Back to School on Civil Rights 

National Council on Disability

January 25, 2000
/(77(52)75$160,77$/

January 25, 2000

The President

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the National Council on Disability (NCD), I am pleased to submit a report entitled Back to

School on Civil Rights. This report is the second in a series of independent analyses by NCD of federal

enforcement of civil rights laws. 

The series grew out of NCD’s national policy summit of a diverse group of more than 300 leaders from

the disability community, where the participants called on NCD to push for more effective enforcement

of existing civil rights laws. NCD produced the first report, Enforcing the Civil Rights of Air Travelers

with Disabilities, in March 1999. The third report on enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act

will be released in spring 2000.

Back to School on Civil Rights looks at more than two decades of federal monitoring and enforcement of

compliance with Part B of IDEA. Overall, NCD finds that federal efforts to enforce the law over several

Administrations have been inconsistent and ineffective. Despite the important efforts of your

Administration to be more aggressive than any of its predecessors in addressing these compliance

problems, failures to ensure local compliance with Part B requirements continue to be widespread and

persist over many years. Enforcement of the law is too often the burden of parents who must invoke

formal complaint procedures and request due process hearings to obtain the services and supports to

which their children are entitled under law. The report includes recommendations for your

Administration and Congress that would build on the1997 reauthorization of IDEA.

NCD stands ready to work with you and all public and private stakeholders to address the problems

identified in this report and to advance a federal approach to enforcement that results in improved

compliance and better outcomes for children and families, so that the nation’s 25-year-old commitment to

effective education for all children will be more fully realized.

In your 1997 State of the Union address, you made clear that your number one priority is to ensure that

all Americans have the best education in the world. We share your commitment.

Sincerely,

Marca Bristo

Chairperson

(This same letter of transmittal was sent to the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate and the Speaker

of the U.S. House of Representatives.)
1&'0(0%(56$1'67$))

Members

Marca Bristo, Chairperson

Kate P. Wolters, First Vice Chairperson

Hughey Walker, Second Vice Chairperson

Yerker Andersson, Ph.D.

Dave N. Brown

John D. Kemp

Audrey McCrimon

Gina McDonald

Bonnie O’Day, Ph.D.

Lilliam Rangel-Diaz

Debra Robinson

Shirley W. Ryan

Michael B. Unhjem

Rae E. Unzicker

Ela Yazzie-King

Staff

Ethel D. Briggs, Executive Director

Mark S. Quigley, Public Affairs Specialist

Kathleen A. Blank, Attorney/Program Specialist

Geraldine Drake Hawkins, Ph.D., Program Specialist

Allan W. Holland, Accountant

Brenda Bratton, Executive Secretary

Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant
iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ............................................................1

Executive Summary ...........................................................5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Background of This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Purpose of This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Report Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Scope of This Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Enforcement Research Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Research Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

I. The Law, the Compliance/Enforcement Scheme, and the Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

B. Basic Requirements of IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

C. Scope of IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

D. Legislative History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

E. Reauthorization of IDEA 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

F. Statutory Framework for IDEA Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

1. The Compliance/Enforcement Scheme for IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2. Background and Enforcement Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

3. The Federal Role—Delegation of Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

a. Office of the Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

b. Office of General Counsel and Relationship with the Department of

Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

c. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services . . . . . . . . . . 45

d. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)/Monitoring and State 

Improvement Planning Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

e. Office for Civil Rights/U.S. Department of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

f. Office of the Inspector General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

4. State Education Agencies (SEAs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

5. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

6. The Unofficial Role of Parents as Enforcers of IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

G. A Brief Overview of Federal Enforcement Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

H. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

II. Grassroots Perspectives on Noncompliance and Federal Enforcement of IDEA . . . . . . 57

A. Obstacles Experienced by Students with Disabilities and Their Families . . . . . . . . . 57
iv

1. Noncompliance with Least Restrictive Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

2. Noncompliance with Free Appropriate Public Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

B. Advocacy Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

1. Parent Advocates Working with PTI Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

a. Parental Involvement and Communication with OSEP . . . . . . . . . . . 61

b. Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

c. Evaluating the Monitoring Process and Corrective Action . . . . . . . . . 64

d. Corrective Action Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

e. The Need to Create Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

f. Monitoring at the State Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

2. Other Parent Advocates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

3. Advocates for Children in the Juvenile Justice System, Minority and Rural

Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

C. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

III. Grant Administration, Compliance-Monitoring, Complaint-Handling, and 

Enforcement Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

A. Grant Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

1. The Basic State Grant Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

2. Competitive State Program Improvement Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

B. Oversight: Federal Monitoring of States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

1. Purpose of Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

2. The Decision About What to Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

3. The Monitoring Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4. The Monitoring Process Before the Fall of 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

a. Pre-Site Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

b. The On-Site Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

c. The Monitoring Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

d. Corrective Action Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

e. OSEP’s Maintenance of Monitoring Reports and Records 

Regarding Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

5. Analysis of Fifty Federal Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

a. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

b. Standards Used by OSEP for Determining Noncompliance . . . . . . . . 87

c. Summary of State Noncompliance Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

d. Analysis of Findings of Noncompliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

e. Data Quality Issues Raised by the Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . 123

f. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

6. Persistence of Noncompliance Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

a. Analysis of Current Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

b. Analysis of Six States Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

c. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
v

7. OSEP Initiatives to Address Marginalization Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

8. Perspectives on the Impact of Federal Compliance Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . 149

a. The Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

b. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education . 150

c. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

C. Oversight: Complaint Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

1. General Complaints About IDEA Received by OSEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

2. Secretarial Review of IDEA Complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

3. Section 504/ADA Complaints Received by OCR/DoED . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

4. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

D. Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

1. Restrictions on Grant Awards: High-Risk Status with Special Conditions 

and Compliance Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

2. Withholding of Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

3. Cease and Desist Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

4. Referral to the Department of Justice for Enforcement Action . . . . . . . . . . 166

5. The Politics of Enforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

6. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

IV. The National Compliance Picture Over Time: Analysis of Annual Reports to Congress

1978–1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

B. Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

C. Procedural Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

D. Definition of Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

E. Procedural Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

F. Lack of Trend Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

G. Charts on Monitoring Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

H. Intra-Departmental Policy Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

I. Reports Demonstrate the Evolution of DoED’s View of Its Mandate . . . . . . . . . . . 180

J. Language Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

K. Trend Toward Partnership with States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

L. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

V. IDEA Litigation Challenging State Noncompliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

B. Summary of Litigation in California, Illinois, and Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

C. Development of More Effective Monitoring Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

D. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

VI. The Role of the Department of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
vi

A. Functions of the Department of Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

B. IDEA Litigation in Which the Department of Justice Has Participated . . . . . . . . . . 195

C. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

VII. Improving Public Awareness: Technical Assistance and Public Information 

for Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Advocates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

A. Department of Education—Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

1. OSEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

a. National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities 

b. The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) Project

c. Parent Training and Information (PTI) Centers and the Technical 

Assistance Alliance

d. The Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers

e. Technical Assistance to Indian Communities

2. National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) . . . . 209

3. Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

4. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

5. Department of Health and Human Services—Administration on 

Developmental Disabilities (ADD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

B. Resource List of IDEA and Education-Related Technical Assistance, Training, 

and Informational Materials Collection Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

C. Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

VIII. Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
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Tables and Charts

1: The Three Prongs of the IDEA Compliance/Enforcement Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2: Status of Approval of IDEA Part B State Plans/State Plan Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

3: State Monitoring Data (Reprint from NCD Study) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

4: Number and Percentage of Noncompliant States 

in Each Area According to 1994–1998 OSEP Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

5: State Noncompliance as Reported by 1994–1998 Monitoring Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

6: State Noncompliance with FAPE Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

7: State Noncompliance with LRE Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

8: State Noncompliance with IEP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

9: State Noncompliance with IEP Content Requirements in Five States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

10: State Noncompliance with Transition Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

11: State Noncompliance with General Supervision Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

12: State Noncompliance with Complaint Management Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

13: State Noncompliance with State Monitoring Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

14: State Noncompliance with Procedural Safeguard Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

15: Noncompliance Over Time in California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

16: Noncompliance Over Time in Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

17: Noncompliance Over Time in New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

18: Noncompliance Over Time in Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

19: Noncompliance Over Time in Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

20: Noncompliance Over Time in Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

21: High Risk Grantees/Special Conditions/Compliance Agreements for Part B State Grant

IDEA Awards Determined by OSEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

22: Headings in Annual Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

23: IDEA Litigation in Which DOJ Has Participated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

24: IDEA/Education-Related Technical Assistance Materials and Information . . . . . . . . . . . 212
viii

Appendixes

Appendix A: List of Interviews for This Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Appendix B: Educational Inequity and Children With Disabilities: Ten Problem Areas 

IDEA Was Intended to Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Appendix C: Basic Requirements of IDEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Appendix D: Letters to Secretary Riley from Members of Congress 

and from One Governor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Appendix E: Organizational Structure of the U.S. Department of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Appendix F: Responsibilities of Each Monitoring and State Improvement Team . . . . . . . . . . 277

Appendix G: Summary: State by State Monitoring Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Appendix H: Overview of the New Continuous Improvement Monitoring System . . . . . . . . . 333

Appendix I: Complaints Received by the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education,

Related to Primary or Secondary Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Appendix J: List of Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Appendix K: Consolidated List of Findings and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Appendix L: Mission of the National Council on Disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
1

Acknowledgments

All research, data collection, and analysis for this study were carried out by the Disability

Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and its subcontractors, under contract to the

National Council on Disability (NCD). Jane West, Ph.D., a consultant in Chevy Chase, MD, is

the principal author and lead researcher for this report. The following individuals are co-authors

of the report:

Mary Lou Breslin, Project Director, DREDF

Nancy Mudrick, Ph.D., Senior Data and Methodological Consultant, Syracuse University

Mark A. Mlawer, Consultant, Baltimore, MD

Diane Lipton, Senior Attorney, DREDF

Jillian Cutler, DREDF intern, Yale University

Allison Drimmer, Attorney, Washington, DC

Bill Smith, intern, DREDF

Chantal Sampogna, Attorney, DREDF

Important contributions in research, data analysis, editing, word processing, and advising

were made by the following individuals:

Marla C. Bull Bear, Executive Director, Native American Advocacy Project

Randi Casenza, DREDF

Deborah Doctor, DREDF

Laura Miller Eligator, Esq., Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago

LaDonna Fowler, American Indian Rehabilitation Rights Organization of Warriors

(AIRROW)

Renaldo Fowler, Senior Staff Advocate, Arizona Center for Disability Law

Martin Gould, National Center on Outcomes Research (NCOR)

Joel Gray, DREDF

David Howell, DREDF
2

James Jackson, Executive Director, Protection and Advocacy System of New Mexico

Cheri Lorenz, DREDF

Leslie Seid Margolis, Esq., Maryland Disability Law Center (MDLC)

Lou McIntosh, Parent, Merrywing Corporation

Thomas Lee McKeithan II, Chairperson, State Advisory Panel on Special Education for

the District of Columbia and members

Barbara Raimondo

Marjorie Rifkin, Esq.

Nate Schiff, Syracuse University

Robert Shuckahosee, American Indian Rehabilitation Rights Organization of Warriors

(AIRROW)

Robert Silverstein, Center for the Study and Advancement of Disability Policy

Jenifer Simpson, President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities

(PCEPD)

Diane Smith, National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS)

Joseph B. Tulman, Professor of Law, University of the District of Columbia David A.

Clarke School of Law

Pat Wright, Director of Governmental Affairs, DREDF

Therese C. Yanan, Project Director, Native American Protection and Advocacy Project 

NCD would like to acknowledge the many individuals at the U.S. Department of

Education and the U.S. Department of Justice who generously provided us with interviews and

assisted in the collection of materials. Sonya Savkar, formerly of the Office of General Counsel

of the U.S. Department of Education, assisted as “point person” within the Department,

coordinating the responses to our many requests for information. 

NCD would like to thank the students, parents, family members, and professionals from

the various stakeholder communities who so generously gave of their time and energy in

providing interviews and information for this report. To the students with disabilities and their

families who traveled to Washington, DC, to speak on September 22, 1999, at the Town Meeting
3

on Federal Enforcement of IDEA, NCD gives special thanks for sharing your stories of struggle

and success.

*

During the period between the research conducted for this report and its release, the

Department of Education (DoED) designed and began to implement a new "continuous

improvement monitoring system" in the fall of 1998. DoED believes its new system will address

many of the longstanding problems with compliance monitoring identified in this report. This

report does not attempt to assess the effectiveness of DoED’s new monitoring system, in part

because it has not been in effect long enough for its effectiveness to be measured fairly.

5

Executive Summary

Twenty-five years ago, Congress enacted and President Gerald Ford signed the Education

for All Handicapped Children Act, one of the most important civil rights laws ever written. The

basic premise of this federal law, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

(IDEA), is that all children with disabilities have a federally protected civil right to have

available to them a free appropriate public education that meets their education and related

services needs in the least restrictive environment. The statutory right articulated in IDEA is

grounded in the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under law and the constitutional

power of Congress to authorize and place conditions on participation in federal spending

programs. It is complemented by the federal civil rights protections contained in section 504 of

the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This report, the second in a series of independent analyses by the National Council on

Disability (NCD) of federal enforcement of civil rights laws, looks at more than two decades of

federal monitoring and enforcement of compliance with Part B of IDEA.*

 Overall, NCD finds

that federal efforts to enforce the law over several Administrations have been inconsistent, 

ineffective, and lacking any real teeth. The report includes recommendations to the President

and the Congress that would build on the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA. The intent is to advance

a more aggressive, credible, and meaningful federal approach to enforcing this critical civil rights

law, so that the nation’s 25-year-old commitment to effective education for all children will be

more fully realized. 
6

Background

 In 1970, before enactment of the federal protections in IDEA, schools in America

educated only one in five students with disabilities. More than 1 million students were excluded

from public schools, and another 3.5 million did not receive appropriate services. Many states

had laws excluding certain students, including those who were blind, deaf, or labeled

"emotionally disturbed" or "mentally retarded." Almost 200,000 school-age children with

mental retardation or emotional disabilities were institutionalized. The likelihood of exclusion

was greater for children with disabilities living in low-income, ethnic and racial minority, or rural

communities.

In the more than two decades since its enactment, IDEA implementation has produced

important improvements in the quality and effectiveness of the public education received by

millions of American children with disabilities. Today almost 6 million children and young

people with disabilities ages 3 through 21 qualify for educational interventions under Part B of

IDEA. Some of these students with disabilities are being educated in their neighborhood schools

in regular classrooms. These children have a right to have support services and devices such as

assistive listening systems, braille text books, paraprofessional supports, curricular

modifications, talking computers, and speech synthesizers made available to them as needed to

facilitate their learning side-by-side with their nondisabled peers. Post-secondary and

employment opportunities are opening up for increasing numbers of young adults with

disabilities as they leave high school. Post-school employment rates for youth served under Part

B are twice that of older adults with disabilities who did not benefit from IDEA in school, and

self-reports indicate that the percentage of college freshmen with a disability has almost tripled

since 1978.

Findings

As significant as the gains over time are, they tell only part of the story. In the past 25

years states have not met their general supervisory obligations to ensure compliance with the core
**Every state has a legal obligation to ensure compliance with the requirements of IDEA

at the state and local levels. In this report, the term “out of compliance” means that a state has

failed to ensure compliance with one or more requirements of the statute.

7

civil rights requirements of IDEA at the local level. Children with disabilities and their families

are required far too often to file complaints to ensure that the law is followed. The Federal

Government has frequently failed to take effective action to enforce the civil rights protections of

IDEA when federal officials determine that states have failed to ensure compliance with the law. 

Although Department of Education Secretary Richard W. Riley has been more aggressive in his

efforts to monitor compliance and take formal enforcement action involving sanctions than all

his predecessors combined, formal enforcement of IDEA has been very limited. Based on its

review of the Department of Education’s monitoring reports of states between 1994 and 1998,

NCD found: 

C Every state was out of compliance with IDEA requirements to some degree; in the

sampling of states studied, noncompliance persisted over many years.**

C Notwithstanding federal monitoring reports documenting widespread noncompliance,

enforcement of the law is the burden of parents who too often must invoke formal

complaint procedures and due process hearings, including expensive and time-consuming

litigation, to obtain the appropriate services and supports to which their children are

entitled under the law. Many parents with limited resources are unable to challenge

violations successfully when they occur. Even parents with significant resources are

hard-pressed to prevail over state education agencies (SEA) and local education agencies

(LEA) when they or their publicly financed attorneys choose to be recalcitrant.

C The Department of Education has made very limited use of its authority to impose

enforcement sanctions such as withholding of funds or making referrals to the

Department of Justice, despite persistent failures to ensure compliance in many states.

C DoED has not made known to the states and the public any objective criteria for using

enforcement sanctions, so that the relationship between findings of noncompliance by

federal monitors and a decision to apply sanctions is not clear.
8

DoED Monitoring Model

The oversight model adopted by the Department of Education is multitiered and

multipurpose. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) distributes federal IDEA

funding to the states and monitors the SEAs. The SEAs in turn monitor the LEAs to make sure

they are in compliance with IDEA. In this tiered oversight model, the same Department of

Education office (OSEP) distributes federal funds, monitors compliance, and enforces the law

where violations are identified. The politics and conflicts inherent in administering these three

disparate functions have challenged the Department’s ability to integrate and balance the

objectives of all three.

Data Sources and Summary of Analyses

As mentioned above, NCD found that the most recent federal monitoring reports

demonstrated that every state failed to ensure compliance with the requirements of IDEA to some

extent during the period covered by this review. More than half of the states failed to ensure

compliance in five of the seven main compliance areas. For example, in OSEP’s most recent

monitoring reports, 90 percent of the states (n = 45) had failed to ensure compliance in the

category of general supervision (the state mechanism for ensuring that LEAs are carrying out

their responsibilities to ensure compliance with the law); 88 percent of the states (n = 44) had

failed to ensure compliance with the law’s secondary transition services provisions, which

require schools to promote the appropriate transition of students with disabilities to work or postsecondary education; 80 percent of the states (n = 40) failed to ensure compliance with the law’s

free appropriate public education requirements; 78 percent of the states (n = 39) failed to ensure

compliance with the procedural safeguards provisions of the law; and 72 percent of the states (n

= 36) failed to ensure compliance with the placement in the least restrictive environment

requirements of IDEA. In the two remaining major compliance areas, IEPs and protection in
9

evaluation, 44 percent of the states (n = 22) failed to ensure compliance with the former and 38

percent of the states (n = 19) failed to ensure compliance with the latter. 

Enforcement Authority

Currently, the U.S. Department of Education has neither the authority nor the resources to

investigate and resolve individual complaints alleging noncompliance. The Department does

consult with and share some of its enforcement authority with the U.S. Department of Justice

(DOJ), which has no independent litigation authority. Yet between the date it was given explicit

referral authority in 1997 and the date this report went to the printer, DoED had not sent a single

case to DOJ for "substantial noncompliance," and had articulated no objective criteria for

defining that important term. The Department of Justice, whose role has been largely limited to

participation as an amicus in IDEA litigation, does not appear to have a process for determining

what cases to litigate.

Overall Enforcement Action

Despite the high rate of failure to ensure compliance with Part B requirements indicated

in the monitoring reports for all states, only one enforcement action involving a sanction

(withholding) and five others involving imposition of "high risk" status and corrective action as a

prerequisite to receiving further funds, have been taken. The only withholding action occurred

once for a temporary period and was overruled by a federal court. Overall, the DoED tends to

emphasize collaboration with the states through technical assistance and developing corrective

action plans or compliance agreements for addressing compliance problems. There appear to be

no clear-cut, objective criteria for determining which enforcement options ought to be applied

and when to enforce in situations of substantial and persistent noncompliance.

Recommendations for Strengthening Federal Enforcement

NCD makes the following recommendations to strengthen the capacity of both the

Department of Education and the Department of Justice to more effectively enforce IDEA:
10

C Congress should amend IDEA to create a complaint-handling process at the federal level

to address systemic violations occurring in a SEA or LEA. Congress should designate

the Department of Justice to administer the process and allocate adequate funding to

enable the Department to take on this new role. This new federal complaint process

should be designed to complement, not supplant, complaint procedures and the due

process hearing at the state level. The federal process should be simple to use and easy

to understand by parents and students.

C Congress should amend IDEA to provide the Department of Justice with independent

authority to investigate and litigate cases brought under IDEA. The Department of

Justice should be authorized to develop and disseminate explicit criteria for the types of

alleged systemic violation complaints it will prioritize given its limited resources.

C Congress should include in the amendment that the Department of Education and the

Department of Justice shall consult with students with disabilities, their parents, and

other stakeholders to develop objective criteria for defining "substantial noncompliance,"

the point at which a state that fails to ensure compliance with IDEA’s requirements will

be referred to the Department of Justice for legal action.

C Congress should ask the General Accounting Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the

extent to which SEAs and LEAs are ensuring that the requirements of IDEA in the areas

of general supervision, secondary transition services, free appropriate public education,

procedural safeguards, and placement in the least restrictive environment are being met. 

In addition, the DoED Office of Inspector General (OIG) should conduct regular

independent special education audits (fiscal and program). The purpose of the audits

would be to examine whether federal funds granted under IDEA Parts B and D (State

Program Improvement Grants) have been and are being spent in compliance with IDEA

requirements. These audits should supplement OSEP’s annual compliance-monitoring

visits, and the audit results should be in DoED's annual report to Congress. To the

extent that the DoED OIG lacks the subject-matter expertise to conduct program audits

under IDEA, the OIG should contract with independent entities having such expertise

when a program audit is necessary.

C The Department of Education should establish and use national compliance standards

and objective measures for assessing state progress toward better performance outcomes

for children with disabilities and for achieving full compliance with Part B.
11

C The Department of Education should consult with students with disabilities, their parents

and other stakeholders in developing and implementing a range of enforcement sanctions

that will be triggered by specific indicators and measures indicating a state’s failure to

ensure compliance with Part B.

C When Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B, Congress and the President should appropriate at the same

time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total increase in Part B funding to be used to

build the Department of Justice’s and the Department of Education’s enforcement,

complaint-handling, and technical assistance infrastructure to effectively enable the

federal agencies to drive improvements in state compliance and ensure better outcomes

for children.

Personnel Training Needs

Regular and special education teachers in many states are frustrated by the mixed

messages regarding compliance from school administrators, local special education directors,

state oversight agents, school district attorneys, and federal oversight agents. Teachers

ultimately bear the responsibility to implement interventions and accommodations for students

with disabilities, often without adequate training, planning time, or assistance. They must

function within an educational system that often lacks adequate commitment, expertise, or

funding to deliver appropriate services to every child who needs them. School administrators,

special education directors, school principals, and agents of federal, state, and local governments

must stop working at cross purposes and commit to working together to resolve, not conceal or

ignore, these very real problems. If the Federal Government continues to refrain from taking

enforcement action in the face of widespread failures to ensure Part B compliance, this

atmosphere of questionable commitment to the civil rights of students with disabilities will

continue.

Advocacy Service Needs

Pervasive and persistent noncompliance with IDEA is a complex problem with often

dramatic implications on a daily basis for the lives of children with disabilities and their families.
12

Too many parents continue to expend endless resources in confronting obstacles to their child’s

most basic right to an appropriate education, often at the expense of their personal lives, their

financial livelihoods, and their careers. Students are frustrated&their skills undeveloped and

their sense of belonging tenuous. When informal efforts have failed to end unnecessary

segregation or inappropriate programming for individual children, many have used the rights and

protections afforded by IDEA to successfully challenge these injustices. Advocacy and litigation

have been essential to ending destructive patterns of recurring noncompliance. Litigation has

resulted in important victories for the children involved and better outcomes for other students

with disabilities by exposing and remedying systemic noncompliance with IDEA. Yet legal

services are often far beyond the financial reach of many families of students with disabilities.

 Children with disabilities and their families are often the least prepared to advocate for

their rights in the juvenile justice, immigration and naturalization, and child welfare systems

when egregious violations occur. Children with disabilities and their families who are nonEnglish speaking, or who live in low-income, ethnic or racial minority, and rural communities,

are frequently not represented as players in the process. These individuals must be included and

given the information and resources they need to contribute and advocate for themselves.

Recommendations for Training and Advocacy

Accordingly, NCD makes the following recommendations: 

C When Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B of IDEA, Congress and the President should appropriate at

the same time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total Part B increase to fund free or

low-cost legal advocacy services to students with disabilities and their parents through

public and private legal service providers, putting competent legal assistance within their

financial reach and beginning to level the playing field between them and their local

school districts.

C The Department of Education should give priority support to the formation of a

comprehensive and coordinated advocacy and technical assistance system in each state.

The Department should develop a separate OSEP-administered funding stream to aid
13

public and private advocacy entities in each state in collaborating to expand and

coordinate self-advocacy training programs, resources, and services for students with

disabilities and their parents throughout the state. Elements of the coordinated advocacy

and technical assistance systems should include:

C The availability of a lawyer at every state Parent Training and Information (PTI)

Center, a protection and advocacy agency, legal services, and independent living

center to provide legal advice and representation to students with disabilities and

their parents in advocating for their legal rights under IDEA.

C Self-advocacy training programs for students with disabilities and their parents

focused on civil rights awareness, education and secondary transition services

planning, and independent living in the community.

C The establishment of a national backup center with legal materials, training, and

other supports available for attorneys working on IDEA cases and issues at the

state level.

C Expansion of involvement by the private bar and legal services organizations in

providing legal advice to students with disabilities and their parents in

advocating for their legal rights under IDEA.

C Training in culturally sensitive dispute resolution to meet the needs of growing

populations of citizens from racial and ethnic backgrounds having diverse

traditions and customs. Multiple language needs and communication styles must

be accommodated in all training.

Full compliance with IDEA will ultimately be the product of collaborative partnership

and long-term alliances among all parties having an interest in how IDEA is implemented. For

such partnerships to be effective, all interested parties must be well prepared to articulate their

needs and advocate for their objectives. To that end, coordinated statewide strategies of selfadvocacy training for students with disabilities and their parents are vital. To make this happen,

NCD recommends the following:
14

C The Department of Education should fund additional technical assistance, training, and

dissemination of materials to meet continuing needs in the following areas:

C Culturally appropriate technical assistance, which should be available to ensure

that American Indian children with disabilities, their families, tribal leaders, and

advocates in every interested tribe can participate as full partners in

implementing IDEA in their communities. Culturally appropriate training and

technical assistance should be developed and delivered through the satellite

offices of newly created disability technical assistance centers (DBTACs)

managed and staffed primarily by Native Americans that serve American Indian

communities around the country.

C Training to enhance evaluation skills for parents to assess the effectiveness of

their states’ IDEA compliance-monitoring systems.

C Training of the appropriate agents (officials, advocates, and other stakeholders)

in the immigration and naturalization and child welfare systems in IDEA’s civil

rights requirements.

C Training of the appropriate agents (officials, advocates, and other stakeholders)

in the juvenile justice system in IDEA’s civil rights requirements, how they apply

within the juvenile justice system, and ways the law can be used to help minimize

detention of children with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.

A Six-State In-Depth Sample

NCD looked in depth at a sampling of six states, using the last three monitoring reports to

assess the compliance picture in those states over time. The first two of the monitoring reports

for these six states (covering a period from 1983–1998) included failure to ensure compliance

with a total of 66 Part B requirements. Only 27 percent (n = 18) of the 66 violations had been

corrected by the time of the third report. Based on the reported data, in 73 percent (n = 48) of the
***When no information was provided in a report about a particular requirement, it could

mean that the state was compliant, that there was a "single cite" instance of noncompliance, or

that compliance with the requirement was not monitored at all.

15

66 violations, either the six states still failed to ensure compliance or no compliance finding was

reported at all in the last monitoring report.*** 

To date federal compliance-monitoring and enforcement efforts have not fully dealt with

the root causes of widespread noncompliance, and children with disabilities and their parents

have suffered the consequences. This report details NCD’s findings and recommendations for

improving the effectiveness of federal efforts to ensure state compliance with IDEA and related

legislation. NCD calls on Congress and the President to work together to address the

inadequacies identified by this report so that children and families will have an effective and

responsive partner in the Federal Government when they seek to ensure that IDEA’s goals of

enhanced school system accountability and improved performance outcomes for students with

disabilities move from the language of the law to the reality of each American classroom. 

IDEA mandates that school systems respond to the needs of individual children with

disabilities, making education accessible to them, regardless of the severity of their disabilities. 

Teachers today know that education tailored to individual needs and learning styles can make all

the difference in the quality of a child’s learning, whether or not she has a disability. Very few

public schools consistently and effectively deliver this individualized approach for all children. 

Accordingly, many children fall through the cracks, as performance on achievement tests across

the nation demonstrates. Alternatives to traditional public education such as charter and private

 schools, as well as political calls for vouchers, indicate growing public dissatisfaction

with schools that do not educate all children effectively. IDEA calls for a responsive public

education system that meets the individual learning needs of students with disabilities. It also

contains a blueprint for the future of public education—where no child is left behind, and all
16

children have an equal opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills they need to fulfill their

dreams.

Ultimately, the enforcement of the civil rights protections of IDEA will make a difference

to every child, not only children with disabilities. At the national summit on disability policy

hosted by NCD in 1996, more than 350 disability advocates called for a unified system of

education that incorporates all students into the vision of IDEA. NCD’s 1996 report, Achieving

Independence, presents the outline of a system in which every child, with or without a disability,

has an individualized educational program and access to the educational services she or he needs

to learn effectively. IDEA leads the way in reshaping today’s educational system from one that

struggles to accommodate the educational needs of children with disabilities to one that readily

responds to the individual educational needs of all children.
17

Introduction

Background of This Report

Since the 1980s, NCD has commissioned a number of reports on the implementation of

IDEA and its impact on children with disabilities. These studies presented statistical and

qualitative findings on state and local implementation of IDEA from formal research projects,

scholarly publications, testimony from grassroots hearings, and input from national and state

advocacy organizations. The statutory framework of IDEA envisioned states as the primary

implementers of IDEA to ensure the protections of the law for children with disabilities. Yet the

findings in some of these reports suggested states were falling far short of meeting these

responsibilities. 

In 1996 NCD convened a diverse group of more than 350 disability community leaders

from across the country at a National Summit on Disability Policy. At the summit, members of

the education policy working group had summarized the state of enforcement of IDEA and other

civil rights laws related to education as follows:

Despite progress in the last decade in educating students with disabilities, current 

federal and state laws have failed to ensure the delivery of a free appropriate

public education for too many students with disabilities. Students with disabilities

often still find themselves in forced and inappropriate isolation, separated from

their nondisabled peers. In other situations, students with disabilities are in regular

classrooms with teachers with little or no training in how to educate students with

disabilities and without the supports they need. Lack of accountability, poor

enforcement, and systemic barriers have robbed too many students of their

educational rights and opportunities and have produced a separate system of

education for students with disabilities rather than one unified system that ensures

full and equal physical, programmatic, and communication access for all students.
18

Parents and students across the country express a high level of frustration with the

continued barriers they face to full participation and effective instruction.1

In addition, many advocacy organizations have reported numerous situations where

parents have been unable to secure appropriate educational services for their children. The

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and the National Association of

Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS) have represented such parents and families in court. 

Year after year their dockets have been replete with cases where students have not received the

free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment that the law envisions. 

Complaints and due process hearings have been pursued by parents in every state in the country

in hopes of ensuring that the promise of the law will become a reality for their children. 

(Appendix B provides a list of obstacles faced by students with disabilities and their families that

were intended to be addressed by IDEA.) Problems in all of these areas persist today.

The mandate of the 1996 summit and the above findings led to this study, which focuses

on the Department of Education’s roles, policies, and procedures related to enforcement and their

impact on states’ implementation and compliance with IDEA.

Purpose of This Report

This report focuses primarily on the enforcement mechanism, policies, and activities of

the Department of Education in relation to IDEA. Because of its integral relationship to

enforcement, our researchers carefully evaluated the Department of Education (DoED)

compliance-monitoring system in use at the time our research was conducted. In the fall of 1998,

however, after the major research for the report had been completed, the Department began

implementing a new continuous-improvement monitoring system. Unless stated otherwise, the

findings in this report on DoED’s compliance monitoring pertain to the system in effect from

1975 to the fall of 1998. Although the new system introduces new elements that deserve to be

evaluated on their own merit in a later study, it retains many strategies used in the old system.
19

The report also examines the relationship between the DoED and the Department of

Justice (DOJ) with respect to shared enforcement responsibility for IDEA. It also assesses the

selected technical-assistance and public-information materials developed or funded by the DoED

that are intended for students with disabilities, their families, and advocates. NCD assessed the

following specific areas:

C The effectiveness of the state monitoring and corrective-action processes in ensuring

compliance with IDEA.

C The utilization of sanctions for noncompliant states and the effect of such sanctions in

bringing about compliance.

C The utilization of high risk status, compliance agreements, and special conditions as

enforcement mechanisms.

C The utilization and effectiveness of the state complaint procedures.

C The utilization of litigation to enforce the law.

C The collaboration with the Department of Justice in enforcing IDEA.

C The utilization of the Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act of 1973) complaint process for

addressing IDEA/504 complaints.

C The perspectives of students with disabilities, parents, the Consortium for Citizens with

Disabilities, state special education directors, and other stakeholders in relation to IDEA

enforcement.

C The leadership effectiveness of DoED in ensuring compliance with the law and

addressing obstacles encountered in ensuring nondiscrimination against students with

disabilities in elementary and secondary education.

C The quality and availability of public information to students with disabilities, their

families, and advocates on the provisions of IDEA.

Report Structure

This report is presented in eight parts. Part I, “The Law, the Compliance/Enforcement

Scheme, and the Context,” considers the development of the original law, the Education for All

Handicapped Children Act, and its evolution over the past 25 years. It describes the past and

current need for the law and its regulations, the basic requirements of the law, and the issues
20

raised by the 1997 reauthorization. It presents a summary of the statutory framework for IDEA

enforcement, describing the compliance/enforcement scheme for IDEA and how the federal

enforcement mechanism is organized, including the Department of Education’s relationship with

the Department of Justice. It discusses the role of parent advocacy in driving enforcement

throughout the last two decades. And finally, it gives a brief overview of the DoED’s

enforcement activity and offers findings and recommendations.

Part II, “Grassroots Perspectives on Noncompliance and Federal Enforcement of IDEA,”

discusses the experiences and perspectives of students with disabilities, their families, and

advocates on enforcement.

Part III, “Grant Administration, Compliance-Monitoring, Complaint-Handling, and

Enforcement Functions,” describes the processes in place within the Department of Education

that are intended to carry out these functions and the extent to which they are utilized. This part

includes a discussion of the grant-making, oversight (including federal monitoring and complaint

processes), and enforcement activities related to IDEA. It offers a description of the funding

vehicles, monitoring activities, complaint-handling functions, and enforcement activities of the

Department and presents an in-depth analysis of the 50 most recent monitoring reports issued by

the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), along with a summary of the noncompliance

findings throughout the country. Appendix G provides a state-by-state summary of

noncompliance findings from the most recent monitoring reports. In addition, an analysis of state

findings addresses the extent to which states that are out-of-compliance come into compliance

over time. Various perspectives on the impact of compliance monitoring are discussed. 

Appendix H contains an overview of the new continuous monitoring system that replaces the

monitoring system studied in this report. Findings and recommendations are provided following

the major sections of this part. 

Part IV, “The National Compliance Picture Over Time: Analysis of Annual Reports to

Congress 1978–1998,” considers how the Department of Education has described its
21

monitoring/compliance functions over time and how it has presented its monitoring/compliance

results. Findings and recommendations are presented.

Part V, “IDEA Litigation Challenging State Noncompliance,” summarizes three cases in

which states have developed new approaches to compliance monitoring that are now being

tested. Findings and recommendations are offered.

Part VI, “The Role of the Department of Justice,” describes the functions of the

Department of Justice in relation to IDEA and provides a list of IDEA litigation that the

Department has been involved in since the enactment of the law in 1975. Findings and

recommendations are offered.

Part VII, “Improving Public Awareness: Technical Assistance and Public Information for

Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Advocates,” reviews the technical assistance and

public information materials the Department of Education funds or provides to these target

audiences. Findings and recommendations are offered.

Part VIII, “Summary and Conclusions,” completes the report with a summary of the study

and our conclusions.

Scope of This Report

While this report addresses federal enforcement of IDEA carried out by DoED, it does

not cover several significant aspects of implementation or enforcement. Specifically, it does not

analyze due process procedures and private litigation, which are important IDEA enforcement

mechanisms available to students, parents, and families, except as they relate to the federal

enforcement mechanism. The report does not assess the performance of local education agencies

(LEA) in implementing the requirements of IDEA, but does discuss findings on LEA compliance

published in the Department of Education’s monitoring reports evaluating state monitoring and

enforcement efforts. The report does not attempt to assess the individual state complaint systems

that are required to be available to parents in each state. Nor does it address the activities of the
22

federally funded protection and advocacy systems (P&As) in representing thousands of parents in

IDEA administrative procedures and litigation every year and in every state,2 although it briefly

discusses P&As’ technical assistance activities. 

This report briefly examines the overlapping enforcement within the Department of

Education of IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II, and Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act. Data about complaints received under Title II and Section 504 were collected

and analyzed, and the findings appear in Appendix I. However, a full examination of federal

enforcement of education-related Title II and Section 504 requirements is beyond the scope of

this report. 

