cy under this part shall be limited to local edu25 cational agencies whose actions did not cause or
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1 were not involved in the failure, as the case may be.

2 Any State educational agency or local educational

3 agency in receipt of a notice pursuant to paragraph

4 (1) shall, by means of a public notice, take such

5 measures as may be necessary to bring the pendency

6 of an action pursuant to this subsection to the atten7 tion of the public within the jurisdiction of such

8 agency.

9 ‘‘(b) APPEALS OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—If any State is dissatisfied

11 with the Secretary’s final action with respect to the

12 eligibility of such State under section 612, such

13 State may, within 60 days after notice of such ac14 tion, file with the United States court of appeals for

15 the circuit in which such State is located a petition

16 for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall

17 be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to

18 the Secretary. The Secretary thereupon shall file in

19 the court the record of the proceedings upon which

20 the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in sec21 tion 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

22 ‘‘(2) FINDINGS.—The findings of fact by the

23 Secretary, if supported by substantial evidence, shall

24 be conclusive, but the court, for good cause shown,

25 may remand the case to the Secretary to take fur-
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1 ther evidence, and the Secretary may thereupon

2 make new or modified findings of fact and may mod3 ify the previous action of the Secretary, and shall

4 file in the court the record of the further proceed5 ings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall be

6 conclusive if supported by substantial evidence.

7 ‘‘(3) COURT’S JUDGMENT.—Upon the filing of

8 such petition, the court shall have jurisdiction to af9 firm the action of the Secretary or to set such action

10 aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court

11 shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of

12 the United States upon certiorari or certification as

13 provided in section 1254 of title 28, United States

14 Code.’’.

15 SEC. 208. ADMINISTRATION.

16 Section 617 (21 U.S.C. 1417) is amended to read as

17 follows:

18 ‘‘SEC. 617. ADMINISTRATION.

19 ‘‘(a) SECRETARY’S RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying

20 out this part, the Secretary shall—

21 ‘‘(1) cooperate with, and (directly or through

22 grant or contract) provide the technical assistance

23 necessary to, the State in matters relating to—

24 ‘‘(A) the education of children with disabil25 ities;
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1 ‘‘(B) carrying out the requirements of this

2 part;

3 ‘‘(2) provide short-term training programs and

4 institutes; and

5 ‘‘(3) disseminate information about, and other6 wise promote, the education of all children with dis7 abilities within the States.

8 ‘‘(b) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—In carrying out

9 the provisions of this part, the Secretary shall, not later

10 than January 1, 1977, issue, amend, and revoke such

11 rules and regulations as may be necessary. No other less

12 formal method of implementing such provisions is author13 ized.

14 ‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary shall take

15 appropriate action, in accordance with the provisions of

16 section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20

17 U.S.C. 1232g), to ensure the protection of the confiden18 tiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and

19 records collected or maintained by the Secretary and by

20 State and local educational agencies pursuant to the provi21 sions of this part.

22 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary is authorized to

23 hire qualified personnel necessary to conduct data collec24 tion and evaluation activities authorized by section 618,

25 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States
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1 Code, relating to appointments in the competitive service

2 and without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of

3 chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and gen4 eral schedule pay rates except that no more than 20 such

5 personnel shall be employed at any time.

6 ‘‘(e) POLICY LETTERS AND STATEMENTS.—The Sec7 retary may not, through policy letters or other statements,

8 establish a new rule that is required for compliance with

9 and eligibility under this part without following the re10 quirements of section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

11 ‘‘(f) INTERPRETATIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF

12 EDUCATION.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on a

14 quarterly basis, publish in the Federal Register, and

15 widely disseminate to interested entities through var16 ious additional forms of communication, a list of

17 correspondence from the Department of Education

18 received by persons during the previous quarter that

19 describes the interpretations of the Department of

20 Education of this part or the regulations imple21 mented pursuant to this part.

22 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—For each

23 item of correspondence published in a list under

24 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall identify the topic

25 addressed by the correspondence and shall include
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1 such other summary information as the Secretary

2 finds appropriate.’’.

3 SEC. 209. EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 618 (20 U.S.C. 1418) is

5 amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘SEC. 618. EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.

7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM INFORMATION.—Each State that re8 ceives assistance under this part, and the Secretary of the

9 Interior, shall provide data each year to the Secretary—

10 ‘‘(1)(A) on the number of children with disabil11 ities—

12 ‘‘(i) who are receiving a free appropriate

13 public education;

14 ‘‘(ii) who are receiving early intervention

15 services;

16 ‘‘(iii) who are participating in regular edu17 cation;

18 ‘‘(iv) who are in separate classes, separate

19 schools or facilities, or public or private residen20 tial facilities;

21 ‘‘(v) for each year of age from 14 through

22 21, who, because of program completion or for

23 other reasons, stopped receiving special edu24 cation and related services; and
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1 ‘‘(vi) from birth through age 2, who, be2 cause of program completion or for other rea3 sons, stopped receiving early intervention serv4 ices; and

5 ‘‘(B) on the number of infants and toddlers who

6 are at risk of having substantial developmental

7 delays (as described in section 672) and who are re8 ceiving early intervention services under part H; and

9 ‘‘(2) any other information as may be required

10 by the Secretary.

11 ‘‘(b) STUDIES EVALUATIONS, AND NATIONAL AS12 SESSMENTS.—The Secretary shall assess the progress in

13 the implementation of this Act through the studies and

14 evaluations, and assessment described in paragraphs (1)

15 and (2).

16 ‘‘(1) STUDIES AND EVALUATIONS.—In carrying

17 out the studies and evaluations required by this sec18 tion, the Secretary shall, directly or through grant,

19 contract, or cooperative agreement, conduct studies

20 and evaluations necessary to—

21 ‘‘(A) assess, through quantitative and

22 qualitative data and reporting modes, the effec23 tiveness of State and local efforts to—

24 ‘‘(i) provide a free appropriate public

25 education to children with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(ii) provide early intervention serv2 ices to infants and toddlers with disabil3 ities and infants and toddlers at risk for

4 developmental delay;

5 ‘‘(B) assess the placement of children with

6 disabilities by disability category; and

7 ‘‘(C) analyze measurable impact, outcomes,

8 and results achieved by the State educational

9 agencies and local educational agencies through

10 the systems change activities of such agencies

11 to reform policies, procedures, and practices de12 signed to improve the educational and transi13 tional services and results for children with dis14 abilities.

15 ‘‘(2) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary

16 shall, directly or through grants, contracts, or coop17 erative agreements, conduct studies, investigations,

18 and evaluations that shall measure the educational

19 and transitional services and results of children with

20 disabilities under this Act. Such grants, contracts, or

21 cooperative agreements shall include—

22 ‘‘(A) the conduct of a 5-year longitudinal

23 study or studies (utilizing both quantitative and

24 qualitative data and reporting modes) that ex25 amines—
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1 ‘‘(i) the educational and transitional

2 services and results for children with dis3 abilities aged 3 through 17, who are receiv4 ing special education and related services

5 under this Act, using a national, represent6 ative sample of distinct age cohorts and

7 disability categories; and

8 ‘‘(ii) the educational results, post9 secondary placement, and employment sta10 tus of individuals with disabilities, aged 18

11 through 21, who are receiving or have re12 ceived special education and related serv13 ices under this Act;

14 ‘‘(B) the annual collection of data (begin15 ning on October 1, 1998 and every year there16 after) on the number of children with disabil17 ities suspended, expelled, and subject to other

18 disciplinary actions, including data

19 disaggregated by age, sex, race, socio-economic

20 status, disability category, and category of be21 havior subject to disciplinary action;

22 ‘‘(C) an analysis of State and local needs

23 for professional development, parent training,

24 and other appropriate activities regarding dis-
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1 ciplinary actions involving children with disabil2 ities; and

3 ‘‘(D) an assessment of the educational and

4 transitional services and results for children

5 with disabilities from unserved and underserved

6 populations, including—

7 ‘‘(i) data on the number of children

8 from unserved and underserved popu9 lations who—

10 ‘‘(I) are referred for special edu11 cation evaluation;

12 ‘‘(II) are receiving special edu13 cation and related services; and

14 ‘‘(III) graduated from secondary

15 and post secondary education pro16 grams; and

17 ‘‘(ii) the performance of children with

18 disabilities from unserved and underserved

19 populations on State assessments and

20 other performance indicators established

21 for all students.

22 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days

23 after the expiration of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall

24 prepare and submit to Congress a report that includes—
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1 ‘‘(1) an analysis and summary of the data re2 ported by the States and the Secretary of the Inte3 rior under subsection (a);

4 ‘‘(2) the results of activities conducted under

5 subsection (b);

6 ‘‘(3) the findings and determinations resulting

7 from reviews of States with respect to the implemen8 tation of this Act; and

9 ‘‘(4) recommendations with respect to the im10 plementation of this Act to improve the educational

11 and transitional services and results for children

12 with disabilities and their families.

13 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—The

14 Secretary may collect and use information collected from

15 various sources for reporting to Congress, including the

16 collection and use of State evaluation and available re17 search studies, in carrying out this section.

18 ‘‘(e) RESERVATION FOR STUDIES AND EVALUA19 TIONS.—Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, the

20 Secretary may reserve, in addition to any funds appro21 priated under this section, up to one-half of one percent

22 of the amount appropriated under this part and part H

23 for each fiscal year to carry out the purposes of this sec24 tion.
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1 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

2 purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized

3 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.

4 ‘‘(g) APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS.—Any term

5 used in this section that is defined in section 602 (as

6 amended by section 102 of the Individuals with Disabil7 ities Education Act Amendments of 1996) shall have the

8 meaning given such term in such section.’’.

9 (b) REPEAL.—Section 618(g), as added by subsection

10 (a), shall be repealed effective October 1, 1997.

11 SEC. 210. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

12 Section 619 (21 U.S.C. 1419) is amended to read as

13 follows:

14 ‘‘SEC. 619. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

15 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall

16 make grants to States and the outlying areas to assist in

17 the provision of special education and related services, in

18 accordance with this part—

19 ‘‘(1) to children with disabilities aged 3 through

20 5; and

21 ‘‘(2) at the discretion of the State, to 2-year-old

22 children with disabilities who will turn age 3 during

23 the school year.
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1 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State or outlying area is eligi2 ble for a grant under this section if the State or outlying

3 area—

4 ‘‘(1) has established its eligibility under section

5 612; and

6 ‘‘(2) makes a free appropriate public education

7 available to all children with disabilities, aged 3

8 through 5, residing in the jurisdiction of the State

9 or the outlying area.

10 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATIONS.—Of the funds made available

11 under this section, the Secretary shall allocate to each eli12 gible State and each outlying area, the State’s or outlying

13 area’s pro rata share of the available funds based upon

14 the count of the State of children with disabilities, aged

15 3 through 5, consistent with section 611(a)(3). The

16 amount of any grant to any State or outlying area under

17 this section for any fiscal year may not exceed $1,500 for

18 each child with a disability in such State or outlying area,

19 aged 3 through 5.

20 ‘‘(d) STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may retain not

22 more than 25 percent of the amount of the grant the

23 State receives under this section for administration

24 and other State-level activities in accordance with

25 subsections (e) and (f).
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1 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REQUIRE2 MENTS.—A State may use funds the State retains

3 under paragraph (1) without regard to—

4 ‘‘(A) the prohibition on commingling of

5 funds under section 612(a)(18)(A)(ii); and

6 ‘‘(B) the prohibition on supplanting other

7 funds under section 612(a)(18)(A)(iii).

8 ‘‘(e) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State and outlying

10 area may use not more than 5 percent of the

11 amount of the grant the State receives under this

12 section for any fiscal year for the purpose of admin13 istering this part, including the coordination of ac14 tivities under this part with, and providing technical

15 assistance to, other programs that provide services

16 to children with disabilities.

17 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF PART H.—Funds de18 scribed in paragraph (1) may also be used for the

19 administration of part H, if the State educational

20 agency is the lead agency for the State under that

21 part.