Enforcement Research Perspectives

IDEA enforcement activities are considered from two perspectives. The whole agency

approach examines the effectiveness of the DoED and all its components in achieving the

enforcement objectives for which it is responsible. The whole law approach considers the overall

effectiveness of DoED’s external coordination and collaboration (i.e., interagency, with private

organizations and with other levels of government) in achieving the enforcement objectives of

the law.

Research Methodology

Several research approaches were used to conduct this study, namely (1) archival

analysis, involving 62 OSEP Monitoring Reports, 19 Annual Reports by the Office of Special

Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to Congress, and Office for Civil Rights (OCR)

complaint data reviews; (2) qualitative analysis involving more than 25 interviews with DoED

representatives, 14 interviews with state parent advocates representatives, and at least six

interviews with representatives from various other national and state advocate constituencies; (3)

a national town hall meeting with about 100 participants representing students with disabilities
23

and parents from around the country; and (4) legislative analysis of IDEA and related legislation.

The research activities for this study included the following:

C Identifying the functions and organizational components of federal enforcement activities

in the U.S. Department of Education.

C Identifying, collecting, and analyzing material related to IDEA compliance monitoring

and enforcement including the most recent monitoring reports for all states; all

monitoring reports and corrective action plans in the possession of the Department of

Education for six states (Oregon, Texas, California, Vermont, New York, and Illinois);

enforcement and compliance correspondence between the DoED and states.

C Collecting and analyzing information related to state applications for IDEA Part B

funding and enforcement activities that have flowed from that application process.

C Collecting information related to the general complaint process and the secretarial review

process in DoED’s Office of Special Education Programs.

C Collecting and analyzing Section 504 complaint data from the DoED’s Office for Civil

Rights.

C Collecting and analyzing annual reports to Congress and the President on IDEA from

1978–1998 to gain a historical perspective of how the federal monitoring and

enforcement role is depicted for the public over time.

C Identifying, collecting, and analyzing information on DoED’s IDEA public information

activities.

C Conducting interviews with the responsible agency staff to understand the monitoring

process and departmental functioning in relation to enforcement.

C Conducting interviews with staff in the Department of Justice responsible for IDEA

litigation and gathering information about that litigation.

C Analyzing interactions and interrelationships of enforcement functions and their net

impact in addressing noncompliance;

C Reviewing and evaluating of overall enforcement operations in light of the requirements,

legislative history, and judicial interpretations of the law.

C Identifying issues and areas for improvement in the enforcement mechanisms and

operations (e.g., gaps, duplication, overlaps, inconsistencies, and inadequacies).

C Conducting interviews with parents, advocates, and a representative of state directors of

special education to discern their views of federal monitoring and enforcement of IDEA.

C Deriving conclusions and developing recommendations for the entire analysis.
24

C Consulting with stakeholder consultants on key findings and recommendations.

C National town meeting of students with disabilities, parents, and stakeholders for their

input on report findings.

In summary, this report is intended to provide a picture of the status of the enforcement

mechanism, including monitoring, related to IDEA in the Federal Government. It also presents

an overview of the technical assistance information available to parents and families of children

with disabilities that is funded by the Federal Government. The report considers how monitoring

and enforcement activities have been carried out since the law’s inception in 1975, and provides

recommendations for improving federal compliance and enforcement efforts to support

improvement of educational outcomes for students with disabilities.
25

I. The Law, the Compliance/Enforcement Scheme, and the Context

A. Introduction

In enacting P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (later

renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA),3

 Congress sought to end the

long history of segregation and exclusion of children with disabilities from the American public

school system. In the past three decades, this landmark legislation has yielded great progress in

securing the educational rights of more than 5 million children with disabilities. Despite

controversies in implementation, the law’s assurance that a free appropriate public education

must be available to all students with disabilities, no matter how significant their disability, has

become a hallmark of education policy in the United States. 

IDEA’s mandates are complemented by two other key disability rights statutes, Section

504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,4 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act

(ADA).5

 Together, these three laws form the nondiscrimination framework for children with

disabilities in public schools. IDEA applies to states as recipients of federal grants to be used in

providing and administering special education for children with disabilities; Section 504 applies

to all entities, including schools, that receive federal funds. Public school systems must comply

with the ADA in all their services, programs, or activities (readily accessible to and usable by

individuals with disabilities), including those that are open to parents or to the public.6

 Both

IDEA and Section 504 require schools to make a free appropriate public education (FAPE)

available to every child with a disability—regardless of the nature or severity of the disability—

in the least restrictive environment (LRE). (See discussion below for further definition of FAPE

and LRE.)

In enacting these laws, Congress attempted to address the longstanding discrimination

faced by children with disabilities in the U.S. They have faced the same obstacles to full

participation in public education as have other minority groups seeking to ensure their rights.
26

Introducing a bill on January 20, 1972, to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities,

Senator Hubert H. Humphrey (D-MN) told the Senate:

“I introduce...a bill...to insure equal opportunities for the handicapped by prohibiting

needless discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance....

The time has come when we can no longer tolerate the invisibility of the handicapped in

America.... These people have the right to live, to work to the best of their ability—to

know the dignity to which every human being is entitled. But too often we keep children

whom we regard as ‘different’ or a ‘disturbing influence’ out of our schools and

community activities altogether.... Where is the cost-effectiveness in consigning them to...

‘terminal’ care in an institution?”7

Senator Humphrey told Congress, “[M]ore than one million children are denied entry

into public schools, even to participate in special classes.” Before special education became

available, children with disabilities were routinely warehoused in institutions, and if they were

provided any education at all, it was often inferior and in separate facilities apart from their peers

without disabilities.8 Children with disabilities were often considered uneducable, disruptive, and

their presence disturbing to children and adults in the school community.

By the early 1970s, parents of children with disabilities in 26 states had initiated litigation

asserting their children’s right to attend public schools under the 14th Amendment of the U.S.

Constitution and the same equal protection arguments used on behalf of the African American

school children in Brown v. Board of Education9

 in 1954. Two of these cases, Pennsylvania

Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Mills v. Board

of Education of the District of Columbia10, resulted in consent decrees that outlined the basic

constitutional principles of the right to an appropriate education in the least restrictive

environment for all children with disabilities and the procedural scheme that would later become

federal law. Finally, in 1975, recognizing that the problem required a national solution, Congress

passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
27

Throughout the history of the struggle for equal educational rights, the parents of children

with disabilities have fueled and guided special education reform. In 1981, six years after

enactment of IDEA, the following letter was written by a parent to express her view on the

prevalent practice of segregating children with disabilities in separate “handicapped-only” classes

and schools despite the Act’s mandate that requires placement in the least restrictive

environment:

“We are the parents of children attending Cameron School for Physically

Handicapped students in El Cerrito, California, in the Richmond Unified School District.

For all our children’s school lives, they have had little or no opportunity to interact with

their nondisabled peers.

Segregated education is but another form of institutionalization, which we view as

extremely detrimental to the growth and development of disabled and nondisabled

children alike.”11

The asserted reasons for segregating children with disabilities in educational settings—

that a wheelchair is a fire hazard, that a child’s IQ renders her uneducable, and the like—do not

reveal the true basis for excluding them. The true basis is the expectation that the children will

become dependent adults, unable to contribute to society. This view makes their childhood

education seem futile—they will be dependent no matter how good their education. Compounded

by widespread discrimination, inaccessible buildings, inaccessible transportation, and lack of

adequate support services, these stereotypes were the reason for severely restricted options

available to children and adults with disabilities and promoted segregated and inferior

education.12

The inherent inequality of separate education and the permanent damage it inflicts were

recognized by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. In this unanimous decision,

Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote:
28

“To separate [children] from others of similar age and qualifications solely

because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community

that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone....

We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but

equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”13

He further wrote that public education prepares children for economic and social

participation in society:

 “[Education] is a principal instrument for awakening the child to cultural values,

in preparing him for later...training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his

environment. It is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if

he is denied the opportunity of an education.”14

Education prepares children for their adult roles. Expecting children with disabilities to

remain dependent throughout their lives, at least until 1975, was our national policy. State

governments and local schools routinely excluded them from public education entirely,

warehoused them in institutions, and provided them with inferior and separate education. Even

when a child with a disability received sufficient elementary and secondary education to proceed

to college, higher educational opportunities often remained limited by low expectations of future

adult roles.

B. Basic Requirements of IDEA

IDEA is a complex statute, divided into Parts A, B, C, and D. Part A contains general

provisions, including the findings and purposes of the law, the goals for the law, and definitions

of terms used throughout the Act. It also clarifies the procedures regarding the U.S. Department

of Education’s use of policy letters and other correspondence. Part B, “Assistance for Education

of All Children with Disabilities” describes how the Federal Government provides funding to 

assist the states in making available a free appropriate public education and carrying out the
29

purposes of the Act, how the state education agencies (SEAs) supervise and monitor

implementation, and how the SEAs and local education agencies (LEAs) must make available a

free appropriate public education to students with disabilities ages three through 21. Part B also

lays out the basic rights and responsibilities of children with disabilities and their parents. Part C,

“Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities,” describes the program for addressing the needs of

infants and toddlers ages birth to three years old. Part D, “National Activities to Improve

Education of Children with Disabilities,” authorizes discretionary programs related to state

improvement (i.e., for improving teacher preparation and credentialing or improving results for

children with disabilities in geographic areas of greatest need). This report focuses primarily on

Department of Education (DoED) enforcement of Part B.

IDEA sets forth a comprehensive scheme for ensuring two basic substantive rights of

eligible children with disabilities:15 (1) the right to a free appropriate public education, and (2)

the right to that education in the least restrictive environment. The body of the law delineates a

procedural framework to ensure these two substantive rights. Appendix C provides an overview

of the basic rights and requirements: (1) free appropriate public education (FAPE), (2) least

restrictive environment (LRE), (3) parent and student rights, (4) child-find, (5) evaluation

procedures, (6) individualized education program (IEP), and (7) procedural safeguards. Three of

those requirements—FAPE, LRE, and IEP—are briefly described below.

IDEA defines FAPE as special education and related services that meet the standards of

the state education agency and are provided at public expense. These include appropriate

preschool, elementary school, and secondary school education. The education is to be provided

in accordance with the child’s IEP, as described below. FAPE, for each child, is defined by that

student’s IEP.

IDEA mandates that students with disabilities be offered special education and related

services in the least restrictive environment appropriate for the individual child with a disability.

LRE is the environment that provides for maximum interaction with nondisabled children
30

consistent with the disabled child’s needs. This is the key substantive right of children with

disabilities under IDEA and is often considered the linchpin of IDEA. It is sometimes called the

“integration mandate.” Every step away from the regular classroom must be accompanied by a

compelling educational rationale, in light of the law’s preference for educating children with

disabilities in the regular classroom alongside their nondisabled peers. 

The IEP is the centerpiece of IDEA. Parents use this tool to ensure that an appropriate

program is developed to meet their child’s unique needs. The IEP is a written statement that

must contain specific information about the child’s educational needs, levels of performance,

annual goals, short-term objectives, and special education and related services and supplementary

aids and services to be provided to the child. The IEP must explain the extent to which the child

will not participate with nondisabled children in regular classes and include, among other

elements, a statement of the child’s transition needs beginning when the child reaches age 14 and

a statement of how the child’s progress toward annual goals will be measured. The IEP is

developed, reviewed, and revised during meetings that include a representative of the school or

agency, the child’s teacher, the child’s parents, the child (if appropriate), and other individuals

who have knowledge or special expertise at the request of the parent or education agency.

C. Scope of IDEA

IDEA and the corresponding regulations set forth a comprehensive federal commitment

to guarantee FAPE is made available in the least restrictive environment to each child with a

disability regardless of the nature or severity of the child’s disability. The statute and regulations

apply to every state that receives federal funds under IDEA. Under the law, the Office of Special

Education Programs (OSEP) is charged with ensuring implementation of the law through

monitoring and enforcement activities. Within each state, IDEA applies to many overlapping

entities, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) the state education agency, (2) all

political subdivisions involved in the education of children with disabilities, (3) local and

intermediate educational agencies, (4) other state agencies such as departments of mental health,
31

which provide educationally related services to children with disabilities, (5) state schools for

deaf and blind children, and (6) state correctional facilities.

IDEA applies to all public agencies that receive “direct or delegated authority to provide

special education and related services in a state that receives funds under Part B,” even if an

agency receives no federal funds under Part B.16 Further, any public agency that refers a child to a

private program must ensure that the child’s rights are protected in that setting.17

The SEA in a given state has the ultimate responsibility for educating children with

disabilities in that state. SEAs and school districts that cannot provide all related services or

special education classes, however, may contract with other organizations. Also, they may enter

interagency agreements with other agencies—a state department of health, for example—to

provide certain services on a statewide basis. Interagency agreements spell out several things—

each agency’s responsibility, the methods of payment, etc.

D. Legislative History

Congress first enacted IDEA in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act

(EHA), P.L. 94-142.18 The law was intended to address numerous well-documented problems

facing children with disabilities, which are detailed in Appendix B. EHA guaranteed all children

with disabilities, ages three through 21, the right to FAPE in the LRE consistent with that goal.

The first regulations implementing the EHA went into effect in 1977, adding requirements such

as time lines for due process procedures. Although Congress has amended IDEA several times

since 1975, most key provisions have not changed. Hence, current policy is guided by case law

interpreting statutory provisions from the various versions of IDEA.

Early in his administration, President Reagan targeted IDEA for deregulation. After

issuing draft changes to the IDEA regulations, the administration encountered tremendous

opposition in hearings conducted by the DoED and in the extensive media attention they
32

garnered. When opponents of the draft changes sent 30,000 letters to the White House, the

Reagan Administration decided to leave the regulations in place.

In 1986, Congress enacted the Handicapped Children’s Protection Act (HCPA)19 in

response to the Smith v. Robinson20 Supreme Court decision. Among other things, HCPA added

an attorney fee provision to IDEA, bringing special education up to par with other civil rights

statutes and allowing parents who prevail in due process hearings and court to be reimbursed for

their attorneys’ fees. Also in the mid-1980s, Congress added an early intervention program

known as Part H for infants and toddlers and their families.

In 1990, Congress amended the statute and crafted the statutory name used in this report

—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. The regulations were

correspondingly changed to reflect the statutory changes. Substantively, the 1990 changes were

limited. Among the changes were the addition of separate categories for autism and traumatic

brain injury, and the addition of transition services to the IEP requirements for children 16 years

old and up, or younger if appropriate, who are preparing to leave school because of graduation or

age.21

E. Reauthorization of IDEA 1997

Shortly after 1990, two issues fueled special education changes: inclusion of children

with disabilities into regular classrooms, and school violence. In the late 1980s and early 1990s,

several court decisions led to an increase in the integration or inclusion of children with

disabilities into regular classes and schools.22 These inclusion cases strongly affirmed the

preference in the law for educating children with disabilities in regular classes with support

services, alongside their nondisabled peers. Around this same time period, several notorious

incidents of school violence occurred in various parts of the country. In response to the increased

integration of children with disabilities into regular public schools and classrooms, some blamed

these children for the increase in disruptive and violent behavior in schools, despite the lack of

any data substantiating that they were involved in these incidents. A prominent teachers’ union
33

and school board organization subsequently lobbied Congress to revisit the issues of integration,

disruption, and discipline. Some members of Congress responded by proposing substantial

changes to IDEA during the process of reauthorizing the law in the early and mid-1990s. Parents

and advocates for children with disabilities viewed these proposed changes very negatively and

deeply resented what they considered the “scapegoating” of children with disabilities. To the

credit of the current administration, both the President and the DoED continuously resisted

pressure from members of Congress and powerful lobbying interests to compromise the intent of

IDEA to ensure FAPE for every child.

Judith E. Heumann, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services within the Department of Education (OSERS), made every effort to

redirect the debate into positive change and improving results for children with disabilities. For

several years, however, most of the debate in Congress continued to focus on the issue of

discipline. Some members of Congress wanted to allow teachers and schools to exclude children

simply for being “disruptive,” whether or not the schools had adequately addressed the child’s

needs. Again, these proposals were viewed by parents as manifesting outright hostility toward

children with disabilities and they vigorously opposed them. Special education for children with

disabilities in adult prisons also became a controversial point in the congressional debates as

some members of Congress sought to eliminate the right of incarcerated youth to receive special

education services.

During the reauthorization, many parent leaders did not call for changes to IDEA, but

rather for full implementation and enforcement of the law. In the view of many of these parents

and advocates, the law itself needed no improving. Rather, widespread and pervasive

noncompliance with the law needed to be corrected. Parents were highly critical of DoED and the

state departments of education for failing to live up to their enforcement responsibilities.

In 1997, Congress finally reauthorized IDEA in the IDEA Amendments of 1997, Public

Law 105-17 or IDEA ’97, which President Clinton signed into law on June 4, 1997. This
34

reauthorization launched the second generation of statutory development. For the first time since

1975, significant changes were made to the law while retaining its basic protections. The 1997

additions were intended to clarify, strengthen, and provide guidance on implementation of the

law based on two decades of experience.23

The congressional statements prefacing the amended Act describe its new emphasis on

educational results and improved quality of special education and regular programs and services:

“Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential

element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full

participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals

with disabilities.

[T]he implementation of this Act has been impeded by low expectations, and an

insufficient focus on applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching

and learning for children with disabilities.

Over 20 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of

children with disabilities can be made more effective by—

(A) ...ensuring their access in the general curriculum to the maximum

extent possible;

(B) strengthening the role of parents...;

(C) coordinating this Act with other... service agenc[ies]... and... school

improvement efforts in order to ensure that such children benefit from such

efforts and that special education can become a service for such children rather

than a place where they are sent;...
35

(D) supporting high-quality, intensive professional development for all

personnel who work with such children in order to ensure that they have

the skills and knowledge necessary [to teach them effectively].”24

In keeping with these articulated purposes, several important themes are woven

throughout the new law:

C The LRE requirements are maintained and strengthened in many references to educating

children with disabilities alongside children without disabilities.

C Children with disabilities must have an opportunity to be involved in and progress in the

general curriculum. New IEP provisions reflect this emphasis.

C The rights of parents to be involved in educational decisions affecting their

children—including eligibility and placement decisions—are reinforced and strengthened.

C Challenging behavior is best approached proactively through the use of functional

behavioral assessments, and positive behavior strategies, interventions, and supports.

C Children with disabilities must be included in state- and districtwide assessment

programs.

C There is a results-based approach to special education; the state must establish

performance goals and indicators to measure and report progress.

C State and local agencies are to engage in systemwide capacity building, linking student

progress with school improvement.

In the area of discipline, in the spirit of compromise, some changes were made to the law

to give school officials greater flexibility in dealing with children with disabilities involved with

weapons, drugs, and behavior that could cause serious injury. On the other hand, schools are

directed in IDEA ’97 more proactively to address challenging behavior problems rather than
36

excluding or punishing children with disabilities because of misbehavior, especially misbehavior

caused by their disabilities.

The years of controversy preceding reauthorization were marked by protracted and

contentious debate, grassroots organizing, congressional hearings, and involvement by every

conceivable “stakeholder.” IDEA nevertheless survived an intense and prolonged period of bill

introductions and amendments in the House and Senate, and of direct and active involvement of

organizations representing teachers, parents, psychologists, related service providers, local and

state boards of education, school administrators, and various other interest groups. Tools for

enforcement were explicitly added to the law. The law that emerged from this process was, for

the most part, strengthened and revitalized.

F. Statutory Framework for IDEA Enforcement

The overall purpose of IDEA is, 

“To assure that children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate

public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed

to meet their unique needs and..., to assist states, localities, educational service

agencies, and federal agencies to provide for the education of all children with

disabilities...”25

This section describes the overall compliance and enforcement mechanism, including the

statutory roles of the DoED, the SEAs, and the LEAs. The informal role of parents as enforcers

of IDEA in relation to the federal and state agencies is also discussed, as well as a brief overview

of the history of federal enforcement action. 

1. The Compliance/Enforcement Scheme for IDEA

The IDEA compliance/enforcement scheme was created to address both systemic and

individual compliance problems. Activities take place in three separate arenas: (1) the Federal
37

Government, (2) the state government, and (3) the due process/judicial system. In the first arena,

the Federal Government initiates action; in the second arena, it is the state government; and in

the third arena, it is parents of students with disabilities. It should be noted that the compliance/

enforcement scheme for IDEA is different than that for other civil rights laws. The key difference

is the lack of an individual federal complaint system under IDEA. Such a system is the key

enforcement mechanism for other civil rights laws, such as the ADA and Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act. The IDEA compliance/enforcement scheme is depicted in Table 1 below:

Table 1: The Three Prongs of the IDEA Compliance/Enforcement Scheme

1. Federal Government

Role

2. State Government Role 3. Due Process/

Judicial Role for

Parents

Approve/disapprove state

eligibility documents

Ensure that IDEA requirements

are met in the state

Procedural safeguards in law

Monitor states/issue reports

detailing noncompliance

Determine eligibility of local

education agencies (LEAs)

Mediation (if this option is

chosen by complainant) 

Provide technical assistance to

states

Monitor LEAs for compliance Impartial hearing

Develop and ensure

implementation of Corrective

Action Plans

Establish and maintain complaint

system for parents

Appeal of hearing

Designate states as "high risk with

special conditions" or require

compliance agreements

Withhold funds from

noncompliant LEAs

Civil action in court

Withhold funds (total or partial)

from state for substantial

noncompliance

Technical assistance to LEAs

Refer state to Department of

Justice for substantial

noncompliance

Ensure qualified personnel,

personnel standards, and

comprehensive system for

personnel development

Complaints to SEAs

Review complaints Obtain corrective action plans

from LEAs

Collaborate with the Office for

Civil Rights on 504/ADA/IDEA

overlap

Designate LEAs as high risk

subgrantees. 

Enter into compliance agreement

with state

Audit LEAs for compliance.
1. Federal Government

Role

2. State Government Role 3. Due Process/

Judicial Role for

Parents

38

Cease and desist action

Audit states for compliance

Federal Government activities, the first prong of the compliance/enforcement scheme,

are the focus of this study and will be described throughout the body of this report. State

government activities, prong two, will be addressed only to the extent that the Federal

Government monitors whether the state carries out these responsibilities. For example, in the

section on federal monitoring, states are shown to be in or out of compliance with the general

supervision requirements, indicating whether the state is carrying out its function of ensuring that

LEAs comply with the law. The law gives states the responsibility for ensuring that IDEA’s

requirements are carried out in the states. In theory, the Federal Government is ensuring that the

SEA is performing that function. Thus, the federal DoED is monitoring the SEA in much the

same way that the SEA is monitoring the LEA.

This study does not attempt to discern the extent to which states withhold funds from

LEAs. (Withholding of funds from LEAs, however, does come up in this report when it discusses

the Federal Government’s determination that an SEA is out of compliance because it is not

withholding LEA funds.) Also beyond the scope of this study is an analysis of complaints

received by states from parents. In fact, it is unclear as to whether such an analysis would be

possible because states are not required to submit such information to DoED. 

The third prong of compliance/enforcement, due process and use of the judicial system

by parents and advocates, will not be addressed in this report, except in the context of federal

monitoring to ensure that states are following the due process requirements of the law, such as

notifying parents of their rights under the law and establishing an impartial hearing process. The

due process/impartial hearing system is a vital component of the enforcement scheme, providing

parents with specific procedural safeguards when disputes arise with school districts. This due

process scheme has produced court cases that go on to address significant policy issues under
39

IDEA. The body of impartial hearing decisions in every state is not considered by this report.

Furthermore, it is doubtful whether such a consideration could occur because data about these

decisions exist only at the state level and are not compiled nationally. Furthermore, states vary in

the extent to which they gather and analyze such information.

It is critical for the reader to keep in mind that all three prongs together constitute the

overall compliance/enforcement scheme of IDEA, since only Federal Government activities are

the focus of this report. An examination of all three prongs, which is beyond the scope of this

study, is necessary for a complete picture of IDEA enforcement. However, state enforcement

activities are touched upon indirectly in this report’s analysis of the federal monitoring reports. 

The analysis provides a national picture of the variability of state compliance with IDEA (see

Part III). The role of private litigation (third prong) is also briefly discussed in the context of its

impact on state monitoring efforts (see Part V).

2. Background and Enforcement Philosophy

The Federal Government was always intended to play a critical role in monitoring and

enforcing IDEA. The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH) within the Office of

Education in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, was the first federal entity

responsible for administering the law. When the law was passed in 1975, the Bureau was charged

with monitoring the states’ implementation of the Act while the states were charged with

monitoring the local school districts’ implementation of the Act.

Acknowledging that the Education for All Handicapped Children Act “represents the

most important legislation for the handicapped ever passed” (1979 Annual Report to Congress—

Introduction), the BEH had established a monitoring system by 1976. The monitoring system

included a Program Administrative Review (PAR), or monitoring site visits. By 1978, every state

had been visited at least once by BEH, and a few had been visited twice. BEH issued monitoring

reports and worked with states, just as OSEP does today, to develop corrective action plans to

address areas of noncompliance.
40

When the DoED was established in 1980, the Office of Special Education and

Rehabilitative Services was created. OSERS was given the responsibility, which it retains today,

for administering the law (now IDEA).

DoED has been monitoring states and states have been monitoring local education

agencies since the mid-1970s as intended by law. As part of its responsibility for the

administration of IDEA, DoED has been issuing monitoring reports that detail state

noncompliance and deficiencies for more than 20 years. 

IDEA is a unique law in that it is a blend of a civil rights law and a state grant program.

The DoED administers both of these types of laws, but separately. Generally, the Office for Civil

Rights (OCR) in the Department of Education administers the civil rights laws, as described

below, but it does not administer IDEA. The other divisions of the DoED administer state grant

programs, research programs, demonstration programs, teacher training programs, student loan

programs, etc. Indeed, the core activity of the DoED is the administration of educational funds.

Unlike some other agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the

Department of Justice, its core activity is not civil rights enforcement. Civil rights enforcement is

a secondary task of the DoED; its primary activities are programmatic.

Generally, the stakeholders for civil rights laws are quite different from the stakeholders

for grant programs. The major stakeholders for civil rights laws are those protected by the laws

and their advocates; in the case of IDEA, children with disabilities and their families and

advocates. The major stakeholders for state grant programs are generally the recipients of the

funds (state and local education agencies in the case of IDEA) and professionals who provide the

services. Sometimes there is tension between these two groups, whose perspectives on the

purpose of the law may be at odds, leaving the administering agency in the difficult position of

being in the middle. While the state is the partner of the Federal Government in delivering

educational services, it may also be the target of enforcement actions. Such an internal conflict is
41

not present in the administration of most other civil rights laws, where the federal role is solely

one of enforcing the rights of the protected group.

In recent years, OSEP has used the grant administration process as an informal means of

civil rights enforcement. During 1990s, OSEP imposed “high risk status” on six states for failure

to correct findings through federal monitoring of noncompliance with IDEA. Correcting the

noncompliance was the “special condition” for continued eligibility to receive federal funding

under IDEA for the next funding period. These informal actions eventually escalated to formal

actions to withhold federal funds from two states that were persistently out of compliance.

These actions, taken against Virginia and Pennsylvania, were met with opposition from

political leaders of those states. In the case of Virginia, when the DoED attempted to withhold

funds because of noncompliance, the entire Virginia delegation and the governor wrote to the

Secretary of Education requesting that he release the funds. In the case of Pennsylvania, four

members of Congress requested that the Secretary reconsider his “high risk status” determination

of the state and instead provide technical assistance. (See Appendix D for copies of the letters.) 

Secretary Riley did not withdraw the DoED’s actions in response to the strong political pressure.

Concern about lax federal enforcement of IDEA, nonetheless, has been raised

intermittently over the years. During the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA, many parents expressed

strong doubts about the effectiveness of the monitoring process, calling for no change in the law

and for full implementation and enforcement. Such concerns prompted Congress to clarify and

restate enforcement authorities in IDEA ’97. IDEA ’97 explicitly authorized the Department of

Education to refer noncompliant states to the Department of Justice.26 OSEP also can withhold

funds in whole or in part from states, based on the degree of noncompliance found.27 (The former

law was interpreted to preclude partial withholding of funds and allow only total withholding of

funds, unless the noncompliance was limited to particular LEAs.) The House Committee Report

accompanying IDEA ’97 acknowledges these concerns and sets out a clear expectation that the

Secretary will fully utilize these explicit authorities to enforce the law.
42

“The Committee recognizes and fully expects that the Secretary will

utilize the broad enforcement authority available for ensuring compliance with

and implementation by state educational agencies....The Committee expects the

Secretary to initiate actions to ensure enforcement, including the re-examination

of current federal monitoring and compliance procedures to improve the

implementation of the law, and a subsequent annual report to Congress, which

evaluates the impact of the improved procedures on compliance. The Committee

also expects that the Secretary’s re-examination of current enforcement

procedures will place strong emphasis on (1) including parents in the state

monitoring process, (2) focusing monitoring efforts on the issues that are most

critical to ensuring appropriate education to children with disabilities, and (3)

timely follow-up to ensure that a state has taken appropriate actions to

demonstrate compliance with the law.”28

The final regulations restating DoED’s enforcement options (referral to the Department

of Justice and partial withholding of funds), became effective in May 1999, but DoED has

developed no guidelines on specific conditions in which they should be used.29

The organization of the DoED in carrying out its enforcement role is described in the

following section.

3. The Federal Role - Delegation of Responsibilities

The Department of Education is headquartered in Washington, DC, where it employs

approximately 3,600 people. In addition, DoED has 10 regional offices with 1,300 employees. 

Regional offices have no special education staff and thus no designated responsibility for IDEA

monitoring or enforcement. They play a central role in the enforcement of Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act, however, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. All

IDEA monitoring and enforcement functions are performed by Washington, DC, staff.
43

Appendix E presents the organizational structure of the Department of Education in

Washington, DC. The boxes that have an asterisk represent the offices at the agency having

IDEA-enforcement responsibilities. OSERS, also in Washington, is the principal office charged

with implementing and carrying out IDEA and provisions concerning the education of children

with disabilities.30 Their roles and responsibilities are described below.

a. Office of the Secretary

The Secretary of Education holds ultimate authority and accountability in DoED for the

implementation of all federal education laws. Under IDEA, the Secretary of Education 

(“Secretary”) is responsible for issuing regulations,31 allocating funds among the various states,32

determining eligibility for funds,33 and assessing the adequacy of eligibility documents

demonstrating implementation of the statute (i.e., policy and procedure documents).34 The Office

of the Secretary is involved in all significant policy decisions related to IDEA and is informed of

any developments related to IDEA that may become controversial.

Additionally, the Secretary is required to assess the progress in the implementation of

IDEA, including the effectiveness of state and local efforts to provide a free appropriate public

education to children with disabilities.35 To underscore DoED’s responsibility to monitor and

enforce implementation of the Act, the law clarifies DoED’s authority to invoke sanctions

against noncompliant states. In general, whenever the Secretary finds:

(A) “that there has been a failure by the state to comply substantially with any

provisions of this part, or 

(B) that there is a failure to comply with any condition of an LEA’s or state

agency’s eligibility... including the terms of any agreement to achieve compliance

with this part within the time line specified in the agreement, 
44

(C) the Secretary shall... withhold, in whole or in part, any further payments to

the state under this part, or refer the matter for appropriate enforcement action,

which may include referral to the Department of Justice.”36

Withholding “in part” and referral to the Department of Justice were clarified in IDEA

’97 as explicit enforcement options available to DoED in the event of noncompliance by the

states.

In relation to the enforcement of IDEA, the Secretary’s office becomes involved

whenever an activity is above and beyond the routine. For example, whenever an enforcement

action is taken, such as the initiation of a compliance agreement with a state or withholding of

funds, the Secretary’s office is involved. The Office of the Secretary has a very specific function

in relation to withholding of funds. A state is entitled to request a hearing on a withholding of

funds decision with a hearing officer, such as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) appointed by

the Secretary. If the state is displeased with the decision of the ALJ, it may appeal to the

Secretary for a final determination. Such an appeal has occurred only once in the history of

IDEA enforcement&in July 1995 with the state of Virginia. (See Part IV below.)

b. Office of General Counsel and Relationship with the Department of

Justice

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) provides legal advice to all divisions of the

Department of Education, including those involved with the implementation of IDEA. Six

divisions and one unit constitute the OGC. The Educational Equity and Research Division

provides legal advice related to IDEA, all other programs administered by OSERS, other equity

oriented programs (such as bilingual education) and laws administered by the Office for Civil

Rights, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The OGC has a staff of 113, of whom 86

are attorneys. Approximately 13 full-time equivalent (FTE) attorneys are assigned to the

Educational Equity and Research Division. Of those, about four have responsibility for IDEA.
45

The OGC performs four main functions in relation to IDEA enforcement. First, it

coordinates with OSEP in the review of all state applications for funding. Second, it reviews all

state monitoring reports written by OSEP. Third, it supports OSEP on any enforcement actions

related to IDEA, including determinations of "high risk" status for a state, developing

compliance agreements with states, denial of funding applications, withholding of funds, and

"cease and desist orders." (While the Department has the authority to utilize "cease and desist"

orders to enforce IDEA, it has never done so.) Fourth, the OGC takes the lead in interacting with

the Department of Justice on IDEA cases and issues.

The 1997 amendments to IDEA explicitly authorize the Department of Education to refer

noncompliant states to the Department of Justice for investigation, litigation, or both. While the

Department of Education has likely always had this authority, the 1997 amendments make such

authority explicit and statutory.

The OGC, in conjunction with OSERS and OSEP, collaborates with the Department of

Justice when IDEA matters are in federal court or the Supreme Court. When the state of

Virginia took the Department of Education to court (see explanation of Virginia case below), the

Department of Justice represented DoED. In some circumstances, the two agencies have worked

together to write amicus briefs or to develop an argument in relation to a case or an issue. In

consultation with the Department of Education, the Department of Justice considers cases that

have been brought to its attention by the public (see Part VI below).

c. Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), which will

administer an $8.1 billion budget for FY ’99, is the second largest office in the U.S. Department

of Education. Only the Office of Postsecondary Education is larger. At a $5.3 billion FY ’99

appropriation, IDEA is by far the largest of the programs administered by OSERS. OSERS

employs a staff of 36037 and is made up of three offices: the Rehabilitation Services

Administration (RSA), the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
46

(NIDRR), and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). OSEP administers IDEA.

NIDRR administers parts of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act and the Assistive Technology

Act. RSA administers most of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act.

The vision and mission statements of OSERS articulate the organizational philosophy

and outlook shaping its policies and activities. OSERS’ vision statement expresses its overall

purpose and how it intends to achieve that purpose: "OSERS will aggressively and

collaboratively work to create a society in which all disabled people can obtain the knowledge

and skills necessary to achieve the goals they set for themselves." The mission statement

articulates OSERS’ role in bringing about the vision: "The mission of OSERS is to provide

leadership to achieve full integration and participation in society of people with disabilities by

ensuring equal opportunity and access to and excellence in, education, employment, and

community living."

The organizational role and functions of OSEP, the office primarily responsible for the

day-to-day activities of administering IDEA, are described in the following section.

 d. Office of Special Education Programs/Monitoring and State Improvement

Planning Division

OSEP administers the $5.3 billion appropriated for programs authorized by IDEA.38 Of

this $5.3 billion, $4.1 billion funds the Part B Grants to States program. Between 1996 and

1998, this program has grown almost $2 billion, or 85 percent. 

OSEP was reorganized in January 1998, and employed 120 staff at the time of the

interview for this report. In addition to the Office of the Director (OD) and the Support Team,

OSEP comprises two divisions: the Research to Practice Division (RTP) and the Monitoring and

State Improvement Planning Division (MSIP). The OD coordinates all policy, provides
47

leadership to OSEP’s activities and to the field of special education, and is the home of the

Federal Interagency Coordinating Council. The RTP division administers the discretionary

programs authorized by IDEA. It is organized into four teams: Early Childhood; Elementary and

Middle School; Secondary transition and Post-Secondary; and National Initiatives. The MSIP

division carries out activities related to Part B and the preschool and early intervention formula

grant programs of IDEA. MSIP is responsible for review and approval of state eligibility

documents, monitoring the formula grant programs, and providing leadership in improving state

structures and systems of education for infants, toddlers, children, and youth and their families.

MSIP has a staff of 45 organized into four units&the Office of the Division Director,

Team A, Team B, and Team C. There are six individuals in the Office of the Division Director,

13 on Team A, 15 on Team B, and 11 on Team C. The Office of the Division Director has three

key functions: (1) administer the State Program Improvement Grants (discretionary grants to

states for systemic change activities related to improving performance of children with

disabilities, education personnel development, and other initiatives related to meeting the

requirements of IDEA), (2) develop policy in areas related to the division’s activities, and (3)

manage audit resolutions (including Inspector General (IG) audits and General Accounting

Office (GAO) reports). In addition, the Office of the Director develops a chapter for the Annual

Report to Congress, provides support for monitoring, and coordinates and collaborates with other

relevant federal entities.

Not all of the people on each team participate in monitoring activities. Of the 39

individuals on teams, approximately 22 of them are monitors for the Part B state grant program.