22 ‘‘(f) OTHER STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—A State

23 shall use any funds the State retains under subsection (d)

24 and does not use for administration under subsection

25 (e)—
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1 ‘‘(1) for support services (including establishing

2 and implementing the mediation process required by

3 section 615(e)), which may benefit children with dis4 abilities younger than age 3 and older than age 5 as

5 long as such services also benefit children with dis6 abilities aged 3 through 5;

7 ‘‘(2) for direct services for children eligible for

8 services under this section;

9 ‘‘(3) to develop and implement State systems

10 change activities under part C;

11 ‘‘(4) for activities at the State and local levels

12 to meet the performance goals established by the

13 State under section 612(a)(16) and to support im14 plementation of the State systems change activities

15 under part C if the State receives funds under such

16 part;

17 ‘‘(5) to supplement other funds used to develop

18 and implement a fully integrated and coordinated

19 Statewide system that links education, health, social

20 welfare services, support systems, and other commu21 nity entities, in a manner designed to improve the

22 educational and transitional results for all children

23 and their families (including children with disabil24 ities and their families), but not to exceed 1 percent
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1 of the amount received by the State under this sec2 tion; or

3 ‘‘(6) for other activities deemed appropriate by

4 the State educational agency;

5 ‘‘(g) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN6 CIES.—

7 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.—A

8 State that receives a grant under this section for

9 any fiscal year shall distribute at least 75 percent of

10 the grant funds to local educational agencies in the

11 State that have established the eligibility of the

12 State under section 613, and to State agencies that

13 received funds under section 614A (as such section

14 was in effect on the day preceding the date of enact15 ment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education

16 Act Amendments of 1996) for fiscal year 1995 and

17 that have established their eligibility under section

18 613.

19 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—From the

20 amount of funds available to local educational agen21 cies in any State under this section, each local edu22 cational agency shall be entitled to the pro rata

23 share of the available funds based on the aggregate

24 number of children with disabilities aged 3 through
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1 5 who received special education and related services

2 as determined under section 611.

3 ‘‘(h) PART H INAPPLICABILITY.—Part H does not

4 apply to any child with a disability receiving a free appro5 priate public education, in accordance with this part, with

6 funds received under this section.

7 ‘‘(i) OUTLYING AREAS.—The provisions of section

8 501 of Public Law 95–134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a), permitting

9 the consolidation of grants to outlying areas, shall not

10 apply to funds such areas receive under this section.

11 ‘‘(j) DEFINITION OF ‘STATE’.—For the purpose of

12 this section, the term ‘State’ means each of the 50 States,

13 the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puer14 to Rico.

15 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

16 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

17 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.’’.

18 SEC. 211. PAYMENTS.

19 Section 620 (20 U.S.C. 1420) is amended to read as

20 follows:

21 ‘‘SEC. 620. PAYMENTS.

22 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—The Secretary shall

23 make payments to each State that has demonstrated the

24 eligibility of the State under section 612, in amounts that

25 the Secretary determines under sections 611 and 619.
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1 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

2 AND STATE AGENCIES.—Any State educational agency re3 ceiving payments under this section shall distribute pay4 ments to local educational agencies (and to State agencies

5 that received funds under section 614A, as such section

6 was in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment

7 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amend8 ments of 1996, for fiscal year 1995) in the State that the

9 State educational agency has determined are eligible under

10 section 613, in amounts determined under sections 611

11 and 619.’’.

12 SEC. 212. APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS.

13 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part B (20 U.S.C. 611 et seq.)

14 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

15 section:

16 ‘‘SEC. 621. APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS.

17 ‘‘The definitions used in section 602 (as in effect on

18 the day before the date of enactment of the Individuals

19 with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1996)

20 shall apply to this part.’’.

21 (b) REPEAL.—Section 621, as added by subsection

22 (a), shall be repealed effective January 1, 1998.
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1 SEC. 213. EFFECTIVE DATES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

3 (b), the amendments made by this title shall take effect

4 on January 1, 1998.

5 (b) EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.—

6 The amendment made by section 209 shall take effect on

7 October 1, 1996, except that section 618(a)(1)(B) of the

8 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as added by

9 section 209, shall not take effect until October 1, 1997.

10 (c) TRANSITION RULE.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a

12 State that is eligible for assistance under part B (as

13 such part was in effect on the day before the date

14 of enactment of this Act) may begin carrying out the

15 requirements of part B (as amended by this title)

16 prior to January 1, 1998.

17 (2) NOTIFICATION AND APPROVAL.—A State

18 that desires to carry out a requirement of part B (as

19 amended by this title) under paragraph (1) shall no20 tify the Secretary of which requirements of such

21 part the State desires to carry out. In accordance

22 with the procedure established by the Secretary, the

23 Secretary shall notify the State—

24 (A) of whether the State may carry out a

25 requirement of such part; and
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1 (B) of any applicable procedure that the

2 State shall comply with for the purposes of car3 rying out such requirement.

4 SEC. 214. CONFORMING AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

5 (a) SETTLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.—Section 611

6 (20 U.S.C. 1411) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 611. (a)’’ and all that fol8 lows through (1) Except as’’ and inserting the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘SEC. 611. (a)(1) Except as’’; and

11 (2) in subsection (a) (amended by paragraph

12 (1))—

13 (A) in paragraph (1)—

14 (i) by realigning the margins of sub15 paragraphs (A) and (B) so as to align with

16 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection

17 (b)(1); and

18 (ii) by realigning the margins of

19 clauses (i) and (ii) so as to align with

20 subclauses (I) and (II) of subsection

21 (d)(2)(A)(i); and

22 (B) by realigning the margins of para23 graph (2) so as to align with paragraph (3).

24 (b) ADVISORY PANELS.—Section 615(h) (20 U.S.C.

25 1415(h)), as so redesignated by section 206(c)(4), is
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1 amended by striking ‘‘section 613(a)(12)’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘section 612(a)(20)’’.

3 (c) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—Section 615(k) (20

4 U.S.C. 1415(k)), as so redesignated by section 206(c)(5),

5 is amended by striking ‘‘subsections (b)(2) and (c)’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and (g)’’.

7 TITLE III—SYSTEMS CHANGE

8 SEC. 301. SYSTEMS CHANGE.

9 Part C (20 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) is amended to read

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘PART C—PROMOTING SYSTEMS CHANGE TO IM12 PROVE EDUCATIONAL AND TRANSITIONAL

13 SERVICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN

14 WITH DISABILITIES

15 ‘‘SEC. 621. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

16 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

17 ‘‘(1) States are responding with some success to

18 multiple pressures to improve educational and tran19 sitional services and results for children with disabil20 ities in response to growing demands imposed by

21 ever-changing factors, such as demographics, social

22 policies, and labor and economic markets.

23 ‘‘(2) In order for States to address such de24 mands and to facilitate lasting systems change that

25 is of benefit to all students, including children with
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1 disabilities, States must involve local educational

2 agencies, individuals with disabilities and their fami3 lies, and other interested individuals and organiza4 tions in planning and implementation activities that

5 affect education.

6 ‘‘(3) Targeted Federal financial resources are

7 needed to support planning, needs assessment, im8 plementation, and evaluation of better ways to ad9 dress the needs of children with disabilities into the

10 next century.

11 ‘‘(4) State educational agencies, in partnership

12 with local educational agencies and other individuals

13 and organizations, are in the best position to iden14 tify and design ways to meet emerging and expand15 ing demands to improve education for children with

16 disabilities and to address their special needs.

17 ‘‘(5) Research, demonstration, and practice over

18 the past 20 years in special education and related

19 disciplines have built a foundation of knowledge on

20 which State and local systems change activities can

21 now be based.

22 ‘‘(6) Such research, demonstration, and practice

23 in special education and related disciplines have

24 demonstrated that an effective educational system

25 now and in the future must—
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1 ‘‘(A) maintain high academic standards

2 and clear performance goals for children with

3 disabilities, consistent with the standards and

4 expectations for all students in the educational

5 system, and provide for appropriate and effec6 tive strategies and methods to ensure that stu7 dents who are children with disabilities have

8 maximum opportunities to achieve such stand9 ards and goals;

10 ‘‘(B) create a system that fully addresses

11 the needs of all students, including students

12 who are children with disabilities, by linking

13 and coordinating the requirements of parts B

14 and H with other systemic reform initiatives;

15 ‘‘(C) clearly define, in measurable terms,

16 the school and post-school results that children

17 with disabilities will achieve through their par18 ticipation in general and special education pro19 grams;

20 ‘‘(D) promote service integration, and the

21 coordination of State and local education, so22 cial, health, and mental health supports, and

23 other interagency supports, in addressing the

24 full range of student needs, particularly the

25 needs of students who are children with disabil-
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1 ities and have significant and multiple disabil2 ities;

3 ‘‘(E) ensure that children with disabilities

4 are provided assistance and support in making

5 transitions as described in section 614(a)(2);

6 ‘‘(F) promote comprehensive programs of

7 professional development to ensure that the per8 sons responsible for the education or such a

9 transition of children with disabilities possess

10 the skills and knowledge necessary to address

11 the educational and related needs of the chil12 dren;

13 ‘‘(G) create school-based disciplinary strat14 egies that will be used to reduce or eliminate

15 the need to use suspension and expulsion as

16 disciplinary options for children with disabil17 ities;

18 ‘‘(H) establish placement-neutral funding

19 formulas and cost-effective strategies for serv20 ing children with disabilities in special edu21 cation and general education; and

22 ‘‘(I) involve individuals with disabilities

23 and parents of children with disabilities in plan24 ning, implementing, and evaluating educational

25 system innovations and reforms.
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1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to assist

2 and provide incentives to State educational agencies,

3 working in partnership with local educational agencies,

4 and other interested individuals, agencies, and organiza5 tions, described in section 623(a), to carry out systems

6 change activities that will improve practices, procedures,

7 policies, and training, and use of personnel, parents, and

8 school-age peers of children with disabilities, and that will

9 contribute to improved early intervention, educational and

10 transitional results for children with disabilities in demon11 strable and measurable ways.

12 ‘‘SEC. 622. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

13 ‘‘(a) GRANT AWARD.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

15 grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational

16 agencies, working in partnership with local edu17 cational agencies and other individuals, agencies,

18 and organizations described in section 623(a), to

19 support systems change activities that benefit, in de20 monstrable and measurable ways, children with dis21 abilities.

22 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES BENEFITING MULTIPLE

23 STATES.—To pursue systems change activities that

24 benefit children with disabilities and their families in

25 more than 1 State, recipients of such grants may
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1 collaborate in carrying out projects under this part

2 through such activities as joint arrangements with 1

3 or more institutions of higher education, sharing of

4 project staff, and joint use of consultants.

5 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF GRANTS.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under

7 subsection (a), the Secretary may award either a

8 planning grant or an implementation grant to a

9 State educational agency applying for funds under

10 this part that forms a partnership described in sec11 tion 623(a) that applies for funds under this part.

12 ‘‘(2) PLANNING GRANTS.—

13 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—An applicant may

14 apply under section 623(b) for a planning grant

15 to develop systems change activities.

16 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A planning grant re17 ferred to in paragraph (1) shall be for 1 year.

18 ‘‘(C) RENEWAL OF 1-YEAR GRANTS.—A

19 grant that has been awarded for 1 year in ac20 cordance with subparagraph (B) may be re21 newed for 1 additional year.

22 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—An applicant may

24 apply under section 623(c) for an implementa-
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1 tion grant to carry out systems change activi2 ties.

3 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—An implementation

4 grant referred to in paragraph (1) shall be

5 awarded for a period of not to exceed 5 years.

6 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF AWARDS.—

7 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the

8 amount of any award under this part for a State

9 educational agency, the Secretary may consider such

10 factors as the Secretary finds appropriate, which

11 may include the size of the school-age population of

12 the State in which the State educational agency is

13 located.

14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding

15 paragraph (1) and except as provided in subsection

16 (d)(2) and section 624—

17 ‘‘(A) the annual amount of each planning

18 grant referred to in subsection (b)(1) shall not

19 exceed—

20 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for any State edu21 cational agency in a State; or

22 ‘‘(ii) $10,000 for any State edu23 cational agency in an outlying area; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the annual amount of each implemen2 tation grant referred to in subsection (b)(1)

3 shall be not less than—

4 ‘‘(i) $450,000 for any State edu5 cational agency in a State; or

6 ‘‘(ii) $40,000 for any State edu7 cational agency in an outlying area.