The smallest number of monitors employed at DoED in the past decade was nine.39

Each of the three Monitoring and State Improvement Planning Teams is responsible for a

range of activities in 18 to 20 states and entities. The key responsibilities of these teams are to

review state eligibility and recommend approval or disapproval for grant applications, monitor

states, and provide or coordinate technical assistance for states. Monitors are assigned as the key
48

state contact person for three to four states. Appendix F provides a detailed description of the

responsibilities of the Monitoring and State Improvement Planning Teams.

e. Office for Civil Rights/U.S. Department of Education

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the Department of Education has no responsibility

for enforcing or monitoring IDEA. The nature of its authorities, however, as described below,

leads it to be involved in issues that are also IDEA issues. OCR was included in this study

because complaints and issues brought to OCR may at times overlap with those raised under

IDEA.

The Office for Civil Rights is charged with enforcing federal civil rights laws that

prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age in

programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. Two of those laws prohibit

discrimination on the basis of disability&Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Section 504 prohibits disability discrimination by any

recipient of federal funds, such as local school districts. Title II of the ADA prohibits disability

discrimination by public entities including public school districts, public colleges and

universities, public vocational schools, and public libraries, whether they receive federal funds or

not. Most of OCR’s enforcement activities take place in the 12 regional offices throughout the

country.

OCR carries out its responsibilities in two primary ways&by responding to complaints

and conducting compliance reviews. OCR receives about 5,400 complaints per year. More than

half of these are Section 504/ADA complaints (see discussion on Complaint Handling in Part IV

for an analysis of these complaints, which may overlap with IDEA). OCR works with the

involved parties to resolve complaints. OCR may initiate compliance reviews, which allows it to

target resources on compliance problems that appear acute, national in scope, or newly emerging.

An advantage of a compliance review is that it may result in policy or program changes that

benefit large numbers of students, whereas an individual complaint may benefit only the
49

complaining party. OCR has the authority to withhold federal funds from entities, such as local

school systems, found to be violating Section 504.

OCR has conducted compliance reviews on minority students in special education, and

has provided technical assistance under Section 504 and Title II of ADA regarding discipline of

students with disabilities. In addition to providing technical assistance on making FAPE

available to students with disabilities in correctional facilities, OCR and OSEP have collaborated

on cases involving students with disabilities in correctional institutions.40

The potential overlap in authorities between OCR and OSERS has long been

acknowledged by both offices. Because of concerns about lack of coordination and potential

duplication of efforts, OCR and OSERS developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in

1987.41 The MOU outlined how the two offices will share information about potential 504/IDEA

violations. Processes for joint review of eligibility documents and complaints were outlined. 

Joint activities, including investigation of education agencies, issuance of findings, negotiation

of remedies for violations found, monitoring of compliance plans, and enforcement proceedings

were authorized. Since the MOU, OCR and OSERS have carried out some of these authorized

activities in New York, Mississippi, Nevada, the Virgin Islands, Arizona, and Florida.42 OCR

and OSEP appear to be developing an increasingly productive relationship as well based on

coordination and collaboration. OCR and OSEP have drafted joint letters about overlapping

issues. OCR reported that it provides OSEP with its compliance monitoring docket for the year

so OSEP will know what school districts OCR is investigating and why.43 OSERS reported that 

as part of its pre-site monitoring activities, it requested Section 504 agreements from OCR for a

particular state. OCR reported coordinating with OSEP on disability cases and meeting with

OSEP quarterly to share information about the respective offices’ activities. Both offices have

conducted training for staff in the other’s office.44

f. Office of the Inspector General
50

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is charged with reviewing audits performed by

states to ensure that their expenditure of Part B IDEA state grant funds is consistent with the

requirements of the law. OIG also investigates allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse, and can

independently audit states to verify that federal funds have been used appropriately. Such

independent audits have uncovered instances of abuse resulting in repayment by the state of all

misappropriated or misspent funds. In 1991, OIG challenged the child count submitted by 

Pennsylvania in December 1990. Ultimately, DoED and Pennsylvania agreed that the child

count should be adjusted downward from 195,607 to 190,771. As a consequence,

Pennsylvania’s Part B award, on or about July 1, 1991, was adjusted downward by $1,928,016.45

4. State Education Agencies (SEAs)

Within the states, Congress placed the ultimate responsibility for reaching the goal of

making FAPE available for each child with a disability with the state educational agency, stating

that “the state educational agency is responsible for ensuring that:

(i) the requirements of this subchapter are met; and

(ii) all educational programs for children with disabilities in the state, including all

such programs administered by any other state or local agency—

(I) are under the general supervision of individuals in the state who are

responsible for educational programs for children with disabilities; and

(II) meet the educational standards of the state educational agency.”46

To be eligible for federal funds to assist with the education of children with disabilities

the SEA must submit documentation to the U.S. Department of Education for approval,

detailing the state’s policies and procedures assuring compliance. Once approved, new

submissions to DoED are required only when changes to a state or federal law, policy, or
51

procedure impact the approved policies and procedures. In part, these documents must

demonstrate the state’s assurance that:

“[A] free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities

residing in the state between ages three and 21, inclusive...”47

“To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities... are educated

with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other

removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs

only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in

regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved

satisfactorily.”48

“Children with disabilities and their parents are afforded the procedural

safeguards required by Section 1415 of this [Act].”49

Additionally, the SEA’s eligibility documents must show (1) that funds received under

IDEA will be expended in accordance with provisions of the Act;50 (2) that the state has a

comprehensive system of personnel development designed to ensure an adequate supply of

qualified special education, regular education, and related services personnel,51 how the state

acquires and disseminates to teachers, administrators, school board members, and related

services personnel, significant knowledge derived from educational sources,52 and how the state,

where appropriate, adopts promising educational practices, materials, and technology;53 and (3)

that the SEA regularly evaluates the effectiveness of IDEA programs and services in meeting the

educational needs of children with disabilities.54

5. Local Education Agencies (LEAs)

In order to receive IDEA funding from the SEA, a local education agency must

demonstrate eligibility to the SEA.55 The LEA is required to provide assurance to the SEA that

policies and procedures are established and administered in accordance with the SEA’s
52

responsibilities outlined in the law.56 Thus, an LEA, as a recipient of federal funds, must provide

assurance that all children with disabilities residing within its jurisdiction will be identified,

located, and evaluated for special education and related services and that all children in the

district are provided FAPE in the LRE.57

In the event that an LEA fails to comply with IDEA requirements, the SEA “shall reduce

or not provide further payments to the LEA... until the SEA is satisfied that the LEA... is

complying with that requirement.”58 Furthermore, if the SEA determines that the LEA is “unable

to establish and maintain programs of free appropriate public education that meet the

requirements of the Act,” it must use the funds that would otherwise go to the LEA to provide

the necessary services directly to the children with disabilities.59

IDEA’s implementing regulations also require SEAs to adopt procedures for filing,

investigating and resolving complaints, including a determination of whether IDEA requirements

were violated and procedures for ensuring effective implementation of the SEA’s final written

decision.60

6. The Unofficial Role of Parents as Enforcers of IDEA

Under IDEA, parents have a private right of action, or right to go to court, to enforce their

children’s rights under the statute. However, because of the individualized nature of the law and

the requirement that parents exhaust administrative remedies before a court can review an

alleged failure to provide FAPE, it is sometimes difficult to address systemic problems through

individual litigation. Nevertheless, litigation brought by parents has become a critical

enforcement mechanism through judicial interpretations of the law and in relief obtained through

class actions to redress systemic problems. As detailed in Part V, recent cases in three states

have directly challenged those states’ monitoring deficiencies and other systemic problems.

G. A Brief Overview of Federal Enforcement Action
53

In the 25-year history of IDEA, the use of formal enforcement actions involving sanctions

to address state failures to ensure compliance with IDEA has been very limited. Since June,

1997, when Congress clarified the enforcement options of permitting partial withholding of

federal funds or referral to the Department of Justice, the Department of Education has used

neither of these options. The Department of Education has exercised its authority only once to

withhold IDEA funds to address noncompliance by a state (Virginia 1996). The issue in the

Virginia case was the state’s policy permitting cessation of all educational services for children

with disabilities who were suspended or expelled. OSEP policy was that cessation of services is

not permitted under IDEA. Cessation of services means that students no longer receive any

education or related services from the education system, not even home instruction.61

The U.S. Secretary of Education ruled that Virginia’s entire annual IDEA grant—$60

million—could be withheld based on the state’s refusal to provide FAPE to suspended or

expelled children. Virginia appealed the Secretary’s decision in federal court. The Fourth Circuit

Panel agreed with OSEP that Virginia’s policy was in violation of IDEA. Virginia appealed this

ruling to the full Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc, which reversed the circuit court

panel decision on this issue. Virginia permanently lost this debate, however, when Congress

subsequently amended IDEA with a “no cessation of services” provision that ensures school

districts provide FAPE to children with disabilities even during suspension or after expulsion.62

OSEP has more often used informal mechanisms to secure changes in state operations

through negotiations over the approval of state policy and procedures documentation. For

example, in 1980, OSEP’s predecessor, the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH),

delayed plan approval in California because policies and procedures regarding occupational

therapy and physical therapy related services and the state’s complaint process failed to comply

with the law. This delay was spurred on by an organized grassroots parent complaint strategy in

California. As a result, California’s Department of Education made substantial changes in the

noncompliant areas.
54

More recently, as discussed later in this report, OSEP made determinations of high risk

status or applied requirements for compliance agreements to six different states/entities. In order

to address persistent noncompliance with Part B of IDEA, Puerto Rico was and California, New

Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia now are under such

scrutiny. With the exception of Puerto Rico, these informal enforcement actions are recent. The

compliance agreement entered into by Puerto Rico appears to have had some effect in correcting

conditions of noncompliance. At the time of this writing, it is too soon to tell how effective the

other compliance agreements will be in compelling compliance.

H. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # I.1

The effectiveness of DoED’s internal coordination among the various offices and teams

involved in IDEA implementation and enforcement is unclear.

OSEP is responsible for IDEA compliance monitoring and enforcement consulting with

several other offices within the Department of Education as needed. Within OSEP, the close

integration of enforcement responsibility with responsibilities for state grant administration,

compliance monitoring, technical assistance, and program improvement can lead to conflicting

internal objectives. There appears to be no process for assessing whether the current approach to

internal collaboration has helped or hindered IDEA enforcement. 

Recommendation # I.1

The Department of Education should assess whether its current internal organization and

division of IDEA grant administration and enforcement functions/responsibilities effectively

supports the Department’s goals to correct persistent state noncompliance.

OSEP, OCR, and perhaps OGC should further articulate the objectives of their joint

activities in relation to the enforcement of IDEA, Section 504, and Title II of ADA and describe
55

the specific mechanisms and divisions of responsibility they have developed to implement each

objective. In addition, OSEP and OCR should evaluate the effectiveness of their current

collaboration for improving compliance monitoring and enforcement of IDEA. 

Finding # I.2

The Department of Education’s mechanisms for external coordination and collaboration to

better implement and enforce IDEA need to be evaluated. 

Recommendation # I.2

The Department of Education should also articulate the objectives and mechanisms for

collaborating with other government agencies (i.e., the Department of Justice and the

Department of the Interior) on the enforcement of IDEA and evaluate their effectiveness on

an ongoing basis. At least every two years, DoED’s annual report to Congress should report

on the effectiveness of these mechanisms and the agencies’ progress toward meeting their

collaboration objectives.

Part II presents the experiences and perspectives of some students with disabilities,

parents, and advocates in their struggle to realize the promises of the law.

57

II. Grassroots Perspectives on Noncompliance and Federal Enforcement of IDEA

A. Obstacles Experienced by Students with Disabilities and Their Families

Almost a quarter century following the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Act

(IDEA), students with disabilities and their families still commonly face obstacles to securing the

free appropriate public education (FAPE) that the law promises. The impact of noncompliance

with IDEA is difficult to overestimate. Every Parent Training and Information (PTI) center in the

country hears daily about the toll taken on students whose educational and related services needs

are not being met and on the parents who expend incredible amounts of energy advocating for

basic access to educational programs for their children. Appendix B provides a general list of the

obstacles faced by students with disabilities and their families that were intended to be addressed

by IDEA. Problems in all of these areas persist today.

The experience of many parents gives the impression that compliance with the law is the

exception rather than the rule. Parents frequently face repeated challenges year after year,

sometimes throughout the entire elementary and secondary educational experience of the child.

The stress of working with a recalcitrant school system that appears to not want to work with a

parent to educate a disabled child can be tremendous. The recent controversy over the discipline

provisions in IDEA has fueled special education cases related to suspension and expulsion of

students.

The following situations are examples of what many students and families in this country

experience when working with special education systems. These experiences demonstrate that

even the most basic promises of the law are too often not being met.

1. Noncompliance with Least Restrictive Environment

In California, a first-grade student with significant mental impairments was placed in the

regular classroom for the full day. The school district thought that the placement was wrong for

the student and claimed that she was not receiving academic benefit from her placement. In
58

addition, the district held that the girl’s presence had a detrimental effect on her teacher and

classmates. A hearing officer determined that the regular classroom was indeed the correct

placement for the girl and outlined appropriate supports that had to be provided. The school

district appealed the decision. Eventually the girl’s family moved to a neighboring district and

enrolled the child in a regular education class there, where she is doing well.63

In another situation, in Indiana, a student who is blind sought to attend his local school. 

The school district required the child to travel 25 miles away from home to a residential school

for the blind to receive the educational services he needed. A hearing officer determined that the

child must be served in his home school, which is the least restrictive environment. The school

district has appealed the ruling.64

In New Jersey, a very bright elementary-age child with dyslexia was in a resource room

several periods a day. In more than two years she had not shown progress in reading. Her parents

sought training for the teachers on how to best instruct children with dyslexia in reading. The

school system responded by seeking to place the child in a self-contained classroom. The school

contended that it teaches all children to read by the same method. The parents prevailed in court

and were awarded instructional compensation for the child over the summer.65

These situations, all related to the “least restrictive environment” mandate, persist case

after case and year after year despite repeated rulings for integrated placements. In one of the

best known cases, Rachel Holland and her family spent five years fighting in court for her right to

be educated in a regular classroom. The school district in California insisted that Rachel, then a

seven-year-old girl with mental retardation, be educated in a separate special education

classroom. Her parents held that she should be educated in a regular classroom with support. In

1992, the district court ordered an aide and special education consultant to work part-time with

Rachel’s teacher and held that she should be placed in a regular classroom. The school district

appealed this decision all the way to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case, thus

affirming the lower court’s decision. Rachel and her parents were engaged in pursuing their
59

child’s right to an integrated education for more than five years. For two of those years, they

were in a position of defending against appeals by the school system. During the pendency of the

case, the Hollands placed Rachel in a regular private school, at their own expense, where she was

in a regular classroom with supports. She continues to thrive today in a regular public education

classroom.66

2. Noncompliance with Free Appropriate Public Education

A special education student in East Palo Alto, California, Empris Carter, is not receiving

the education and related services she requires. She and her family are embroiled in a lawsuit

with the school district over her services. She may be speaking for many of the nation’s special

education students as she reflects on her situation as follows:

Early in the game I discovered that many of my

teachers felt that I was a nice, respectful, and

intelligent young girl. However, they had some

doubts about my capabilities and immediately

began to label and set limits on my future role in

society. Instead of helping me to find ways to

learn, they moved me to a special class where kids

were not expected to learn. I would get angry

about their doubts and my self-esteem was low.

My mother would fight back with encouraging

words and my self-esteem would rise again. After

being encouraged by mother’s words, I again

realized that I am the key person in my future.

Learning comes easy for some and is more

difficult for others. Education plays a major role

in everyone’s future. I, Empris Carter, have a
60

place in the future. In order for me to function

properly and be able to contribute something

positive to our society, I, too, must have the

opportunity to receive the best education

possible.67

Saundra Lemmons, a 17-year-old high school student and basketball champion in

Washington, DC, told her story to politicians in February 1999.68 Lemmons was misdiagnosed as

mentally retarded in the first grade and for years was improperly placed. While she has language

processing problems, she never received speech and language therapy. Teachers allowed her to

pass from grade to grade as “a gift.” Finally, during the 1998–99 school year, Lemmons began

receiving speech and language therapy. She hopes to play basketball in college, but fears that her

low academic skills will prevent her from succeeding in life. After 12 years in special education,

she has reached only a fourth-grade reading level. “The school system has not given me what I

needed,” she said. “I feel as though no one really cares. If they did care, I would be reading a lot

better,” she added.

Cases related to suspension and expulsion are increasing. In New Jersey, a middle school

student was receiving special education because of multiple disabilities, including behavior

problems. After an incident in the classroom where the child threw something (not harming

anyone) and tipped over a chair, the child was suspended and then expelled and placed on home

instruction. The child is currently in a self-contained setting in a different school district. The

child did not have a behavioral plan as part of his Individualized Education Program (IEP), nor

has he had a functional behavioral assessment.69 In Delaware, parents successfully challenged a

school district’s failure to provide special education services to students with disabilities who are

expelled.70

Parents have a reasonable expectation that the federal and state agencies charged with

monitoring and enforcement will do their jobs. But as these cases demonstrate, parents
61

throughout the country cannot be sure that the rights of their children are protected in school

districts and states. Noncompliance in many states is still too common, even after more than two

decades of implementation.

The following section discusses the experiences of parents and others in their roles as

advocates in obtaining services and supports under IDEA for children with disabilities.

B. Advocacy Perspectives

1. Parent Advocates Working with PTI Centers 

This section highlights major themes and concerns raised by 14 parents of children with

disabilities from nine states who were specifically interviewed for this study. A number of these

parents were also directors of Parent Training and Information centers in their states. They were

chosen because of their active involvement with and knowledge about federal monitoring and

enforcement of IDEA in their states before 1999 and because they represented a geographic range

of states. The parents interviewed were from California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New

York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont. The National Council on Disability

(NCD) made connections with most parents through the network of PTIs across the country.

While this was clearly not a representative sample of parents, their insights offered a valuable

perspective on the monitoring and enforcement of IDEA. Because several of these parents

expressed concern about having their identities disclosed in the report, NCD has chosen not to

attribute remarks to individual parents.

Their concerns were echoed by many of the parents and others who attended the NCDsponsored Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act sponsored by NCD in Washington, DC, on September 22, 1999. Their comments are

highlighted to underscore concerns raised throughout this section.

a. Parental Involvement and Communication with OSEP
62

Most of the parents interviewed commended the current administration of OSEP for their

concerted effort to solicit information and input from parents. They cited improved coordination

and collaboration with OSEP monitors in recent years, and appreciated the opportunity to

contribute to the monitoring process. This sentiment, however, was not shared by all parents.

Several parents, especially those at the NCD Town Meeting, expressed continued frustration over

OSEP’s failure to facilitate parental input and participation.

“Parents are disenfranchised. .... with minority parents, particularly, the

information is not disseminated. We have not been included certainly in the

monitoring process in Texas. And I’m just wondering what kind of effort is

going to be made to include those really, truly minority grassroots programs

and parents working in these communities, and visible to the school districts. 

They know who we are. We’re not getting the information, so it needs to come

from maybe another source other than the school district.” - Parent from

Texas on the failure to involve parents, especially in minority communities, in

monitoring IDEA71

Other barriers to meaningful parental involvement in the monitoring process cited included the

following:

* Approximately one-half of the parents interviewed said that notification of public

meetings came too late for them to notify and organize other parents to testify. These parents

would like to be notified several months in advance of the meeting.

“.....in the state of Maryland, we were not notified of the meeting. ...The only

parents that showed up were the ones that found out secondhand.” - a parent

from Maryland on the invitation to public participation in the monitoring

process72
63

* Three parents specifically mentioned that the presence of district representatives

instructed to take notes at the public meetings heightened fears that school districts would

retaliate against their children. Several of the PTI directors underscored this admission by

commenting on parents in their states who were reluctant to testify at the meetings for fear of

retaliation. 

* Parents from the rural areas said that the burden of traveling to the meetings can be

prohibitive and expressed frustration that their school districts are commonly overlooked in the

monitoring process.

* The PTI directors reported that many of the parents in their states were frustrated that

monitoring has not led to more comprehensive enforcement of IDEA or improvement in the

education of their children, and therefore believed that it was a waste of time to testify at the

public meetings.

b. Monitoring reports

i. Acquisition of reports

Our interviews found that the distribution of final monitoring reports to parent advocates

was highly inconsistent. Some of the PTI directors interviewed said that they never received a

copy of the monitoring reports, which contributed to their feelings of being excluded from the

monitoring process and deprived of feedback. Those who did receive the reports commended

OSEP for their improved speed of publishing and disseminating copies to parent and advocacy

organizations.

ii. Quality of reports

Of the parents who did receive the monitoring reports, many found them useful in holding

their states accountable and pressuring them to improve compliance. One parent, however,

criticized the reports as “poorly written, giving SEAs and LEAs room to discredit the reports and
64

the federal monitoring.” She explained that the findings of the reports are presented in a way that

they “appear anecdotal and are easily dismissed by states and districts.” She was further

concerned that the organization of the monitoring reports and data were not standardized. From

her perspective, a standardized approach to presenting data in the reports would allow a

comparison of basic findings on the same requirements for the same and different states, as well

as a comprehensive national picture of IDEA compliance, to emerge over time. The current

method of presenting data in different formats from one monitoring cycle to the next undermines

the credibility and impact of the monitoring findings.

c. Evaluating the Monitoring Process and Corrective Action

i. “Just going through the motions”

Without exception, the parents felt that there was no clear nexus between monitoring and

enforcement. One parent from Illinois commented:

“OSEP monitors did paint a very accurate picture of what was going on [in the

state]. But, that’s where it broke down. The same districts are cited for the same

violations year after year, and there are no consequences for noncompliance,

no incentives to do good.”

This concern over the apparent lack of consequences and enforcement as a result of the

monitoring process was undeniably the strongest and most common concern expressed by parent

advocates who were interviewed.

“I’ve turned green when somebody says we’re going to do technical assistance

[to remedy noncompliance]. For 24 years this has been the law. How much

technical assistance do we do? What does it take until you get it? Our kids are

only in school until 21 but we’ve got 24 years of technical assistance. Come on,

guys. I want to see accountability. You deliver the mail or you don’t get the
65

money!” - parent from Florida on the minimal impact of technical assistance

on correcting noncompliance in her state73

ii. An unrepresentative picture of compliance in rural and larger

states

The PTI directors from larger or more rural states were concerned that the design of the

monitoring process, which relies on snapshots of circumstances in a handful of schools and

districts to get a representative picture of the whole state, was less effective in soliciting input

from stakeholders or getting an accurate picture of special education in their districts and states,

and overlooked many rural districts.

iii. Tension between federal law and state autonomy

Parents in a number of states felt that school administrators in their states and districts

were hostile to IDEA and didn’t take it seriously. One parent advocate from California explained

that “simply by being there and throwing their weight around, [the federal monitors] promote

change.” Other parents felt that the monitoring visit was beneficial because it provided a model

of effective monitoring procedures for SEAs. They expressed the need for OSEP to convey the

seriousness of monitoring and compliance to the local districts.

“Noncompliance occurs at the school site level, at the district level, and at the

state level, and if all levels are not monitoring and ensuring, it cannot fall on

the backs of parents to remedy. You have to take out some of those states or

districts and then start setting an example.” - Parent from California on the

need for DoED to change its heavy reliance on parent enforcement of IDEA74

iv. The need for ongoing, targeted monitoring

Several of the PTI directors were concerned that the four-year cycle employed by OSEP

failed to direct the monitoring process and resources appropriately. They suggested that it be
66

supplemented with, or replaced by, more ongoing and “target-driven” monitoring, an approach 

OSEP is attempting to implement in its new monitoring system. In their view, if a state is failing

to ensure compliance with the law, OSEP must continue to monitor it, applying pressure and

offering assistance until compliance is achieved. Along these lines, parents favored ongoing

monitoring, technical assistance, and follow-up visits. One parent explained, “The federal

monitors come in and say that a state or district is doing it wrong and then they leave without

providing real support or follow-up. These states and districts need more guidance in

implementing an enforcement plan.”

One parent suggested, “We need incentives for those who are doing it right and have

promising practices, and ongoing technical assistance for those who aren’t.”

d. Corrective Action Plans

All of the parents NCD spoke to reported that there was little or no parental involvement

in the corrective action plans (CAPs). One parent expressed concern that because every state has

a CAP, its potential for facilitating compliance may be significantly limited. She explained that

when her state is confronted with a report showing noncompliance, “the first question that the

state asks is how many other states are out of compliance. When the answer is all of them, it

seriously weakens the ... incentive to do something about it.”

e. The Need to Create Consequences

Most of the parents were extremely frustrated by the lack of enforcement and skeptical as

to when they would see full implementation and enforcement of the law. Several have urged

OSEP to find a way to create sanctions that would improve accountability and compliance. At the

same time, however, they were conflicted over whether to withhold funds. Some parents felt that

it was crucial that OSEP exercise this enforcement mechanism and put some power behind the

law, while others feared that this would only harm the students that IDEA is meant to serve.

They clearly expressed their sense of urgency about the need to follow through:
67

“Currently there are no administrative standards or accountability. Monitoring is okay,

but how do we take it to the next step? We’ve got to hit them in the pocketbook. There are

consequences of noncompliance for our kids, and there should be consequences for the districts.”

“There is no enforcement, no teeth. It’s like making the speed limit on the highway 55

mph but taking away all of the police. Why do we have laws if no one is going to follow them?”

“It’s a good law, make it work!”

f. Monitoring at the State Level

There was widespread agreement that effective monitoring at the state level has been

hindered by state reform initiatives and budgetary cutbacks that leave SEAs with a lack of staff

and resources to perform adequate monitoring of local districts. A number of parents felt that the

Federal Government needs to convey the importance of monitoring and enforcement to the state

and local leaders and provide technical assistance to increase compliance. A handful of parents

reported that their states conducted partial monitoring of districts that had received an unusual

number of complaints and suggested that OSEP institute this practice on the federal level.

“Our constituency [children with disabilities] is not a strong constituency. It is

not sexy to be for us. ....Teachers get their marching orders from principals,

who get their marching orders from boards of education who respond to state

legislatures...... It’s got to be okay for a teacher to say okay, I will take a risk. 

For a principal to say, I’ll take a risk..... If the state legislatures and the

governors do not take that kind of stand, I’m sorry, folks, it’s not going to

happen. It hasn’t happened in 20 years and it’s not going to happen now. .. So,

..it is a political reality of [OSEP] approaching a legislature, of approaching

governors and saying, ‘Hey, guys, unless you give real credence to what we’re

doing, this is not going to happen no matter how many millions of dollars we

filter down to you.”- Parent from Florida on the need for OSEP to educate

state legislatures about persistent noncompliance and its impact75
68

In recognition that the IDEA amendments of 1997 will require a concerted effort to fully

implement the law and enable federal and state monitoring to truly achieve full compliance, the

National Parent Network on Disabilities (NPND) (an organization that comprises Parent Training

and Information centers around the country) has recommended the establishment of a “People’s

Monitoring and Compliance Project.” This proposed project to promote greater grassroots

involvement in monitoring would gather information about the status of monitoring, develop a

report, transmit it to the Congress and the Administration, request oversight hearings in the

Congress, request that the Secretary of Education set up a monitoring committee to report to him

or her, and establish and convene a legal advocacy group. This project is still under development

at NPND.76

2. Other Parent Advocates

Some parents report situations of systemic noncompliance. In Georgia, Linda Sheppard,

the executive director of Parents Educating Parents and Professionals, reports that at least three

counties in the state outright refuse to serve students with learning disabilities under IDEA. She

notes that despite repeated complaints, school districts take the attitude of “go ahead and try to

make me” serve learning disabled students. Sheppard also notes that this deficiency was cited in

a federal monitoring report; however, it took the state two years to respond to the report because

extensions continued to be granted. According to Sheppard, this lack of service to learning

disabled students has persisted for at least five years and is growing worse. One result is students

with learning disabilities are not learning to read, are becoming frustrated, and are increasingly

dropping out of school.

Another concern cited by Sheppard is the racial discrimination faced by students with

disabilities in southern Georgia. She notes that children who are African-American in south

Georgia are too frequently labeled as behavior disordered or mentally retarded and then served in

separate settings. There is one program that serves three- and four-year-old African-American

children in a separate setting, she notes.77 Reports from New Jersey also indicate that students
69

with disabilities who are racial minorities are more likely to be in separate settings than those

who are not racial minorities.78

3. Advocates for Children in the Juvenile Justice System, Minority and Rural

Communities

In addition to the testimony of parents, special education advocates attest that

inappropriate placement in separate settings and a lack of services for children with disabilities

served in regular classrooms persist in many areas. Testimony of parents at public hearings,

consultation with special education advocates serving rural, Native American, and other minority

communities around the country, as well as studies by various government and advocacy

organizations indicate that minority students are disproportionately represented in separate

educational settings.79 

“...there is a very big need on our reservation to have monitoring of our school

districts. We’ve made it very clear to them that we have a need, that there are

problems in our education system, and our children are not getting IDEA

implemented there. And we’re told by our district people that ‘yes, we agree

there is a problem.’ Well, where do we go after we get the acknowledgment and

there’s nothing done about it?” - a Native American parent from Montana80

Other studies find that minority children are over-represented in institutions such as

detention and correctional facilities where access to appropriate educational services is

inadequate to nonexistent. That is especially problematic considering that 40 percent of youth

held in detention are estimated to have some form of learning disability.81

The students whose stories and situations discussed above are just a few among many

whose special education needs were not or are not now being met in their state educational

systems. 
70

C. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # II.1A

The ongoing struggles of many students with disabilities, their parents, and advocates to

obtain services under IDEA leaves them with the impression that the Federal Government

is not enforcing the law effectively.

Finding # II.1B

As a result of 25 years of nonenforcement by the Federal Government, parents are still a 

main enforcement vehicle for ensuring compliance with IDEA.

Recommendation # II.1A

The Department of Education must exercise leadership in enforcing the law, with parents as

partners and resources in carrying out their enforcement mandate.

Recommendation # II.1B

The Department of Education should publicly articulate and implement an enforcement

philosophy and plan that includes the strategic use of litigation and administrative sanctions.

When noncompliance is not corrected within the agreed upon time frame, the Department of

Education should aggressively enforce the law, using clearly defined appropriate sanctions to

improve accountability and achieve compliance with the law.

Finding # II.2

Parents have identified a number of obstacles to their participation as full partners in the

IDEA monitoring and enforcement processes:

C Parents have not been invited consistently to be involved in the monitoring process,

and, if invited, have not consistently been given an opportunity to be heard.
71

C Parents are not knowledgeable enough about either the requirements of IDEA or

the monitoring and enforcement processes.

C The presentation of compliance information in the monitoring reports is inconsistent

from one monitoring period to the next, making evaluation of improvements over

time difficult.

The recommendations below address how some of these obstacles can be corrected.

Recommendation # II.2A

OSEP should encourage the involvement of students with disabilities and their parents as

resources to improve monitoring.

Parents stressed that they and their children have the “frontline” experience and expertise

with the districts in their states and would like increased involvement in directing the monitoring

process and resources to areas of noncompliance that they have already identified.

Recommendation # II.2B

Congress should direct a change in the mission of the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems

and IL centers to include a priority focus on special education advocacy, and in collaboration

with the PTIs, the development of a collaborative special education advocacy strategy for their

states.

The combined resources of PTIs, P&As, and IL centers are needed to develop and

maintain special education advocacy services and programs statewide at a level commensurate

with the need of students with disabilities and their parents for assistance in obtaining services

and supports under IDEA, as well as participating effectively in monitoring and enforcement.

Recommendation # II.2C

OSEP should standardize the presentation of the monitoring reports and data.
72

Such standardization is essential for accurate and credible evaluation of compliance from

one monitoring period to the next. 

Part III provides a more in-depth description and analysis of DoED’s roles and

responsibilities vis-a-vis the implementation and enforcement of IDEA.
73

III. Grant Administration, Compliance Monitoring, Complaint Handling, and 

Enforcement Functions

The legal authority for the Department of Education (DoED) to ensure compliance with

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is found in provisions of the statute itself

that authorize assessment of policy and procedure documents to determine state eligibility for

funding,82 referral of a state to the Department of Justice, and withholding funds when a state has

failed to comply substantially with any provision of Part B of IDEA.83

The key activities that the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) carries out in

relation to monitoring state compliance with the law are (1) determining state eligibility for

federal grants under IDEA, (2) conducting on-site monitoring visits and issuing monitoring

reports, (3) developing corrective action plans and overseeing the implementation of those

corrective actions ordered by OSEP, and (4) initiating enforcement action. This part discusses

these core federal functions of IDEA implementation oversight.

A. Grant Administration

1. The Basic State Grant Program

IDEA ’97 requires the states to submit applications that ensure “to the satisfaction of the

Secretary” that they have policies and procedures that meet the conditions of federal law.84 

These conditions include (1) access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE), (2)

individualized education programs (IEP), (3) least restrictive environment (LRE), (4) procedural

safeguards, (5) evaluations, (6) general supervision by the state education agency (SEA), (7) a

comprehensive system of personnel development, (8) personnel standards, (9) performance goals

and indicators, and (10) participation in assessments.85 Before the enactment of IDEA ’97, a

state plan was submitted to OSEP every three years to determine eligibility. States were required

to submit assurances that they were complying with the various requirements during the threeyear interim period. IDEA ’97 no longer specifically requires a state plan, and one submission of

policies and procedures information, if accepted, remains in effect indefinitely. Modification of a
74

state eligibility document may be required if (1) the state determines that a modification is

required, perhaps because of changes in state law or regulations; (2) there is a change in IDEA by

amendment or a new interpretation of IDEA by a federal court or a state’s highest court; or (3)

there is an official finding of noncompliance with federal law or regulations. When the Federal

Government requires a modification of the application, it need only be to the extent necessary to

ensure the states’ compliance with the part of the law that is newly amended, interpreted, or out

of compliance, not the entire law or larger portions of the law.86

For FY 1997, OSEP did not require states to submit a detailed application, as the

reauthorization of IDEA was imminent and significant changes in the law were anticipated.

OSEP thought it would be prudent to wait until the new law was enacted. The reauthorization

was not complete until June 1997, and the regulations to implement the new law were not

finalized until March 12, 1999. Thus, since 1997, OSEP has allowed states to receive their

funding by signing assurances that they would comply with existing federal law. In 1997, after

the law was reauthorized, OSEP sent all states a packet explaining the requirements of IDEA ’97. 

Beginning in 1998, OSEP gave states the option of submitting an application or signing a

statement of assurances. One state, Wisconsin, submitted an application, which was approved.

All of the other states have signed and submitted assurance statements to OSEP for fiscal years

’97–’98, ’98–’99 and ’99–’00.87

OSEP generally notified the states of information that would be due about three months

prior to the actual due date. Every state had to allow a 60-day public review period for the

eligibility documents prior to submitting them to OSEP. States could publish notices of

availability in newspapers, distribute them in libraries, etc. The due date to the Federal

Government was generally April 1 or May 1. OSEP took two to three months to review the

documents and generally awarded funds by July 1 of the same year. 

States submitted an original and two copies of their documents to the Monitoring and

State Improvement Planning Division (MSIP). MSIP staff logged them in, keeping one copy in a
75

central file and giving copies to two readers, a primary and a secondary reader. The primary

reader was generally the person assigned to that state as the “state contact” for monitoring,

technical assistance, etc. This person was to be familiar with any monitoring issues in that state.

Both readers read the documents with a checklist to determine if the required elements were

present. The readers met with the team leader and discussed the documents. The team could

choose to coordinate its review with other divisions in DoED and provide the state technical

assistance if needed to amend the application. If there were significant problems with the

application, the Office of General Counsel (OGC) could become involved. If the team agreed to

recommend approval, the application was eventually approved by the director of OSEP, and an

award was sent to the state. If the team did not recommend approval, the state was given

reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the statute before the

Secretary of Education made a final determination of ineligibility.88

In the past, OSEP may have given “full” or “conditional” approval of the state plan. Full

approval implied that the state had satisfied the Department of Education that the necessary

policies and procedures to carry out IDEA were in place. Conditional approval indicated that,

while a policy or procedure was not in compliance with IDEA, the state had assured that the

practice of the state was in compliance. For example, a state may have needed to change a state

law to come into compliance; however, such a change may not have been possible for more than

a year, since the legislature meets only every other year. OSEP would have provided conditional

approval to such a state after it assured DoED that it was following the federal law and working

to change the state law. Both conditional and full approval provided for full funding to the state.

As Table 2 indicates, states frequently received conditional approval of their plans.

However, in the last year during which plans were submitted to OSEP, ’95–’96, fewer

conditional plans and more fully approved plans were in evidence. For FY ’93–’94, the status of

plans was as follows: 31 plans were fully approved and 27 were conditionally approved. For FY

’94–’95, 43 plans were fully approved and 15 were conditionally approved. For FY ’95–’96, 46

plans were fully approved, 10 were conditionally approved, and 2 received a “not applicable”
76

ranking.89 The percentage of fully approved state plans rose from 53 percent in FY ’93–’94 to 74

percent in FY ’94–’95 to 82 percent in FY ’95–’96.