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS.—

9 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2), no State educational agency may receive

11 more than 1 award under this part for any fiscal

12 year.

13 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—In addition to applying for

14 an individual implementation grant, a State edu15 cational agency may submit a joint application for

16 an implementation grant referred to in subsection

17 (b)(1) with other State educational agency or

18 partnering entities to address systemic problems on

19 a regional or national basis. In determining the

20 amount of any award for such a grant, the Secretary

21 may set aside the monetary limitations described in

22 subsection (c).

23 ‘‘SEC. 623. APPLICATION.

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be considered for a

25 planning grant or an implementation grant under this
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1 part, a State educational agency shall establish a partner2 ship among members (referred to in this part as the

3 ‘partnering entities’) consisting of local educational agen4 cies, and other persons and organizations involved in, or

5 concerned with, the education of children with disabilities,

6 including—

7 ‘‘(1) parents of children with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(2) individuals with disabilities;

9 ‘‘(3) teachers and related services providers;

10 ‘‘(4) representatives of institutions of higher

11 education;

12 ‘‘(5) representatives of other State agencies in13 volved in the financing or delivery of special edu14 cation and related services to children with disabil15 ities and early intervention services to infants and

16 toddlers with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(6) representatives of vocational, community,

18 postsecondary, and business organizations concerned

19 with the provision of transitional services to children

20 with disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(7) other individuals as deemed appropriate by

22 the State educational agency.

23 ‘‘(b) PLANNING GRANTS.—In order to be considered

24 for a planning grant under this part, a State educational
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1 agency, in partnership with the partnering entities, shall

2 prepare and submit an application to the Secretary that—

3 ‘‘(1) describes the planning activities for which

4 assistance is sought;

5 ‘‘(2) describes proposed changes in practices,

6 procedures, policies, training, or uses of personnel;

7 ‘‘(3) describes a partnership agreement that—

8 ‘‘(A) specifies the nature and extent of the

9 partnership, and the respective roles of the

10 partnering entities in the partnership; and

11 ‘‘(B) shall be in effect for the period of the

12 grant; and

13 ‘‘(4) includes such other information and assur14 ances as the Secretary may reasonably require.

15 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—In order to be con16 sidered for an implementation grant under this part, a

17 State educational agency, in partnership with the

18 partnering entities, shall prepare and submit an applica19 tion to the Secretary that—

20 ‘‘(1) describes the critical aspects of practices,

21 procedures, policies, and organizational structures

22 that will be changed in order to improve educational

23 and transitional results for children with disabilities,

24 based on syntheses and analysis of available infor25 mation, such as—
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1 ‘‘(A) information on the performance of

2 children with disabilities on State assessments

3 and other performance indicators established

4 for all children, such as drop-out rates and

5 graduation rates;

6 ‘‘(B) information on State and local needs

7 for professional development for personnel to

8 serve children with disabilities; and

9 ‘‘(C) information provided to the State

10 educational agency by the Secretary;

11 ‘‘(2) identifies the goals and objectives for the

12 systems change activities to be carried out under the

13 grant and how the goals and objectives relate to the

14 goals established by the State under section

15 612(a)(16);

16 ‘‘(3) describes how grant funds will be used in

17 undertaking the systems change activities, and the

18 amount and nature of funds from other sources that

19 will be committed to the systems change activities;

20 ‘‘(4) describes the performance indicators that

21 will be adopted or used to measure progress made

22 toward the goals of the systems change activities

23 and toward improved educational and transitional

24 results for children with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(5) describes the approach that will be taken,

2 on an annual basis, to disseminate information on

3 the progress measured under paragraph (4) to inter4 ested partnering entities within the State partner5 ship and to the Secretary;

6 ‘‘(6) describes a partnership agreement speci7 fied in subsection (b)(3); and

8 ‘‘(7) includes such other information and assur9 ances as the Secretary may reasonably require.

10 ‘‘(d) ADEQUATE PROGRESS.—The Secretary may ter11 minate a grant to a State educational agency under this

12 part, or require amendments to an approved application

13 of a State educational agency, if the Secretary determines

14 that the State educational agency is not making adequate

15 progress toward the goals of the systems change activities

16 of the State educational agency under this part.

17 ‘‘SEC. 624. INCENTIVES.

18 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 622(c)(2), the Secretary

19 may provide additional funds for systems change activi20 ties, if the Secretary approved an application under this

21 part relating to the activities and—

22 ‘‘(1) the application, in addition to meeting the

23 minimal application requirements, includes evidence

24 of a significant and substantial level of collaboration

25 among agencies, organizations, and individuals who
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1 have an interest in the quality of educational serv2 ices and opportunities and are committed to the full

3 participation of children with disabilities;

4 ‘‘(2) the activities described in the application

5 are connected with prereferral programs and other

6 programs designed to prevent the educational failure

7 of children (particularly children who are members

8 of unserved, underserved, or inappropriately identi9 fied populations and who are from ethnic back10 grounds and geographic areas with significant need)

11 so that the children experience a high level of suc12 cess in their educational experience; and

13 ‘‘(3) the application demonstrates, in addition

14 to meeting the minimal application requirements, an

15 ongoing effort to assess and address the needs of

16 children with disabilities and ensure the full partici17 pation of such children in statewide or districtwide

18 general education systems change activities.

19 ‘‘SEC. 625. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

20 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are

21 authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal year

22 1998 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal

23 years 1999 through 2002.’’.
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1 SEC. 302. REAUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 OF AU2 THORITIES RELATING TO CENTERS AND

3 SERVICES TO MEET SPECIAL NEEDS OF INDI4 VIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.

5 (a) REGIONAL CENTERS FOR THE DEAF.—Section

6 625(a)(6) (20 U.S.C. 1424a(a)(6)) is amended—

7 (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘1994’’

8 and inserting ‘‘1997’’; and

9 (2) by striking the third sentence.

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Each of

11 subsections (a) through (h) of section 628 of such Act (20

12 U.S.C. 1427) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1994’’

13 and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 1994 through 1997’’.

14 SEC. 303. EFFECTIVE DATE.

15 The amendments made by this title, other than the

16 amendments made by section 302, shall take effect on Oc17 tober 1, 1997.

18 TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND

19 PERSONNEL PREPARATION

20 SEC. 401. IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION, EDU21 CATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES

22 AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL23 ITIES THROUGH COORDINATED RESEARCH

24 AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION.

25 Part D (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) is amended to read

26 as follows:
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1 ‘‘PART D—IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION,

2 EDUCATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERV3 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

4 DISABILITIES THROUGH COORDINATED RE5 SEARCH AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION

6 ‘‘SEC. 631. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

8 ‘‘(1) The Federal Government has an ongoing

9 obligation to support programs, projects, and activi10 ties that contribute to positive results for children

11 with disabilities, enabling the children—

12 ‘‘(A) to meet their early intervention, edu13 cational, and transitional goals and, to the max14 imum extent possible, educational standards

15 that have been established for all children; and

16 ‘‘(B) to acquire the skills that will em17 power the children with disabilities to lead pro18 ductive and independent adult lives.

19 ‘‘(2)(A) As a result of more than 20 years of

20 Federal support for research, demonstration

21 projects, and personnel preparation, there is an im22 portant knowledge base for improving results for

23 children with disabilities.

24 ‘‘(B) Such knowledge should be used by States

25 and local educational agencies to design and imple26 ment state-of-the-art educational systems that con-
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1 sider the needs of, and include, children with disabil2 ities, especially in environments in which the chil3 dren can learn along with their peers and achieve re4 sults measured by the same standards as the results

5 of their peers.

6 ‘‘(3)(A) Continued Federal support is essential

7 for the development and maintenance of a coordi8 nated and high-quality program of research, dem9 onstration projects, dissemination of information,

10 and personnel preparation.

11 ‘‘(B) Such support—

12 ‘‘(i) enables State educational agen13 cies and local educational agencies to im14 prove their educational systems and results

15 for children with disabilities;

16 ‘‘(ii) enables State and local agencies

17 to improve early intervention services and

18 results for infants and toddlers with dis19 abilities and their families; and

20 ‘‘(iii) enhances the opportunities for

21 general and special education personnel,

22 related services personnel, parents, and

23 paraprofessionals to participate in

24 preservice and inservice training, to col-
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1 laborate, and to improve results for chil2 dren with disabilities and their families.

3 ‘‘(4) The Federal Government plays a critical

4 role in facilitating the availability of an adequate

5 number of highly qualified personnel—

6 ‘‘(A) to serve effectively the over 5,000,000

7 children with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(B) to assume leadership positions in ad9 ministrative and direct service capacities related

10 to teacher training and research concerning the

11 provision of early intervention services, special

12 education, and related services; and

13 ‘‘(C) to work with children with low-inci14 dence disabilities and their families.

15 ‘‘(5) The Federal Government performs the role

16 described in paragraph (4)—

17 ‘‘(A) by supporting models of personnel de18 velopment that reflect successful practice, in19 cluding strategies for recruiting, preparing, and

20 retaining personnel;

21 ‘‘(B) by promoting the coordination and

22 integration of—

23 ‘‘(i) personnel development activities

24 for teachers of children with disabilities;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(ii) personnel development activities

2 supported under Federal law, other than

3 this part;

4 ‘‘(C) by supporting the development and

5 dissemination of information about teaching

6 standards; and

7 ‘‘(D) by promoting the coordination and

8 integration of personnel development activities

9 through linkage with systems change activities

10 within States and nationally.

11 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro12 vide Federal funding for coordinated research, demonstra13 tion projects, outreach, and personnel preparation activi14 ties that—

15 ‘‘(1) are described in section 633 or 634;

16 ‘‘(2) are linked with, and positively affect, sys17 tems change outcomes; and

18 ‘‘(3) improve early intervention, educational,

19 and transitional results for children with disabilities.

20 ‘‘SEC. 632. DEFINITIONS.

21 ‘‘As used in this part, the term ‘developmental delay’

22 has the meaning given such term by a State under section

23 676(b)(1).
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1 ‘‘SEC. 633. RESEARCH AND INNOVATION TO IMPROVE SERV2 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DIS3 ABILITIES.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants

5 to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with,

6 eligible entities to produce and advance the use of knowl7 edge to—

8 ‘‘(1)(A) improve services provided under this

9 Act, including the practices of professionals and oth10 ers involved in providing such services to children

11 with disabilities; and

12 ‘‘(B) improve early intervention, educational,

13 and transitional services and results, for children

14 with disabilities;

15 ‘‘(2) address the special needs of infants and

16 toddlers with disabilities including such infants and

17 toddlers who are at risk of having substantial devel18 opmental delays if early intervention services are not

19 provided;

20 ‘‘(3) address the specific problems of over-iden21 tification and under-identification of children with

22 disabilities in the education of children with disabil23 ities;

24 ‘‘(4) prevent children with emotional and behav25 ioral problems from developing emotional disturb-
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1 ances that require the provision of special education

2 and related services; and

3 ‘‘(5) improve secondary and postsecondary edu4 cation and educational results for children with dis5 abilities.

6 ‘‘(b) NEW KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION; AUTHORIZED

7 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

8 may support any activities that are consistent with the ob9 jectives described in subsection (a), including activities

10 that—

11 ‘‘(1) expand understanding of the relationships

12 between learning characteristics of children with dis13 abilities and the diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic,

14 social, and economic backgrounds of children with

15 disabilities and their families;

16 ‘‘(2) develop or identify innovative, effective,

17 and efficient curricula designs, instructional ap18 proaches, and strategies, and develop or identify

19 positive academic and social learning opportunities,

20 that—

21 ‘‘(A) enable children with disabilities to

22 make effective transitions described in section

23 643(d)(7) or transitions between educational

24 settings; and
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1 ‘‘(B) improve educational and transitional

2 results for children with disabilities at all levels

3 of the educational system in which the activities

4 are carried out and, in particular, that improve

5 the progress of the children, as measured by

6 performance expectations within the general

7 education curriculum involved;

8 ‘‘(3) advance the design of assessment tools and

9 procedures that will accurately and efficiently deter10 mine the special instructional, learning, and behav11 ioral needs of children with disabilities, especially

12 within the context of general education;

13 ‘‘(4) study and promote improved alignment

14 and compatibility of general and special education

15 reforms concerned with curricular and instructional

16 reform, evaluation and accountability of such re17 forms, and administrative procedures;

18 ‘‘(5) advance the design, development, and inte19 gration of technology, assistive technology devices,

20 media, and materials, to improve early intervention,

21 educational, and transitional services and results, for

22 children with disabilities; and

23 ‘‘(6) improve designs, processes, and results, of

24 personnel preparation for personnel who provide

25 services to children with disabilities through the ac-
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1 quisition of information on, and implementation of,

2 research-based practices.