Table 2: Status of Approval of IDEA Part B State Plans/State Plan Reviews

States 95%96 94%95 93%94

Alabama F C F

Alaska F F F

American Samoa F F F

Arizona F F F

Arkansas F F C

California C C C

Colorado F F F

Connecticut F F F

Delaware F F C

District of Columbia C C C

Florida F F F

Georgia F F C

Guam F F C

Hawaii F C C

Idaho F F F

Illinois F F C

Indiana F F F

Iowa F F F

Kansas F F C

Kentucky F F C

Louisiana F F C

Maine C C C

Maryland F F C

Massachusetts F F C

Michigan C C C

Minnesota F C C

Mississippi F F F

Missouri F F F

Montana F F F

Nebraska C C F

Nevada F C C

New Hampshire F F C

New Jersey F C C

New Mexico F F F
States 95%96 94%95 93%94

77

New York F F F

North Carolina F F F

North Dakota F F F

Northern Mariana Islands F F F

Ohio C C C

Oklahoma F F F

Oregon F F F

Pennsylvania F F C

Puerto Rico F F F

Rhode Island F F F

South Carolina F F C

South Dakota F F F

Tennessee C C F

Texas F C C

Utah F F F

Vermont F F C

Virgin Islands Consolidated

Virginia C F C

Washington F F F

West Virginia F F F

Wisconsin C F F

Wyoming F F F

Marshall Islands NA F F

Federated States of Micronesia NA C C

Republic of Palau C C C

C = Conditional Approval, F = Full Approval, NA = not applicable due to changing legal status.

The reasons for the increase in states being fully approved are not readily apparent. An

inquiry and analysis beyond the scope of this study may provide an explanation for this shift.

2. Competitive State Program Improvement Grants

The 1997 IDEA amendments included a new discretionary program titled State Program

Improvement Grants for Children with Disabilities.90 The purpose of these grants is to assist

states, in partnership with a range of stakeholders in the states, in reforming and improving their

systems that serve students with disabilities. Congress appropriated $35.2 million for these grants
78

in FY ’99. The grants will be awarded to states on a competitive basis, in the range of $500,000

to $2 million per year. The first awards were made in January 1999. Seventy-five percent of the

funding received under these grants must go for personnel preparation.91

The statute outlines the analyses the state must conduct in developing a state

improvement plan. That analysis must include the major findings of the most recent federal

reviews of state compliance as they relate to improving results for children with disabilities.92

The law also requires that the state improvement plan include improvement strategies, one of

which must address systemic problems identified in federal compliance reviews.93

Although it is not yet clear how competitive state grants will affect state compliance with

IDEA, they are intended to create an incentive toward the systemic changes a state must

implement to achieve full compliance with IDEA.

3. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # III A.1

Many states are found eligible for full funding under Part B of IDEA while simultaneously

failing to ensure compliance with the law.

Though no state is fully ensuring compliance with IDEA, states usually receive full

funding every fiscal year. Once eligible for funding, a state receives regular increases, which are

automatic under the formula. OSEP’s findings of state noncompliance with IDEA requirements

usually have no effect on that state’s eligibility for funding unless (1) the state’s policies or

procedures create systemic obstacles to implementing IDEA, or (2) persistent noncompliance

leads OSEP to enforce by imposing high risk status with "special conditions" to be met for

continued funding.

Recommendation # III A.1
79

The Department of Education should link a state’s continued eligibility for federal funding

under Part B to the remedy of any noncompliance within the agreed upon time frame. 

When a state is found out of compliance with the law via federal monitoring, continued

eligibility for IDEA funding should be linked with achieving compliance within a designated

time frame. The state corrective action plan or compliance agreement should spell out what must

be done within a specific time frame to achieve compliance or the state will be found ineligible

for all or part of the available grant money for the next fiscal period.

Finding # III A.2

The competitive State Program Improvement Grants are intended to make funding

available to states for implementing improvement strategies to correct IDEA

noncompliance problems.

Recommendation # III A.2A

OSEP should require that five percent of funds awarded under the State Program

Improvement Grants be applied toward developing a statewide standardized data collection

and reporting system for tracking the core data elements needed to measure state compliance

with IDEA and evaluate educational results for children with disabilities.

Recommendation # III A.2B

When a state is found out of compliance with the law via federal monitoring, continued

eligibility for State Program Improvement Grant funding should be linked with achieving

compliance within a designated time frame.

B. Oversight: Federal Monitoring of States
80

1. Purpose of Monitoring

States are regularly monitored by OSEP. Such monitoring includes on-site visits, data

collection and analysis, and the issuance of an official report. This basic monitoring process has

undergone periodic changes since the enactment of IDEA. As noted in the review of annual

reports below, the purpose of monitoring has shifted over the years depending on the context in

which it was carried out. The law states that the Federal Government’s role is one of monitoring

the states to ensure their implementation of the law. Indeed, much of the responsibility for

compliance lies with the states in their responsibility to monitor the local education agencies

(LEAs). The Federal Government has increasingly looked to the states to take on this role and

gradually redefined its role as one of partnership with the states. In fact, the IDEA amendments

of 1997 strengthen the expectation that the states will monitor the LEAs. The statute holds that

states are expected to reduce or withhold payments to LEAs if they are found to be out of

compliance with the law.94 For the first time, in 1998, the Federal Government took enforcement

action against a state for not taking effective enforcement action against an LEA found to be out

of compliance (see discussion of Pennsylvania as a high risk grantee).

OSEP claims its approach to monitoring has had significant positive impacts on

compliance in a number of states. For example, the state educational agency (SEA) in some

states has taken action to correct deficient practices identified by OSEP during the monitoring

review, even before the state has received OSEP’s report. In such instances, the states’ solutions

have often incorporated technical assistance provided by OSEP during the monitoring visits. 

According to OSEP, a number of states also have made positive changes, at least in part because

of the emphases and findings of OSEP monitoring, in two important areas: (1) state monitoring

and complaint resolution procedures, and (2) the movement of many children with disabilities

from separate settings into less restrictive placement options.95

OSEP currently describes its monitoring as shifting from being procedurally oriented to

being results oriented.96 The purpose of monitoring as defined by OSEP today is to improve

results for children with disabilities.97 As mentioned earlier, OSEP has redesigned its monitoring
81

process (see Appendix H) to be a component of what it calls a "state review and improvement

process" where the state is a collaborator with the Federal Government and other constituencies

to assess the educational success of students with disabilities and to design and implement steps

for improvement.98 There appears to be a shift away from monitoring used solely as a tool for

obtaining compliance toward monitoring used as a tool for both program improvement and

compliance.

2. The Decision About What to Monitor

OSEP is responsible for ensuring that states are in compliance with IDEA. The

requirements of IDEA are numerous and not every requirement is monitored in every state on

every monitoring visit. Neither are the same requirements monitored for the same state over time.

However, as the analysis below of the most recent monitoring reports (1994%1998) indicates,

there does appear to be a relatively stable set of requirements that are monitored. The decision

about exactly what to monitor in a state during a particular monitoring visit appears to be

determined by the team doing the monitoring based on their analysis of the information they

collect about the state.

A 1995 memo from Thomas Hehir, director of OSEP, to Chief State School Officers

indicates that monitoring and corrective action plans will be focusing on requirements that have

the most direct relationship to student results. These requirements are identified as (1) access to

the full range of programs and services available to nondisabled children, including regular and

vocational education programs and curricula and work-experience programs; (2) individualized

education programs, including statements of needed transition services for students age 16 and

younger, if necessary; (3) education of students with disabilities in the regular education

environment and the availability of a continuum of alternative placements; and (4) state systems

for general supervision including complaint management and due process hearing systems.99

3. The Monitoring Cycle
82

For 1997%1998, OSEP conducted implementation planning visits in lieu of monitoring

visits. The purpose of these visits was to provide technical assistance to states on the

requirements of the new law. OSEP began monitoring with the new continuous improvement

monitoring process in the fall of 1998. Before IDEA ’97, states were on a four-year monitoring

cycle. Every year 12 to 15 states were monitored.100 The monitoring cycle described and the

monitoring reports analyzed below predate the changes OSEP implemented in the fall of 1998.

4. The Monitoring Process Before the Fall of 1998

The monitoring process took place in four phases: pre-site activities, the on-site visit, the

issuance of the report, and the corrective action plan.

a. Pre-Site Activities

Approximately three to six months before an on-site visit, OSEP took the following steps:

(1) scheduled public meetings and on-site visit dates with the state, (2) informed interested

parties of the meeting dates and sites, (3) requested documents from the state for review, (3) held

public and outreach meetings in the state to gain input, (4) determined issues to be reviewed and

established a schedule for interviews with the SEA, (5) selected agencies and schools/programs

to be visited, (6) contacted local sites, (7) established schedules, and (8) requested documents.

Monitoring staff were usually in the state for about one week for the pre-site activities.

Beginning in 1994, OSEP began conducting outreach meetings in addition to public

meetings, which were open forums. These meetings were by invitation only and included

disability leaders in the state, representatives of the Parent Training and Information (PTI)

centers and the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems. Generally about 12-20 disability

leaders from the state attended the meetings.

Attendance at the public meetings ranged from five to 200. Between one and six public

meetings were held in different geographic locations in a state, at different times of the day. SEA
83

mailing lists, and sometimes lists from PTIs or other advocacy groups, were used to send

"interested party" invitations to the meetings.

After the pre-site activities, in preparation for the site visit, the monitoring staff analyzed

the information collected in the state and gathered and considered additional relevant information

obtained from (1) complaints received by OSEP about the state and its policy and procedures,

and (2) contacts with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Rehabilitation Services

Administration (RSA), and advocacy groups within the state. All of this information was used to

determine what issues were to be examined and where the on-site visits were to take place.

b. The On-Site Visit

The on-site visit usually lasted a week and took place about five to six weeks after the

pre-site activities. Six to ten people made up the monitoring team. The on-site visit involved

meeting with officials of the SEA and visiting LEAs, including schools. The monitoring team

used the information gathered from the pre-site activities to determine which LEAs to visit. It

considered when the state last monitored the LEA, and chose some LEAs that had been recently

monitored by the state and some that had not been monitored for a long period of time. It looked

at the results of the SEA monitoring and compared them to its own results. If the team saw

differences that hadn’t been corrected, it knew the states were not enforcing the corrections. If it

found deficiencies that the state monitoring had not found, there was an indication that the state

monitoring system was not effective in identifying deficiencies.101

In smaller states, the monitoring teams usually visited four or five LEAs. In larger states,

the teams visited eight to 10 LEAs. The LEAs were notified by the SEA two to three weeks in

advance that the monitoring team would be visiting. The team tried to have geographic diversity

in its visits and took special populations into consideration. It looked at LEA data regarding

placements in separate settings, personnel, related services, etc. The data may have revealed

problems in the LEA that the team may have pursued while visiting there. The team tried to visit

elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. It met with administrators, looked at
84

student records, and interviewed teachers. It did not observe students or compare the students’

records to the students’ experience.102

The team members in the field talked with the team members at the SEA to discuss data

collection and potential findings. An exit conference was held with the SEA to present the

preliminary findings.103

c. The Monitoring Report

The monitoring team returned to Washington, DC, and worked together to analyze the

data they had collected and the results of the monitoring visit. The team might call the state back

to request clarification or additional information. The report was developed and reviewed by the

team leader, the division director, the director of OSEP, and the OGC. The report was cleared

and issued to the Chief State School Officer with a copy sent to the director of special education

in the state.

The intended time line for the issuance of the report was 150 to 180 days after the on-site

visit.104 Analysis of the most recent monitoring reports for each state revealed that the time

elapsed between the monitoring visit and the final report was greater than 90 days for 45 states,

greater than 180 days for 27 states, and greater than 365 days for 12 states.

In the past, OSEP issued draft reports to the states, and the states could then respond and

defend their response. OSEP would consider their response and might make changes in the report

based on that response. OSEP eliminated this practice with the 1994%95 monitoring cycle. It

began issuing only the final report. The state had 15 calendar days from the date it received the

report to submit a letter to OSEP documenting findings in the report that were without legal or

factual support. If OSEP determined that it was necessary to delete or revise a finding, a letter

setting forth the deletion or revision was appended as part of the report.105

d. Corrective Action Plans
85

In every monitoring report that documented findings of noncompliance (which were all

monitoring reports), parameters for a corrective action plan (CAP) were set forth. OSEP was 

available to work with the state to develop the plan. The plan was to be submitted to OSEP

within 45 days of receipt of the report. If the state did not submit a plan, OSEP unilaterally would

develop the CAP for the state.106 (OSEP reported that to its knowledge this circumstance never

occurred.)107

The time line for completing a corrective action plan ranged from one to three years, with

the average being two years. The deadline depended on the nature of the deficiency, as correction

for some might take significantly more time than for others.

Follow-up visits might be conducted to determine the implementation of the CAP. For

some states, submission of documentation might be the follow-up. Generally, OSEP reported that

it conducted four to six follow-up visits per year to assess CAP implementation.

Generally, follow-up visits were similar to mini on-site visits. The follow-up team

comprised two to three people who visited the state office for about two days and LEAs for about

two days. If OSEP determined that the corrective action plan had been implemented and was

effective, it closed out the plan. In situations where OSEP found little or no change, it scheduled

another follow-up visit. In two situations (Pennsylvania and New Jersey) where the second

follow-up visit found continued noncompliance, the states were designated as high risk grantees

(see earlier discussion). 

e. OSEP’s Maintenance of Monitoring Reports and Records 

Regarding Monitoring Reports

OSEP’s policy was to keep monitoring records related to IDEA for three to five years.108

Thus, OSEP appeared to have very few monitoring reports more than five years old, nor did they

have an inventory listing that reported which ones they possessed and which ones they did not.

This study initially requested a complete set of reports for 11 states, going back in time as far as
86

DoED had records. Because of the limited availability of reports, this request was modified to

include only six states. For one state, Illinois, the oldest report DoED had was from 1991. For

other states, some reports were missing (for example, while DoED had the 1983 report from New

York, it did not have the 1987 report). There was no chronology of monitoring over time in

OSEP.

5. Analysis of Fifty Federal Monitoring Reports

Little research on state compliance with special education requirements over time has

been conducted. NCD was aware of only one study that had examined compliance trends. That

study, released in1993 by the National Council on Disability, disaggregated OSEP state

monitoring data collected from April 1989 to February 1992 to the school district level. The

study revealed very high levels of school district noncompliance as noted in Table 3 below.109

Table 3: State Monitoring Data (Reprint from NCD Study)

Requirement Districts Monitored Districts in

Noncompliance

Percentage in

Noncompliance

IEP 165 150 90.9%

LRE 165 143 86.7%

Procedural Safeguards 165 152 92.1%

Note: IEP = Individualized Education Program; LRE = Least Restrictive Environment

The analysis below, based on a study of the most recent OSEP monitoring report issued

for each state, summarizes the findings of noncompliance for each state in seven areas.

a. Methodology

The most recent OSEP monitoring report of every state was reviewed and analyzed.

These reports were issued between 1994 and 1998. Seven key areas of legal requirements were

analyzed for each state: (1) FAPE, (2) LRE, (3) IEP, (4) transition, (5) general supervision, (6)

procedural safeguards, and (7) protection in evaluation. These were requirements that OSEP had
87

chosen to monitor in most of the states, which had been monitored fairly consistently across

states over time.

b. Standards Used by OSEP for Determining Noncompliance

It should be noted that the charts and tables throughout this section depict findings of

noncompliance in the indicated areas for each state, but not the extent of noncompliance

represented by that finding. The OSEP monitoring process has had no measurable benchmarks

or clear criteria for distinguishing the severity of LEA noncompliance with any given

requirement. OSEP reported that it made a finding of noncompliance in a state only when such

noncompliance was "systemic," meaning that it had occurred "with some frequency,"110 although

there was no regulation or documented policy, guidance, or internal procedure stating this

particular criterion. Indeed, the "systemic" criterion, even as OSEP defined it, was not

consistently applied in making determinations of noncompliance.”111 This lack of consistency in

how findings of noncompliance were made seemed at variance with the compliance standard for

SEAs as articulated in the law and in OSEP’s own communication to the states (see following

discussion).

IDEA requires the SEA to “ensure” that the law’s requirements are met by all educational

programs that are, or should be, delivering special education services to students with

disabilities.112 In the 1997 Texas Monitoring Report, OSEP clarified the scope of the SEA’s full

responsibility for ensuring compliance, regardless of the methods the SEA might have used to

identify and “count” deficiencies for correction. 

“The procedures for TEA’s District Effective Compliance system (Reference

Guide, September 1996) state that, ‘a discrepancy will be cited during the on-site

review when it is determined that the violation in question occurs systemically

throughout a campus, a district, or a cooperative... As a general rule, a

discrepancy will be cited when a violation is found in 30 percent or more of the

student programs reviewed.... Violations of "a more serious nature"...are to be
88

cited whenever a single violation occurs. Otherwise, violations that occur in less

than 30 percent of the files sampled are not cited, and TEA requires agencies to

take no corrective action.’

"Although a state educational agency has some discretion about the method it

uses to identify and ensure correction of deficiencies, it is responsible for

ensuring that all Part B requirements are met by subgrantees for all students with

disabilities. TEA must identify and document all noncompliance found through its

monitoring process, even where the violation does not reach the 30 percent

threshold, or does not meet the definition for "violations of a serious nature." 

Further, although corrective action that TEA requires may vary depending upon

how isolated or systemic a finding is, it must ensure correction of all identified

noncompliance.”113

In this monitoring report, OSEP communicated the expectation that Texas’ corrective

action on this issue was to monitor such that all deficiencies were identified and corrected,

“regardless of the prevalence or magnitude of those findings.”114 OSEP’s finding and

explanation made clear that it was the responsibility of the SEA to ensure correction of any

occurrence of noncompliance with IDEA. Insofar as the SEA failed to ensure that all Part B

requirements have been met, the SEA was not in compliance with IDEA.

Although OSEP articulated a clear standard with respect to findings of noncompliance, it

emphasized that the severity and extent of noncompliance varied with each finding. A finding

might have been based on an egregious problem or on a technical deficiency of a less serious

nature (i.e., a finding of noncompliance with the procedural safeguard requirements might have

been based on (1) a wholly ineffective due process hearing system, or (2) the state’s failure to

provide a fully accurate explanation of a procedural safeguard as part of its required notice to

parents).115 Likewise, a noncompliance finding might also have been based on several to many

instances of noncompliance with a requirement. These variations in the severity and extent of a
89

noncompliance finding, however, do not lessen the responsibility of the SEA for identifying and

ensuring that all instances of noncompliance are corrected.

c. Summary of State Noncompliance Findings

Chart 4 below indicates how many states failed to ensure compliance in each of the listed

areas according to the most recent monitoring report for each state. The largest areas of

noncompliance were general supervision, where 90 percent, or 45 states, failed to ensure

compliance, and transition, where 88 percent, or 44 states, failed to ensure compliance. Other key

noncompliant areas were FAPE, where 80 percent, or 40 states, failed to ensure compliance, and

LRE, where 72 percent, or 36 states, failed to ensure compliance. Table 5 provides a state-bystate display of areas out of compliance. Thirty states failed to ensure compliance in five, six, or

seven areas of IDEA requirements considered by this report. Appendix G provides a one page

summary of the noncompliant findings for each state from its most recent monitoring report.

Chart 4: Number and Percentage of Noncompliant States 

in Each Area According to 1994–1998 OSEP Monitoring Reports

Area of Noncompliance

States Out of Compliance

Number of States Percentage of States

General Supervision 45 90%

Transition 44 88%

FAPE 40 80%

Procedural Safeguards 39 78%

LRE 36 72%

IEPs 22 44%

Protection in Evaluation 19 38%
90

Table 5: State Noncompliance as Reported by 1994–1998 Monitoring Reports116

State FAPE LRE IEPs Transition General

Supervision

Procedural

Safeguards

Protection in

Evaluation

Alabama X X X X X

Alaska X X X X

Arizona X X X X X

Arkansas X X

California X X X X X X

Colorado X X X

Connecticut X X X X X X X

Delaware X X X X X

Florida X X X X X X

Georgia X X X X

Hawaii X X

Idaho X X X X X

Illinois X X X X X X

Indiana X X X X X

Iowa X X X X X X

Kansas X X X X

Kentucky X X X X X

Louisiana X X X X X

Maine X X X X

Maryland X X X X

Massachusetts X X X X X X

Michigan X X X X X X X

Minnesota X X X X

Mississippi X X X * X

Missouri X X X X X X

Montana X X X X X X

Nebraska X X X X

Nevada X

New Hampshire X X X X X

New Jersey X X X X X X X

New Mexico X X X X X X

New York X X X X X X X

North Carolina X X X X X
91

State FAPE LRE IEPs Transition General

Supervision

Procedural

Safeguards

Protection in

Evaluation

North Dakota X X X X

Ohio X X X X X

Oklahoma X X X

Oregon X X X

Pennsylvania X X X X X X

Rhode Island X X X X X X X

South Carolina X X X X X

South Dakota X X X X

Tennessee X X X X X X

Texas X X X X X

Utah X X X X X X

Vermont X X X X

Virginia X X X X X

Washington X X X X X X

West Virginia X X X X

Wisconsin X X X X X X X

Wyoming X X X X

Requirements with which states were found noncompliant are indicated by an “X.”

In the analysis of the fifty state monitoring reports below, each of the monitored

requirements is described briefly with a summary of the findings from all fifty reports, followed

by examples from the reports to illustrate the basis for OSEP’s noncompliance findings. 

d. Analysis of Findings of Noncompliance

i Free Appropriate Public Education

FAPE gives children with disabilities access to the supports and accommodations they

need to obtain an education, requiring that special education and related services be made

available to them in accordance with their IEPs. OSEP found that 40 states (80%) had failed to

ensure compliance with the FAPE requirements. Specific FAPE requirements and the percentage

of states in noncompliance are illustrated in Chart 6:
92

Chart 6: State Noncompliance with FAPE Requirements

Note: ESY = Extended School Year

(a) Extended School Year

ESY services must be made available to individual students who require such services in

order for them to be receiving FAPE. This requirement recognizes that some students with

disabilities will not receive an appropriate education unless they have special education or related

services during the summer months.

OSEP found that 28 states (56%) had failed to ensure compliance with the ESY

requirements, as shown in the following examples:

C In Alabama, .....[i]nterviews with teachers and administrators in public agencies A, B, and

D revealed that extended school year was not available for students in the facilities visited

by OSEP. Teachers interviewed... stated that they were unsure as to the criteria for

extended school year, and therefore did not know how to determine the need for extended

school year services. None of these 11 teachers had ever participated in an IEP meeting

where students were considered for such services. Both building level and district

administrators... confirmed that teachers and administrators were not aware of the criteria

for extended school year services.117

C In four out of five public agencies visited in Iowa, OSEP determined that ESY services

were not considered on an individual basis and provided to students who required them.118

C In Delaware, OSEP found that availability of ESY services was restricted to students with

autism and those who received "Level 5" services. Participation of other students in ESY

services was not determined based on the IEP, and in some of the agencies visited it was

not available to other students at all.119
93

C In four of the five agencies visited in Connecticut, "...children with particular types of

disabilities were categorically excluded from consideration for ESY services."120

C Two teachers in an agency in Arkansas reported that the agency did not offer ESY and

that it was never discussed at any IEP meeting they attended.121

(b) Related Services

Students with disabilities must be provided with related services such as occupational

therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and psychological counseling based on their individual

needs as reflected in their IEPs. This requirement recognizes that without these related services,

some students with disabilities cannot adequately access and learn their curricular materials.

OSEP found that 34 states (68%) had failed to ensure compliance with the related

services requirements, as shown in the following examples:

C In Florida, .....OSEP was informed in interviews with district and building-based

administrators, teachers, and related services personnel in Agencies F, G, and H that

psychological counseling, as a related service, is not available to students with

disabilities, regardless of need. A building-based administrator in Agency E indicated

that many students need psychological counseling but it is not available as a related

service.

...OSEP was informed by two related service providers in Agency G that they

were instructed not to list individual therapy on their caseload(s). They stated that

they will provide the service informally, but it is not reflected on the student’s IEP

(there are no goals and objectives).

...A special education teacher in Agency H told OSEP that students may have to go to a

center-based or day program if they need more intense counseling services.122

C In one agency in Minnesota, OSEP found that psychological counseling was not

considered for inclusion in any student’s IEP.123

C An administrator from an agency in Arizona confirmed "that related services (speech

therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy) are not based on the individual

student’s needs but are based upon the availability of the service provider."124

C Administrators and teachers from two agencies in Oklahoma stated that psychological

counseling services are not provided based on an IEP, even if a child needs such services

to benefit from special education.125

C In one district in California, an administrator told OSEP that there were 42 students

whose IEPs called for speech services, but who were not receiving the services; in

another district, an administrator reported that students whose IEP teams believed they

needed mental health services to benefit from special education were referred to outside
94

agencies for the services, rather than receiving the services free of charge through their

IEPs.126

(c) Length of School Day

Unless their individual needs dictate otherwise, the length of the school day for students

with disabilities must meet their state’s general standard.

OSEP found that five states (10%) had failed to ensure compliance with this requirement,

as shown in the following examples: 

C Administrators in two districts in Delaware reported that 17 students had their school

days shortened by an hour and a half due to "transportation schedules.”127

C In Arkansas, ...[b]ecause there were not enough modified buses in the agency to transport

students with disabilities, an administrator in Agency C reported that six students

received one hour fewer per day than the state standard.

One administrator reported and another administrator confirmed that a classroom of

children with disabilities in Agency B had their school day shortened by 30 minutes per

day, which was less than the state standard, because students in a self-contained program

were transported from the school where their classroom was located to their ‘home

school’ in order to catch the regular bus.

An Agency J administrator reported to OSEP that four children with disabilities who

attended the vocational technical program were in school one hour fewer than the state

standard because of the time needed to transport them from another district. As a result,

these children were only able to get two hours of credit for their vocational class at

Agency J—instead of the normal three hours of credit.

128

(d) Provision of Special Education/Program Options 

Available

Students’ IEPs must set forth with specificity the amount of special education and related

services the students are to receive. These decisions must be based upon individual need. In

addition, program options that meet their needs must be made available to students with

disabilities.

OSEP found that 15 states (30%) had failed to ensure compliance with these

requirements, including the following examples:

C In [Pennsylvania] public agency C, six of seven records reviewed by OSEP had no

specific statements of special education or related services.129

C In Connecticut, ...OSEP found that the technical vocational education such as that

provided through the state-operated regional schools was not an available program option

for students with moderate or significant disabilities. OSEP confirmed through interviews

that although some high school students could benefit from technical vocational
95

education available only at the regional programs, this option was not available to certain

students with disabilities.130

C In Kentucky, OSEP found that 22 of 53 IEPs reviewed, in three of the four agencies

visited, either did not state the specific amounts of special education and related services

or stated the amounts in ranges. Individuals interviewed reported that the amount of

services was not based upon individual student needs. In addition, twelve of the 53

students were not receiving services that conformed to their IEPs. 131

C In Ohio, OSEP reviewed 94 student records in 11 of the 12 agencies visited, and

identified 75 cases in which the amount of special education and related services was

either not recorded on the IEP or the services were stated in ranges. Teachers, related

service providers, and agency administrators reported that the amount of services was

stated as a range because the lesser amount reflected state minimum standards, while the

greater amount indicated the child’s actual need. The child would receive the amount of

services needed if the therapist had time to provide it; if not, the child received the lesser

amount.132

ii Least Restrictive Environment

LRE requirements hold that students with disabilities should be educated, to the

maximum extent appropriate, with their nondisabled peers. Separate schooling or separate classes

or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment must take

place only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes

with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be satisfactorily achieved.

OSEP found that 36 states (72%) had failed to ensure compliance with the LRE

requirements. It is interesting to note that of the remaining fourteen states, OSEP found six states

not out of compliance on LRE, but provided no information at all on LRE compliance for the

other eight states. In all six states found not out of compliance, the finding was based on site

visits that had not included any separate facilities. Such facilities have been sources of findings

of LRE noncompliance in many states.

It was also noteworthy that during this period of time, OSEP conducted monitoring visits

at only three state schools for students who are deaf or have visual impairments,133 and only three

separate private facilities. These sorts of facilities have powerful political constituencies, both

nationally and in many states. It is of particular importance that OSEP monitored such facilities

because states sometimes have failed to exercise their general supervisory authority over them. 

In Kentucky, for example, 

"[a]t the time of OSEP’s 1992 Monitoring Report, KDE [Kentucky Department of

Education] acknowledged that it had not monitored the Kentucky School for the

Deaf and the School for the Blind for approximately 10 years. Comments

received at the public meetings held in June prior to OSEP’s September 1995 onsite visit indicated that KDE maintains a "hands off" policy toward both state
96

schools and that KDE has not yet monitored either school even though OSEP’s

1992 report had cited KDE for failure to exercise general supervisory authority

over these programs. During OSEP’s 1995 monitoring visit, KDE administrators

acknowledged that they had failed to exercise their general supervisory

responsibility for these programs in that the Kentucky School for the Deaf had not

yet been monitored by KDE for compliance.... Although the Kentucky School for

the Deaf was conducting a self-study during the 1995%96 school year in

preparation for an on-site monitoring visit during the 1996%97 school year, and

the Kentucky School for the Blind had received an on-site monitoring visit in

March 1995 and a follow-up visit in September 1995, at the time of OSEP’s visit,

KDE could not provide OSEP with documentation to verify that special education

programs for children enrolled in these schools meet state and federal

requirements."134

Finally, there was no evidence in the text of any of the reports indicating that OSEP

reviewed the files of students placed in out-of-state residential facilities for LRE compliance.

Without such review, it was difficult to determine OSEP’s basis for the following conclusion:

"During the 1992%1993 school year, Iowa Department of Education (IDE) placed approximately

200 students in out-of-state programs, based upon their unique needs."135 Specific LRE

requirements and the percentage of states in noncompliance are illustrated in the following chart:
97

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Only when Aids/Services

Standard Met

Education with

Nondisabled/Removal 

Nonacademic &

Extracurricular

Placement Based on IEP

Continuum Available to Extent

Necessary

Placement Determined at

Least Annually

Requirement

% in Noncompliance

Chart 7: State Noncompliance with LRE Requirements

(a) Education with Nondisabled Students/Removal Only

When Aids and Services Standard Met

Students with disabilities must be educated with nondisabled students to the maximum

extent appropriate to meet their needs. Removal from less restrictive settings can occur only if

students’ IEPs cannot be implemented in those settings, even with the use of supplementary aids

and services.

However, OSEP found that 32 states (64%) had failed to ensure compliance with these

requirements, including the following examples:

C OSEP found that in two districts in Mississippi, regular class placements were not

discussed at annual review or IEP meetings for some students with disabilities. One
98

teacher told OSEP that this did not occur "even though some of the students this teacher

serves could probably perform satisfactorily in some of the regular academic classes."136

C Administrators and teachers in three districts in Delaware told OSEP that these LRE

requirements were not followed in their districts because the state’s funding formula was

a disincentive to regular class placements for students with disabilities.137

C In Idaho, "....OSEP found that the removal of children with disabilities from regular

education programs in public agency B was not based on a determination that the nature

or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of

supplementary aids and services could not be achieved satisfactorily, but, rather on

administrative convenience. A special education teacher of a self-contained program for

students with moderate to severe/profound disabilities...stated, ‘These students have been

here forever. This is where they have been and this is where they are going to be.’ She

further stated that other options in less restrictive settings are not explored or considered

by the IEP team."138

C In Iowa, [t]wo...administrators responsible for the administration and supervision of

programs in public agency E stated that the consideration of the supplementary aids and

services needed by a student with disabilities is "not part of the IEP process."139

(b) Nonacademic and Extracurricular

Students with disabilities must participate with nondisabled peers in nonacademic and

extracurricular activities and services to the maximum extent appropriate to their needs. 

OSEP found that 29 states (58%) had not ensured compliance with these requirements, as

shown in the following examples:

C In New York, “[t]he special education director and a program administrator in public

agency F informed OSEP that there was no individualized determination of the maximum

extent to which each student with a disability placed in the BOCES’ center-based
99

(separate school) programs could participate with nondisabled children in nonacademic

and extracurricular services and activities, and that there were currently no opportunities

for such integration, regardless of individual student need.”140

C In South Carolina, “OSEP determined in interviews with administrators in agencies C and

G that the participation of students with disabilities with nondisabled peers in

nonacademic and extracurricular activities was not determined on an individual basis. 

The administrator in agency G reported efforts on the part of the agency to involve

disabled students in nonacademic and extracurricular group activities at neighboring

regular education schools. However, participation was not based on the individual needs

of students, but on the activities (e.g., assemblies) being available to the entire class of

special education students as a group activity. The administrator in agency C stated that

participation in nonacademic and extracurricular activities is not occurring for most of the

students enrolled in the agency C separate facility, even though these students could

benefit from participation in nonacademic and extracurricular activities with nondisabled

peers.”141

C In California, three administrators reported that “students identified as seriously

emotionally disturbed who are served in a separate school program in the district, and

students with disabilities who are served in the agency’s preschool program (separate

school), are not provided adequate opportunities for integration with age appropriate

peers, regardless of individual need. [These administrators] reported to OSEP that as a

general practice there was no individualized determination of the maximum extent to

which each student with a disability placed in the separate school programs could

participate with nondisabled children in nonacademic and extracurricular services and

activities.”142

(c) Placement Based on IEP
100

Placement decisions for students with disabilities must be based on their IEPs. The

practice of not basing placement decisions on students’ IEPs can have the effect of depriving

some students with disabilities of access to schools attended by their friends and neighbors. 

OSEP found that 19 states (38%) had failed to ensure compliance with this requirement,

including the following examples:

C An agency administrator in Ohio stated that “approximately 25 percent of the students

who are placed into special education programs are placed prior to the development of

their IEPs. A teacher [in the same agency] high school visited by OSEP stated that

placements were based on parent request, administrative convenience, or category of

disability, rather than on the students’ IEPs.”143

C In Iowa, “[b]oth teachers interviewed by OSEP in the school visited in agency B indicated

that placement is determined prior to the development of a student’s IEP. 

Two of the four teachers interviewed by OSEP in agency C indicated placement is

determined prior to the development of a student’s IEP. 

An administrator and two teachers from the elementary school in agency D told OSEP

that, for both initial and subsequent placements, placement is determined prior to the

development of the student’s IEP.”144

C In Connecticut, "OSEP found that students with moderate, significant, or profound

disabilities are not permitted to attend the high school that agency D nondisabled students

attend. Special education teachers, the administrator of the middle school, the

administrator responsible for supervising the provision of special education services in

agency D and a school nurse, and the PPT minutes in student records confirmed that

placement practices for these students were not based on the student’s IEP, but rather on

the student’s IQ, program location and availability of related services (e.g., medical

services)."145
101

(d) Continuum Available to Extent Necessary

A continuum of placement options must be available to students with disabilities to the

extent necessary to implement their IEPs. The lack of availability of a full continuum of

placement options can have the effect of forcing students into placements that are more

restrictive than necessary to implement their IEPs.

OSEP found that 17 states (34%) had failed to ensure compliance with this requirement,

including the following examples:

C Teachers and a building-level administrator in a Rhode Island public agency told “OSEP

that, at their school, full-time regular education placement...was not a continuum option

for any students with disabilities. At [a second public agency], three teachers told OSEP

that full-time regular education was not a continuum option for any of the students with

disabilities attending the school that OSEP visited. Administrators and teachers at [a

third agency] told OSEP that currently, full-time regular education placement was not an

option in the district.”146

The inability or unwillingness of school districts to provide a full continuum of placement

options also can have the effect of forcing students into placements that are more restrictive than

necessary to implement their IEPs:

C In New Jersey, “[a]n administrator stated that the Child Study Team...looks at a student’s

classification at the annual review and determines whether or not a student is eligible for

Resource Room services. A teacher and administrator further elaborated that the

Resource Room option is limited to two periods a day. If more time is required, the

student is placed in a self-contained classroom for a full day. There are no other options

for resource service for more than two periods or less than a full day.”147

(e) Placement Determined at Least Annually
102

Placement decisions for students with disabilities must be made at least annually. Failure

to re-evaluate placement annually can result in continuing placements that no longer meet the

educational and related service needs of the child.