3 ‘‘(c) INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE;

4 AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section,

5 the Secretary may support any activities that are consist6 ent with the objectives described in subsection (a), includ7 ing activities that—

8 ‘‘(1) demonstrate and apply research-based

9 findings to facilitate systemic changes in policy, pro10 cedure, practice, and the training and use of person11 nel, related to the provision of services to children

12 with disabilities;

13 ‘‘(2) promote and demonstrate the coordination

14 of early intervention and educational services for

15 children with disabilities with services provided by

16 health, rehabilitation, and social service agencies;

17 ‘‘(3) identify solutions that overcome systemic

18 barriers to the effective and efficient delivery of

19 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv20 ices to children with disabilities;

21 ‘‘(4) enable professionals, parents of children

22 with disabilities, and other persons to learn about

23 and implement the findings of research, and success24 ful practices developed in model demonstration
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1 projects, relating to the provision of services to chil2 dren with disabilities; and

3 ‘‘(5) conduct outreach, and disseminate infor4 mation, relating to successful approaches to over5 coming systemic barriers to the effective and effi6 cient delivery of early intervention, educational, and

7 transitional services to personnel who provide serv8 ices to children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘(d) IMPROVING THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL

10 KNOWLEDGE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out

11 this section, the Secretary may support any activities that

12 are consistent with the objectives described in subsection

13 (a), including activities that—

14 ‘‘(1) synthesize professional knowledge bases

15 that utilize rigorous methodologies and that relate to

16 the provision of services to children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(2) analyze such professional knowledge bases

18 to advance an understanding of relationships, and

19 effectiveness of practices, relating to the provision of

20 services to children with disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(3) present such professional knowledge bases

22 in a clear and meaningful manner to affected per23 sons at all levels of the service systems that serve

24 children with disabilities and their families.
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1 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

2 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli3 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such a manner,

4 and containing such information as the Secretary may re5 quire.

6 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

8 $63,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

9 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

10 ‘‘SEC. 634. PERSONNEL PREPARATION TO IMPROVE SERV11 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DIS12 ABILITIES.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

14 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT.—The Secretary may make

15 grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative

16 agreements with, eligible entities and consortia of el17 igible entities, to help address State-identified needs

18 for qualified personnel and to ensure that the per19 sonnel have the skills and knowledge reflecting suc20 cessful practices determined through research and

21 practice that are needed to serve children with dis22 abilities.

23 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.—In carrying out this section,

24 the Secretary may support—
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1 ‘‘(A) projects that address the need for

2 personnel to serve children with high-incidence

3 disabilities or children with low-incidence dis4 abilities;

5 ‘‘(B) projects that address the need for

6 leadership personnel;

7 ‘‘(C) special projects that have broad appli8 cability in addressing the personnel needs de9 scribed in paragraph (1); and

10 ‘‘(D) projects that improve the skills of

11 personnel who serve children with disabilities

12 who engage in or are likely to engage in behav13 ior subject to disciplinary action.

14 ‘‘(b) HIGH-INCIDENCE DISABILITIES; AUTHORIZED

15 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

16 may support any activities for children with high-incidence

17 disabilities that are consistent with the objectives referred

18 to in subsection (a), including activities that—

19 ‘‘(1) provide teachers, and related services per20 sonnel, from various disciplines with interdisciplinary

21 training and training regarding innovative instruc22 tional methods for children with disabilities, espe23 cially methods that meet the diverse needs of indi24 vidual children with disabilities and enable the chil25 dren to be successful, as measured by performance
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1 expectations within the general education curriculum

2 involved;

3 ‘‘(2) prepare personnel in the use of strategies,

4 techniques, methods, and practices that meet the

5 needs, for early intervention, educational, and transi6 tional services, of children with disabilities who are

7 from unserved and underserved populations or from

8 rural or urban areas;

9 ‘‘(3) develop career-ladder opportunities for

10 paraprofessionals to receive training as special edu11 cation teachers and related services personnel, in12 cluding interdisciplinary training to enable the

13 teachers and providers to improve early intervention,

14 educational, and transitional results for children

15 with disabilities;

16 ‘‘(4) enhance the ability of trainees, teachers,

17 and others to acquire and use strategies, including

18 behavior management plans, to address the conduct

19 of children with disabilities that impedes their learn20 ing and the learning of other students in the class21 room involved;

22 ‘‘(5) recruit and retain new, highly-qualified

23 teachers and related services personnel, especially

24 from groups that are unserved and underserved pop25 ulations in the teaching profession and individuals
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1 from rural or urban settings, to provide services to

2 children with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(6) enhance the preparation of individuals who

4 are teachers, early intervention services personnel,

5 related services personnel, or paraprofessionals, by

6 providing such individuals with interdisciplinary

7 training to develop the collaborative skills needed to

8 appropriately teach children with disabilities, par9 ticularly in accordance with a general education cur10 riculum; and

11 ‘‘(7) support universities and institutions of

12 higher education with minority enrollments of at

13 least 25 percent for the purpose of preparing per14 sonnel to work with unserved and underserved popu15 lations of children with disabilities.

16 ‘‘(c) LEADERSHIP PREPARATION; AUTHORIZED AC17 TIVITIES.—In carrying out this section the Secretary may

18 support any leadership preparation activities that are con19 sistent with the objectives described in subsection (a), in20 cluding activities that—

21 ‘‘(1) prepare personnel at the advanced grad22 uate, doctoral, and post-doctoral levels of training to

23 administer, enhance, or provide services to children

24 with disabilities, with emphasis on preparation of

25 personnel who are involved with, or will be involved
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1 with, efforts to address the needs of unserved and

2 underserved populations, children with low-incidence

3 disabilities, and children from rural or urban areas;

4 ‘‘(2) provide interdisciplinary training for per5 sonnel from various disciplines, including teacher

6 preparation faculty, administrators, researchers, su7 pervisors, and other persons, affecting the early

8 intervention, educational, and transitional services of

9 children with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(3) prepare professionals at the doctoral and

11 postdoctoral levels at institutions of higher education

12 that are working toward integrating professional de13 velopment of general education, special education,

14 and other disciplines; and

15 ‘‘(4) prepare professionals at the doctoral and

16 postdoctoral levels at institutions of higher education

17 that are successfully recruiting and preparing—

18 ‘‘(A) individuals with disabilities; and

19 ‘‘(B) individuals from groups that are

20 underrepresented in education leadership posi21 tions.

22 ‘‘(d) LOW-INCIDENCE DISABILITIES; AUTHORIZED

23 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

24 may support any activities for children with low-incidence
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1 disabilities that are consistent with the objectives de2 scribed in subsection (a), including—

3 ‘‘(1) preparing persons who—

4 ‘‘(A) have prior training in educational and

5 other related service fields; and

6 ‘‘(B) are studying to obtain certificates or

7 licensure that will enable the persons to assist

8 children with disabilities to achieve the objec9 tives set out in their individualized education

10 programs described in section 614 and to assist

11 infants and toddlers with disabilities to achieve

12 the outcomes described in their individualized

13 family service plans described in section 677;

14 ‘‘(2) providing personnel from various dis15 ciplines with interdisciplinary training that will con16 tribute to early intervention, educational, and transi17 tional results for children with disabilities;

18 ‘‘(3) preparing personnel in the innovative uses

19 and application of technology to enhance learning

20 through early intervention, educational, and transi21 tional services, by children with disabilities;

22 ‘‘(4) preparing personnel to provide early inter23 vention services to children with disabilities;

24 ‘‘(5) providing scholarships, with necessary sti25 pends and allowances, to individuals to assist the in-
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1 dividuals in preparing to provide services to children

2 with disabilities; and

3 ‘‘(6) preparing personnel who work with vis4 ually impaired or blind children with disabilities to

5 teach and use braille in the provision of services to

6 such children.

7 ‘‘(e) PROJECTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE; AU8 THORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the

9 Secretary may support any activities that are consistent

10 with the objectives described in subsection (a), including

11 activities that—

12 ‘‘(1) develop and demonstrate effective and effi13 cient practices for preparing personnel to provide

14 services to children with disabilities, including prac15 tices that address needs identified through systems

16 change activities funded under part C;

17 ‘‘(2) demonstrate the application of significant

18 knowledge derived from research and other sources

19 in the development of programs to prepare personnel

20 to provide services to children with disabilities;

21 ‘‘(3) demonstrate models for the preparation of

22 special education and general education personnel,

23 to enable the personnel—

24 ‘‘(A) to acquire the collaboration skills nec25 essary to assist children with disabilities; and
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1 ‘‘(B) to achieve results that meet challeng2 ing standards of performance expectations, par3 ticularly performance expectations within the

4 general education curriculum involved;

5 ‘‘(4) demonstrate models that—

6 ‘‘(A) provide interdisciplinary training to

7 individuals within collaborative teams of special

8 education and general education personnel, re9 lated services personnel, and family members of

10 children with disabilities; and

11 ‘‘(B) enhance the educational experience of

12 children with disabilities;

13 ‘‘(5) demonstrate models that reduce shortages

14 of teachers, and personnel from other relevant dis15 ciplines, who serve children with disabilities through

16 reciprocity arrangements between States related to

17 licensure and certification;

18 ‘‘(6) develop, evaluate, and disseminate model

19 teaching standards for persons working with chil20 dren with disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(7) promote the transferability, across State

22 and local jurisdictions, of licensure and certification

23 of teachers and administrators working with such

24 children.

25 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible entity that

2 wishes to receive a grant under this section shall

3 submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

4 in such manner, and containing such information as

5 the Secretary may require.

6 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFIED STATE NEEDS.—Any such ap7 plication shall include information demonstrating to

8 the satisfaction of the Secretary that the activities

9 described in the application will address needs iden10 tified by the States the applicant proposes to serve.

11 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

12 are authorized to be appropriated $81,000,000 to carry

13 out this section for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as

14 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through

15 2002.’’.

16 SEC. 402. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

17 (a) HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—

18 (1) Section 409A(2) of the Higher Education

19 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–51(2)) is amended by

20 striking ‘‘refer students with disabilities and their

21 families to the postsecondary clearinghouse that is

22 authorized under section 633(c) of the Individuals

23 with Disabilities Education Act’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘refer students with disabilities and their families to

25 the activities addressing information preparation and
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1 dissemination needs relating to postsecondary serv2 ices that are authorized under section 644(e)(4) of

3 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’’.

4 (2) The third sentence of section 483(d) of the

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090(d))

6 is amended by striking ‘‘refer such students to the

7 national clearinghouse on postsecondary education

8 that is authorized under section 633(c) of the Indi9 viduals with Disabilities Education Act’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘refer such students to the activities addressing

11 information preparation and dissemination needs re12 lating to postsecondary services that are authorized

13 under section 644(e)(4) of the Individuals with Dis14 abilities Education Act’’.

15 (b) GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT.—Section

16 402(a)(2)(H) of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (20

17 U.S.C. 5912(a)(2)(H)) is amended by striking clause (ii)

18 and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘(ii) parent training and information

20 centers and community parent training

21 and information programs authorized

22 under subsections (b) and (c), respectively,

23 of section 643 of the Individuals with Dis24 abilities Education Act;’’.

25 (c) REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.—
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1 (1) Section 105(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Rehabilita2 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 725(b)(1)(A)(ii)) is

3 amended by striking ‘‘a parent training and infor4 mation center established pursuant to section

5 631(e)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu6 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1431(e)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘a

7 parent training and information center or commu8 nity parent training and information program au9 thorized under subsection (b) or (c), respectively, of

10 section 643 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu11 cation Act’’.

12 (2) Paragraphs (4)(A)(i) and (6) of section

13 803(c) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

14 797b(c)) are amended by striking ‘‘parent training

15 and information centers established under section

16 631 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education

17 Act (20 U.S.C. 1431)’’ and inserting ‘‘parent train18 ing and information centers and community parent

19 training and information programs authorized under

20 subsections (b) and (c), respectively, of section 643

21 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’’.
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1 SEC. 403. REAUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 OF AU2 THORITIES RELATING TO TRAINING PERSON3 NEL FOR THE EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS

4 WITH DISABILITIES.

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Each of

6 paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 635(a) of such Act

7 (20 U.S.C. 1435(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year

8 1994’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 1994 through

9 1997’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Each of para11 graphs (1) and (3) of section 635(a) of such Act is amend12 ed by striking ‘‘631(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘631(e)’’.

13 SEC. 404. EFFECTIVE DATE.

14 The amendments made by this title, other than the

15 amendments made by section 403, shall take effect on Oc16 tober 1, 1997.
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1 TITLE V—TECHNICAL ASSIST2 ANCE, SUPPORT, AND DIS3 SEMINATION OF INFORMA4 TION

5 SEC. 501. IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION, EDU6 CATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES

7 AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL8 ITIES THROUGH COORDINATED TECHNICAL

9 ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND DISSEMINATION

10 OF INFORMATION.

11 The Act (29 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) is amended—

12 (1) by striking parts E, F, and G; and

13 (2) by inserting the following:

14 ‘‘PART E—IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION,

15 EDUCATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERV16 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

17 DISABILITIES THROUGH COORDINATED

18 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND

19 DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

20 ‘‘SEC. 641. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that—

22 ‘‘(1) national technical assistance, support, and

23 dissemination activities are necessary to ensure that

24 the provisions of parts B and H are fully imple25 mented and achieve early intervention, educational,
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1 and transitional results for children with disabilities

2 and their families;

3 ‘‘(2) parents, teachers, administrators, and re4 lated services personnel need technical assistance

5 and information in a timely, coordinated, and acces6 sible manner in order to improve early intervention,

7 educational, and transitional services and results, at

8 the State and local levels for children with disabil9 ities and their families;

10 ‘‘(3) parent training and information activities

11 have taken on increased importance in efforts to as12 sist parents of a child with a disability in dealing

13 with the multiple pressures of rearing such a child

14 and are of particular importance in—

15 ‘‘(A)(i) ensuring the involvement of such

16 parents in planning and decisionmaking with

17 respect to early intervention, educational, and

18 transitional services; and

19 ‘‘(ii) achieving early intervention, edu20 cational, and transitional results for children

21 with disabilities;

22 ‘‘(B) providing such parents information

23 on their rights and protections under this Act

24 to ensure improved early intervention, edu-
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1 cational, and transitional results for children

2 with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(C) assisting such parents in the develop4 ment of skills to participate effectively in the

5 education and development of their children and

6 in the transitions described in section

7 643(d)(7);

8 ‘‘(D) supporting the roles of such parents

9 as participants within systems change partner10 ships seeking to improve early intervention,

11 educational, and transitional services and re12 sults, for children with disabilities and their

13 families; and

14 ‘‘(E) ensuring that such parents who have

15 limited access to services and supports, due to

16 economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers, are

17 provided with access to appropriate parent

18 training and information activities;

19 ‘‘(4) children with disabilities need information

20 that helps the children to understand their rights

21 and responsibilities under part B;

22 ‘‘(5) the provision of coordinated technical as23 sistance and dissemination of information to State

24 and local agencies, institutions of higher education,
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1 and other providers of services to children with dis2 abilities are essential in—

3 ‘‘(A) supporting the process of achieving

4 systems change outcomes;

5 ‘‘(B) supporting actions in areas of priority

6 specific to the improvement of early interven7 tion, educational, and transitional results for

8 children with disabilities;

9 ‘‘(C) conveying information and assistance

10 that are—

11 ‘‘(i) based on current research (as of

12 the date the information and assistance

13 are conveyed);

14 ‘‘(ii) accessible and meaningful for use

15 in supporting systems change activities of

16 State and local partnerships; and

17 ‘‘(iii) linked directly to improving

18 early intervention, educational, and transi19 tional services and results, for children

20 with disabilities and their families; and

21 ‘‘(D) organizing systems and information

22 networks for such information, based on mod23 ern technology related to—

24 ‘‘(i) storing and gaining access to in25 formation; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) distributing information in a sys2 tematic manner to parents, students, pro3 fessionals, and policymakers;

4 ‘‘(6) Federal support for carrying out tech5 nology research, technology development, and edu6 cational media services and activities has resulted in

7 major innovations that have significantly improved

8 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv9 ices and results, for children with disabilities and

10 their families; and

11 ‘‘(7) such Federal support is needed to—

12 ‘‘(A) stimulate the development of soft13 ware, interactive learning tools, and devices to

14 address early intervention, educational, and

15 transitional results for children with disabilities

16 who have certain disabilities;

17 ‘‘(B) make information available on tech18 nology research, technology development, and

19 educational media services and activities to in20 dividuals involved in the provision of early

21 intervention, educational, and transitional serv22 ices to children with disabilities;

23 ‘‘(C) promote the integration of technology

24 into curricula to improve early intervention,
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1 educational, and transitional results for children

2 with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(D) provide incentives for the develop4 ment of technology and media devices and tools

5 that are not readily found or available because

6 of the small size of potential markets;

7 ‘‘(E) make resources available to pay for

8 such devices and tools and educational media

9 services and activities;

10 ‘‘(F) promote the training of personnel

11 to—

12 ‘‘(i) provide such devices, tools, serv13 ices, and activities in a competent manner;

14 and

15 ‘‘(ii) assist children with disabilities

16 and their families in using such devices,

17 tools, services, and activities; and

18 ‘‘(G) coordinate the provision of such de19 vices, tools, services, and activities—

20 ‘‘(i) among State human services pro21 grams; and

22 ‘‘(ii) between such programs and pri23 vate agencies.

24 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this part are to

25 provide funding to ensure that—
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1 ‘‘(1) children with disabilities, and their par2 ents, receive training and information on their rights

3 and protections under the Act, in order to develop

4 the skills necessary to effectively participate in plan5 ning and decisionmaking relating to early interven6 tion, educational, and transitional services and in

7 systems change activities;

8 ‘‘(2) parents, teachers, administrators, early

9 intervention personnel, related services personnel,

10 and transition personnel receive coordinated and ac11 cessible technical assistance and information to as12 sist such persons through systems change activities

13 and other efforts, to improve early intervention, edu14 cational, and transitional services and results, for

15 children with disabilities and their families;

16 ‘‘(3) appropriate technology and media are re17 searched, developed, demonstrated, and made avail18 able in timely and accessible formats to parents,

19 teachers, and all types of personnel providing serv20 ices to children with disabilities to support their

21 roles as partners in the improvement and implemen22 tation of early intervention, educational, and transi23 tional services and results, for children with disabil24 ities and their families;
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1 ‘‘(4) children with disabilities understand (on

2 reaching the age of majority specified under appro3 priate State law) their rights and responsibilities

4 under part B, if the State provides for the transfer

5 of parental rights under section 615(j); and

6 ‘‘(5) the general welfare of deaf and hard-of7 hearing individuals is protected by—

8 ‘‘(A) bringing to such individuals under9 standing and appreciation of the films and tele10 vision programs that play an important part in

11 the general and cultural advancement of hear12 ing individuals;

13 ‘‘(B) providing through the films and tele14 vision programs enriched educational and cul15 tural experiences through which deaf and hard16 of-hearing individuals can better understand the

17 realities of their environment; and

18 ‘‘(C) providing wholesome and rewarding

19 experiences that deaf and hard-of-hearing indi20 viduals may share.

21 ‘‘SEC. 642. DEFINITIONS.

22 ‘‘As used in this part:

23 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY; INDIVID24 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—The terms ‘individual

25 with a disability’ and ‘individuals with disabilities’
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1 have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of

2 the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals

3 With Disabilities Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2202).

4 ‘‘(2) PARTNERING ENTITY.—The term

5 ‘partnering entity’ means an entity of a partnership

6 described in section 623(a).

7 ‘‘SEC. 643. PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

9 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—

10 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may

11 make grants to, or enter into contracts or coop12 erative agreements with, private, nonprofit or13 ganizations for the purpose of providing parent

14 training and information activities for parents

15 of children with disabilities, and persons who

16 work with such parents, to enable the parents

17 and persons to participate in, and conduct ad18 vocacy for, effective ways, including mediation,

19 to meet the needs of and improve early inter20 vention, educational, and transitional results for

21 children with disabilities.

22 ‘‘(B) CENTERS AND PROGRAMS.—Such ac23 tivities may be provided—

24 ‘‘(i) by an organization that operates

25 or intends, if funded, to operate a parent
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1 training and information center described

2 in subsection (b); and

3 ‘‘(ii) by a parent organization that op4 erates or intends, if funded, to operate a

5 community parent training and informa6 tion program described in subsection (c)

7 that is designed specifically to build capac8 ity of persons who work with parents of

9 children with disabilities who are members

10 of unserved and underserved populations,

11 to demonstrate and assist in the replica12 tion of models for such activities, and to

13 provide such activities to address the needs

14 of such parents.

15 ‘‘(C) PROPOSAL.—The Secretary shall

16 make such a grant to an organization that pro17 poses activities that are designed to meet the

18 unique training and information needs, as de19 termined by needs assessment data, of parents

20 of children with disabilities who are living in the

21 area to be served under the grant, particularly

22 parents of children with disabilities who are

23 members of unserved and underserved popu24 lations.
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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS; MEMBERSHIP

2 AND GOVERNANCE.—To be eligible to apply for a

3 grant under this section, an organization—

4 ‘‘(A) shall be governed by a board of direc5 tors that—

6 ‘‘(i) represents a coalition, of which a

7 majority of the members are parents of

8 children with disabilities, particularly par9 ents of children with disabilities who are

10 members of unserved and underserved pop11 ulations; and

12 ‘‘(ii) includes—

13 ‘‘(I) professionals in fields related

14 to the provision of early intervention

15 services, special education, and related

16 services; and

17 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

18 or

19 ‘‘(B) shall have a membership that rep20 resents the interests of individuals with disabil21 ities, and shall establish a special governing

22 committee—

23 ‘‘(i) of which a majority of the mem24 bers are parents of infants and toddlers
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1 with disabilities or of children with disabil2 ities;

3 ‘‘(ii) that includes—

4 ‘‘(I) professionals in fields related

5 to the provision of early intervention

6 services, special education, and related

7 services; and

8 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

9 and

10 ‘‘(iii) of which the parent and profes11 sional members are broadly representative

12 of the population to be served by the orga13 nization.