OSEP found that eight states (16%) had failed to ensure compliance with this

requirement, including the following examples:

C “An administrator and two teachers from public agency C in North Carolina informed

OSEP that placement determinations are reviewed after the triennial re-evaluation unless

the child’s parents want a program change prior to the re-evaluation. An administrator

and one teacher from public agency D stated that placements for students with disabilities

are determined at the time of initial placement into the special education program and

thereafter at three-year intervals coinciding with the time of the student’s re-evaluation,

unless special circumstances arise indicating that a change may be needed. Teachers from

public agencies F and H told OSEP that the IEP team does not reconsider the student’s

placement until the student is ready for a higher functioning program, or the student ‘ages

out’ to the next level.”148

C In Georgia, "[w]hen asked how often placement determinations for students with

disabilities are made, three administrators and four teachers from agencies A, D, and E

informed OSEP that placement options are considered at initial placement and at triennial

meetings, but not at annual reviews. ‘At annual reviews, we just look at goals and

objectives’ explained a teacher from agency A."149

iii Individualized Education Programs

IDEA requires that all students have an individualized education program that documents

(1) their current level of performance, (2) their goals and objectives, (3) the services to be

provided to meet those needs, (4) the dates for initiation of services and anticipated duration, (5)

criteria for determining the extent to which objectives are being met, and (6) transition service for

students aged 16 and older. 
103

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Content Meetings

Requirement

% in Noncompliance

OSEP found that 22 states (44%) had failed to ensure compliance with the IEP

requirements. Specific IEP requirements and the percentage of states in noncompliance are

illustrated in the following chart (Chart 8):

Chart 8: State Noncompliance with IEP Requirements

(a) IEP Content

IEPs for students with disabilities must address their unique individual needs and must

include students’ present levels of performance; annual goals; short-term objectives; and

evaluation criteria, procedures, and schedules. IEPs must also include the extent to which

students will participate in general education programs. 

OSEP found that 20 states (40%) had failed to ensure compliance with the IEP content

requirements. The failure to base IEPs on the unique individual needs of students is also

demonstrated by goals and objectives that do not correspond to the needs identified by students’

IEPs. For example,
104

C "OSEP’s comparison of 17 IEPs in a New Jersey agency showed identical goals and

objectives for 16 children. A teacher stated that all students were taught the same skills

and that the goals were based on the curriculum. During the review of one IEP, OSEP

discovered that a goals and objectives page had the name of another student on it. School

personnel were unable to explain this discrepancy. 

OSEP reviewed another student record that showed the same goals and objectives for

three years. In another agency, a comparison of 12 IEPs showed identical goals and/or

objectives for six children enrolled in a job orientation program. A teacher for three of

the students stated that even though the IEP goals and objectives were identical in the

children’s IEPs, the children’s needs were not identical. Another teacher for the other

three children in that same agency told OSEP staff that the IEP short-term objectives

were identical and did not address individual students’ needs in terms of their

participation in the job-orientation program."150

The failure to base IEPs on the unique individual needs of students is also shown by goals

and objectives that do not correspond to the needs identified by students’ IEPs:

C In Kentucky, "[f]ourteen of the 53 IEPs reviewed by OSEP did not include goals and

objectives to address each of the students’ needs identified on the IEP. OSEP found that

IEPs did not contain goals and objectives related to students’ needs for instruction in

special education settings or for related services such as speech therapy."151

States’ violations of IEP content requirements are often fairly widespread. The following

table displays the number of IEP deficiencies as the numerator and the total number of IEPs

reviewed as the denominator for five states:
105

Table 9: State Noncompliance with IEP Content Requirements in Five States

Requirement Iowa Report,

3/20/95, p. 17

Washington

Report,

3/15/95, p. 23

Wyoming

Report,

3/3/95, p. 12

New

Hampshire

Report, 

8/25/94, p. 23

Michigan

Report,

3/21/95, p. 37

% of

IEPs in

Violation

Present levels

of

performance

N/A 10/55 22/39 17/41 15/65 32.0

Evaluation

schedules

17/58 23/55 18/39 25/41 14/65 37.6

Annual goals N/A 20/55 N/A 15/41 N/A 36.5

Objective

criteria

21/58 14/55 N/A 12/41 N/A 30.5

Evaluation

Procedures

14/58 15/55 23/39 5/41 N/A 29.5

Short-term

objectives

N/A 25/55 N/A N/A N/A 45.5

(b) IEP Meetings

IEP meetings must include a representative of the public agency&other than the student’s

teacher&who is qualified to supervise or provide special education and the student’s teacher. The

meetings should also include the student, if appropriate, and may include other individuals at the

discretion of the parent or agency. Agencies must take steps to ensure that the student’s parent(s)

participates in meetings, including giving timely notice of meetings, scheduling meetings at

mutually convenient times and places, and using other methods to ensure parent participation

when parents cannot attend. 

OSEP found that 13 states (26%) had failed to ensure compliance with the IEP meeting

requirements, including the following example:

C In Massachusetts, “...OSEP was informed by four agency administrators, eight building

administrators, and nine teachers in six public agencies...that one person, usually the

educational programmer or the student’s special education teacher, develops the goals and

objectives after the IEP meeting. ...OSEP finds that this practice is inconsistent with...the
106

60

65

70

75

80

Meeting Participants Notice Statement of

Needed Services

Requirement

% in Noncompliance

requirement that one or both of the child’s parents...must participate in the development

of the child’s IEP...."152

iv Transition Services

Students age 16 and older (and younger if deemed appropriate) must have IEPs that

include a statement of needed transition services. 

OSEP found that 44 states (88%) had failed to ensure compliance with the transition

requirements. Specific transition requirements and the percentage of states in noncompliance are

illustrated in the following chart:

Chart 10: State Noncompliance with Transition Requirements

(a) Notice

If a purpose of an IEP meeting is the consideration of transition services, the notice of the

meeting must indicate this purpose, indicate that the student will be invited, and identify any

other agencies that will be invited. 

OSEP found that 35 states (70%) had failed to ensure compliance with the transition

notice requirements. For example,

C In North Carolina, "OSEP found that in most instances [the total in all agencies was 23 of

27 IEP notices] the notices used by four public agencies to inform parents of IEP
107

meetings did not specify that a purpose of the meeting is the consideration of transition

services, when those notices were for meetings for students who were 16 years or

older."153

(b) Meeting Participants

If a purpose of an IEP meeting is the consideration of transition services, invitees must

include the student and representatives of other agencies likely to be responsible for providing or

paying for transition services. If the student does not attend, the public agency must take steps to

ensure that the student’s preferences and interests are considered. 

“I’ve never been asked, ‘Hey, what’s your perspective? What can I do to make

your education better?’ And I feel like you can ask the parents all you want,

but if you really want to get down to the heart of the problem and how the

students are being affected, maybe you should ask them first.” - A high school

senior with a disability from South Carolina on having input to the IEP154

OSEP found that 38 states (76%) had failed to ensure compliance with these

requirements, including the following examples:

C In two New Hampshire public agencies, in 14 of 17 records reviewed by OSEP for

students 16 years or older, the student was not invited to the IEP meeting.155

In Massachusetts, “OSEP reviewed the files of 18 students ages 16 and older in public

agencies A, E, and F, and found that three of six students in agency A, four of six in agency E,

and three of six in agency F did not attend their most recent IEP meeting. Four teachers and an

administrator responsible for the administration and supervision of special education programs in

those agencies told OSEP that they do not invite the student to the IEP meeting even if one of the

purposes of the meeting is the consideration of transition services.

Three administrators responsible for the administration and supervision of special

education programs, four building level administrators, and three teachers in public
108

agencies A, E, and F told OSEP that there is no procedure for ensuring that the

preferences and interests of the students are considered during the development of the

statement of needed transition services.”156

(c) Statement of Needed Services

The IEPs of students 16 and older, and of those who are younger if appropriate, must

contain a statement of needed transition services, including (1) activities in instruction, (2)

community experiences, (3) employment, and (4) adult living. 

OSEP found that 34 states (68%) had failed to ensure compliance with these

requirements. For example,

C In Missouri, "OSEP found that out of a total of 42 IEPs of students 16 or older, 15

IEPs...contained no statements of needed transition services... An agency administrator

explained to OSEP that the district has not done a good job on transition and that it is not

district practice to provide transition services to post-secondary education for students

with mild disabilities, such as learning disabilities."157

C In Colorado, "[b]ased on a review of records for age-appropriate students in two agencies,

OSEP found that 11 of 21 IEPs... did not contain statements of needed transition services

or included incomplete statements of needed transition services. Incomplete statements...

omitted services in one or more of the areas of instruction, community experiences, and

employment/other post-school adult living objectives, and did not include a statement that

the IEP team had determined that the student did not need services in those areas and the

basis for that determination...."158

C In New Hampshire, "public agencies A and E, in 16 of 17 records reviewed by OSEP for

students 16 years or older, student IEPs did not include a statement of needed transition

services or any information related to the provision of transition services...."159

v General Supervision
109

The general supervision of the implementation of IDEA Part B requirement means that

states must ensure the development and use of mechanisms and activities in a coordinated system

to (1) ensure the states’ mechanisms for monitoring compliance with FAPE, LRE, and other

IDEA requirements are coordinated and result in the correction of identified deficiencies; (2)

ensure that educational and support services are provided to eligible students involved in juvenile

and adult detention and correctional facilities, state operated programs (i.e., schools for the

developmentally disabled, blind, or deaf), and out-of-district placements; and (3) ensure

appropriate and timely service delivery based on interagency coordination and assignment of

fiscal responsibility. General supervision also ensures that decision-making regarding these

mechanisms and activities is based on collection, analysis, and utilization of data from all

available sources (i.e., complaint investigations and resolutions, due process determinations,

mediation agreements, court decisions, etc.). Some of the monitoring reports during the period of

time under study treat all of these issues as part of general supervision, while others do not. 

OSEP found 45 states (90%) failed to ensure compliance with general supervision

requirements. Specific general supervision requirements and the percentage of states out of

compliance are illustrated in the following chart:
110

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Incarcerated Students Review and Approval of

LEA Applications

Complaint Resolution State Monitoring of LEAs

Requirements

% in Noncompliance

Chart 11: State Noncompliance with General Supervision Requirements

(a) 

Incarcerated Students

States must ensure that all individuals with disabilities ages three through 21 are

identified, located, evaluated, and provided FAPE. 

DoED found 18 states (36%) failed to ensure compliance with these requirements,

including the following example:

C "California Department of Corrections administrators responsible for educational

programs in correctional facilities cited a recent study by that Department estimating that

there are 6500%8500 youth with disabilities between the ages of 16 and 22 in the

Department’s facilities who would be eligible for special education and related services

under current California law. They stated that the Department of Corrections currently

offers adult basic education and literacy programs to assist inmates in attaining a high

school diploma or high school graduation equivalency diploma, and provides adult

literacy offerings, but that special education services are not currently available in any of

the 29 facilities that house youth between 16 and 22."160
111

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Resolved within 60 days Resolve any complaint

Requirements

% in Noncompliance

(b) Complaint Resolution

OSEP found 24 states (48%) failed to ensure compliance with the complaint resolution

requirements. These requirements and the percentage of states out of compliance are illustrated in

the following chart:

Chart 12: State Noncompliance with Complaint Resolution Requirements

(i) Resolved within sixty days

Unless exceptional circumstances exist with respect to a particular complaint, states must

resolve complaints within 60 calendar days.

DoED found 18 states (36%) failed to ensure compliance with the complaint time line

requirement. Moreover, states sometimes exceed the mandated time line for large numbers of

complaints. For example,

C In Minnesota, “...MDE [Minnesota Department of Education] did not resolve 58 of the

100 complaints, received during the 1993–94 school year, within 60 days....”161

C "Based on a review of the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s [PDE’s] complaint

log for the period beginning January 1, 1991, and ending December 31, 1992, OSEP finds

that 512 complaints were filed with PDE, and that in 168 cases PDE did not investigate
112

and resolve the complaints within 60 calendar days after they were filed. OSEP reviewed

a sample of 16 complaint files where PDE exceeded the 60-day time limit and found that

14 of those files did not contain documentation of an extension due to exceptional

circumstances with respect to a particular complaint.”162

(ii) Resolve any complaint

States must resolve every allegation in each complaint. 

DoED found nine states (18%) failed to ensure compliance with this requirement. Some

states have refused to investigate certain types of complaints. The effect of the complaint

limitations imposed by some states has been to force parents either to drop the issue or to hire

attorneys to represent their children in due process hearings. Some examples include the

following:

C In Kansas, "KSBE has no written policy or guidelines outlining its procedures for

conducting complaint investigations. KSBE officials informed OSEP that KSBE does

not issue a report outlining its findings when the complaint involves ‘IEP team decisions.’ 

IEP team decisions are defined by KSBE to include appropriateness of identification or

placement decisions, or appropriateness of decisions involving types and amount of

services. KSBE limits its complaint resolution to procedural issues alleging state or

federal violations, such as whether the district is providing the type and amount of

services listed on an IEP or whether the service providers meet specific state or federal

criteria. When KSBE determines that a complaint is substantive rather than procedural,

the parents are contacted, usually via phone, and advised that their appropriate avenue of

relief is through a due process hearing. KSBE officials stated that records of requests for

complaint investigation that are denied are not kept by KSBE. In the file of one

complaint, OSEP found the following notation: ‘This is not an issue which can be

adjudicated through the formal complaint process, as the State Department of Education

will not substitute its judgment for that of the IEP team. Therefore, no corrective action

is required pursuant to this issue.’"163
113

C In North Dakota, "OSEP found that in one complaint the issues raised by the parent

regarding the provision of special education services for his daughter were investigated as

if there were the possibility of a systemic problem within the unit and district policies and

procedures that may have affected all children receiving special education services. 

Further, the written report addressed findings related to general policies affecting all

children with disabilities rather than the individual circumstances of the complainant. 

Therefore, there was no investigation and resolution of the specific allegations of the

complaint."164

The effect of the illegitimate complaint limitations imposed by some states has been to

force parents either to drop the issue, or to hire attorneys to represent their children in due

process hearings.

(c) State Monitoring

OSEP found 35 states (70%) failed to ensure compliance with the state monitoring

requirements. These requirements and the percentage of states in noncompliance are illustrated in

the following chart:

Chart 13: State Noncompliance with State Monitoring Requirements

Requirement % of States

Out of

Compliance

Number of

States Out

of

Complianc

e

Method of Determining Compliance

 Lacked methods to determine compliance 

 with some requirements

44 22

 Lacked complete methods 38 19
Requirement % of States

Out of

Compliance

Number of

States Out

of

Complianc

e

114

Effective Method for Identifying

Deficiencies

 Lacked effective methods for identifying 

 deficiencies

42 21

Correction of Deficiencies

 Failure to ensure correction of deficiencies 56 28

(i) Method/completeness of method to determine compliance

States must adopt proper methods to monitor public agencies responsible for carrying out

special education programs. 

OSEP found 22 states (44%) lacked methods to determine compliance with some

requirements, and 19 states (38%) lacked complete methods, including the following examples:

C No method to determine compliance: “...OSEP reviewed AZDE’s [Arizona Department of

Education’s] monitoring procedures document, Monitoring for Effectiveness of Compliance

&Master Guide, the Collaborative Program Review manual, and all other monitoring

procedures and materials, and finds that the procedures that were in effect at the time of

OSEP’s visit did not include a method to determine compliance regarding the following

requirements: §300.571&Consent for release of confidential information, §300.540&

Additional team members&SLD.”165

C Incomplete methods to determine compliance: “...§300.300&FAPE&Extended School

Year services (ESY) - AZDE’s monitoring procedures contain an element at 5.C.5.v that

requires that "the IEP shall include consideration for extended school year services," and

monitors are directed to review the IEP to determine if ESY services have been considered. 

There are no guidelines for determining the need for ESY and, in some cases,
115

documentation on the IEP is limited to checking "yes" or "no" in response to the provision of

ESY services. As a result, AZDE’s method does not enable monitors to determine if the decision

about the need for ESY is made on an individual basis at the IEP meeting, rather than on the

category of disability or the program in which the student is enrolled."166

(ii) Effective method for identifying deficiencies

States must use proper methods to monitor public agencies responsible for carrying out

special education programs.

OSEP found that 21 states (42%) lacked effective methods for identifying deficiencies.

The methodology OSEP has used to make findings of noncompliance in this area has been to

monitor public agencies recently monitored by the SEA. Findings are made if OSEP finds

noncompliance with requirements that the SEA missed in its monitoring effort. For example,

C “Although the Virginia DOE’s [Department of Education’s] monitoring instruments

include elements that address all of the Part B requirements regarding placement in the

least restrictive environment, OSEP found that VADOE’s monitoring procedures had not

been fully effective in determining compliance with all of those requirements. OSEP

identified deficiencies in three agencies regarding placement in the least restrictive

environment that VADOE did not identify when it conducted its most recent review of

those agencies."167

Occasionally findings of noncompliance with the requirement to have effective methods

for identifying deficiencies are based upon a failure to monitor districts regularly:

C In Texas, "[d]uring the 1992%93 through the 1995%96 school years, Texas monitored 108

of its 1,065 districts. Only districts that volunteered to participate in the pilot were

reviewed using the Results Based Monitoring system. With the exception of a few

follow-up reviews resulting from previous comprehensive monitoring reviews, TEA’s

comprehensive cyclical monitoring was discontinued after the 1991%92 school year. As a

result, 541, roughly half of Texas’s districts, received only one visit between the 1986%87
116

and 1995%96 school years. Two-hundred five of these districts had not been monitored in

eight or more years."168

(iii) Correction of deficiencies

States must adopt and use proper methods for the correction of deficiencies in program

operations that are identified through monitoring.

OSEP found that 28 states (56%) had failed to ensure the correction of deficiencies

identified through their monitoring processes. OSEP’s methodology on this issue has been to

visit agencies that the SEA had recently monitored, had made findings of noncompliance, and

had verified that corrective actions were performed. Findings were made by OSEP if it

discovered continuing noncompliance with the requirement at issue in the agency visited. On

occasion, OSEP had discovered that one of the reasons for the continuing noncompliance was

that the SEA had approved corrective actions that were inadequate to remedy the noncompliance. 

For example,

C "...OSEP found in May 1995 that agencies A, C, D, and F were failing to complete a

number of pre-placement evaluations within the state’s 60 school day standard, although

ISBE [Illinois State Board of Education] had found this deficiency in agency A in 1993,

agency C in 1990, agency D in 1988, and agency F in 1989, and required each agency to

correct the identified deficiencies...."169

C “OSEP noted in monitoring documents maintained by the Indiana Department of

Education (IDE) that it had not ensured that subsequent to districts being monitored, the

necessary actions to correct identified deficiencies were implemented by public agencies,

nor had IDE ensured that noncompliant practices were discontinued. ...OSEP found

similar deficiencies in public agencies that IDE had monitored, identified deficiencies,

and subsequently verified that corrective actions had occurred. In addition, some

deficiencies in agencies monitored by OSEP during its 1992 monitoring visit reappear in
117

this Report. IDE had previously provided written assurances and documentation that

deficiencies identified by OSEP in these agencies had been corrected."170

C "Both OSEP and LDE [Louisiana Department of Education] identified some of the same

noncompliance activities regarding LRE in agencies B, C, D, and E.... In two instances

the corrective action plan directed the LEA to provide in-service training to staff and to

allow for more opportunities for students to interact with nondisabled peers. These

activities were completed, but some students continue to lack any opportunities to

participate with nondisabled students for academic, nonacademic, or extracurricular

activities. In one instance the facility was to develop an interagency agreement. This was

accomplished, but the placement process continues to disallow individual determinations

of the maximum extent to which students can be educated with nondisabled students."171

C In California, OSEP noted that “...many deficiencies identified in agency F in CDE’s

[California Department of Education’s] 1993 review and OSEP’s 1991 review were

uncorrected. CDE required agency F to submit corrective action materials in the form of

completed compliance resolutions or compliance agreements after its 1993 review. 

...CDE approved all compliance resolution materials.... The corrective actions submitted

by agency F and approved by CDE, required agency F to change its policies and

procedures to make them consistent with state and federal requirements, but did not

require training or other procedures to ensure that practice was changed or documentation

to ensure that deficiencies had been corrected on an individual and/or systemic basis. 

...CDE also conducted a follow-up visit required by the OSEP corrective action plan. 

CDE focused its follow-up on deficiencies identified by OSEP in its 1992 Report and

found that agency F had corrected these findings. CDE’s follow-up review, however,

only confirmed that public agencies had established policies and procedures that were

consistent with the requirements...; CDE did not investigate whether public agencies

implemented these requirements, and OSEP found as part of its 1995 review that agency

[F] continued to implement practices that were not consistent with these requirements."172
118

(iv) Limitations of monitoring findings on the

compliance of state monitoring systems

Federal monitoring findings on state monitoring should be regarded as low estimates of

the number of states that have not complied with the state monitoring requirements. In each of

the following examples, the federal monitoring reports appeared to contain enough information

and analysis to support findings of noncompliance with state monitoring requirements, yet none

expressed a clear-cut finding of noncompliance. 

C In its 1997 Alaska monitoring report, OSEP made the following determination:

"...AKDE [Alaska Department of Education] monitors for this requirement [FAPE&

related services] by reviewing current IEPs..., and verifying that services are implemented

as written on the IEP, but does not have a method to determine how decisions are made

regarding provision of needed related services. OSEP also reviewed the most recent

monitoring reports issued by AKDE for each of the public agencies to be visited. OSEP

determined that AKDE did not make any findings with regard to the provision of related

services...in any of these agencies."173

OSEP, however, had found noncompliance with this requirement in three agencies in

Alaska, thus providing the basis for a finding of noncompliance concerning the effectiveness of

the method for identifying deficiencies requirement. Yet OSEP did not state such a finding in its

Alaska report.

C In Alabama, OSEP made findings of LRE noncompliance in four agencies; the Alabama

SEA had made such findings in only one of these agencies.174 

Again, however, OSEP did not state a finding of noncompliance concerning the

effectiveness of the method for identifying deficiencies.

C In addition, in the FAPE section of its Maine report OSEP noted the following:
119

"In its 1994 monitoring report, OSEP cited MDOE [Maine Department of

Education] for monitoring procedures that did not always result in the identification of

deficiencies regarding the provision of related services. The specific related services

addressed in this finding were psychological counseling and testing services. MDOE was

required to revise its monitoring procedures, and take other action to ensure the

provision of related services, including psychological services, needed by the child in

order to benefit from special education. However, MDOE did not make findings

regarding the availability and provision of psychological counseling in any of the

monitoring reports for agencies A, B, and G, the agencies in which OSEP identified

deficiencies in the 1996 monitoring visit. Agency A was monitored by MDOE in 1994,

prior to the issuance of OSEP’s monitoring report, and the subsequent revisions to the

monitoring procedures. Agencies B and G were monitored in 1995 and 1996, after the

revision of the monitoring documents...."175

Yet OSEP did not state a finding of noncompliance in the area of effectiveness of the

method for identifying deficiencies in its 1997 Maine report.

C Although in the FAPE section of its South Carolina report, OSEP pointed out the

following, again no clear-cut finding of noncompliance with state monitoring

requirements was stated:

"Although SCDE’s [South Carolina Department of Education’s] monitoring

procedures require that monitors verify through interview with teachers, related services

providers, and parents that the related services specified in the student’s IEP are being

provided, OSEP found this process ineffective. Monitoring documents maintained by

SCDE showed that interviews with teachers and related services providers, as required

by SCDE’s monitoring procedures, were not always conducted by SCDE monitoring

staff to confirm that related services are provided based on the student’s IEP."176

C Finally, OSEP noted in its Tennessee report, concerning pre-placement evaluations, that

the SEA made findings of noncompliance in two agencies, and verified corrective actions,
120

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Content of Notice Hearing Decisions

within 45 Days

Prior Notice/Parent

Consent

Establishment of

Procedural

Safeguards

Requirement

% in Noncompliance

yet "its monitoring procedures have not effectively ensured that agencies discontinue

noncompliant practices.”177 But OSEP did not make a finding of failure to correct

identified deficiencies in its Tennessee report.

The reader will note the similarities between these examples and earlier examples where

OSEP made actual findings of noncompliance in state monitoring. Although OSEP later reported

it had required corrective actions in each of these instances, it was puzzling that OSEP also had

not made clear findings of noncompliance in Alaska, Alabama, Maine, South Carolina, and

Tennessee.

(v) Procedural safeguards

Procedural safeguards ensure that parents are notified about and have access to due

process. OSEP found that 39 states (78%) had failed to ensure compliance with the procedural

safeguards requirements. Specific procedural safeguards requirements and the percentage of

states in noncompliance are illustrated in the following chart:

Chart 14: State Noncompliance with Procedural Safeguard Requirements
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(vi) Hearing decisions within forty-five days

Unless a specific extension of time is granted by a hearing officer, final decisions in

hearings must be reached and copies mailed to the parties no later than 45 days after the receipt of

the request for the hearing.

OSEP found that 18 states (36%) had failed to ensure compliance with this requirement.

Such violations can result in undue delays in students receiving appropriate services or

placements. For example,

C In Illinois, "OSEP reviewed the decisions and Illinois State Board of Education files for

11 randomly selected due process hearings (each of which was requested between March

1993 and January 1994), and found that the decision in each of the 11 hearings was

reached more than 45 days after the hearing was requested. There was no documentation

of a time line extension for seven of those hearings, and it appeared from the files for the

other four hearings that some extension of time had been granted, but OSEP could not

determine whether a decision had been reached and mailed to the parties within specific

extensions of the time line."178

Sometimes violations of the 45-day requirement result in delays that can waste a

significant portion of a school year for the students.

C In Georgia, "OSEP found that in 12 of the 28 requests for a due process hearing, the 45-

day time line was exceeded, and there were no requests for extensions recorded in the log

prepared by Georgia Department of Education. The time lines in these cases exceeded the

45-day time lines in amounts ranging from seven days to four months and 27 days. The

log noted that of the 16 requests for which extensions were recorded, 10 were extended

for a specific period of time. The log entries for the other six extensions did not include a

specific time limit, and all were resolved from 56 to 169 days beyond the 45-day time line

requirement."179
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(vii) Protection in evaluation

Re-evaluations of students with disabilities must occur within three years of prior

evaluations. Initial evaluations must comply with time line standards set by state regulations.

OSEP found that 19 states (38%) had failed to ensure compliance with the protection in

evaluation requirements.180 For example,

C In Texas, "OSEP interviewed administrators and agency officials responsible for

coordination and conducting evaluations in agencies A, B, H, J, and K to determine

whether all students with disabilities are evaluated at least every three years, or more

often if warranted or requested by the child’s parent or teacher. These officials

acknowledged that some evaluations were delayed by three to twelve months beyond the

three-year time line. They reported to OSEP that there was a waiting list of students in

each of these agencies whose re-evaluations were overdue. Administrators from agencies

A and H informed OSEP that at least 100 students’ re-evaluations were delayed. 

Administrators in agency B explained to OSEP that 1,244 overdue re-evaluations

exceeded the three-year time limit. An agency J administrator explained to OSEP that of

the three regions in the district, the northeast region had 265 overdue re-evaluations for

students with disabilities that exceeded the three-year time limit."181

C In Rhode Island, "OSEP reviewed student files from six agencies and found that some

student re-evaluations were from one month to five years overdue. Agency D provided

OSEP with a list of students whose re-evaluations were overdue. OSEP reviewed data for

77 of the students on the list: 10 were two to three years overdue, 19 were one to two

years overdue, and 48 were a year or less overdue. A special education administrator in

agency E told OSEP that evaluations were seriously delayed. Of 251 re-evaluations, 151

were overdue, some by as much as five years."182

C “OSEP reviewed documentation on initial evaluations and interviewed staff in agencies

visited. These agencies provided documentation on initial evaluations completed during
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the 1993–94 and 1994–95 school years. That documentation showed delays in

evaluations conducted by public agencies that ranged from 10 instructional days to as

many as 390 instructional days (e.g., greater than two calendar years) in the following

agencies:

 Agency B—63 of 400 evaluations were overdue;

 Agency C—166 of 377 evaluations were overdue;

 Agency E—49 of 600 evaluations were overdue;

 Agency F—161 of 806 evaluations were overdue;

 Agency G—68 of 386 evaluations were overdue. 

OSEP collected documentation from agencies B, C, D, E, F, and G on re-evaluations

conducted during the 1994–1995 school year. In interviews, administrators and agency

personnel responsible for conducting these evaluations reported that the following delays

were the result of staff shortages and the subsequent decision to give priority to initial

evaluations over triennial re-evaluations.

 Agency B—180 of 579 evaluations overdue

 Agency E—68 of 386 evaluations overdue

 Agency G—340 of 380 evaluations overdue

In agencies E and G, these re-evaluations were, in some cases, more than a year

overdue.”183

C "[I]n one district in New York, DoED reviewed a district report and found that of 5,743

students referred for assessments during the 1992%93 school year, 3,467 (60%) were

overdue."184

e. Data Quality Issues Raised by the Monitoring Reports

At the start of this section, several problems regarding the standards used in assessing the

federal monitoring findings were laid out, pointing to the need for some fundamental changes in
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monitoring state compliance with IDEA. Issues of data quality will also play a pivotal role

affecting collection and use of data under the new monitoring system. First, the 1997

reauthorization of IDEA placed a strong emphasis on results for students with disabilities and

performance measures as indicators of the states’ success in meeting the goals of IDEA. This

priority emerged in part due to the second factor: the growing impact of the Government

Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA).185 Aimed at improving the effectiveness of

federal programs and public accountability, GPRA required federal agencies to prepare a fiveyear strategic plan and annual performance plans beginning with fiscal year 1999. Agency

performance reports were also required, and the first report on FY 1999 is due in March 2000.

The public accountability envisioned by GPRA extends to state or local government entities

receiving federal funding. They are responsible to their respective funding agencies for GPRA

compliance.

Under earlier provisions of IDEA, states had reported annually on their progress in

implementing IDEA, but with significantly fewer quantitative data reporting requirements. Now

states will have to report on all assessments of students with disabilities in the same detail and

with the same frequency as on assessments of nondisabled students, for example. In order to

meet the new reporting requirements, states will need to develop statewide goals, standards, and

assessment systems for students with disabilities. States will also have to define the performance

indicators and measures for determining if the performance standards are being met and have the

systems in place to collect the data.

OSEP indicates that while many states have data collection and reporting systems in

place, the systems vary tremendously. There is currently no requirement in IDEA for a

standardized approach to data reporting, even for federal reporting purposes. OSEP has

monitored state compliance based in large part on the type and quality of compliance-related data

available in each state. Only some elements of this data are prescribed by law. The limited

availability of assessment and compliance data that are both adequate and appropriate affects

states’ ability to ensure that school districts are providing FAPE, LRE, procedural safeguards, etc.

to children with disabilities.
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There is a need to have the right data available for assessing compliance with state and

federal program requirements, while minimizing the burden on resources in collecting, analyzing,

and reporting on that data. A comprehensive reassessment of all data required to evaluate the

many state and federal education programs will help accomplish this. For example, the data

elements needed to measure compliance with IDEA and improved educational results for

children with disabilities should be identified in consultation with all stakeholders, including the

students, their parents, public agencies, and policy-makers. These IDEA data elements should be

compared with the complete list of data elements required for evaluating all of the various federal

and state programs to determine where existing data sources in each state can be drawn upon,

redundant data eliminated, and missing data developed.

OSEP’s leadership is critical to helping states build and maintain the efficient data

systems they need to assess their own performance in meeting their responsibilities under IDEA.

OSEP can bring together the stakeholders and facilitate the process of identifying the appropriate

data elements for assessing IDEA compliance and educational results indicators. Because reliable

data is vital to effective general supervision by the states, the Department of Education also

should provide technical assistance to them for developing comprehensive, streamlined data

systems.

f. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # III B.1A

After 25 years, all states are out of compliance with IDEA to varying degrees.

An analysis of the most recent federal monitoring report available for each state (from

1994–1998) indicated that no state had carried out its responsibilities to ensure compliance with

all the requirements of Part B. While the degree of noncompliance with any given requirement

(based on number and seriousness of infractions) varied among the states, many states had failed

to ensure compliance with a significant number of requirements. Of the seven areas analyzed, 24

percent, or 10 states, had failed to ensure compliance in five areas; 24 percent, or 10 states, had

failed to ensure compliance in six areas, and 12 percent, or six states, had failed to ensure
126

compliance in seven areas. Four percent, or two states, had failed to ensure compliance in only

one area.

Finding # III B.1B

More than half of the states have failed to ensure full compliance with the following areas:

general supervision (90%, or 45 states); transition (88%, or 44 states); free appropriate

public education (80%, or 40 states); procedural safeguards (78%, or 39 states) and least

restrictive environment (72%, or 36 states).

Other areas in which states failed to ensure compliance are IEPs (44%, or 22 states) and

protection in evaluation (38%, or 19 states).

Recommendation III B.1A

Congress should ask the General Accounting Office to conduct a study of the extent to which

SEAs and LEAs are ensuring that the requirements of IDEA in the areas of general

supervision, transition, free appropriate public education, procedural safeguards, and least

restrictive environment are being met. In addition, the Department of Education should

conduct regular independent special education audits (fiscal and program) initiated by the

DoED Office of Inspector General (OIG). The purpose of the audits would be to examine

whether federal funds granted under IDEA Parts B and D (State Program Improvement

Grants) have been and are being spent in compliance with IDEA requirements. These audits

should be a supplement to OSEP’s annual compliance monitoring visits, and the audit results

should be in DoED's annual report to Congress. To the extent that the DoED OIG lacks the

subject matter expertise to conduct program audits under IDEA, the OIG should contract with

independent entities having such expertise when a program audit is necessary.

Recommendation # III B.1B

Congress should fund an independent consortium of nongovernment entities in every state to

develop and conduct independent monitoring and to produce independent reports to the

President and Congress on the status of each state’s compliance with IDEA at the local level. 
127

Members of the nongovernment consortium should include, but not be limited to, the state’s

PTI, P&A, and IL centers.

While parents of children with disabilities and students and adults with disabilities

participate in the federal monitoring process, they have no independent means for assessing the

extent or quality of state compliance, for determining why state failure to ensure compliance

persists, and for communicating these findings to the President and Congress. They need to be

able to provide reliable and regular assessments of their state’s compliance with IDEA, as well as

a realistic picture of the toll of noncompliance on children and families in their state, to federal

and state leaders, and to the public at large.

Finding # III B.2

OSEP did not have an explicit objective standard for assessing whether noncompliance

with IDEA requirements found in any given state was systemic.

OSEP staff indicated that a state was found noncompliant with a given requirement only

if the failure to ensure compliance was "systemic," (i.e., observed by monitors "with some

frequency").186 For example, a finding of noncompliance could have meant that out of 10 schools

monitored, anywhere from three to 10 had failed to ensure compliance with a given requirement. 

There was no established standard (quantitative or qualitative) by which OSEP made a

determination that noncompliance was systemic.

Recommendation # III B.2A

The Department of Education should establish and use national compliance standards and

objective measures for assessing state progress toward better performance results for children

with disabilities and for achieving full compliance with IDEA.

Recommendation # III B.2B

OSEP should work with the states, students with disabilities, their parents, and other

stakeholders to identify the core data elements needed to assess whether compliance standards

are being met and performance results for children with disabilities are improving statewide.
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Recommendation # III B.2C

OSEP should closely monitor state progress in developing reliable data collection and

reporting mechanisms (qualitative and quantitative) that adequately and accurately assess

both state compliance and performance results for children with disabilities. This

recommendation coincides with a central goal of the 1997 IDEA reauthorization to focus

IDEA implementation more closely on objective performance standards and results measures.

Recommendation # III B.2D

OSEP should make as its own compliance monitoring priority for the next five years the

assessment of state progress toward creating reliable and comprehensive data (quantitative

and qualitative) to support effective state compliance monitoring capabilities.

Finding # III B.3

OSEP’s monitoring reports did not clearly indicate which IDEA requirements were

monitored, why they were monitored, and what the compliance status was.

OSEP reported placing "a strong emphasis on those requirements most closely associated

with positive results for students with disabilities,"187 and appeared to monitor a stable core of

requirements in every state. It used information gathered during the pre-site process to help

determine what to monitor.

Federal monitoring reports, however, did not display all the requirements monitored, nor

did they consistently specify the requirements with which the state appeared to comply, based on

the sample of districts, student files, interviews, and state policies and procedures, as well as state

monitoring documents reviewed. In some cases, requirements with which the state appeared to

comply were mentioned in report cover letters, and in other cases they were not. Therefore, it was

not always possible to determine all the requirements monitored and the compliance status of

each.
129

Recommendation # III B.3

All OSEP monitoring reports should consistently state what requirements were monitored, the

rationale for choosing those requirements, which ones were in compliance, and which ones

were out of compliance.

Such reporting would have enabled a comparison between reports and over time. It also

would have enabled an understanding of where states were determined definitively to be in

compliance, which might have offered opportunities for positive acknowledgment.

Finding # III B.4

OSEP monitoring did not include observation of students; rather, it involved collecting and

reading documents and interviewing education personnel.

In the experience of OSEP staff, observing students consumed a great deal of time and

often did not yield enough conclusive data to make clear-cut compliance determinations. Many

parents and advocates criticized the monitoring process, however, as one that focused too much

on talking with education personnel and reading documentation. Their concern was that this

approach did not provide an adequate measure of the extent to which students were being

appropriately served.

Recommendation # III B.4A

OSEP’s monitoring process in each state should routinely include an ethnically diverse sample

of children who are matched to their records and who are interviewed, along with their parents

and service providers, for a determination of whether the law’s requirements are being met on

their behalf.

Routinely including interviews with children from ethnically diverse backgrounds, their

parents, and service providers in the monitoring process would have provided a more grounded

understanding of the states’ compliance picture.
130

Recommendation # III B.4B

OSEP should review the files of more students placed in out-of-state residential facilities, and

increase the number of compliance monitoring site visits to separate public and private

facilities, as well as to state schools for students who are deaf or have visual impairments.