14 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS; CAPACITY AND

15 EXPERTISE.—To be eligible to apply for a grant

16 under this section, an organization shall demonstrate

17 the capacity and expertise necessary—

18 ‘‘(A) to conduct the parent training and

19 information activities described in paragraph

20 (1); and

21 ‘‘(B) to work with partnering entities car22 rying out State systems change activities under

23 part C, seeking to improve early intervention,

24 educational, and transitional services and re25 sults, for children with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘(b) PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION CEN2 TERS; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each organization that

3 receives a grant under subsection (a) to operate a parent

4 training and information center shall—

5 ‘‘(1) provide parent training and information

6 activities that meet the training and information

7 needs of all parents of children with disabilities liv8 ing in the area to be served under the grant, par9 ticularly parents of children with disabilities who are

10 members of unserved and underserved populations;

11 ‘‘(2) serve the parents of children with disabil12 ities who, collectively, have the full range of disabil13 ities;

14 ‘‘(3) assist the parents of children with disabil15 ities in better understanding the nature of the dis16 abilities of their children and the needs of their chil17 dren to obtain improved early intervention, edu18 cational, and transitional services and results;

19 ‘‘(4) assist such parents in communicating ef20 fectively with early intervention services personnel,

21 general and special education personnel, administra22 tors, and other relevant persons;

23 ‘‘(5) assist such parents in participating in deci24 sionmaking processes, including the development of

25 individualized education programs under part B and
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1 individualized family service plans under part H, for

2 children with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(6) assist such parents in obtaining appro4 priate information about the range of options, pro5 grams, supports, and resources available at national,

6 State, and local levels to assist children with disabil7 ities and their families;

8 ‘‘(7) assist such parents in understanding provi9 sions of this Act relating to the education of, and

10 provision of early intervention services for, children

11 with disabilities;

12 ‘‘(8) assist such parents in participating as in13 formed participants in State systems change activi14 ties, especially systems change activities funded

15 under part C;

16 ‘‘(9) ensure that parents of children who are

17 members of unserved and underserved populations,

18 or of inappropriately identified populations, and who

19 are being referred for or are receiving special edu20 cation services, are informed about problems con21 nected with inappropriately identifying such children

22 as described in section 602(a)(13);

23 ‘‘(10) assist children with disabilities, particu24 larly such children who are members of unserved

25 and underserved populations, in understanding their
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•S 1578 IS

1 rights and responsibilities under this Act on reach2 ing the age of majority for the State in which such

3 a child resides, if the State provides for the transfer

4 of parental rights under section 615(j) to the chil5 dren;

6 ‘‘(11) report to the Secretary on—

7 ‘‘(A) the number of such parents for whom

8 the organization provided parent training and

9 information activities; and

10 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of strategies used to

11 reach and serve such parents, including low-in12 come parents from urban areas, low-income

13 parents from rural areas, parents of children

14 with disabilities with limited-English pro15 ficiency, and parents with disabilities;

16 ‘‘(12) establish cooperative partnerships with all

17 other entities operating parent training and informa18 tion centers, including community parent training

19 and information programs described in subsection

20 (c), in the State in which the organization is operat21 ing a parent training and information center; and

22 ‘‘(13) consult and establish networks with ap23 propriate national, regional, and local agencies and

24 organizations, such as protection and advocacy agen25 cies, within the geographic area served by the orga-
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1 nization, that serve or assist children with disabil2 ities and their families.

3 ‘‘(c) COMMUNITY PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMA4 TION PROGRAMS; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each parent organization

6 that receives a grant under subsection (a) to carry

7 out a community parent training and information

8 program shall build the capacity, demonstrate and

9 assist in the replication of the models, and provide

10 the activities described in subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii).

11 ‘‘(2) PARENTS ASSISTED.—Each such grant re12 cipient shall build such capacity, demonstrate and

13 assist in the replication of such models, and provide

14 such activities, in a manner that will help ensure

15 that parents of children with disabilities who are

16 members of unserved and underserved populations

17 participate in parent training and information activi18 ties.

19 ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVES.—The services described in

20 paragraph (1) shall result in new capacity, dem21 onstrated and replicated models, and training and

22 information activities, needed to enable the parents

23 described in paragraph (2) to participate effectively

24 in helping their children with disabilities and to

25 serve as informed participants in systems change
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1 partnerships within their State, leading to improved

2 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv3 ices and results, for all children with disabilities and

4 their families.

5 ‘‘(4) COMMUNITY TRAINING AND INFORMATION

6 ACTIVITIES.—Such services shall—

7 ‘‘(A) include capacity building, demonstra8 tion and replication of models, and the provi9 sion of training and information activities, that

10 meet the needs of parents of children with dis11 abilities who are members of unserved and un12 derserved populations;

13 ‘‘(B) include activities carried out through

14 cooperative partnerships with the parent train15 ing and information centers;

16 ‘‘(C) include accommodations and strate17 gies to meet the specific needs of families who

18 experience significant isolation from available

19 sources of information and support;

20 ‘‘(D) demonstrate, utilize, and document

21 the use and effectiveness of, model approaches

22 to address the multiple needs of children with

23 disabilities who are members of unserved and

24 underserved populations; and
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(E) ensure that parents of children who

2 are members of unserved and underserved pop3 ulations, or of inappropriately identified popu4 lations, and who are being referred for or are

5 receiving special education services, are in6 formed about problems connected with inappro7 priately identifying such children as described

8 in section 602(a)(13).

9 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Each parent organization that

10 receives a grant under subsection (a) to operate a

11 community parent training and information program

12 shall report to the Secretary on—

13 ‘‘(A) the number of parents of children

14 with disabilities who are members of unserved

15 and underserved populations for whom the or16 ganization provided parent training and infor17 mation activities;

18 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness and impact of strat19 egies used to reach and serve such parents; and

20 ‘‘(C) the impact of the increased capacity

21 described in subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) the provi22 sion of parent training and information activi23 ties and improved early intervention, edu24 cational, and transitional results for such chil25 dren.
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1 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVI2 TIES.—The Secretary may provide technical assistance to

3 organizations to develop, coordinate, and disseminate the

4 following priority parent training and information activi5 ties:

6 ‘‘(1) Coordinating parent training efforts.

7 ‘‘(2) Providing or helping to disseminate infor8 mation to centers funded under this part.

9 ‘‘(3) Assisting the centers in evaluating their

10 activities under this part.

11 ‘‘(4) Promoting the use of technology by the

12 centers to make information available.

13 ‘‘(5) Reaching parents of children with disabil14 ities who are members of unserved and underserved

15 populations.

16 ‘‘(6) Including children with disabilities in gen17 eral education programs.

18 ‘‘(7)(A) Supporting the transition of children

19 with disabilities from—

20 ‘‘(i) early intervention services to pre21 school;

22 ‘‘(ii) preschool to elementary school; and

23 ‘‘(iii) secondary school to postsecondary

24 school and employment.
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•S 1578 IS

1 ‘‘(B) Promoting mediation and alternative

2 methods of dispute resolution for children with dis3 abilities.

4 ‘‘(8) Assisting parent training and information

5 centers in becoming effective partners in State sys6 tems change activities, leading to improved early

7 intervention, educational, and transitional results for

8 children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

10 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli11 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and

12 containing such information as the Secretary may require.

13 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

15 $13,600,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

16 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

17 ‘‘SEC. 644. COORDINATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND

18 DISSEMINATION.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, directly or

20 through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements

21 with eligible entities, provide technical assistance and in22 formation through institutes, resource centers, clearing23 houses, and programs that support States and local enti24 ties in building capacity to improve early intervention,

25 educational, and transitional services and results, for chil-
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1 dren with disabilities and their families, and address sys2 tems change goals and priorities.

3 ‘‘(b) SYSTEMIC TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AUTHOR4 IZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Sec5 retary may carry out or support any technical assistance

6 activities that are consistent with the objectives described

7 in subsection (a), including activities that—

8 ‘‘(1) assist States, local educational agencies,

9 and partnering entities with the process of planning

10 systemic changes that will promote improved early

11 intervention, educational, and transitional results for

12 children with disabilities;

13 ‘‘(2) promote change through a multistate or

14 regional framework that benefits States, local edu15 cational agencies, and partnering entities that are in

16 the process of achieving systems change outcomes;

17 ‘‘(3) increase the depth and utility of informa18 tion in ongoing and emerging areas of priority iden19 tified as needs by States, local educational agencies,

20 and partnering entities, that are in the process of

21 achieving systems change outcomes;

22 ‘‘(4) develop long-term working relationships

23 with States, local educational agencies, and other

24 partnering entities, by—
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1 ‘‘(A) developing familiarity with the prac2 tices, procedures, and policies of the States,

3 agencies, and entities;

4 ‘‘(B) providing services that are based on

5 the needs and concerns identified by the

6 partnering entities, rather than on externally

7 imposed criteria or topics;

8 ‘‘(C) focusing on accountability of the

9 States, agencies, and entities for improved early

10 intervention, educational, and transitional re11 sults for children with disabilities; and

12 ‘‘(D) coordinating with clearinghouses to

13 disseminate information and data on needs and

14 results of children with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(c) INTERORGANIZATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSIST16 ANCE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this

17 section, the Secretary may carry out or support any activi18 ties that are consistent with the objectives described in

19 subsection (a), including activities for States, local edu20 cational agencies, and other partnering entities, that—

21 ‘‘(1) focus on major requirement areas of this

22 Act in which interorganizational issues are present

23 and are perceived to be barriers to systemic change

24 and to improved early intervention, educational, and

25 transitional results for children with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(2) facilitate interorganizational collaboration

2 at Federal, State, and local levels in order to achieve

3 such change and such improved results; and

4 ‘‘(3) consist of extensive collaboration with

5 noneducation entities (such as entities that provide

6 services for infants, early intervention services, men7 tal health services, health services, and vocational re8 habilitation services) in order to facilitate systems

9 change outcomes and the improvement of early

10 intervention, educational, and transitional results for

11 children with disabilities.

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AU13 THORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the

14 Secretary may carry out or support any activities that are

15 consistent with the objectives described in subsection (a),

16 including activities that—

17 ‘‘(1) focus on specific areas of high priority

18 need that—

19 ‘‘(A) are identified by States, local edu20 cational agencies, and other partnering entities;

21 ‘‘(B) require the development of new

22 knowledge, or the analysis and synthesis of sub23 stantial bodies of information not readily avail24 able to the States, agencies, and entities; and
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1 ‘‘(C) will contribute significantly to the im2 provement of early intervention, educational,

3 and transitional services and results, for chil4 dren with disabilities and their families;

5 ‘‘(2) focus on needs and issues that are specific

6 to a population of children with disabilities, such as

7 the provision of single State and multi-State tech8 nical assistance and inservice training to—

9 ‘‘(A) schools and agencies serving deaf10 blind children and their families; and

11 ‘‘(B) programs and agencies serving other

12 groups of children with low-incidence disabilities

13 and their families; and

14 ‘‘(3) address the postsecondary education needs

15 of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing

16 through the operation of 4 model regional center

17 programs.

18 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND

19 REFERRAL; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out

20 this section, the Secretary may carry out or support infor21 mation dissemination and referral activities that are con22 sistent with the objectives described in subsection (a), in23 cluding activities that address national needs for the prep24 aration and dissemination of information relating to elimi25 nating barriers to systems change outcomes and improving
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1 early intervention, educational, and transitional results for

2 children with disabilities, including information relating

3 to—

4 ‘‘(1) infants and toddlers with disabilities and

5 their families, and children with disabilities (includ6 ing youth with disabilities) and their families;

7 ‘‘(2) the provision of services and supports to

8 deaf-blind children;

9 ‘‘(3) the provision of services to blind and print

10 disabled children;

11 ‘‘(4) the provision of postsecondary services to

12 individuals with disabilities; and

13 ‘‘(5) the need for and use of personnel to pro14 vide services to children with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND DIS16 SEMINATION COORDINATION ACTIVITIES; AUTHORIZED

17 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

18 may carry out or support any activities that are consistent

19 with the objectives described in subsection (a), including

20 activities that—

21 ‘‘(1) link and coordinate activities of—

22 ‘‘(A) all information and technical assist23 ance programs funded under this Act; and

24 ‘‘(B) other programs that support systems

25 change outcomes, including programs that in-
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1 volve early intervention, educational, or transi2 tional services;

3 ‘‘(2) coordinate national level information on is4 sues that—

5 ‘‘(A) are of critical interest to State edu6 cational agencies and local educational agencies,

7 other agency personnel, parents of children with

8 disabilities, and individuals with disabilities;

9 and

10 ‘‘(B) include issues relating to—

11 ‘‘(i) educational reform and systemic

12 change within States;

13 ‘‘(ii) interorganizational collaboration

14 and service provision;

15 ‘‘(iii) personnel recruitment, retention,

16 and preparation;

17 ‘‘(iv) services for populations of chil18 dren with low-incidence disabilities, includ19 ing deaf-blind children, and targeted age

20 groupings;

21 ‘‘(v) promoting schools that are safe

22 and conducive to learning; and

23 ‘‘(vi) State lead agencies that serve in24 fants and toddlers with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(3) provide information on organizing systems

2 and information networks, concerning information

3 retrieval and dissemination; and

4 ‘‘(4) provide information concerning the value

5 and effectiveness of technical assistance and dissemi6 nation activities and their impact on improved early

7 intervention, educational, and transitional services

8 and results, for children with disabilities and their

9 families.

10 ‘‘(g) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that wishes

11 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli12 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and

13 containing such information as the Secretary may require.