Finding # III B.5

A complete historical inventory of all monitoring reports issued for every state is not

available, but since 1990 all reports issued have been maintained.

The historical monitoring data in these early reports were crucial to understanding what

areas had remained chronically out of compliance and how states had progressed in improving

compliance over time. In addition, an analysis of the historical data could have provided insight

into the impact of corrective action plans on reducing noncompliance.

Recommendation # III B.5

OSEP should undertake efforts to construct a database with all monitoring reports, corrective

action plans, and compliance agreements ever issued by OSEP, to standardize all newly issued

reports, plans, and agreements and capture in the database, and to undertake a historical

analysis of compliance for each state.

A historical picture of each state’s compliance status will greatly inform OSEP’s

monitoring work and allow for examining trends over time. In addition, it will provide a sense of

the persistence of certain problems in particular states.

Finding # III B.6

Important IDEA requirements appeared to be unmonitored or under-monitored

The federal monitoring reports examined from all fifty states showed that compliance

with one important requirement appeared not to be monitored, and compliance with another

appeared to be under-monitored.
131

IDEA required states to have "[p]rocedures for adopting, if appropriate, promising

practices, materials, and technology, proven effective through research and demonstration."188

There was no evidence in the texts of the monitoring reports reviewed that compliance with this

requirement had ever been monitored.

SEAs are required to "ensure" that public agencies "ensure" that "[u]nless the IEP of a

child with a disability requires some other arrangement, the child is educated in the school that he

or she would attend if nondisabled."189 In the fifty reports reviewed, OSEP had made findings of

noncompliance with this requirement in two states&North Dakota190 and Utah.191 Both reports

were issued in 1994, the first year of reports reviewed. There was no evidence in the texts of the

other monitoring reports reviewed that compliance with this requirement had been monitored.

Recommendation # III B.6

OSEP should ensure that every IDEA requirement is monitored in every state at regular

intervals, even if not core requirements or not identified by the state as problem

noncompliance areas.

OSEP should develop a method for ensuring that requirements often overlooked in the

monitoring process are monitored at regular intervals. The compliance status of states with

noncore requirements or requirements rarely identified as problem areas during the pre-site visit

(i.e., implementation of promising practices) should be monitored at regular intervals in every

state.

Finding # III B.7

OSEP frequently took too long to issue monitoring reports.

For reports issued between 1994 and 1998, the amount of time from the date the

monitoring visit ended and the date of the final report was greater than 90 days for 45 states,

greater than180 days for 27 states, and greater than 365 days for 12 states. DoED’s present policy

is to issue the report approximately five to six months (150%180 days) after the on-site visit, but

recognizes the need to get the reports out more quickly. OSEP has requested additional staff, and

is working on a new strategy to reduce lag time before the release of each monitoring report. 
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Recommendation # III B.7

OSEP should issue the monitoring report as soon as possible after the site-visit, preferably

within 60 days (two months).

OSEP is requesting resources and working on a new strategy to issue the monitoring

reports in more timely fashion. An issuance date no later than two months following the end of

the end of the monitoring visit should be established.

Finding # III B. 8

The Department has been making monitoring reports available through the Department of

Education’s web site as soon as they are issued.

The most recent reports (or the report’s executive summary) from 27 states have been

made available on the OSEP web site. All new reports will be placed there in the future. Placing

the reports on the web site will allow timely access for a broad range of stakeholders and a

greater awareness of the monitoring issues in each state.

Finding # III B.9

The Department began implementing a new "continuous improvement" monitoring

process where the state is a collaborator with the Federal Government and other

constituencies to assess the educational success of students with disabilities and to design

and implement steps for improvement on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation # III B.9

The Department should conduct a formal assessment of the new continuous improvement

monitoring process within the next three years. The assessment should incorporate broad

stakeholder input, particularly from students with disabilities and their parents, on the

effectiveness of the new process in improving compliance with Part B and improvements in 

educational results for students with disabilities.
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The following section presents an analysis of findings on areas of noncompliance reported

in the last three monitoring reports for six states.

6. Persistence of Noncompliance Over Time

This study was concerned with the effectiveness of the monitoring process from 1975 up

to 1998. In other words, if areas of noncompliance were pointed out and plans of correction are

implemented, one would have expected improvement in the noncompliant area. In order to

determine whether or not improvements took place over time, NCD undertook two analyses.

First, we analyzed the current monitoring reports to determine how frequently there were

citations of previous areas of noncompliance that had not been corrected. Second, we examined

several monitoring reports over a span of years in each of six states to determine the extent to

which areas of noncompliance were persistent. According to one expert, "[t]he real test of a

monitoring process is whether identified deficiencies are corrected."192

a. Analysis of Current Monitoring Reports

The most recent monitoring reports of twelve states (24%) indicated continuing areas of

noncompliance from previous federal monitoring reports or other compliance-related OSEP

activities. The areas of continuing noncompliance were often with requirements that were

important to the educational careers of students with disabilities.

C "...[S]everal deficiencies identified in OSEP’s 1993 monitoring report do reappear in this

Report. Specifically, OSEP continued to find deficiencies in requirements related to

ensuring compliance through monitoring, approval of complete local educational agency

applications, the provision of a free appropriate public education, and placement in the

least restrictive environment."193

A "In a few instances [placement in the least restrictive environment, provision of a free

appropriate public education, state educational agency monitoring, and complaint

management] this Report includes continuing findings that were first noted in the 1991

compliance report."194
134

B "OSEP noted...that many deficiencies identified during OSEP’s previous monitoring in

April of 1989 continue to exist. Specifically, OSEP found serious deficiencies in

requirements related to ensuring compliance through monitoring, complaint resolution,

and due process hearings. OSEP also noted significant continuing deficiencies related to

placement in the least restrictive environment.... Although the Report contains numerous

findings in the nine areas of responsibility..., OSEP notes that the seriousness of the

findings described above requires NYSED’s [New York State Education Department’s]

immediate attention.

OSEP is extremely concerned about these continuing deficiencies, and notes that NYSED

has previously provided documentation to OSEP to verify that many of the deficiencies

had been corrected."195

C "...OSEP noted...that many deficiencies identified during OSEP’s previous monitoring in

March of 1988 continue to exist. Specifically, OSEP found serious deficiencies in

requirements related to ensuring compliance through monitoring..., and...found that

NMSDE [New Mexico State Department of Education] had not implemented revised

monitoring procedures that were required and approved by OSEP as part of the corrective

action resulting from OSEP’s previous monitoring visit. In addition, similar deficiencies

continued in the areas of Individualized Education Program development...and a full

explanation of procedural safeguards to parents.... ...Although the Report contains

numerous findings in the five areas of responsibility..., OSEP notes that the seriousness of

the findings described above requires NMSDE’s immediate attention.

OSEP is concerned about these continuing deficiencies, and notes that NMSDE has

previously provided documentation to OSEP to verify that many of the deficiencies had

been corrected. With respect to monitoring, OSEP had approved NMSDE’s development

of a revised monitoring system that met federal requirements on May 4, 1990, but now

finds that NMSDE has not implemented this corrective action required by OSEP...."196
135

D "We are concerned about the continuing existence of two findings of deficiency that

OSEP first identified in MDE’s [Minnesota Department of Education] 1991 compliance

report. First, MDE has not implemented a system to ensure that deficiencies it identifies

in Minnesota public agencies are corrected in a timely manner. Although MDE had

submitted approvable procedures for ensuring correction of public agencies’ deficiencies,

OSEP finds that MDE had not implemented these procedures. Second, OSEP finds that

the MDE routinely violates the federal time line for investigating and resolving

complaints. This deficiency was first identified in the 1991 compliance report and

continued to exist at the time of OSEP’s September 1994 on-site visit. I bring these two

areas to your attention because of the serious issue they raise with regard to MDE’s

ability to exercise general supervisory authority to ensure that all public agencies in the

state comply with Part B."197

E "OSEP found the following five continuing deficiencies that were first identified in the

1991 Report and for which MASSDE [Massachusetts Department of Education]

previously provided documentation to OSEP to verify that the deficiencies had been

corrected:

1. MASSDE has not monitored to ensure that deficiencies are identified in public

agencies in Massachusetts and are corrected in a timely manner. Although

MASSDE submitted appropriate procedures for identifying and ensuring

correction of public agencies’ deficiencies, OSEP finds that MASSDE has not

implemented these procedures.

2. MASSDE has not established procedures to ensure that Part B funds are distributed

to...LEAs based on approved applications from those LEAs.

3. MASSDE’s procedures for investigating and resolving complaints and conducting

due process hearings have not ensured resolution of either within the time lines

prescribed....
136

4. MASSDE has not met its responsibility to ensure that public agencies make

placement decisions consistent with the least restrictive environment

requirements....

5. MASSDE has not implemented procedures which ensure that annual meetings are

held to develop, review, and, if necessary, revise all components in the student’s

IEP."198

C "MDOE [Maine Department of Education] has not exercised its general supervisory

authority, to fully correct all of the deficiencies identified by OSEP in the 1994

Monitoring Report. Specifically, although OSEP found these same deficiencies in the

1994 report, OSEP again found the following deficiencies:

(1) Eligible individuals incarcerated in Maine state and local adult correctional facilities

have not been located, identified, evaluated, and provided with a free appropriate public

education;

(2) Complaint management procedures do not ensure that any complaint that a public

agency has violated a requirement of Part B is resolved...;

(3) ...MDOE has not ensured that the provision of a free appropriate public education is

not delayed, interrupted, or denied to children...."199

F "KDE [Kentucky Department of Education] was cited in OSEP’s 1992 monitoring Report

for failure to exercise general supervisory responsibility over Department of Corrections

educational programs for youth with disabilities, but KDE has yet to provide or establish a

system to ensure provision of special education and related services to eligible youth in

these facilities. Consequently, KDE has failed to exercise its general supervisory

responsibility to implement procedures to ensure that these programs provide special

education and related services to youth with disabilities...as required in OSEP’s previous

corrective action plan."200
137

G "In December 1992, OSEP referred a complaint alleging Part B violations to ISBE

[Illinois State Board of Education] for resolution.... ISBE informed the complainants that

their complaint was "untimely" and that ISBE would not investigate it because ‘[ISBE’s]

complaint procedures require that the violation must have occurred within 180 calendar

days of the date the complaint was filed with [ISBE].’ In February 1993, OSEP again

referred the complaint to ISBE, stating that such a dismissal ‘is not consistent with the

complaint provisions applicable to [Part B].’ In March 1993, ISBE again declined to

resolve the complaint, citing the 180-day time limit; explaining that in establishing the

180-day limitations period ISBE adopted the limitations period established by the Office

for Civil Rights for complaints filed with that office, and enclosing ‘a current copy of

[ISBE’s] internal procedures which include the 180-day time limit.’ In a September 6,

1994, letter, OSEP asked ISBE to advise OSEP within 15 days whether ISBE’s current

procedures included a time limitation, and&to the extent that ISBE’s procedures include

any time limitation on the filing of complaints&the specific steps that ISBE will take to

revise its procedures, and the time lines for those steps. On September 16, 1994, ISBE

responded, stating that it would "revisit" the time line; a further ISBE response of October

4, 1994, confirmed that it ‘still set a 180 day time line.’

In preparation for the May 1995 monitoring visit, OSEP requested from ISBE a copy of its

procedures for resolving complaints. ...ISBE submitted to OSEP a copy of a document

entitled, "Investigation and Resolution of Complaints." Those procedures state that, ‘An

EDGAR [Education Department General Administrative Regulations] investigation is

conducted only on current disputes. An investigation will not be conducted on

retrospective or prospective violations.’

Thus, despite clear OSEP directives to ISBE over a more than two-year period that it must

revise its complaint resolution procedures to eliminate a time limitation on the filing of

Part B complaints, ISBE’s procedures continue to exclude complaints that are not

‘current.’"201
138

H "OSEP is particularly concerned with the persistence of serious problems in the area

of...least restrictive environment. This finding was cited both in the 1993 monitoring

report and in the October 1995 letter issued to FLDE [Florida Department of Education]

subsequent to OSEP’s follow-up visit to FLDE in March of 1995."202

C "OSEP noted in its development of this report that some of the deficiencies identified

during OSEP’s previous monitoring in February of 1989 continue to exist. Specifically,

OSEP found deficiencies in requirements related to ensuring compliance through

monitoring and implementation of placement in the least restrictive environment. OSEP is

concerned about these continuing deficiencies and notes that CSDE [Connecticut State

Department of Education] had previously provided documentation and assurances to

OSEP to verify that the deficiencies had been corrected and recurrence had been

prevented. In this regard, CSDE must take immediate and forceful steps to correct

deficiencies throughout the state or risk the imposition of sanctions, including the

withholding of federal funds."203

I "OSEP is particularly concerned that AKDE [Alaska Department of Education] has not

implemented procedures to ensure that eligible persons with disabilities incarcerated in the

state’s adult correctional facilities are provided a free appropriate public education. This

issue was cited as an area of noncompliance in OSEP’s 1994 monitoring report to AKDE,

however, at the time of OSEP’s 1996 monitoring, AKDE had taken no definitive action in

this area."204

As is clear from the cover letters and reports quoted above, continuing noncompliance

appeared in many cases to be the result of an unwillingness on the part of SEAs to implement

corrective actions the SEA and OSEP had previously agreed upon, or to follow clear OSEP

directives. This finding may not be surprising because OSEP apparently did not begin significant

enforcement activities as a result of discovering that these SEAs had not lived up to their

corrective action or other commitments.
139

b. Analysis of Six States Over Time

i. Methodology and Limitations

All reports for a selected group of eleven states, since the beginning of federal special

education monitoring efforts, were requested from OSEP.205 Unfortunately, OSEP did not have a

policy of retaining copies of all reports at the time the research for this study was conducted:

"...OSEP generally does not keep records regarding IDEA monitoring activities for more than

three to five years."206 Neither did OSEP have an inventory of the reports that they did possess, so

it was not possible to pre-determine which states had the most complete set of reports. California,

Illinois, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Vermont were ultimately chosen to be studied in depth

because there appeared to be a reasonable number of reports available going back in time. 

Because OSEP did not consistently display areas of compliance in its reports, as

mentioned above, the resulting limitations on this part of the current study were significant.

Requirements were chosen for analysis if the most recent report displayed a definite compliance

status for it, and if there was at least one earlier report that displayed a definite compliance status

for that requirement.207 It was possible that when a report gave no information about a

requirement the state was compliant, that it was a "single cite" instance of noncompliance, or that

compliance with the requirement was not monitored at all. These limitations should be kept in

mind by the reader.

ii. Six States Over Time

According to OSEP, the six states studied served 1,734,227 students with disabilities ages

three to 21 under Part B of IDEA during the 1995%96 school year.208 Hence, these states served

30.9 percent of the total students served under Part B nationwide.

(a) California

Three monitoring reports from California were analyzed: 1988, 1992, and 1996. As

displayed in the following table, and as qualified by the limitations affecting this study, California
140

came into compliance with only one of 10 requirements (10%) over time&the requirement under

general supervision, the review and approval of LEA applications. Of the nine that remained

noncompliant, seven remained noncompliant for almost eight years, and two for four years.

Table 15: Noncompliance Over Time in California

Requirement 4/6/88 2/11/92 2/5/96

FAPE: Related Services X X X

LRE: Education with Nondisabled/Removal

Only When Aids/Services Standard Met

X XX

LRE: Nonacademic & Extracurricular X X X

LRE: Placement Based on IEP X X X

General Supervision: Review and Approval of

LEA Applications

X XC

General Supervision: Complaint Management:

Resolved Within 60 Days

NI X X

General Supervision: State Monitoring: Method

to Determine Compliance

X XX

General Supervision: State Monitoring: Effective

Method for Identifying Deficiencies

X XX

General Supervision: State Monitoring:

Correction of Deficiencies

X NI X

Procedural Safeguards: Content of Notice NI X X

Key to Tables: X&Noncompliant, C&Compliant, NI&No Information

Although OSEP could not provide the 1980 report, California was apparently monitored

in 1980 and 1985 also. At a Congressional hearing, David Rostetter testified about these efforts:

"In November 1980 OSEP issued a 56-page monitoring report to the state

of California. It was clearly the most rigorous effort at enforcement attempted up

to that point. Unfortunately, a presidential election resulted in an administration

that ordered OSEP to negotiate the findings and ‘close out’ the issues immediately.

Not surprisingly, these same deficiencies again were found during the September

1985 on-site review of California. Prior to the visit, the Deputy Assistant Secretary

advised me to ‘avoid making findings’ as a result of the California review. This
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‘advice’ was never heeded. As of this date, the findings in the November 1980

letter remain unaddressed. Since that time over half a billion dollars in federal

funds has been awarded to California in the presence of clear evidence of

noncompliance."209

It is impossible to tell from the information provided whether some of these requirements

have been in noncompliance since 1980.

(b) Illinois

The 1991 and 1996 Illinois monitoring reports were analyzed. As displayed in the

following table and as qualified by the limitations affecting this study, Illinois came into

compliance with six of 14 requirements (43%) over time. The eight with which the state remained

noncompliant have been in this status for almost five years.

Table 16: Noncompliance Over Time in Illinois

Requirement 5/23/91 2/21/96

FAPE: Related Services X X

FAPE: Provision of Special Education/Program Options

Available

X X

LRE: Education with Nondisabled/Removal Only When

Aids/Services Standard Met

X X

LRE: Nonacademic & Extracurricular X X

LRE: Placement Based on IEP X X

LRE: Continuum Available to Extent Necessary X X

IEPs: Content X C

IEPs: Meetings X C

General Supervision: Review and Approval of LEA

Applications

X C

General Supervision: State Monitoring: Effective Method for

Identifying Deficiencies

X C

General Supervision: State Monitoring: Correction of

Deficiencies

X X

Procedural Safeguards: Hearing Decisions Within 45 Days X X

Procedural Safeguards: Content of Notice X C
Requirement 5/23/91 2/21/96

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Procedural Safeguards: Establishment of Procedural

Safeguards

X C

(c) New York

Reports from 1983, 1990, 1994, and a follow-up report from 1996 were analyzed for New

York. As displayed in the following table and as qualified by the limitations affecting this

study,210 in its most recent comprehensive monitoring report (8/16/94), New York came into

compliance with none of the 15 requirements (0%) with which it had been previously

noncompliant. Five of these requirements had been noncompliant for more than 10 years, and 10

remained noncompliant for more than four years. Of the 11 requirements with which the state was

found noncompliant in the follow-up report (9/10/96), two had been noncompliant for more than

12 years, three for six years, and six for two years.

Table 17: Noncompliance Over Time in New York

Requirement 12/14/83 10/17/90 8/16/94 9/10/96*

FAPE: ESY X X X NI

FAPE: Provision of Special

Education/Program Options

Available

NI NI X X

LRE: Education with

Nondisabled/Removal Only When

Aids/Services Standard Met

XX X X

LRE: Nonacademic & Extracurricular NI X X X

LRE: Continuum Available to Extent

Necessary

NI X X X

IEPs: Content X X X NI

IEPs: Meetings NI X X NI

Transition: Notice NI NI X X

Transition: Statement of Needed

Services

NI NI X X

Transition: Meeting Participants NI NI X X
Requirement 12/14/83 10/17/90 8/16/94 9/10/96*

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General Supervision: Incarcerated

Students

NI X X NI

General Supervision: Review and

Approval of LEA Applications

NI X X NI

General Supervision: Complaint

Management: Resolved Within 60

Days

X NI X X

General Supervision: State

Monitoring: Method to Determine

Compliance

NI X X NI

General Supervision: State

Monitoring: Effective Method for

Identifying Deficiencies

NI X X NI

General Supervision: State

Monitoring: Correction of

Deficiencies

NI X X NI

Procedural Safeguards: Hearing

Decisions Within 45 Days

NI NI X X

Procedural Safeguards: Content of

Notice

NI X X X

Procedural Safeguards: Prior

Notice/Parent Consent

X NI X NI

Procedural Safeguards: Establishment

of Procedural Safeguards

NI X X NI

Protection in Evaluation NI NI X X**

*Follow-up Report **Report notes significant improvement

(d) Oregon

Reports from 1988, 1993, and 1998 were analyzed for Oregon. As displayed in the

following table and as qualified by the limitations affecting this study, Oregon came into

compliance with six of 10 requirements (60%) over time. Of the four that remained noncompliant,

two had been noncompliant for more than nine years, and two for more than four years.
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Table 18: Noncompliance Over Time in Oregon

Requirement 7/5/88 11/15/93 1/8/98

FAPE: ESY NI X X

FAPE: Related Services NI X X

LRE X X C

General Supervision: Review and Approval of

LEA Applications

X XC

General Supervision: Complaint Management:

Resolved Within 60 Days

NI X C

General Supervision: Complaint Management:

Resolve Any Complaint

X NI C

General Supervision: State Monitoring:

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies

X XX

General Supervision: State Monitoring:

Correction of Deficiencies

X XX

Procedural Safeguards: Hearing Decisions

Within 45 Days

NI X C

Protection in Evaluation NI X C

(e) Texas

Reports from 1987, 1993, and 1997 were examined for Texas. As displayed in the

following table, and as qualified by the limitations affecting this study, Texas came into

compliance with only two of nine requirements (22%) over time. Of the seven which remained

noncompliant, six remained noncompliant for more than 10 years, and one for more than four

years.
145

Table 19: Noncompliance Over Time in Texas

Requirement 3/11/87 2/26/93 9/16/97

FAPE: Related Services NI X X

LRE: Education with Nondisabled/Removal

Only When Aids/Services Standard Met

XXX

LRE: Nonacademic & Extracurricular X X X

LRE: Placement Based on IEP X X X

LRE: Continuum Available to Extent Necessary X X X

General Supervision: Review and Approval of

LEA Applications

XXC

General Supervision: State Monitoring: Effective

Method for Identifying Deficiencies

X NI X

General Supervision: State Monitoring:

Correction of Deficiencies

XXX

Procedural Safeguards X X C

(f) Vermont

Reports for 1989, 1993, and 1996 were analyzed for Vermont. As displayed in the

following table and as qualified by the limitations affecting this study, Vermont came into

compliance with three of eight requirements (37.5%) over time. Of the five that remained

noncompliant, one remained noncompliant for seven years, and four for more than two years.

Table 20: Noncompliance Over Time in Vermont

Requirement 2/24/89 9/17/93 2/8/96

FAPE: Related Services NI X X

FAPE: Provision of Special

Education/Program Options Available

NI X X

IEPs: Content X X X

General Supervision: Incarcerated Students NI X X

General Supervision: Review and Approval of

LEA Applications

X XC

General Supervision: Complaint Management NI X C
Requirement 2/24/89 9/17/93 2/8/96

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General Supervision: State Monitoring:

Correction of Deficiencies

NI X X

Protection in Evaluation NI X C

c. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # III B.10

Some significant state noncompliance areas have changed over time.

At the start of the federal monitoring process, large numbers of children with disabilities

were routinely and inappropriately placed in separate educational settings in many states. Recent

findings have shown that while such routine inappropriate placements have decreased in many

states, a lack of adequate supports to children placed in regular classrooms was still prevalent.

Finding # III B.11

States frequently failed to ensure compliance with the same requirement for years and for

several rounds of monitoring.

Looking at the three most recent monitoring reports (ranging from 1983%1998) for each of

six states, they came into compliance as a group with only 18 of 66 noncompliant requirements

(27%) identified in the first and/or second of the three monitoring reports. For 48 (73%) of the 66

noncompliant requirements found, either noncompliance was found again or no compliance

finding was reported at all in the third monitoring report.

Of the 18 requirements with which states came into compliance, 10 (56%) had to do with

the state’s own administrative functioning (five&review and approval of LEA applications;

three&complaint management; one%hearing decisions within time lines; and one&effectiveness of

the monitoring system at identifying noncompliance).

Recommendation # III B.11
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OSEP should strengthen compliance monitoring and enforcement by recognizing states that

are performing well, offering ongoing technical assistance to states to correct noncompliance,

and applying consequences consistently when improvement objectives are not met.

Finding # III B.12

The federal IDEA enforcement process has not provided clear and certain consequences for

failures to correct noncompliance that would motivate the states toward compliance.

SEAs cannot be motivated to garner the will and the resources to come into compliance

when the record shows that sanctions rarely occur. 

Recommendation # III B.12A

The Department of Education’s approach to remedying state noncompliance should link

noncompliance findings with (1) measurable improvement objectives to be met within a defined

time frame, and (2) a range of specific enforcement sanctions that will be incurred for failures

to meet each of the improvement objectives within the specified time frames.

Recommendation # III B.12B

The Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior,

with input from students with disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop

a broad range of sanctions linked to the failure to correct noncompliance within the time

frames agreed upon in the corrective action plans.

A wider range of options is needed to allow more flexibility and consistency in the

enforcement of IDEA. These options should clearly articulate the sanctions available with

examples of circumstances in which each would appropriately be applied.

The following section briefly discusses the monitoring process as it relates to the issues of

under-served populations.
148

7. OSEP Initiatives to Address Marginalization Issues

OSEP had taken several initiatives over the past decade to address noncompliance areas

that particularly affect youth with disabilities who, because they are members of minority

communities, living in state institutions, or served by state programs, have often been

marginalized. In response to consumer complaints and research about the unavailability of

services for eligible youth with disabilities in adult and juvenile correctional facilities, OSEP had

collected data from SEAs to determine the extent to which states were exercising their general

supervisory responsibility for ensuring the provision of special education and related services. 

When appropriate, OSEP also had conducted on-site visits to correctional facilities as part of its

monitoring reviews.211 OSEP reported compliance improvements in this area, although no data

were provided to assess the extent of improvement.

OSEP has also conducted monitoring reviews of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),

where BIA functions as the SEA for schools located on Native American reservations, and has

worked with BIA staff in providing training to OSEP monitoring staff regarding American Indian

culture. During the most recent (1998%99) monitoring review of the BIA, OSEP visited

reservations and interviewed parents and advocates in Arizona, South Dakota, North Dakota,

Utah, and New Mexico. OSEP has worked closely with groups appointed by BIA as part of the

monitoring review process, including the newly created special advisory board.212

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has also worked in collaboration with OSEP and

independently to address inappropriate placement of minority students. Since 1994, OCR has

identified this issue as a high priority item in DoED’s enforcement program. From October 1993

through July 1999, OCR has addressed 413 cases involving inappropriate placements of minority

students in special education,213 including 162 complaint investigations and 251 compliance

reviews, some of which were statewide or citywide.214 OCR had undertaken these cases based on

its own concerns about possible noncompliance and believed significant resolutions have been

achieved, "which provided for positive change for hundreds of thousands of students."215 
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Resolutions cited as examples included a strategy developed jointly with OSEP and the

Mississippi Department of Education to address inappropriate placement of minority students and

a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into by OCR and the Board of Education of the

City of New York and co-signed by OSEP to address inappropriate referrals and placement of

minority students in special education. OCR was monitoring these agreements, and evaluating

how successfully the various measures had been implemented so as to increase the effectiveness

of its enforcement efforts.216 No data demonstrating improved compliance based on measurable

indicators were provided for either of these states and may not yet have been available.

8. Perspectives on the Impact of Federal Compliance Monitoring

As part of our research, individuals who had been involved directly and indirectly with

federal compliance monitoring at the state and local level were consulted. This section presents

views on federal compliance monitoring from two different organizational vantage points.

a. The Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities

The Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) is a coalition made up of more than a

hundred national consumer, advocacy, provider, and professional organizations working in

Washington, DC, on behalf of people with disabilities. For this study, NCD met with members of

the Civil Rights Task Force to gain their perspectives on monitoring and enforcement of IDEA.

They made several key points: 

C While the federal role is critical, it is only part of the enforcement scheme.

C Parents have been and still are the main enforcement vehicle for IDEA; they carry too

much of the burden.

C Protection and advocacy systems across the country and private litigation are crucial

aspects of the overall enforcement scheme of the law. 

C Monitoring reports have been useful, for the most part; however, all states still fail to

ensure compliance with the law after more than 20 years of monitoring and enforcement.
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C With the enactment of IDEA ’97, the need for outreach training and technical assistance

surpassed the considerable resources OSEP dedicated to meeting it.

C OSEP should use the clarified enforcement authorities (partial withholding of funds and

referral to the Department of Justice) in IDEA ’97. 

b. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education

The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) is made up

of those individuals responsible for ensuring compliance with IDEA in their states. NASDSE

generally believes that compliance monitoring has absorbed considerable resources while

producing limited results. They noted,

“Legal compliance has absorbed the resources and time of professionals, hampering

substantive efforts to improve programs. Compliance monitoring systems address little

more than minimal process requirements and have had limited impact on educational

quality. The need for transition from a system that focuses on the process of educating

students to one that focuses on performance and results has been clearly recognized.”217

NASDSE asserts that compliance monitoring “has usurped the entire function of

accountability, thereby becoming a tyrant.”218 In an interview for this study, Martha Fields,

Executive Director of NASDSE, noted that the tremendous amount of resources that have gone

into monitoring has produced little. She noted that monitoring can only do so much and that, in

her view, it had been maximized as a strategy for improvement. She held that monitoring

represents the “IRS approach” and it runs counter to reform and improvement. Monitoring and

the issuance of the reports, she suggested, would be more useful if they were done in the context

of everything else that is going on in the state and if they were considered in relation to other

matters/developments in the state, such as education reform. The categories of monitoring

problems over the years have been consistent, she noted; however, the degree of the problems has

lessened. She cited LRE as an example.
151

States know that federal monitoring is not going away, according to Fields. However, the

states would like to see it approached differently. Fields noted that states found the

implementation visits recently conducted by OSEP, intended to provide states with information

about the 1997 IDEA amendments, to be beneficial. She also noted that states felt that they were

working in partnership with OSEP to correct problems.

NASDSE would like to see the monitoring process driven by data. For example, the new

law includes numerous new data collection requirements. If states look carefully at their data on

achievement, dropout rates, and graduation rates and monitor those data over time, they will be in

a strong position to identify problems and make changes. They could set realistic benchmarks and

monitor their progress toward them. Some states, such as New York, are moving in that direction,

according to Fields. It is important to be vigilant about the results—graduation rates, participation

in post-secondary education rates, and employment rates—that are produced for students with

disabilities, she says. There is some research to indicate that certain inputs make a difference in

the kind of results achieved. For example, the better the teacher is trained, the better the results for

the student. We need to be thinking about these inputs while keeping the spotlight on results, she

noted.

Fields held that OSEP needs an enforcement philosophy and a strategy. Data would help to

provide accountability for monitoring and enforcement. Federal enforcement of IDEA should

involve withholding of funds, but it must be tied to a specific deficiency. For example, a certain

percentage of funds could be withheld that was comparable to the nature of the infraction, but the

nature of the infraction must be well documented.219

c. Findings and Recommendations

The findings and recommendations below capture themes from the dialogues described in

this section.
152

Finding # III B.13

Some state compliance monitoring systems are inadequate because of a lack of staff, of

resources, and of a systematic, coordinated approach statewide.

Recommendation # III B.13

OSEP should increase its monitoring of state monitoring systems, offer targeted technical

assistance to correct deficiencies, and enforce when the state fails to take corrective action.

Finding # III B.14

Compliance monitoring at both the state and federal levels is not sufficiently data-driven,

objective, or consistent, relying too little on agreed upon indicators and measures of

performance.

Recommendation # III B.14

The Department of Education should maintain a priority on working with the states to improve

accountability for implementing IDEA through effective data collection and analysis.

OSEP should continue working with states to improve their compliance monitoring and

enforcement capabilities through data collection related to key performance indicators and

regular, thorough, and ongoing analysis of the data. Without these activities, the extent and nature

of reported compliance problems cannot adequately be understood or corrected. Among the

reported problems that require continuous monitoring are the provision of FAPE and related

educational services to eligible youth with disabilities in state and local detention and correctional

systems as well as disproportionate representation of minority students with disabilities in

separate educational settings and in the state child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

The following section examines the complaint handling mechanisms associated with

IDEA. 
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C. Oversight: Complaint Handling

As noted earlier in this report, there is no federal complaint mechanism for IDEA

analogous to that for other civil rights laws. Other civil rights laws, including the Americans with

Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, are primarily enforced by complaint

investigations. The complaint mechanisms for these other civil rights laws require the individual

who believes he or she has experienced discrimination to file a complaint with the federal agency

that is responsible for enforcing the law; e.g., with the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission if it is a potential violation of the employment provisions (Title I) of the ADA. The

designated enforcement agency processes the complaint and assists the complainant in resolving

it. 

The complaint mechanism for IDEA rests at the state level. Every state is required to have

a mechanism for parents to file complaints and a process for resolving them. The Department of

Education, however, does receive complaints from parents, herein called general complaints,

which it refers back to the states. Prior to 1999, the Secretarial Review process enabled a parent

to appeal to the Secretary after exhausting the state complaint process. However, based on the

recommendations of an Inspector General’s report (discussed below in subsection 2), the

Secretarial Review process was eliminated in the new regulation. 

In addition to these two federal complaint processes, the OCR in the Department of

Education receives and processes education complaints under Section 504 and under Title II of

ADA. These OCR complaints appear to also address IDEA issues. These three complaint

processes are considered in this section of the report.

1. General Complaints About IDEA Received by OSEP

Until 1999, complaints received by the Office of Special Education were considered in

two categories: general complaints and Secretarial Review complaints. The general complaints

came from someone in a state, most frequently a parent. Because IDEA did not provide a

complaint process at the federal level, OSEP referred these complaints back to the states for
154

processing and notified the complainant. OSEP also may have contacted the complainant to

explain the options available to him or her, if it was clear that the complainant did not understand

requirements of the law. Copies of the complaints were provided to the leaders of the monitoring

teams for the state involved.220

During 1995, OSEP received 288 general complaints; during 1996, 348 such complaints;

and during 1997, 377 such complaints.221 California was the subject of the most complaints of

any state or territory for a year: 58 complaints in 1997. Some states had no complaints filed about

them.

For this study, a sample of data about the complaints was requested, in order to analyze

the issues they raised. OSEP provided data on complaints from California, Illinois, New York,

and Texas. Unfortunately, the coding system for the complaints did not allow for issue analysis.

Complaints were coded with general terms such as "child complaint" and "special education

compliance complaint." It appeared that any issue analysis would require reading each complaint,

which was beyond the scope of this study. The 24 New York complaints for 1996 were examined

to determine the total processing time. Of the 24, six took one month or less to close; 10 took one

to five months; three took five to six months; and five did not include enough information to

determine the time line. Considering that OSEP’s procedure was to refer the complaint back to the

state for processing, it was noteworthy that more than half of the complaints took over a month

for such referral.

2. Secretarial Review of IDEA Complaints

In March 1999, the Department of Education issued final IDEA ’97 regulations

eliminating the Secretarial Review process. This elimination was recommended by an Inspector

General’s report described below. Up until March 1999, the following process was used for

Secretarial Review of IDEA complaints: (1) Individuals who were dissatisfied with a state’s final

decision in regard to a state complaint could complain to the federal Department of Education.

These complaints were referred to as "Secretarial Review." (2) To initiate a Secretarial Review

request, a complainant had to send OSEP a copy of the SEA’s final decision on the complaint; a
155

copy of the complaint filed with the SEA that resulted in the final decision; and a letter outlining

the specific aspect of the decision that the requester challenged, the basis for the challenge, and

the relief sought. (3) OSEP and OGC work collaboratively to determine whether to grant the

review, remand the request back to the state, or deny the review. 

In 1995, OSEP received 70 requests for Secretarial Review; in 1996, they received 103

requests; and in 1997, 51 requests. In August 1997, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department

of Education issued an audit report titled "Secretarial Review Process In Need of Change."222 The

report concluded that the Secretarial Review process should be eliminated for the following

reasons. First, few complaints addressed systemic issues. During the period of March 17, 1995, to

February 11, 1997, only two of 15 complaints "granted" Secretarial Review requests addressed

systemic issues. Most were individual complaints seeking individual remedies, and the Inspector

General felt that DoED’s energies are better spent on systemic compliance, in activities such as

monitoring. 

Second, the process was seen as providing minimal benefits to the complainants. DoED

granted Secretarial Review to a small percentage of requests. In a period of almost two years,

determinations providing remedies to the complainants occurred in only 12 cases. In five of the

12 cases, the child with a disability did not actually receive any benefit because she or he was no

longer enrolled in the school that was the subject of the complaint. 

Third, requests for Secretarial Reviews were not processed in a timely fashion, according

to the report. It routinely took DoED over a year to process a request. Of the nine "granted"

requests in 1995, the letter of determination was issued in less than one year in only two cases.

Finally, DoED was seen as being in a weak position to decide cases and to decide them in

a timely fashion. Because DoED was totally dependent upon the clarity and accuracy of written

information provided by the participants, officials had to make numerous inquiries of participants.

When participants did not agree on the events, DoED usually denied the request.
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Although a data sample from Secretarial Review requests was sought in order to analyze

the issues raised, not enough detail was retained in the record-keeping system to draw any

conclusions about the issues.