14 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

16 $49,434,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

17 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

18 ‘‘SEC. 645. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION,

19 AND UTILIZATION AND MEDIA SERVICES.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants

21 to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements

22 with, eligible entities and consortia of eligible entities, to

23 support activities described in subsections (b) and (c).

24 ‘‘(b) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRA25 TION AND UTILIZATION; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In
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1 carrying out this section, the Secretary may support ac2 tivities that consist of—

3 ‘‘(1) conducting research and development ac4 tivities on the use of innovative and emerging tech5 nologies for children with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(2) promoting the demonstration and use of

7 innovative and emerging technologies for children

8 with disabilities by improving and expanding the

9 transfer of technology from research and develop10 ment to practice;

11 ‘‘(3) providing technical assistance to recipients

12 of assistance under this section in the development

13 of accessible, effective, and usable products;

14 ‘‘(4) communicating information on available

15 technology and the uses of such technology to assist

16 children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(5) supporting the implementation of research

18 programs on captioning or video description;

19 ‘‘(6) supporting research, development, and dis20 semination of technology with universal design fea21 tures, so that the technology is accessible to children

22 with disabilities without further modification or ad23 aptation; and

24 ‘‘(7) demonstrating the use of publicly funded

25 telecommunications systems to provide parents and
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1 teachers with information and training concerning

2 early diagnosis of, intervention for, and effective

3 teaching strategies for young children with reading

4 disabilities.

5 ‘‘(c) EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICES; AUTHORIZED

6 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

7 may support activities that consist of—

8 ‘‘(1) carrying out educational media activities

9 that are designed to be of educational value to chil10 dren with disabilities;

11 ‘‘(2) providing video description, open caption12 ing, or closed captioning of television programs, vid13 eos, or educational materials;

14 ‘‘(3) distributing captioned and described videos

15 or educational materials;

16 ‘‘(4) providing, through the national education

17 library for the blind and print-disabled, recorded

18 free educational materials, including textbooks, for

19 visually impaired and print-disabled students in ele20 mentary, secondary, postsecondary, and graduate

21 schools;

22 ‘‘(5) providing, through the National Theater of

23 the Deaf and other means, cultural experiences—

24 ‘‘(A) enriching the lives of deaf and hard25 of-hearing children and adults;
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1 ‘‘(B) increasing public awareness and un2 derstanding of deafness and of the artistic and

3 intellectual achievements of deaf and hard-of4 hearing persons; and

5 ‘‘(C) promoting the integration of hearing,

6 deaf, and hard-of-hearing persons through

7 shared cultural, educational, and social experi8 ences; and

9 ‘‘(6) compiling and evaluating appropriate data

10 relating to the activities described in paragraphs (1)

11 through (5).

12 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

13 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli14 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and

15 containing such information as the Secretary may require.

16 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

18 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

19 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.’’.

20 SEC. 502. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

21 (a) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION

22 ACT.—Section 715 (20 U.S.C. 1491n) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘nothing in parts A through H of this title’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘no provision of this title, other than a provision

25 of this part,’’.
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1 (b) DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ASSISTANCE

2 AND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT.—Section 124(c)(4)(F)(ii) of

3 the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of

4 Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 6024(c)(4)(F)(ii)) is amended by

5 striking ‘‘part D’’ and inserting ‘‘part E’’.

6 SEC. 503. REAUTHORIZATIONS FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997.

7 (a) REAUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 OF

8 AUTHORITIES RELATING TO RESEARCH IN THE EDU9 CATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Section

10 643 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20

11 U.S.C. 1443) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1994’’

12 and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 1994 through 1997’’.

13 (b) REAUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 OF

14 AUTHORITIES RELATING TO INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA FOR

15 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.—Section 653 of the

16 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C.

17 1454) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1994’’ and in18 serting ‘‘each of fiscal years 1994 through 1997’’.

19 (c) REAUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997 OF

20 AUTHORITIES RELATING TO TECHNOLOGY, EDU21 CATIONAL MEDIA, AND MATERIALS FOR INDIVIDUALS

22 WITH DISABILITIES.—Section 662 of the Individuals with

23 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1462) is amended

24 by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1994’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal

25 years 1994 through 1997’’.
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1 SEC. 504. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this title, other than the

3 amendments made by section 503, shall take effect on Oc4 tober 1, 1997.

5 TITLE VI—INFANTS AND

6 TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

7 SEC. 601. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

8 Section 671(b) (20 U.S.C. 1471(b)) is amended—

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘program’’

10 and inserting ‘‘system’’;

11 (2) at the end of paragraph (2), by striking

12 ‘‘and’’;

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and

14 inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

15 (4) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(4) to encourage States to expand opportuni17 ties for infants and toddlers with disabilities who are

18 at risk of having substantial developmental delays if

19 early intervention services are not provided to the in20 fants and toddlers.’’.

21 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

22 (a) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABILITY.—Sec23 tion 672(1) (20 U.S.C. 1472(1)) is amended—

24 (1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4) IN25 FANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABILITY.—’’;

26 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘The term ‘infants and

2 toddlers with disabilities’ means individuals’’

3 and inserting ‘‘The term ‘infant or toddler with

4 a disability’ means a child’’; and

5 (B) by striking ‘‘birth to age 2, inclusive,

6 who need early intervention services because

7 they’’ and inserting ‘‘birth through age 2 needs

8 early intervention services because the child’’;

9 (3) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘are expe10 riencing developmental delays’’ and inserting ‘‘is ex11 periencing a developmental delay’’;

12 (4) in subparagraph (B)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘have’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘has’’; and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘which’’ and inserting

16 ‘‘that’’; and

17 (5) by striking the second sentence and insert18 ing the following: ‘‘Such term may also include, at

19 the discretion of a State, a child from birth through

20 age 2 who is at risk of having a substantial devel21 opmental delay if early intervention services are not

22 provided (referred to individually in this part as an

23 ‘at risk infant or toddler’ and collectively in this part

24 as ‘at risk infants and toddlers’).’’.
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1 (b) HEADINGS.—Section 672 (20 U.S.C. 1472) is

2 amended—

3 (1) by striking all that precedes paragraph (4)

4 (as redesignated in subsection (a)) and inserting the

5 following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 672. DEFINITIONS.

7 ‘‘As used in this part:’’;

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and in9 serting ‘‘(3) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—’’;

10 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and in11 serting ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY.—’’;

12 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(4)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(1) COUNCIL.—’’;

14 (5) by moving paragraph (2) (as redesignated

15 in paragraph (3)) to the end of the section;

16 (6) by moving paragraph (3) (as redesignated

17 in paragraph (2)) to the end of the section; and

18 (7) by moving paragraph (4) (as redesignated

19 in subsection (a)) to the end of the section.

20 (c) INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES.—

21 Section 672 (20 U.S.C. 1472) is amended by adding at

22 the end the following:

23 ‘‘(5) INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABIL24 ITIES.—The term ‘infants and toddlers with disabil-
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1 ities’ means more than 1 infant or toddler with a

2 disability.’’.

3 SEC. 603. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

4 Section 673 (20 U.S.C. 1473) is amended by striking

5 ‘‘develop’’ and inserting ‘‘implement’’.

6 SEC. 604. ELIGIBILITY.

7 Section 674 (20 U.S.C. 1474) is amended—

8 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the

9 following:

10 ‘‘ELIGIBILITY’’;

11 and

12 (2) by striking ‘‘State has established’’ and all

13 that follows and inserting ‘‘State has in effect the

14 statewide system that is required by section 676.’’.

15 SEC. 605. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.

16 Section 675 (20 U.S.C. 1475) is repealed.

17 SEC. 606. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEWIDE SYSTEM.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 676(a) (20 U.S.C.

19 1476(a)) is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘statewide system of’’ and in21 serting ‘‘statewide,’’; and

22 (2) by striking ‘‘programs providing’’ and in23 serting ‘‘system that provides’’.

24 (b) MINIMUM COMPONENTS.—Section 676(b) (20

25 U.S.C. 1476(b) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘developmen2 tally delayed’’ and inserting ‘‘developmental delay’’;

3 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(2) a State policy in effect ensuring that ap6 propriate early intervention services are available to

7 all infants and toddlers with disabilities (including

8 Indian infants and toddlers with disabilities on res9 ervations) in the State and their families,’’;

10 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘infants with’’

11 and inserting ‘‘infants and toddlers with’’;

12 (4) in paragraph (8)—

13 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

14 (A), by striking ‘‘613(a)(3)’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘612(a)(14)’’;

16 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting after

17 ‘‘rural areas’’ the following: ‘‘and inner city

18 areas’’; and

19 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘a

20 preschool program under section 619 of part

21 B.’’ and inserting ‘‘preschool or other appro22 priate services,’’;

23 (5) at the end of paragraph (13), by striking

24 ‘‘and’’;
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1 (6) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘on the num2 bers of infants’’ and all that follows and inserting

3 ‘‘that is requested by the Secretary under section

4 618 and that relates to this part, and’’; and

5 (7) by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(15) a Council that meets the requirements of

7 section 682.’’.

8 SEC. 607. INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN.

9 Section 677 (20 U.S.C. 1477) is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘or guard11 ian’’;

12 (2) in subsection (d)(8)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘supporting’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘to support’’; and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘services provided’’ and all

16 that follows and inserting ‘‘preschool or other

17 appropriate services.’’; and

18 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

19 each place it appears.

20 SEC. 608. STATE APPLICATION AND ASSURANCES.

21 (a) APPLICATION.—Section 678(a) (20 U.S.C.

22 1478(a)) is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking the comma at

24 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) information demonstrating to the sat2 isfaction of the Secretary that the State has in

3 effect a statewide system required by section

4 676, and

5 ‘‘(B) a description of services to be pro6 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities

7 and their families under this part,’’;

8 (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

9 following:

10 ‘‘(4) a statement regarding whether the State

11 will serve at risk infants and toddlers as infants and

12 toddlers with disabilities,’’;

13 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘, for the fifth

14 and succeeding fiscal years,’’; and

15 (4) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(8) a description of the policies and procedures

18 to be used—

19 ‘‘(A) to ensure a smooth transition for

20 children who are infants and toddlers with dis21 abilities receiving early intervention services

22 under this part to preschool or other appro23 priate services, including a description of—
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1 ‘‘(i) how the family of such a child

2 will be included in the transition plans re3 quired by subparagraph (C), and

4 ‘‘(ii) how the lead agency designated

5 or established under section 676(b)(9)

6 will—

7 ‘‘(I) notify the local educational

8 agency for the area in which such a

9 child resides that the child will shortly

10 reach the age for eligibility for pre11 school services under part B, as deter12 mined in accordance with State law,

13 ‘‘(II) in the case of such a child

14 who may be eligible for such preschool

15 services, with the approval of the fam16 ily of the child, convene a conference

17 among the lead agency, the family,

18 and the local educational agency at

19 least 90 days (and at the discretion of

20 all such parties, up to 6 months) be21 fore the child is eligible for the pre22 school services, to discuss any such

23 services that the child may receive,

24 and
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1 ‘‘(III) in the case of such a child

2 who may not be eligible for such pre3 school services, with the approval of

4 the family, make reasonable efforts to

5 convene a conference among the lead

6 agency, the family, and providers of

7 other appropriate services for children

8 who are not eligible for preschool serv9 ices under part B, to discuss the ap10 propriate services that the child may

11 receive,

12 ‘‘(B) to review the program options for the

13 child for the period beginning on the third

14 birthday of the child and ending on the last day

15 of the school year in which such birthday oc16 curs, and

17 ‘‘(C) to establish a transition plan for the

18 child, and’’.

19 (b) STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES.—Section

20 678(b)(7) (20 U.S.C. 1478(b)(7)) is amended—

21 (1) by striking ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 1992,’’;

22 and

23 (2) by striking ‘‘and rural’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘rural, and inner city’’.
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1 SEC. 609. USES OF FUNDS.

2 Section 679 (20 U.S.C. 1479) is amended—

3 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

4 striking ‘‘plan, develop, and’’;

5 (2) at the end of paragraph (2), by striking

6 ‘‘and’’;

7 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and

8 inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

9 (4) by adding at the end is the following:

10 ‘‘(4) in any State that does not provide services

11 for at risk infants and toddlers under section

12 676(a), to strengthen the statewide system by initi13 ating, expanding, or improving collaborative efforts

14 related to at risk infants and toddlers, including es15 tablishing linkages with appropriate public, and pri16 vate, community-based organizations, services, and

17 personnel, for the purposes of—

18 ‘‘(A) identifying and evaluating at risk in19 fants and toddlers,

20 ‘‘(B) making referrals of the infants and

21 toddlers identified and evaluated under sub22 paragraph (A), and

23 ‘‘(C) conducting periodic followup on each

24 such referral to determine if the status of the

25 infant or toddler involved has changed with re-
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1 spect to the eligibility of the infant or toddler

2 under this part.’’.

3 SEC. 610. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

4 Section 680 (20 U.S.C. 1480) is amended by striking

5 the matter preceding ‘‘The procedural’’ and inserting the

6 following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 680. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

8 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM PROCEDURES.—’’.

9 (b) PROCEDURES.—Section 680(a) (20 U.S.C.

10 1480(a)) (as designated in subsection (a)) is amended—

11 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

12 striking ‘‘The’’ and all that follows through ‘‘follow13 ing:’’ and inserting ‘‘To meet the requirement of sec14 tion 672(b)(12), each State, in providing a statewide

15 system under this part, shall, through State statute,

16 regulation, or other written policy, provide at a mini17 mum for the following:’’;

18 (2) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by

19 striking ‘‘, which action may be brought’’;

20 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or guard21 ians’’;

22 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

23 (5) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or a guard24 ian’’;
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1 (6) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

2 each place it appears;

3 (7) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

4 (8) in paragraph (7)—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘or guardian’s’’;

7 (9) in paragraph (8)—

8 (A) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’; and

9 (B) by striking the following:

10 ‘‘(8) During’’ and inserting the following:

11 ‘‘(b) SERVICES DURING PENDENCY OF PROCEED12 INGS.—The procedural safeguards required to be included

13 in a statewide system under section 676(b)(12) shall also

14 include a measure to ensure that during’’; and

15 (10) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘(8) The right to use mediation in accordance

18 with section 615(e), except that—

19 ‘‘(A) a reference in such section to the

20 State educational agency shall be considered to

21 refer to the lead agency of the State designated

22 or established under section 676(b)(9), and

23 ‘‘(B) a reference in such section to a public

24 agency shall be understood to refer to a local
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1 services provider or the lead agency, as the case

2 may be.’’.

3 SEC. 611. STATE INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

4 (a) COMPOSITION.—Section 682(b)(1) (20 U.S.C.

5 1482(b)(1)) is amended—

6 (1) in subparagraph (E)—

7 (A) by striking ‘‘At least one member shall

8 be’’ and inserting ‘‘There shall be at least one

9 member’’;

10 (B) by striking ‘‘families and’’ and insert11 ing the following: ‘‘families, and from any other

12 State agency involved in the provision of serv13 ices to at risk infants and toddlers, and each

14 such member’’; and

15 (C) by striking ‘‘such agencies’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘the appropriate agency’’; and

17 (2) by adding after subparagraph (G) the fol18 lowing:

19 ‘‘(H) At least one member shall be a represent20 ative from a Head Start agency or Head Start pro21 gram in the State.

22 ‘‘(I) At least one member shall be a representa23 tive from the State agency responsible for child

24 care.’’.
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1 (b) FUNCTIONS OF COUNCIL.—Section 682(e) (20

2 U.S.C. 1482(e)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘services

4 provided’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘pre5 school or other appropriate services, and’’;

6 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘children’’

7 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘children from

8 birth through age 5.’’; and

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow10 ing:

11 ‘‘(3) The Council may advise appropriate agencies in

12 the State with respect to the integration of services for

13 infants and toddlers with disabilities (including at risk in14 fants and toddlers) and their families, regardless of wheth15 er at risk infants and toddlers are eligible for early inter16 vention services in the State.’’.

17 (c) EXISTING COUNCILS.—Section 682 (20 U.S.C.

18 1482) is amended by striking subsection (g).

19 SEC. 612. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

20 Section 683(3) (20 U.S.C. 1483(3)) is amended by

21 striking ‘‘intermediate educational agencies’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘educational service agencies’’.

23 SEC. 613. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

24 (a) RESERVATION.—Section 684(a) (20 U.S.C.

25 1484(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)’’;

2 (2) by inserting after ‘‘reserve’’ the following:

3 ‘‘up to’’; and

4 (3) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(2) The provisions of section 501 of Public Law 95–

6 134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a) (relating to permitting the consoli7 dation of grants to insular areas referred to in such sec8 tion) shall not apply to funds the areas receive under this

9 part.’’.

10 (b) TRIBES.—Section 684(b) (20 U.S.C. 1484(b)) is

11 amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (2)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and all

14 that follows through ‘‘tribal organization shall

15 receive an amount based’’ and inserting ‘‘For

16 each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior

17 shall distribute the entire amount of a payment

18 received under paragraph (1) by providing to

19 each such tribe or tribal organization an

20 amount based’’;

21 (B) by striking ‘‘the reservation’’ and in22 serting ‘‘the reservation involved’’; and

23 (C) by striking ‘‘all tribes’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘all such tribes’’; and

25 (2) in paragraph (4)—
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1 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘chil2 dren aged 0-2, inclusive,’’ and inserting ‘‘chil3 dren from birth through age 2’’; and

4 (B) in the third sentence, by striking

5 ‘‘public or private nonprofit organizations’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘public or private nonprofit agencies

7 or organizations’’.

8 (c) FEDERAL INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUN9 CIL AND PANEL OF EXPERTS.—Section 684 (20 U.S.C.

10 1484) is amended—

11 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

12 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow14 ing:

15 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall reserve up to .0005 of the

16 amount appropriated under section 687 for any fiscal year

17 for the operation of the Federal Interagency Coordinating

18 Council established under section 685, other than activi19 ties of the panel of experts carried out under section 686.

20 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may reserve up to $100,000 for

21 the expenses of the panel of experts established under sec22 tion 686.’’.

23 (d) REMAINDER.—Section 684 (20 U.S.C 1484) is

24 amended in subsection (e) (as redesignated in subsection

25 (c)(1))—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1)—

2 (A) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘(2), (3), and (4)’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘(a) and (b)’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘(a) through (d) and section 618(e)’’;

6 (2) by striking paragraph (2);

7 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through

8 (6) as paragraphs (2) through (5), respectively;

9 (4) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated in para10 graph (3))—

11 (A) in the text preceding subparagraph

12 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and

13 inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3) and (4)’’; and

14 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, ex15 cluding’’ and all that follows and inserting a

16 semicolon;

17 (5) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated in para18 graph (3)), in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(5)’’

19 and inserting ‘‘(4)’’; and

20 (6) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated in para21 graph (3))—

22 (A) in the text preceding subparagraph

23 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘this subsection’’;
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1 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘chil2 dren from birth to age 2, inclusive,’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘children from birth through age 2;’’; and

4 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘does

5 not include’’ and all that follows and inserting

6 ‘‘means each of the several States, the District

7 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto

8 Rico.’’.

9 (e) REALLOTMENT.—Section 684(f) (20 U.S.C.

10 1484(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘(e)(1)’’.

12 SEC. 614. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUN13 CIL.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—Section

15 685(a)(1)(A) (20 U.S.C. 1484a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘relating to early intervention’’ and all that fol17 lows and inserting ‘‘across Federal, State, and local agen18 cies, relating to—

19 ‘‘(i) early intervention services for in20 fants and toddlers with disabilities (includ21 ing at risk infants and toddlers) and their

22 families; and

23 ‘‘(ii) preschool or other appropriate

24 services for children with disabilities;’’.
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1 (b) COMPOSITION.—Section 685(b) (20 U.S.C.

2 1484a(b)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the

4 semicolon the following: ‘‘and a representative of the

5 Office of Educational Research and Improvement;’’;

6 (2) in paragraph (15), by inserting after ‘‘a

7 representative of’’ the following: ‘‘the Children’s Bu8 reau, and a representative of the Head Start Bu9 reau, of’’;

10 (3) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘Alcohol,

11 Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘Substance Abuse and Mental Health

13 Services Administration’’;

14 (4) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘Aids’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘AIDS’’; and

16 (5) in paragraph (18)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘at least 3’’; and

18 (B) by inserting after ‘‘12 or under’’ the

19 following: ‘‘(which parents shall constitute at

20 least 20 percent of the members of the coun21 cil)’’.

22 (c) FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.—Section

23 685(d)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1484a(d)(1)) is amended by striking

24 ‘‘Secretary in the performance’’ and all that follows and

25 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Education, Secretary of Health
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1 and Human Services, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of

2 the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, and Commissioner

3 of Social Security in the performance of their responsibil4 ities related to serving children from birth through age

5 5 who are eligible for services under this part or under

6 part B;’’.

7 (d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ACT INAP8 PLICABLE.—Section 685 (20 U.S.C. 1484a) is amended

9 by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

11 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not

12 apply to the establishment or operation of the council.’’.

13 SEC. 615. STUDY OF DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL

14 DELAY.

15 Part H (20 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is amended—

16 (1) by striking section 686; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 686. STUDY OF DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL

19 DELAY.

20 ‘‘(a) PANEL OF EXPERTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months

22 after the date of enactment of the Individuals with

23 Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1996, the

24 Federal Interagency Coordinating Council estab25 lished under section 685 shall convene a panel of ex-
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1 perts to develop recommendations to the Secretary

2 for a model definition of the term ‘developmental

3 delay’, to assist States in implementing section

4 676(b)(1).

5 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS.—The panel shall include recog6 nized experts in—

7 ‘‘(A) health and child development, whose

8 work includes—

9 ‘‘(i) the evaluation and assessment of

10 infants and toddlers with disabilities;

11 ‘‘(ii) the study of congenital or

12 perinatal disorders in children; or

13 ‘‘(iii) the measurement of developmen14 tal milestones in infants and toddlers;

15 ‘‘(B) the administration of disability pro16 grams for young children; and

17 ‘‘(C) other fields that the Secretary finds

18 to be appropriate.

19 ‘‘(3) OTHER MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS.—

20 The panel shall—

21 ‘‘(A) have no more than 12 members; and

22 ‘‘(B) include at least 1 parent of a child

23 with a disability who is younger than age 6.

24 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In developing the recommendations

25 referred to in subsection (a)(1), the panel shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) review the definition of infants and tod2 dlers with disabilities specified in section 672(1);

3 ‘‘(2) conduct an analysis of the criteria that are

4 used by States under this part to determine whether

5 an individual has a developmental delay or a diag6 nosed physical or mental condition, for purposes of

7 ascertaining whether the individual is an infant or

8 toddler with a disability; and

9 ‘‘(3) consider the appropriateness of defining

10 the term ‘developmental delay’ to include the com11 bination of a multiplicity of factors that, when taken

12 together, have a high probability of resulting in de13 velopmental delay (as specified in the remainder of

14 the definition) if early intervention services are not

15 provided.

16 ‘‘(c) PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS.—The panel shall

17 prepare and submit to the Secretary a report containing

18 the recommendations developed under subsection (a) not

19 later than 9 months after the date of enactment of the

20 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments

21 of 1996.

22 ‘‘(d) MODEL DEFINITION.—After receiving the rec23 ommendations, the Secretary shall—

24 ‘‘(1) publish the recommendations in the Fed25 eral Register;
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1 ‘‘(2) give interested parties an opportunity to

2 submit written comments on the recommendations;

3 and

4 ‘‘(3) disseminate a model definition based on

5 the recommendations, along with a summary of com6 ments received.

7 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMISSION ACT INAP8 PLICABLE.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

9 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the establishment or oper10 ation of the panel.’’.

11 SEC. 616. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 Part H (20 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) (as amended in sec13 tion 615) is further amended by adding at the end the

14 following:

15 ‘‘SEC. 687. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

17 this part such sums as may be necessary for each of the

18 fiscal years 1996 through 2002.’’.

19 SEC. 617. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 This title, and the amendments made by this title,

21 shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

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