The Inspector General’s audit, however, which examined the Secretarial Review from a

process perspective, offered the following recommendations: (1) OSERS should work with state

education officials, advocacy groups, and others to identify best practices from the state complaint

process and develop guidelines to assist states in improving state complaint processes.

Performance measures should be developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the state complaint

processes. (2) OSEP’s monitoring process should be enhanced with a particular emphasis on state

complaint processes. (3) Over time, OSEP should evaluate the effectiveness of the reforms states

have instituted for their complaint processes, identify states with poor complaint processes, and

ensure corrective action. (4) OSERS should take steps to eliminate the Secretarial Review

process.

In the proposed regulations issued on October 22, 1997, OSERS eliminated the provision

that establishes the Secretarial Review process.223 In the discussion prior to the regulations,

OSERS cited the Inspector General’s recommendation and notes that the removal of the

Secretarial Review provision "will allow the Department to spend more of its time and attention

on evaluating states’ systems for ensuring compliance with program requirements, which will

have benefit for all parties interested in special education."224 OSEP reports that at the present

time, they still lack the necessary resources to conduct such evaluations.225

The final IDEA regulations, issued March 12, 1999, delete the provision for Secretarial

Review. DoED notes that it implements the Inspector General’s recommendations in the new

regulations by adding provisions that address state complaint procedures.226 Those provisions

include a requirement that states notify parents of the state complaint system and how to use it as

a part of the procedural safeguards notice.227 In responding to the recommendations of the

Inspector General’s report, advocacy groups raised a concern that the elimination of the

Secretarial Review process would leave parents of disabled children no options to appeal final
157

SEA decisions other than the costly due process system or the courts. They recommended that the

Secretarial Review process not be eliminated until another system was in its place. They cited the

poor condition of many state complaint processes as a major concern. The loss of a federal

appeals process to the state complaint process was problematic for them.228

3. Section 504/ADA Complaints Received by OCR/DoED

While the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has no direct responsibility for

monitoring IDEA or investigating IDEA complaints, it does have responsibility for enforcing

Section 504 and Title II of ADA as they relate to education. OCR appears to be receiving a large

number of complaints that may also be complaints under IDEA, and processing a significant

number of complaints alleging multiple violations, sometimes under more than one law. OCR

must respond to any allegations addressing Section 504 or ADA provisions, while allegations

alleging violations under IDEA are forwarded to OSEP, which in turn sends them back to the

states for processing. If a complaint contains an allegation under IDEA and either an ADA or

Section 504 allegation, OCR’s resolution probably will address the IDEA allegation. From the

data provided by OCR, it could not be determined how many of the complaints contained IDEA

allegations or how these were handled.

From early 1993 through May 4, 1998, OCR received 5,684 complaints under 504 or

ADA, or both, in which the respondent was a primary or secondary school and which could also

have been complaints under IDEA. Appendix I provides three tables addressing the number of

IDEA-relevant complaints received during this period and discusses in detail the issues raised by

these complaints, the types of disabilities experienced by those making the complaints, and the

general resolution of the complaints. The 5,684 complaints against elementary and secondary

schools represented 72.3 percent of all the individual complaints OCR received under ADA Title

II.

These complaints cited issues that may have been IDEA issues. The vagueness of the

complaint categories made it impossible to determine definitively how many complaints actually

contained allegations of violations under IDEA. For example, almost 42 percent of the issues were
158

related to “admission to education program.” Some of these complaints could have been related

to IDEA students not being admitted to the program they believed most appropriate for them. 

Almost 20 percent of the complaints were classified as “program service.” These could have been

situations where students with disabilities who were served under IDEA were not receiving the

services they need. Twenty-two percent of the complaints were classified as “student/beneficiary

treatments.” Some complaints under this category may have related to IDEA students not

receiving needed services. 

The largest disability category among the 5,684 complaints was learning disability, at

almost 19 percent. This is also the largest disability category of students served under IDEA.

Children with hearing problems, mental illness, mental retardation, orthopedic impairments,

attention deficit disorder, and speech impairments are all complainants under ADA/504. Children

with these disabilities are also served under IDEA. 

Historically, many have believed that Title II ADA/504 K%12 education-related

complaints primarily address physical access to public and private schools; for example, ensuring

that schools have ramps so people using wheelchairs can use them to enter the school. These data

indicated that almost half of those filing Title II ADA/504 K-12 education-related complaints had

cognitive or mental impairments, including learning disabilities, mental illness, mental

retardation, attention deficit disorder, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. 

It is also interesting to note that complaints from students of higher education age appear

to be a relatively small proportion of complaints that the OCR in the Department of Education

receives. They could account for no more than 27 percent of the total, because about 73 percent

are related to elementary and secondary schools.

4. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # III C.1
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There is no federal complaint process for IDEA to complement and expand the scope of

complaint-handling systems at the state level.

There is a need for a federal complaint handling system to provide students with disabilities and

their parents a vehicle for filing and resolving complaints alleging widespread or systemic

violations occurring at the SEA or LEA levels. Because state complaint handling systems are

largely geared to addressing individual complaints, such a federal process would help to close an

existing gap in the enforcement infrastructure.

Recommendation # III C.1A

Whenever Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B of IDEA, Congress and the President should appropriate at the

same time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total increase in Part B funding to build the

Department of Education’s and Department of Justice’s enforcement infrastructure to help

drive improvements in state compliance and better results for children. Priorities for use of

these funds should include a federal process for handling specific categories of IDEA

complaints and the expansion of technical assistance for improving state complaint handling,

monitoring, and enforcement systems.

Recommendation # III C.1B

Congress should amend IDEA to create a complaint handling process at the federal level to

address systemic violations occurring in SEAs or LEAs. 

Congress should designate the Department of Justice to administer the process and allocate

adequate funding to enable that Department to take on this new role. This new federal complaint

process should be designed to complement, not supplant, state-level complaint-handling and due

process procedures. The federal process should be simple to use and easy to understand by

parents and students. The Department of Justice should develop and disseminate explicit criteria

for the types of complaints alleging systemic violations it will prioritize given its limited

resources.
160

Finding # III C.2

Information about IDEA complaints filed with state complaint systems is often limited. 

The only complaint process for IDEA is at the state level. Information and analyses about

the nature and outcome of state complaints are not readily available to complainants or other

stakeholders at the state level and are not nationally compiled on a state-by-state basis. 

Recommendation # III C.2

The Secretary of Education should require states to submit annually a summary analysis of all

state complaints alleging violations of IDEA, including a listing of complaints received by

category and by LEA, with a brief description of the allegations, opening and closing dates, and

type of resolution.

Under IDEA, the Secretary of Education may require the states to submit any data deemed

necessary to administer the law.229 These analyses should inform OSEP’s monitoring,

compliance and enforcement activities, as well as OSEP’s technical assistance efforts and those of

its technical assistance grantees. This information should be shared with OCR and the Department

of Justice. It should be widely disseminated to stakeholders in the state.

Finding # III C.3

State complaint systems under IDEA need improvement.

According to the Inspector General’s report, state complaint systems should be improved

and more intensely monitored by OSEP. While the IDEA ’97 regulations intended to improve

state complaint systems, OSEP has lacked the necessary resources to conduct such evaluations.

Recommendation # III C.3

OSERS should work intensively with states to improve state complaint systems.
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OSERS should identify model practices in states and proactively provide technical

assistance for improvement of systems in states to include development of a statewide mechanism

for tracking all complaints and capturing basic information about each complaint such as nature of

complaint, time line for resolution, outcome, and satisfaction of complainant with outcome. OSEP

should monitor the adequacy of state complaint systems to produce accurate accounting of all

complaints filed and data sufficient to analyze the effectiveness of complaint handling throughout

the state.

The next section examines the range of enforcement actions available under IDEA and

their application.

D. Enforcement

1. Restrictions on Grant Awards: High-Risk Status with Special Conditions and

Compliance Agreements

In situations where states have demonstrated persistent failure to ensure compliance with

IDEA, DoED may award their funds under "high-risk status with special conditions,"230 or in

accordance with compliance agreements.231 "High-risk status with special conditions" is used

when OSEP has determined that compliance can be achieved within a relatively short period of

time. Compliance agreements are used when OSEP has determined that it is likely to take a

relatively long period of time for the state or entity to come into compliance.232 According to

DoED, as Table 21 below notes, one or both actions have been taken with five states/entities in

relation to IDEA Part B: Puerto Rico, California, Virgin Islands, Pennsylvania, and the District of

Columbia.233 After the major research for this report was completed, DoED awarded funds in

1999 to New Jersey and again to Pennsylvania under special conditions. Funds have not yet been

awarded to the Virgin Islands, and a compliance agreement has not yet been signed.234

Table 21: High-Risk Grantees/Special Conditions/Compliance Agreements for Part B State

Grant IDEA Awards Determined by OSEP235

Puerto Rico Compliance Agreement under Part B for FY ’93%’96; Special Conditions under Part

B for FY ’96-FY ’98 for lack of compliance in evaluation, re-evaluation, and related

services.
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California Special Conditions in FY ’97 and FY ’98 regarding services to students in adult

correctional facilities.

Virgin Islands Special Conditions on Part B beginning in FY ’98 for related services, personnel, reevaluations, least restrictive environment, transition statements in IEPs, length of

school day; Compliance Agreement negotiated and planned to become effective in

late 1999 or in 2000.

Pennsylvania Special Conditions on Part B award for FY ’98 and FY ’99 for failure to take

enforcement steps against LEAs that are out of compliance.

District of Columbia Compliance Agreement under Part B for FY ’97, FY ’98 and FY ’99 for lack of

compliance in related services, timely evaluations and re-evaluations, and hearing

time lines.

New Jersey Special Conditions for FY ’99 for continuing lack of compliance in some areas

under Part B; terms of special conditions incorporate New Jersey’s own corrective

action plan.

In a 1991 monitoring report, OSEP found that Puerto Rico failed to ensure compliance

with IDEA in a number of significant ways. There were lengthy, widespread delays in initial

evaluations, re-evaluations, and the provision of needed related services. Given the magnitude of

these delays and the fundamental infrastructure and legislative changes that would be needed to

correct them, it was determined that the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) would

need more than a year to complete correction. Following a public hearing, OSEP and the PRDE

entered into a compliance agreement that set forth specific requirements for incremental

correction and reporting. During the three-year term of the agreement, PRDE corrected the delays

in initial evaluations and many re-evaluations and made substantial progress in correcting the

delays in related services. In 1996, the compliance agreement was concluded; however, full

compliance with re-evaluation requirements and related services was still lacking. At that point

OSEP designated Puerto Rico as a high-risk grantee and special conditions were applied to the

Part B grant until the corrections were completed. The special conditions involved implementing

the corrective action plan, collection of data, and regular reporting on progress to OSEP. In the

spring of 1998, OSEP determined that PRDE was no longer a high-risk grantee. It is interesting to

note that from 1993%1996, during the period that PRDE was under a compliance agreement, they

also had a fully approved state plan (see Table 2 and Part IV above).
163

The 1993 monitoring report found that the Virgin Islands Department of Education

(VIDE) had failed to provide (1) needed related services set forth on IEPs, (2) personnel in needed

service areas, and (3) timely triennial re-evaluations. In the 1998 monitoring report, OSEP found

that VIDE had not corrected these areas of noncompliance. In addition, OSEP held that VIDE had

not ensured that (1) students with disabilities were served in the least restrictive environment, (2)

that the IEPs for students 16 years of age or older included transition services, and (3) that

students with disabilities were meeting SEA standards regarding length of school day. In addition,

OCR determined that VIDE is not in full compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

or Title II of ADA in relation to a free appropriate public education and accessibility of public

education programs and buildings. The FY ’98 award designated VIDE a high-risk grantee with

special conditions and included the steps that VIDE was required to take to ensure that it fully

complies with Part B. Monthly reports detailing progress are required and grants are made on a

quarterly installment basis provided VIDE has complied substantially with the relevant

conditions.236 OSEP is currently developing a compliance agreement with the Virgin Islands.

In a 1998 follow-up monitoring visit to Pennsylvania, OSEP found that the Pennsylvania

Department of Education (PDE) had not taken enforcement action against a school district

although the district had failed to make timely corrective action to address deficiencies identified

by PDE and OSEP in previous monitoring reviews. OSEP imposed special conditions on

Pennsylvania’s FY ’98 Part B grant because of this failure to exercise general supervision

authority and utilize enforcement to secure compliance with IDEA. The special conditions

require Pennsylvania to submit quarterly reports to OSEP to document (1) the steps PDE has

taken to ensure that the identified LEA fully complies with Part B, including that PDE has taken

enforcement actions against the LEA where the LEA has failed to complete corrective actions in a

timely manner, and (2) the steps PDE has taken to ensure that corrective action is taken by other

public agencies for which PDE identifies deficiencies in meeting Part B requirements, including

appropriate enforcement actions against those agencies.237

The 1994 monitoring report found the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) failed

to ensure compliance in related services, least restrictive environment, evaluations, and due
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process time lines. A 1995 follow-up report determined that significant problems remained with

regard to least restrictive environment, related services, and evaluations every three years. A

compliance agreement was drawn up between OSEP and DCPS for three years so that DCPS

could come into compliance with Part B requirements. The agreement includes a schedule for

reducing the number of children with disabilities who have not received evaluations, reevaluations, and related services to which they are entitled; reducing the number of hearing

decisions that have not been issued within the 45-day time line; and reducing the number of

decisions that have not been implemented. DCPS must follow certain data collection and

reporting procedures. As of March 1999, DCPS has met few goals set out in the compliance

agreement.238 At the time research for this report was completed, DoED had not yet taken any

stronger enforcement action against DCPS (e,g., withholding of federal funding or referral to the

Department of Justice). 

2. Withholding of Funds

If a state persists in noncompliance, DoED may exercise its authority to withhold funding

from the state. When the Secretary determines that "there has been a failure by the state to comply

substantially with any provision of this part [Part B]," the Secretary shall withhold further

payments to the state.239 IDEA ’97 states that the Secretary shall not make a final determination

of ineligibility until she or he provides a state with reasonable notice and an opportunity for a

hearing. If the SEA is dissatisfied with the Secretary’s final action after a proceeding, the agency

may file for a review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the state is located. 

A copy of the petition must be transmitted to the Secretary, who must file the record of the

proceedings on which the actions were based. The Court may remand the case back to the

Secretary for further evidence, and the Secretary may make new or modified findings of fact that

may modify the previous action. The Court of Appeals has the authority to affirm the Secretary’s

action or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The Supreme Court may review the court’s

judgment.240
165

The 1997 IDEA amendments clarified the withholding of funds provision in the law. Prior

to the amendments, the law indicated that the Secretary could "withhold any further payments"

from noncompliant states. The amendments included language specifying that the Secretary could

withhold funds "in whole or in part" from the state.241 The law further clarified that the Secretary

may determine that the withholding be limited to programs or projects or portions of those

programs or projects affected by the failure. The Secretary may further determine that the SEA

shall not make further payments to specific LEAs or state agencies affected by the failure.

Payments to states may be withheld in whole or in part until the Secretary is satisfied that there is

no longer any failure to comply with the provisions of Part B. No action has yet been taken

utilizing this new withholding provision, nor has DoED provided any guidance or further

articulation as to how partial withholding will be implemented.

To date, a determination of noncompliance resulting in a decision to withhold funding has

occurred only once, with the state of Virginia. As a result of a complaint and follow-up

correspondence with the state, OSEP became aware in 1993 that the Virginia Department of

Education (VADOE) was not requiring LEAs to provide educational services to children with

disabilities who had been suspended long-term or expelled from school. OSEP asked Virginia to

revise its regulations related to the provision of services to students who were on long-term

suspension or expulsion in order to receive funds for FY ’94. Virginia refused to change its

practice to correct the problem, and DoED proposed disapproval of the 1993%95 state plan and

found VADOE ineligible for FY ’94 funding. DoED offered VADOE an administrative hearing

on the issue. VADOE, however, sought emergency relief in the Fourth Circuit, which in April

1994 ordered DoED to release FY ’94 funding to VADOE and provide VADOE an administrative

hearing before withholding future funds. The administrative hearing was conducted in October

1994, and in April 1995 the hearing officer found that IDEA requires the provision of a free

appropriate public education to all children with disabilities, including those on long-term

suspension or expulsion for behavior not related to their disabilities. That decision was upheld by

the Secretary in July 1995 and affirmed by the Fourth Circuit in June 1996.
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VADOE then sought a rehearing, and in February 1997, the Fourth Circuit reversed its

prior position and held that IDEA, as then in effect, did not require the provision of educational

services to children with disabilities who are suspended or expelled for behavior not related to

their disabilities. The IDEA Amendments Act of 1997 addressed this issue by clarifying that the

obligation to provide a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities includes

children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school.242

3. Cease and Desist Order

Under the General Education Provisions Act, the Secretary may issue a complaint with a

notice of hearing to a state describing the factual and legal basis for his or her belief that the state

has failed to comply substantially with a requirement of the law.243 The final agency action is a

report and order of an Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) requiring the state to cease and desist

from the practice, policy, or procedure that resulted in the violation. DoED may enforce the final

order by withholding any portion of the state’s grant award or by certifying the facts to the

Attorney General, who may bring an appropriate action for enforcement. The state may request

judicial review of the final order by the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals.244

The Department has never used this option to enforce IDEA.

4. Referral to the Department of Justice for Enforcement Action

The 1997 IDEA amendments clarified that the Department of Education could refer a state

to the Department of Justice for enforcement action after determining that there has been a failure

to substantially comply with any provision of IDEA, or “to comply with the terms of any

agreement to achieve compliance with [IDEA] within the time line specified in the agreement."

While some believe the Department of Education has always had this authority, it was explicitly

included in IDEA for the first time in 1997. The regulations for IDEA ’97 do not, however,

provide criteria for determining when such a referral would be made. The Department of

Education has never referred a state or entity to the Department of Justice for enforcement action

due to noncompliance with IDEA.
167

5. The Politics of Enforcement

In at least two instances when the Department of Education took enforcement actions

against states, it was met with political resistance (see letters in Appendix D). In the case of

Virginia, when DoED withheld funds because the state failed to ensure compliance with IDEA,

the Secretary received multiple letters from members of the Virginia Congressional delegation as

well as a plea from the governor of Virginia to release the funds. In his letter, Governor Allen

noted, "The President has expressed a desire to relieve the states of unnecessary and excessive

federal mandates. We are heartened by that timely expression and look forward to your beneficial

intervention in this matter."245 A letter from the Virginia Congressional delegation noted,

"Clearly, it is unfair to hold all children with special education needs in the Commonwealth

hostage to a disagreement over policy interpretation."246 Secretary Riley persisted with the

enforcement actions and did not retreat. 

When the Department of Education placed Pennsylvania on "high-risk" status, Secretary

Riley received a letter from four members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation

questioning his decision (see Appendix D). The September 2, 1998, letter, from Rep. Goodling,

Rep. Gekas, Sen. Specter, and Sen. Santorum, notes that the members are "deeply concerned"

over DoED’s decision to impose sanctions on Pennsylvania. They state that it appears that DoED

is moving toward threatening to deny the more than $139 million the state receives under Part B

of IDEA. The members urge DoED to pursue "a more constructive approach to ensuring

compliance with . . . IDEA." The letter goes on to question DoED’s insistence that the

Pennsylvania Department of Education deny funding to the Harrisburg School District. Such an

action would only hurt children, they note. (DoED did not rescind its designation of Pennsylvania

as a "high-risk" state with sanctions). Despite the fact that Secretary Riley did not retreat, such

responses from politicians may have a chilling effect on future enforcement efforts. In addition,

they may at least partially explain why so little enforcement has taken place in the past 25 years. 

That lack of effective implementation was so much at the heart of deliberations during the1997

IDEA reauthorization was ironic, given the resistance by members of Congress to the Virginia
168

and Pennsylvania enforcement actions. Their public resistance indicated a lack of Congressional

awareness about the pervasive and persistent noncompliance with IDEA across the country. 

6. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # III D.1

The Department of Education has identified six enforcement actions it has taken against

states for noncompliance with IDEA Part B, all within the past six years.

According to information provided by the Department of Education, only six enforcement

actions have been taken under IDEA Part B since its enactment. Five of these enforcement

actions were related to attaching special conditions to the grant award or developing compliance

agreements. The other was an attempt to withhold funds from a state, which was overruled by the

court. All have occurred since 1993.

Recommendation # III D.1

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop objective criteria for utilizing

compliance agreements and special conditions as enforcement actions.

These criteria should be based on certain outcomes of the monitoring process. For

example, if a state fails to ensure compliance with a particular requirement for a certain period of

time, after the provision of technical assistance and an opportunity for correction, it would

immediately be required to develop a compliance plan. If such a plan were not fully implemented

by a certain date, a greater sanction would be prescribed. (See discussion under Part VII about

new approaches to monitoring in state systems.)

Finding # III D.2

The Department of Education has withheld federal funds from a state because of

noncompliance with Part B of IDEA only once in the past 25 years.
169

In 1994, DoED briefly withheld funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia due to a state

policy that denied any services to special education students who were suspended or expelled

from school. Although DoED lost its case against Virginia, IDEA was subsequently amended to

clarify that the Virginia policy was illegal. The 1997 amendments to IDEA also explicitly gave

DoED the authority to withhold a partial amounts of funds.

Recommendation # III D.2

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop a broad range of options for

withholding partial funds from noncompliant states and the criteria (triggers) for when they

will be used.

Consideration for how partial withholding of funds could be utilized might include the

notion of withholding state administrative funds for a state that fails to ensure compliance with

state monitoring requirements and utilizing those funds to hire an independent entity to conduct

state monitoring. Again, withholding of funds should never be a surprise to anyone. Rather, it

should be the predictable result of certain behavior.

Finding # III D.3

Political resistance to IDEA enforcement from Congressional delegations and state

administrations of the noncompliant state may have a chilling effect on enforcement.

DoED enforcement actions in Pennsylvania and Virginia resulted in letters from members

of Congress and the Governor of Virginia requesting that the Secretary rescind the actions. The

Secretary did not rescind either action. In some instances, the members who wrote questioning

and protesting the DoED’s actions had key roles in overseeing DoED’s funding or programs,

particularly with respect to IDEA. Such political resistance may cause DoED to be hesitant in

pursuing enforcement, which would impact future enforcement efforts. 
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Recommendation # III D.3A

The Department of Education should take the lead in educating both the Congress and state

legislators about the failure of states to ensure compliance with IDEA and how this affects

children with disabilities and their families.

The Department of Education should exercise its leadership as enforcer of IDEA to

educate federal, state, and local legislators about the extent to which the law has not been fully

implemented and the toll on children with disabilities, their families, and their communities. 

Specifically, DoED should brief the members of each state delegation before its planned

monitoring visits to discuss the technical assistance resources available to states in correcting

compliance problems, enforcement options, and the long-term consequences of persistent

noncompliance for children with disabilities. The Department should urge legislators to take

responsibility for helping their states achieve compliance.

The Department of Education should also be proactive in implementing a well-timed and

coordinated communication strategy for each planned enforcement action it takes and in fostering

dialogue about the issues. The strategy should include media outreach and briefings targeted to

stakeholders and other interested parties, including federal, state, and local officials, parent

groups, and others.

Recommendation # III D.3B

The Department of Education should post any letters it receives from members of Congress

questioning enforcement actions related to IDEA on the DoED web site and distribute them to

Parent Training and Information centers, Protection and Advocacy systems, and other legal

advocacy organizations.

Such inquiries by members of Congress provide opportunities for parents and their

advocates to educate Congress about IDEA noncompliance in their state and the toll it takes on

their constituents.
171

Finding # III D.4A

The Department of Education has not yet provided policy guidance regarding criteria for

referral to the Department of Justice, authorized by the 1997 amendments to IDEA.

While new regulations provide some information on the process of referral to the

Department of Justice, they do not clarify the criteria for making such a referral.

Finding # III D.4B

The Department of Education has never referred a state to the Department of Justice for

substantial noncompliance with IDEA.

Authority for the Department of Education to make such referrals was made explicit in the

1997 IDEA Reauthorization.

Recommendation # III D.4

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop objective measures for

determining “substantial noncompliance,” the point at which a state will be referred to the

Department of Justice for legal action.

Part IV presents findings from the Department of Education’s Annual Reports to Congress

between 1978 and 1998 and analyzes these findings for a historical view of the implementation

IDEA.

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IV. The National Compliance Picture Over Time: 

Analysis of Annual Reports to Congress 1978–1998

A. Introduction

Since the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, the Department

of Education (DoED) has been required to present to Congress an annual report "describing the

progress being made in implementing the Act."247 The Annual Reports are of critical importance,

as they are the primary vehicles for communication between the Department of Education and not

only Congress, but the public at large. They also provide a unique historical view of the

implementation of the law.

B. Methodology

This analysis took a longitudinal view of the Annual Reports in an effort to trace the

progress made in implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) over a

twenty-year period. The Annual Reports included statistics on the number of children in various

disability categories who receive services, as well as descriptions of new services being developed

and numbers of personnel devoted to special education. Monitoring the performance and

implementation of the law at the state level is crucial to "our nation’s progress in providing a free

and appropriate public education [FAPE]"248 for all children with disabilities. Such monitoring

should reveal deficiencies, violations of the law, trends in these areas across states and over time,

corrections that have taken place, and progress toward compliance. Thus, this section of the

analysis focuses on those portions of the Annual Reports devoted to the monitoring function of

the Department of Education between 1978 and 1998.

C. Procedural Focus

Annual Report sections centered on OSEP monitoring were primarily procedural rather

than substantive, making it difficult to draw any longitudinal conclusions about progress in

implementing FAPE. For example, the 1990 report states that "OSEP uses a program review

process to determine if SEAs are carrying out their responsibilities" and then explains that "those

program review procedures are described in this section."249
174

D. Definition of Monitoring

The identification of the discussion of monitoring in each Annual Report was hampered by

the lack of a standard reporting structure and a changeable definition of the monitoring function.

At times, monitoring broadly included review of states’ annual plans, yearly program compliance

review, processing of individual complaints, and technical assistance to the states.250 At other

times, monitoring was defined as a narrow aspect of DoED’s or the Office of Special Education

Programs’ (OSEP’s) administrative role in overseeing IDEA.251 For example, in 1983 such

overall administration encompassed complaint management, technical assistance, discretionary

contract/grant program operation, and policy review.252

Later, monitoring was treated as a subset of federal review of state activities.253 For

example, in 1986 the Report stated that "the program review process has two parts... review of

plans submitted by states. . . and monitoring to assure adherence to state plans."254 When viewed

as part of a general review of the states, monitoring was often treated as secondary to review of

"annual" state plans that were submitted to DoED by each state every three years for funding

approval. Monitoring activities were often named "compliance review," as distinguished from

"plan review." 

In the 1990s, references in the Annual Reports to monitoring were sometimes explicit and

sometimes imbedded in descriptions of the overall federal review process. The 1990 report

acknowledged the difficulty in pinning down the monitoring function, as "the federal program

review activities . . . are closely related to other OSEP activities. . . as part of a comprehensive

system of overall assistance to the states."255 

This section of the analysis uses the term "monitoring" to apply to the federal assessment

of the states’ compliance with the provisions of IDEA, including an assessment of the SEAs’

activities to ensure the compliance in their respective states of all the public agencies responsible

for providing educational services for children with disabilities in accordance with Part B

requirements.
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E. Procedural Changes

When the Department of Education reported on its monitoring activities, a large portion of

the discussion was devoted to the procedural aspects of monitoring rather than results or findings.

Further, procedures for monitoring were modified frequently (as exemplified by this year’s

retooling of the process, discussed elsewhere). These modifications not only required explanation

within each of the Annual Reports, but also hampered efforts to compare results of the monitoring

process from year to year.

In 1979 and 1980, it was not surprising that DoED focused on the development of

procedures. During these years, the Bureau (as OSEP was then named) established a system of

regular visits to half of the states each year, consisting of a five-day stay by four or more staff

members and including visits to local programs, state programs, and state agencies, as well as

interviews with state and local officials, program administrators, parents, teachers, and an

advisors’ panel.256 In 1980, the Bureau reiterated that it "attempts" regular one-week visits to half

of the states each year, using the same basic procedure as described for 1979. That year, an extra

emphasis was placed on technical assistance to SEAs during these visits.257

The 1980 Annual Report also provided an example of the Reports’ somewhat cursory

description of results of monitoring, as compared to the detailed descriptions of procedural

matters. In 1980, the substantive analyses of the outcome of earlier visits were as follows: states

"performed well" in development of Annual Program Plans, reporting, and administration of

funds;. IEPs were in place but not in compliance; LRE policies at the state level were good,

although individual schools were "having difficulty" implementing them;258 complaints, while

monitored by the Bureau, were handled at the level of the state departments of education. The

Annual Report states that 320 complaints were processed between October 1978 and July 1979,

and that most complaints were about appropriate placement of children, but results of the

processed complaints are not mentioned.259 The substantive discussion of findings by the Bureau

appeared to concentrate on procedural matters, such as successful design of rules, fund

administration, and timely processing of complaints. This characteristic was repeated in most
176

Reports in the past 20 years, as in the Eighth Annual Report, which gave "a detailed description of

SEP’s revised comprehensive compliance review system."260

The emphasis on procedure increased as DoED refined its monitoring procedures to

involve less scrutiny of outcomes. In 1981, DoED stated that "the Office will redirect its

monitoring procedures . . . to focus on assuring that states are effectively monitoring local

education agencies." DoED appeared to have increased its reliance on information provided

directly by states themselves.261 The following year, DoED explained, "OSEP’s role has

necessarily changed. In fact, federal efforts since the enactment of P.L. 94-142 have periodically

been modified to provide the states with increasing flexibility to implement the law in a manner

consistent with local precedents and resources."262 The Report continued, "It should be noted that

the current regulations were never expected to survive indefinitely without change."263

Understandably, procedures underwent annual alterations in the early stages of the

implementation of IDEA; since then, such changes have continued. The 1985 Report stated that

"internal SEP concerns supplemented by questions from . . . Congress resulted in an intensive

analysis of monitoring procedures that may lead to certain revisions in the process."264 The

following year, OSEP began a staggered state plan schedule, as permitted by the Education

Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) to "allow for better coordination

between the state plan and monitoring procedures."265 The 1990 substantive discussion of the

effectiveness of IDEA changed little. Most of the comments were praiseworthy but vague and

directed at successful structures, such as "types and numbers of personnel providing services,"

and "continuing growth in SEA [state education agency] capacity to assess and assure conformity

with EHA-B [Education for All Handicapped Children Act] requirements."266 Another procedural

accomplishment highlighted that year was the elimination of a backlog of incomplete monitoring

reports.267 The 1990 Report also stated that "it is anticipated that the monitoring process will

continue to evolve and undergo adjustments in response to changing management needs."268 The

1997 Report stated that "over the past four years, OSEP has worked intensively to reorient and

strengthen its monitoring system."269
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F. Lack of Trend Analysis

The Annual Reports noted that corrective actions with deadlines were established by

OSEP for noncompliant programs. Each state created and submitted a Corrective Action Plan

(CAP), which was followed by a verification visit by OSEP for evidence of completion submitted

by the state.270 Successive Annual Reports did not give information about these verification visits

or evidence from the states. In 1981, DoED began a policy of individualizing monitoring to "take

into account the particular conditions and variations that exist among the states."271 That policy

hampered the ability to make progress comparisons between states. Because OSEP visited one

half of the states in a given year, at most, no follow-up of individual state progress could be

gleaned by comparing one year’s Annual Report with the next. Because states were not

individually named in summaries of compliance review findings, only OSEP had the information

to trace such progress. While OSEP looked first at a state’s Annual Program Plan, then monitored

its compliance, and then watched for implementation of a Corrective Action Plan, it did not

appear to link its findings from one stage to the next. In fact, one report noted, "this information

cannot be used as a basis for conclusions regarding compliance," but "it will be used as a basis for

discussing trends that may reflect problems in the implementation of federal requirements."272

This discussion was not found. 

The Eleventh Annual Report compiled data from 1985 to 1988 on noncompliance

problems, noting particular trouble with SEA monitoring procedures, but the data were not

examined longitudinally, and states were not individually identified. The 1990 report held that "by

reviewing and assessing these data, OSEP may identify trends that raise concerns about the

implementation of federal law,"273 but went on to say that "issues or concerns" could not be found

because "from year to year the problems identified change and the problems differ from state to

state as well."

G. Charts on Monitoring Findings

The most straightforward method of conveying results from monitoring activities is

through graphs or charts. As might reasonably be expected, for the first few years, no charts
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tallied information collected from monitoring of the states.274 In the following years, many charts

focused, like the accompanying text, on procedural matters, such as the timeliness of complaint

turnaround, steps of the monitoring process, and schedules of past and future reviews. Out of the

nineteen Reports, less than one half contained charts actually listing areas of state level

noncompliance.275 Seven Reports listed areas of state plan deficiencies; however, these charts

addressed plan policies that were corrected prior to a state receiving funding, but did not address

the effectiveness of implementation of those policies.276 For instance, in 1996 state plans were

deficient in providing for procedural safeguards, individualized education programs (IEPs), least

restrictive environment (LRE), right to education, private school participation, confidentiality, and

general supervision. These deficiencies required "clarification or revision," and all such problems

were resolved prior to final plan approval.277

From 1990 to 1993, such plan deficiency charts were included, but no chart summaries

were given reflecting results of compliance monitoring. More recently, the Reports returned to

including charts on noncompliance along with, or in place of, plan deficiency summaries. These

charts lacked detail, and the categories of noncompliance were broad and undefined, varying from

year to year and making longitudinal analysis difficult. Also, the tallies of states that failed to

ensure compliance for each category did not identify which states were in violation of their plans.

Reports never contained follow-up charts on corrective actions taken by those states found to be

out of compliance.

H. Intra-Departmental Policy Conflicts

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) first became involved in the administration of IDEA in

1981. The Annual Report for that year stated that OCR now had the opportunity to review state

annual program plans, but assured that its review of the plans must not exceed 75 days.278 At that

time, OCR was not involved in the complaint management process, but eventually would take

over those complaints involving Section 504. OSEP received complaints filed by individuals or

entities against SEAs or Local Education Agencies (LEAs). An OSEP "specialist" corresponded
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with the complainant and forwarded the complaint to the state to resolve. Although OSEP

monitored each case until it was resolved, all follow-up action was taken by the state education

agency.279

From October 15, 1980, until September 1, 1981, OSEP handled 150 complaints and

referred to OCR 105 others that also alleged a violation covered by Section 504.280 Of the 105

referred complaints, 70 concerned placement or related services. In the 1982 Annual Report, 

DoED reported that OCR had returned or closed 41 cases by August 3, 1981.281 DoED also

reported that OCR took an average of four months to close each case.282 While no review of

OSEP’s management of the complaint process was given, the Report discussed problems between

OSEP and OCR producing "inconsistent policy interpretations" on "identical issues," leading to

the creation of a task force.283 

In 1983, the Annual Report again analyzed complaints sent to OCR and OCR’s turnaround

record, although there was no discussion of complaints handled directly by OSEP.284 Suggestions

of cooperation between the two offices appeared in the Eighth Annual Report, which reported

data from both offices being used in combination by OSEP to assist states "in improving

information collection and remedying the possible problems the information suggest[ed]."285

While some tension may have existed between OSEP and OCR regarding policy interpretations of

the law in the complaint-handling process, it was largely resolved through a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) between the two offices.286 

In later Annual Reports, the IDEA complaint process was rarely discussed except in the

context of evaluating SEA policies for addressing complaints. Although DoED retained authority

to involve itself in complaints based on IDEA that did not involve Section 504, one problem at the

state level was a "failure to inform complainants of their right to request that the U.S. Secretary of

Education review the state’s handling of the complaints."287 This state responsibility was

eliminated, however, with the passage of IDEA ’97. OSEP remains "responsible for ensuring that

each SEA . . . implements a complaint-management system that satisfies the requirements" set

forth in 76.780 B 76.782 of EDGAR.288
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I. Reports Demonstrate the Evolution of DoED’s View of Its Mandate

The Department of Education has moved from a somewhat regulatory to a more

cooperative stance vis-a-vis the state programs it oversees. Changes in monitoring procedures,

often at the behest of the states, demonstrated the shift in focus, as did the change from language

about "rights" and "oversight," to the language of "outcomes" and "efforts."

IDEA anticipated that DoED would play a dual role of assisting states and enforcing the

law with respect to the states. Several Annual Reports provided explanations of the law’s

withholding provision as prologues to discussions of monitoring, but then made no further

reference to actual or contemplated use of that provision.289 Other reports acknowledged that

primarily "review activities provide information."290 DoED’s ambiguity about the purpose of

monitoring in these contexts suggested a disconnect between monitoring and enforcement.

J. Language Changes

The language in the Table of Contents of the Annual Reports reflected a gradual shift in

emphasis. Monitoring discussions were found under the following headings and accompanying

subheadings each year:

Table 22: Headings in Annual Reports

1979%1980 WHAT ADMINISTRATIVE MECHANISMS ARE IN PLACE?/ Monitoring

1981%1983 OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM’S ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAW/Monitoring

1984%1986 ASSISTING STATES AND LOCALITIES IN EDUCATING ALL HANDICAPPED CHILDREN/SEP

Review of State Programs

1987%1989 EFFORTS TO ASSESS AND ASSURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS EDUCATING

HANDICAPPED CHILDREN/Program Review

1990%1996 ASSISTING STATES AND LOCALITIES IN EDUCATING ALL CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES/Federal Program Review Process

1997 SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES/Monitoring Compliance with IDEA

DoED moved from labeling its activities as "administration," suggesting federal control, to

"assisting," indicating more state control. Additionally, it began by referring to "monitoring"
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states, implying enforcement, and then shifted to the more open-ended language of "review" and

"teams." For instance, "when the SEA is asked to correct identified deficiencies, the PAR

(Program Administrative Review) team works with the state by providing technical assistance that

enables the SEA to comply with the law."291 By 1990, enforcement seemed secondary to teaming

with and assisting states; review was described as "verification and support of the Corrective

Action Plan,"292 and OSEP began to hold "biannual meetings to exchange information with SEA

officials."293

K. Trend Toward Partnership with States

Initially, Program Review involved lengthy visits to states and meetings with a variety of

stakeholder groups, including teachers and parents. Visits to some LEAs occurred in each state.294

Program Plans were reviewed each year before money was released to the states.

In 1982, Annual Program Plans begin to receive three-year approval to reduce time and

paperwork for states.295 Additionally, the Bureau’s monitoring activities "focused predominantly

on assuring and strengthening state capacity to effectively monitor LEAs and public and private

agencies."296 Parent involvement and visits to LEAs were no longer emphasized. DoED put

greater emphasis on off-site monitoring of information submitted and data collected, describing

those methods as "less intrusive" but "more continuous." It concentrated on developing

procedures and obtaining information to create individual state profiles to be regularly reviewed

and updated.297 These changes were made in response to an executive order of January 29, 1981,

to reduce the burden and cost on the states and to ensure that regulations were no stricter than the

demands of the statute.298

By 1983, monitoring consisted of developing screening documents, plus three options: (1)

off-site monitoring, (2) on-site monitoring at the state level, or (3) on-site monitoring at the state

and local level, although an on-site review was required for each state at least once every three

years.299 After such program review, the SEAs responded with voluntary implementation

deadlines, requests for technical assistance, and self-imposed deadlines.300 These changes seemed

to reflect more state autonomy and less direct enforcement. The 1990 Report cited EHA-B 612(6)
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as "specifically designat[ing] the SEA as the central point of responsibility and accountability."301

Nonetheless, the Eleventh Annual Report gave reassurance that the review procedure "has the

capacity to verify that the requirements of the Act are being carried out."302 The Report further

stated that OSEP would "determine with states the appropriate remedial measures that must be

taken to correct identified discrepancies between the requirements and states’ policies and

procedures."303 In 1990, a new procedure was implemented.

DoED considered increased reliance on states to perform enforcement activities an

appropriate response "to the growing capacity of state education agencies to assure the availability

of a free appropriate public education to all handicapped children."304 "Federal efforts since the

enactment of P.L. 94-142 had periodically been modified to provide the states with increasing

flexibility to implement the law in a manner consistent with local precedents and resources,"305

another Report noted. Technical assistance was also increasingly targeted to problems of

individual states and coordinated with monitoring activities. In one of the few places an Annual

Report focused on a specific problem area, it was discussed in the technical assistance section.

The 1983 Report found that states were still "experiencing some difficulty with certain

requirements of the laws."306

L. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # IV.1A

There was no consistency in either format or content for reporting about IDEA monitoring

in the Annual Reports to Congress between 1978 and 1998. 

The changing definitions and language used to describe monitoring from one Annual

Report to the next made it difficult to compare the status of monitoring/compliance findings over

time. Major variations in the content organization of reports published in different years further

challenged the reader in locating the information on monitoring.

Finding # IV.1B
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The Annual Reports did not provide a picture of how compliance with IDEA changes over

time.

A historical or longitudinal analysis of compliance is not required in the Annual Report by

law.

Recommendation # IV.1

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice should issue an annual report to

the President and Congress on IDEA monitoring, compliance, enforcement, and technical

assistance. 

The Annual Report issued by DoED is not required to, and therefore does not, report on

federal and state level enforcement activities or the due process/judicial system. A joint report by

DoED and the Department of Justice to address this information void is needed. This proposed

joint report should include a description of all monitoring activities for the year (including

corrective action plan follow-up visits), the findings of the monitoring activities in terms of

compliance and noncompliance, and a description/analysis of cases in which the Department of

Justice is involved. Complaints and investigations of the Department of Education’s Office for

Civil Rights that are IDEA-related should be presented. The report should present the current

activities and findings in a context and format that will allow for historical/longitudinal analysis.

Finding # IV.2

There was little information in the Department of Education’s Annual Reports to Congress

about the relationship among findings of state noncompliance with IDEA, technical

assistance used by states to achieve compliance, and enforcement actions taken for failure to

correct noncompliance.

Links between compliance monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement action were

not evident in the Annual Reports, making it difficult to piece together a picture of the state of

IDEA compliance across the nation. Reporting on enforcement authority and activity at the
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federal or state levels, the due process/judicial system, or even court cases in which the

Department of Justice is involved is not required by law.

Recommendation # IV.2

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice should routinely issue reports

that provide longitudinal analyses tracking noncompliance findings, informal and formal

enforcement actions taken by the Federal Government and use of technical assistance

resources to correct noncompliance with IDEA for each state over time.

These reports would enable the reader to determine how states have responded to

corrective action, technical assistance, and enforcement actions. These reports would provide the

data needed to document progress and achievements as well as identify areas that need continued

improvement.

Part V presents an overview of some private litigation challenging states’ failures to

ensure compliance with Part B of IDEA, and describes, in part, the outcomes of key cases

impacting state monitoring systems.
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V. IDEA Litigation Challenging State Noncompliance

A. Introduction

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents and families of

children with disabilities play a key role in enforcing the law. They initiate litigation and raise

issues that otherwise may not gain attention. In order to pursue these issues, parents must find

attorneys who are knowledgeable about IDEA and willing to accept cases where fee payment may

be deferred or delayed until the case is settled. In other words, the attorney may not get paid

unless the client wins and the court awards attorney’s fees. Damages are rarely awarded in these

cases, which are often protracted and expensive. During the pendency of the cases, until they are

settled, the attorneys must be in a position to work without compensation. 

Litigating attorneys in the private bar who are experts on IDEA are not commonplace.

Frequently specialty public interest organizations will accept such cases. The Protection and

Advocacy systems (P&As), which provide legal representation and advocacy for people with

disabilities in every state in the country, represent families in many special education cases. 

“As you look at the priorities that are being set by the [P&As], almost all of our

cases now are expulsion/suspension cases. We’re just trying to keep kids in the

classrooms.”—Curt Decker, Executive Director, National Association of

Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), on the need for OSEP to fund

legal advocacy for parents307

They are federally funded to provide such support. Nonprofit organizations such as the Disability

Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), the contractor for this report, also provide such

representation, but usually without federal funding. Both organizations report that they do not

have sufficient resources to respond to all the requests for assistance that they receive from

parents of students in special education. Without adequate support these organizations are unable

to assist parents in raising issues, such as the following ones, which generate IDEA compliance.
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B. Summary of Litigation in California, Illinois, and Texas

In three recent cases, parents have challenged their state’s monitoring and enforcement

system in failing to address local noncompliance. Although the local education agency (LEA)

and, ultimately, the state education agency (SEA) have responsibility for ensuring FAPE to all

children with disabilities in the state, when the LEA fails in its responsibility to provide services

and the SEA fails to properly monitor and enforce the law, as the following cases reflect, the

burden of enforcement falls on parents.

In Corey H. v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago, Chicago public school students

with disabilities brought a class action against both the City of Chicago Board of Education

(CBE) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE).308 The students sought declaratory and

injunctive relief to correct CBE’s and ISBE’s widespread failure to educate children with

disabilities in the least restrictive environment (LRE).309

Although CBE agreed to settle with an extensive plan for correcting the LRE violations,

ISBE continued to argue that it fulfilled the IDEA’s LRE mandate.310 ISBE claimed that IDEA

(20 U.S.C. 1412(6)) requires only that it provide oversight and general supervision of CBE’s LRE

efforts.311 ISBE also argued that its monitoring efforts were adequate because OSEP had

approved Illinois’ state plan including its monitoring plan. The court, however, found that

Congress intended to place final responsibility and accountability in one agency, and held that

once ISBE had accepted IDEA funds, it was responsible to ensure compliance with the IDEA’s

LRE requirements.312 As the court put it, "the evidence presented at trial demonstrates beyond

doubt that, despite the fact that the LRE mandate has been on the books since 1975, the Chicago

public schools have languished in an atmosphere of separate and unequal education for children

with emotional, mental, and behavioral difficulties."313 The fact that OSEP may have approved

Illinois’ plan was not dispositive.314 The court affirmed the right of parents to enforce their

children’s rights and ensure compliance with IDEA independent of OSEP’s actions or inaction.

To the court, ISBE clearly violated its duty to establish its own effective monitoring and

enforcement system.315
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The Corey H. court found numerous systemic failures in ISBE’s monitoring and

enforcement of IDEA’s LRE requirements: students with low-incidence disabilities were placed

in highly restrictive placements, ISBE’s funding formula perpetuated segregating children with

disabilities, and when the CBE failures were pointed out to ISBE, ISBE took little or no action to

ensure the failures were corrected.316 The court ordered the ISBE to identify and correct its LRE

violations, inform its teachers and administrators of their IDEA responsibilities regarding LRE

implementation, certify teachers according to LRE requirements, and establish a state funding

formula that reimburses local agencies for educating children in the least restrictive environment

appropriate to their individual needs. The court has since appointed its own expert to develop an

effective monitoring and enforcement system for Illinois. A monitoring system currently in

development will closely follow the focused monitoring approach being tested in Texas.

Another recent case challenging a state’s failure to monitor and enforce LEA compliance

with IDEA is Angel G. et al. v. TEA. Filed in 1994, this case was brought by parents on behalf of

their children who resided in Texas Residential Care Facilities (RCF). The case alleged that the

Texas Education Agency (TEA) failed to meet three responsibilities required of a state education

agency by IDEA: (1) child find, (2) development of interagency agreements, and (3) effective

monitoring and enforcement of LEA compliance with IDEA.

In 1996, the court in Angel G. approved a settlement agreement that resolved both the

child find and interagency agreement issues but left open the issue of the effectiveness of TEA’s

monitoring system. TEA continued to fail to assure that its RCFs provide a free appropriate

public education (FAPE) to children and youth with disabilities who reside in these facilities. An

independent consultant issued a report finding TEA’s monitoring system to be "fundamentally

flawed" and recommended that TEA convene a group of experts to develop a replacement or

supplemental system of special education monitoring. TEA initially refused to implement this

recommendation but later informed the court that it had made substantial changes to its current

monitoring system to ensure compliance with IDEA. The court requested that each party submit

their plans for an effective special education monitoring system and held oral argument on the

adequacy of these plans. Following this hearing, the court issued an order setting the case for an
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evidentiary hearing to begin on August 9, 1999, and to continue as needed.317 At this hearing, the

court will examine "whether the components of the plan TEA filed in this case on August 14,

1998, are adequate to enable TEA to meet its burden as an SEA...."

In the most recent of these cases challenging the state’s monitoring system, a group of

eight children with disabilities in East Palo Alto, California, brought a class action lawsuit in

November 1996 against their school district, the Ravenswood City Elementary School District,

for extensive violations with all of the substantive and procedural requirements of IDEA;318 (e.g.,

failure to provide FAPE, extensive LRE violations, failure to ensure parent participation, utilizing

discriminatory evaluation procedures, etc.).

The plaintiff children in this case, Emma C. v. Eastin, also sued the California Department

of Education (CDE) for failing to monitor and enforce the law despite repeated findings of

noncompliance in the school district.

After a period of intensive law and motion activity, the U.S. district court made a number

of critical rulings in Emma C. The court held that (1) all available remedies, including money

damages and compensatory education, are available under IDEA against the CDE and against

members of California’s Board of Education in their individual capacities; (2) that the nature of

the systemic problems alleged in the suit made exhaustion of administrative remedies futile and

therefore unnecessary; and (3) that the CDE was at that time incapable of ensuring compliance in

the district because of the substantial inadequacies in its own monitoring and complaint

systems.319 The court certified a class comprised of all past, present and future special education

students in the district.

Following these court rulings, the plaintiff children in Emma C. and the CDE entered into

a tentative settlement agreement in which CDE agreed to undertake a comprehensive step by step

approach to bring Ravenswood into compliance. Plaintiffs also reached agreement with the

district in which the district primarily agreed to abide by any corrective action plan developed by

the state and independent monitors and provided for compensatory education to all eligible

children.
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Plaintiffs and the CDE are negotiating an agreement to change California’s monitoring

system to the focused monitoring approach proposed by the plaintiffs in the Angel G. litigation.

The CDE has taken substantial steps already to convert to this approach, including commitment to

a pilot program to test whether it will result in greater compliance.

C. Development of More Effective Monitoring Systems

A group of these experts convened by the plaintiffs designed a proposed focused

monitoring system for Texas.

320 Known as the Chicago Group because the meeting was held in

Chicago, these experts continue to flesh out the details of the system.321 In addition, advocates

and experts in the states of Texas, California, and Illinois are reviewing the proposed system to

refine and delineate it and address the many related complex issues. The state of California has

committed to adopting this focused monitoring system and planned to conduct its first pilot

program in 1999. The following is an overview of the proposed focused monitoring system. 

The Texas work articulated five principles that provide the underpinnings for an effective

state IDEA monitoring system. The system must (1) address all legal requirements and

educational results for students, (2) include public involvement, (3) build on existing student data

to increase system efficiency, (4) direct resources to areas of greatest need, and (5) result in timely

verification or enforcement of compliance. Their approach is based on the notion of continuous

improvement with a data-based accountability system.322

The three components of the compliance monitoring system are (1) performance review,

(2) policy review, and (3) complaint management. These three system components take place

within the context of three ongoing activities: (1) the Comprehensive System of Personnel

Development (CSPD), (2) oversight and enforcement, and (3) data design, analysis, and review.323

At the heart of this system is the performance review process, which works as follows. The

state agency conducts a performance review of each LEA. The outcome of the review is used by

the SEA, in part, to place LEAs into one of four categories: (1) Continuous Improvement District

—no additional compliance activities required by the state agency; (2) Data Validation

District—sixty LEAs randomly selected annually to verify reported data and examine procedural
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compliance; (3) At-Risk District—self-study supplement to district improvement plan required; or

(4) Focused-monitoring district—on-site investigation of specific areas of noncompliance

conducted by the state.324

In order to determine the category of each LEA, the state must develop a template for

analyzing special education performance data and measuring compliance. Critical variables or

indicators must be determined. Variables could include measures of graduation rates, drop-out

rates, academic achievement levels, and placement (LRE) data. Standards must be developed for

three types of trigger values. The first trigger value, which would apply to each variable, is the

“at-risk” trigger. This trigger identifies LEAs that are “at risk” in their performance in that area. 

Critical variables would receive one trigger in addition to the “at risk” trigger. The second trigger

for critical variables is the focused monitoring trigger, which identifies the districts that will

receive a focused monitoring visit. The third value is used as a benchmark for each critical

variable. The benchmark serves as the statewide performance goal for the critical variables

designed to improve the performance levels.325

The focused district monitoring occurs when an LEA exceeds the trigger for any critical

data variable. The state creates an investigation plan that is tailored to the identified areas of

noncompliance prior to the visit. The plan is individualized for each LEA and must incorporate

several features including focusing on measurable data that indicate compliance or noncompliance

with the identified issue, classroom observation, and input from parents and students. Districts

that are designated as “at-risk” or “focused monitoring” must have plans for correcting areas of

noncompliance. Technical assistance and personnel training should be provided to the LEA by

the SEA if needed. The SEA must develop written procedures that outline the progression from

noncompliance findings to enforcement so that they are consistently applied for each

noncompliant LEA. These procedures should be clear to LEAs so that there is no doubt about the

consequences for ongoing noncompliance.326

Likewise, the state must have a system of progressive sanctions to use whenever any LEA

fails to correct noncompliance within a specific time line. The proposed range of sanctions is as

follows in ascending order: 
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• Mandatory First-Level Sanctions require the state to send a letter of continued

noncompliance to all families of students with disabilities served by the LEA and

members of the state legislature. 

• A public hearing is held by the district’s school board and the noncompliance

information is a consideration in the evaluation of the LEA superintendent and

relevant principals. 

• Mandatory Second Level Sanctions, which are to be implemented within 60 days of

the first level of sanctions if noncompliance continues, require lowered accreditation

of the noncompliant LEA and suspension or termination of responsible administrative

officials. 

• Mandatory Third Level Sanctions, which are imposed 60 days after Level 2 sanctions

if noncompliance continues, require a choice of one of the following options: (1)

transference of federal and state special education funds to a neighboring LEA for

oversight of the provision of special education in the noncompliant district; (2) partial

withholding of federal and state special education funds while the LEA must continue

to provide required services; (3) withholding of all federal and state special education

funds while the LEA must continue to provide required services; and (4) recovery by

the state of previously awarded federal and state funds.327

The elements of this proposed system have potential for correcting some long-standing

weaknesses in Texas, California, and Illinois state monitoring. The proposed system has been

implemented on a “pilot” basis only in California; more time is needed to test its effectiveness.

D. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # V.1
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Parent advocacy and litigation have been critical means for exposing and remedying

persistent and systemic IDEA noncompliance.

The law depends on litigation in order to function effectively. Parents of children with

disabilities are uniquely situated to identify and raise the legal issues related to persistent

noncompliance with IDEA. Their financial situations, however, typically do not permit sustained

private legal action, and not enough public resources are available to assist them.

Recommendation # V.1A

Whenever Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B of IDEA, Congress and the President should appropriate at the

same time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total Part B increase to fund free or low-cost

legal advocacy services to students with disabilities and their parents through public and

private legal service providers, putting competent legal assistance within their financial reach

and leveling the playing field between them and their local school districts.

Litigation by parents is still a necessary recourse when administrative action at the state

level to obtain FAPE for their child has failed. In some states, litigation has also been a vital

catalyst to a more effective implementation of IDEA across the board. Access to legal assistance

that could result in obtaining an appropriate education for their children remains beyond the

financial reach of too many families. Federal funds currently available for low-cost legal services

under the Developmental Disabilities Act, the Technical Assistance Act, the Rehabilitation Act,

and the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act must be supplemented to

begin to address the need. This will be a start toward putting families on a more equal playing

field with school districts that use tax dollars to hire legal counsel to assist them in avoiding

compliance with IDEA requirements.

Recommendation # V.1B

OSEP should endorse the allocation of additional funding to public and private legal service

providers, including the state PTIs, P&As, and IL centers, the private bar and nonprofit legal
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services centers, for the purpose of carrying out a coordinated strategy for making legal

advocacy services more available to students with disabilities and their families.

Finding # V.2

Pilot programs in compliance monitoring and enforcement at the state level are testing the

use of a broad range of flexible enforcement options in the context of corrective action plans

linking specific noncompliance findings with agreed upon enforcement options and time

lines.

Recommendation # V.2

OSEP should develop and test the use of state compliance agreements that incorporate

appropriate sanctions selected from a broad range of enforcement options, and link them to the

state’s failure to correct specific noncompliant conditions within the agreed time frame.

OSEP should also encourage the state’s use of sanctions in this manner when the state’s

compliance monitoring indicates that LEAs are failing to correct findings of noncompliance.

Part VI provides an overview of the role of the Department of Justice in enforcing IDEA

through participation in litigation.

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VI. The Role of the Department of Justice

A. Functions of the Department of Justice

Two divisions of the Department of Justice (DOJ) have participated in appellate litigation

for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) during the past 25 years&the

Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division and the Appellate Section of the Civil Division.328

The Appellate Section of the Civil Rights Division indicates that it finds cases to participate in by

searching legal publications and reports. The Civil Rights Division is rarely approached by

advocates or outside attorneys for participation in a case, but has met with advocacy groups (e.g.,

P&As) to ask for their assistance in identifying cases that might permit amicus participation.329 It

intends to increase these kinds of outreach efforts to advocates in the future, as well as

coordination with the Department of Education (DoED) on DOJ’s amicus participation in IDEA

cases.330

B. IDEA Litigation in Which the Department of Justice Has Participated

For this study, the National Council on Disability (NCD) requested a docket of IDEA

cases in which the Department of Justice had participated since the law’s enactment. DOJ did not

have such a list, but constructed the following one for this study. It only includes cases at the

Supreme Court and Appellate Court levels. While DOJ has participated in IDEA cases at the

district level, a list of these cases was not provided. The Department suggested that project staff

could find cases DOJ had participated in at the district level in WestLaw. While a number of

district level cases were identified, a complete list is not included in this report.331

The following table lists 26 cases that DOJ provided for this study. DOJ participated in

five cases heard by the Supreme Court and 21 appellate cases. Thirteen of the cases appear to

support children’s educational rights under IDEA. Several cases each concern private school

placements and administrative issues. In one case, DOJ represented the Department of Education

in its efforts to withhold IDEA funds from the state of Virginia for substantial noncompliance. 

While DOJ’s role cannot be entirely deduced from the information available, attorneys familiar
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with IDEA litigation issues think DOJ has generally taken positions supporting the claims of

students with disabilities and their families.

Table 23: IDEA Litigation in Which DOJ Has Participated

Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

Board of Education of Hendrick

Hudson Central School District v.

Rowley, et al.

458 U.S. 176 (1982)

The United States filed an amicus brief arguing: (1)

that an individualized education program devised

for a particular child with a disability does not

satisfy the requirements of the EHA [Education for

All Handicapped Children Act] solely because it is

consistent with the relevant state plan submitted to

the Secretary of Education; (2) that the district court

properly determined that sign language interpreter

services should be provided to the child under the

EHA, and (3) that the district court properly granted

injunctive relief extending beyond the school year

covered by the individualized education program for

which respondent sought judicial review.

Cedar Rapids v. Garrett F.

119 S.Ct. 992 (1999)

The United States filed a brief on the issue of what

qualifies as related services under IDEA. The

United States argued that the "related services"

IDEA requires schools to provide to students with

disabilities include medical services, as long as the

service is not one usually administered by a

physician.

Lora v. Board of Education of the

City of New York

623 F. 2d 240 (2nd Cir. 1980)

This case involved the issue of whether plaintiffs

claiming a violation of the EHA were required to

exhaust state administrative remedies before they

could assert a private right of action in federal court.
Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

197

S-1 v. Turlington

635 F.2d 342 (5th Cir.), cert

denied, 454 U.S. 1030 (1981)

The United States filed an amicus brief supporting

the district court’s holding that IQ tests used for

BMR placement had not been validated as required

by the EHA, assuring that EHA funds were

administered in a manner consistent with the terms

of the Act.

Larry P. v. Riles

793 F.2d 969 (9th Cir. 1984)

The United States filed an amicus brief supporting

the district court’s holding that IQ tests used for

BMR placement had not been validated as required

by the EHA, assuring that EHA funds were

administered in a manner consistent with the terms

of the Act.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

v. Secretary of HHS

816 F.2d 796 (1st Cir. 1987)

This case involved Tucker Act jurisdiction and its

effect on district court and appellate jurisdiction. It

also raised the question whether the Secretary’s

interpretation of the scope of Medicaid coverage to

exclude special education and related services to be

provided under federal Education for All

Handicapped Children Act and state education laws

was reasonable and therefore should have been

upheld.

Georgia Association of Retarded

Citizens v. McDaniel

716 F.2d 1565 (11th Cir. 1983),

cert. granted and judgment

vacated, 468 U.S. 1213 (1984),

decision on remand, 740 F. 2d

902 (11th Cir. 1984)

The United States argued that a school district

violated the EHA by limiting all educational

programs for children with disabilities to 180 days,

and that children with severe disabilities might need

summer programs.
Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

198

Timothy W. v. Rochester, New

Hampshire, Sch. Dist., 875 F.2d

954 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 493

U.S. 983 (1989)

The United States argued that a school district court

may not refuse to provide a child with a serious

disability a free appropriate public education based

on its determination that the child would not benefit

from the educational services.

Sacramento City Unified School

District v. Holland

14 F.3d 1398 (9th Cir.), cert

denied, 512 U.S. 1207 (1994)

The United States argued that, for a moderately

retarded elementary school child, the least

restrictive environment is a full-time placement in a

regular class, with some modification to the

curriculum and with the assistance of a part-time

aide.

Virginia Dept. of Education v.

Riley 23 F. 3d 80 (4th Cir. 1994)

(No. 94-1411), and 86 F.3d 1337

(4th Cir. 1996) (No. 95-2627),

vacated on rehearing en banc, 106

F. 3d 559 (1997)

The Justice Department defended the Department of

Education’s interpretation of the IDEA as requiring

that participating states continue to provide

educational services to children with disabilities

during expulsion or long-term suspension for

misconduct unrelated to their disabilities, and its

decision to withhold funding from the

Commonwealth of Virginia for refusal to provide

such services. In No. 94-1411, DOJ argued that

IDEA’s notice and hearing requirements were

inapplicable because Virginia did not have an

approved state plan under the Act. In No. 95-2627,

DOJ argued that the post-hearing decision to

withhold IDEA funding from Virginia for

noncompliance was both appropriate and mandated

by the Act.

Doe. v. Oak Park

115 F.3d 1273 (7th Cir.), cert.

denied, 118 S. Ct. 564 (1997) 

The United States filed a brief arguing that children

with disabilities who are expelled from school must

nonetheless be afforded education services.
Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

199

K.R. v. Anderson Community Sch.

Corp.

81 F.3d 673 (7th Cir. 1996),

vacated, 521 U.S. 1114 (1997),

on remand, 125 F.3d 1017 (7th

Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 118 S.

Ct. 1360 (1998)

The United States argued that the 1997 amendments

to IDEA establish that public schools do not have to

provide to students in private schools publicly

supported special education services comparable to

those provided public school students.

Fowler v. Unified School District

No 259, 128, F.3d 1423 (10th Cir.

1997)

The United States argued in its amicus brief that

where parents voluntarily place their child in a

private school despite being offered an appropriate

educational placement in the public school, the local

school district is not obligated under federal law to

provide any state-supported services to the child.

The district must pay only a share of federal funds.

Marie O. v. Edgar

131 F.3d 610 (7th Cir. 1997)

The United States filed a brief (that was cited in the

court of appeals opinion) arguing that IDEA

required school systems to provide services for

children below the age of three.

Hartmann v. Loudoun County

118 F.3d 966 (4th Cir. 1997),

cert.denied, 118 S. Ct. 688 (1998)

The United States filed a brief in the Fourth Circuit

in support of a district court holding that a child

with a disability should be educated in a regular

classroom. The United States emphasized IDEA’s

provision that children should be educated in the

least restrictive alternative available.

Bradley v. Arkansas Dept. of 

Education 

(8th Cir. No. 98-1010)

The United States intervened and filed a brief

defending the constitutionality of IDEA.
Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

200

Jim C. v. Arkansas

(8th Cir. No. 98-1830)

K.L. v. Valdez 

(10th Cir. No. 96-2278)

Mauney v. Arkansas

(8th Cir. No. 98-1721)

In all three cases, the United States filed briefs

arguing that Congress abrogated sovereign

immunity when passing IDEA, and so IDEA could

be applied to the states.

Board. of Ed. of Lagrange Sch.

Dist. No. 105 v. Illinois Bd. Of

Ed. (7th Circuit, No. 98-4077)

The United States filed an amicus brief supporting

placement of a pre-schooler in a classroom with

nondisabled students and requiring the school

district to pay for this private placement.

Honig v. Doe

484 U.S. 305 (1988)

The United States filed a brief arguing that the

district court abused its discretion in enjoining the

school district from indefinitely suspending a

student with an emotional disability for dangerous

or disruptive conduct growing out of his disability,

pending completion of expulsion proceedings.

Tribble v. Montgomery County

Board of Education

798 F. Supp. 668 (M.D. Ala.

1992), appeal dismissed (11th Cir.

1993)

The United States filed an amicus brief arguing that

IDEA does not require the school district to provide 

a child with a disability who is voluntarily enrolled

by his parents in a private school with such "related

services" as physical, speech, and occupational

therapy, and the transportation necessary to secure

such services, where the school district stands ready

to provide the child with a free appropriate public

education in a public school setting.

Metropolitan School District of

Wayne Township v. Davila

969 F.2d 485 (7th Cir. 1992),

cert. denied, 507 U.S. 949 (1993)

The United States took the position that IDEA

requires participating states to continue providing

educational services to children with disabilities

during periods of expulsion or long-term suspension

for misconduct unrelated to their disabilities.

Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills

School District

509 U.S. 1 (1993)

The United States filed an amicus brief arguing that

the Establishment Clause does not preclude a school

district from using IDEA funds to provide a

hearing-impaired child voluntarily enrolled in a

sectarian school with a sign language interpreter.
Case Issue(s) Considered by the Court

201

Florence County School District

v. Carter

510 U.S. 7 (1993)

The United States filed an amicus brief arguing that

a school district that has failed to provide a free

appropriate public education under the IDEA may

be ordered to reimburse parents who unilaterally

withdrew their child from public school, put the

child in a private school, and did not satisfy the

Act’s procedural requirements, but met the child’s

educational needs.

Cefalu v. East Baton Rouge

Parish School Board.

117 F. 3d 231 (5th Cir., 1997)

The United States filed an amicus brief on petition

for rehearing, taking the position that the IDEA

imposed no obligation on the school district to

provide a hearing-impaired student with an on-site

sign language interpreter at a private parochial

school in which he was voluntarily enrolled by his

parents, so long as a free appropriate public

education had been made available to the student.

C. Findings and Recommendations

Finding #VI.1

The Department of Justice does not have independent authority under IDEA to pursue IDEA

investigations and enforcement against noncompliant educational entities.

The Department of Justice can pursue enforcement action against state educational entities

only if a referral is made from the Department of Education.

Recommendation # VI.1

Congress should amend IDEA to provide the Department of Justice with independent authority

to investigate and litigate against school districts or states where pattern and practice violations

of IDEA exist.
202

The Department of Justice should play a greater role overall in the enforcement of IDEA.

DOJ is not plagued by the conflicting roles of grant manager and law enforcer with the same entity.

As an agency that specializes primarily in enforcing the law, DOJ’s first responsibility is to those

protected by the laws it enforces. DOJ is not as susceptible to political pressure from states and their

Congressional delegations when initiating enforcement action because it has no pre-existing

economic relationship (grant maker%grantee) with the defendant. DOJ can initiate an investigation

upon receiving a complaint or other information and coordinate with the Department of Education

throughout case development. Information about coordinated enforcement activities should be

included in DOJ’s Annual Report to Congress.

Finding # VI.2

The Department of Justice has played a minimal role in IDEA litigation, participating in only

26 IDEA cases at the Supreme Court and Appellate Court levels in the past 25 years.

Recommendation # VI.2

The Department of Justice should exercise greater leadership in IDEA enforcement by initiating

litigation against noncompliant states, publicizing its actions, and collaborating with stakeholders

on their legal stance and its implications.

The Department of Justice should take the initiative to identify key cases involving noncompliance

with important provisions of IDEA, such as LRE, and aggressively litigate to put noncompliant states

on notice that the law is now being enforced. In doing so, DOJ should actively seek the input of key

stakeholders on their legal positions vis-a-vis these cases and the policy implications.

Finding # VI.3

The Department of Justice has no structured mechanism for finding or determining what

IDEA cases to participate in, other than reviewing legal journals and networking informally

with advocacy groups.
203

Recommendation # VI.3

The Department of Justice should develop a system for tracking and monitoring litigation

related to IDEA and articulate explicit criteria for determining DOJ participation.

Part VII examines a variety of technical assistance vehicles and initiatives funded by the

Department of Education and makes recommendations concerning the targeted use of

specifically designed technical assistance programs to improve compliance nationally.

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VII. Improving Public Awareness: Technical Assistance and Public Information 

for Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Advocates

A. Department of Education—Overview

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) has always authorized technical assistance

initiatives. Some are directed to states and other service-providing entities; others are intended

for the public generally. Still others are directed to addressing the technical assistance needs of

students with disabilities, their families, and their advocates in obtaining the services and

supports that must be made available to students with disabilities under the law. For Fiscal Year

1999, $44.5 million was appropriated for IDEA technical assistance and dissemination. These

funds provide for “technical assistance and information, through such mechanisms as institutes,

Regional Resource Centers, clearinghouses, and programs that support states and local entities in

building capacity, to improve early intervention, educational and transitional services, and results

for children with disabilities and their families and address systemic-change goals and

priorities.”332 In accordance with this authority, the Office of Special Education Programs

(OSEP) has funded three primary technical assistance programs for Fiscal Year 1999 for students

with disabilities, their parents and families, and advocates. They are the National Information

Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY); The Families and Advocates

Partnership for Education (FAPE) project of the Minnesota parent organization (the PACER

Center); and the Parent Training and Information (PTI) centers, including the Technical

Assistance Alliance, also managed by the PACER Center, which provides technical assistance to

the PTIs.

As a result of the 1997 Reauthorization, OSEP funded Partnership Projects to provide

technical assistance to membership associations representing four different stakeholder groups

involved with the implementation of IDEA: families and advocacy groups, service providers,

local school administrators and policy-makers. Begun in October 1998, Partnership Projects

consists of collaborative initiatives by all four stakeholder groups to ensure that their grassroots

constituents get consistent information about the Reauthorization changes, as well as best

practices for effectively implementing IDEA. The Partnership initiative also has a coordinating
206

committee that works on addressing implementation issues raised by any stakeholder group from

all stakeholder perspectives.

Under other legislative authorities, the National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation

Research (NIDRR), the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), and the Department of

Education’s (DoED’s) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) each also play a role in providing IDEA- or

education-related technical assistance, information, and materials for students with disabilities,

their parents, and families.

1. OSEP

a. National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities 

The National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY) is

an information and resource clearinghouse. NICHCY is an OSEP initiative that provides

information on children and youth with disabilities (birth to age 22). In Fiscal Year 1999,

NICHCY received $1.1 million to operate a clearinghouse that offers a toll-free number and a

web site providing information and materials about children and youth with disabilities, special

education, IDEA, and related matters. NICHCY receives about 40,000 contacts per year—

including phone calls, e-mail, and mail requests for referral, information, or technical assistance.

About half of these contacts are from professionals and about half from children with disabilities

and their families. NICHCY’s web site provides descriptions of and price information about all

printed publications that it makes available. Most are accessible at the web site and can be

printed out free of charge. NICHCY’s web site also offers a text-only version for individuals

with vision disabilities who may be using a screen reader. Materials provided by NICHCY are

available on computer disk by request.

b. The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) Project
207

In 1998 OSEP awarded $6 million in grants for national education and outreach about

IDEA 1997. Four grants of $1.5 million each per year for up to five years were awarded to three

organizations. Of the three grantees, the parent-run PACER Center based in Minneapolis,

Minnesota, provides material and information specifically for students, their families, and

advocates. The other grantees were the National Association of State Directors of Special

Education and the Council for Exceptional Children, which was awarded two grants.

c. Parent Training and Information (PTI) Centers and the Technical 

Assistance Alliance

The largest source of technical assistance and information for students, families, and their

advocates is the OSEP Parent Training and Information (PTI) centers funded at $18.5 million for

Fiscal Year 1999 through the OSEP Parent Program. There is at least one PTI center in each

state. Also supported under this funding initiative is the Technical Assistance Alliance managed

by the PACER Center, which provides technical assistance to the PTIs. Parent Training and

Information centers typically provide training and information about various special education

topics for parents, families, and children living in the areas served by the individual centers.

The goals of the Parent Program are to provide information, training, and support to the

families of children with disabilities in becoming more effective advocates for the supports and

services their children need to receive the benefits of a free appropriate public education under

IDEA. The Parent Program recognizes the critical role of parents in their children’s education

and aims at preparing them to be active participants in the Individualized Education Program

(IEP) process, eligibility, and placement decisions. Most important, the program seeks to impart

information about the procedural safeguards available when the system is out of compliance with

the law. These goals are accomplished through general and specific training, workshops, and

presentations, as well as through printed material(s), newsletters, web sites, and individual

support and advocacy. This training and support focuses on both individual advocacy and

systems advocacy.333 
208

PTI services, therefore, can include assisting parents in understanding the nature of their

child’s disability and education needs; providing information about ways parents can

communicate effectively with service-providing personnel; helping parents participate in the IEP

process; assisting parents in obtaining appropriate information about the range of options,

programs, services, and resources available; helping parents understand IDEA procedural

safeguards; and assisting parents in understanding IDEA and participation in school reform

activities.334

The PTIs are currently assembling a comprehensive list of their combined technical

assistance, training, and informational materials for parents and families. The list had not been

completed nor was preliminary information available during the course of this study. The PTIs

are also working on a report showing how many students, parents, families, and others annually

receive some form of technical assistance from the various centers, but it also had not yet been

completed at the conclusion of this study, and preliminary data were not available.

d. The Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers

The Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers (the Alliance) has served as the

coordinating office for the Technical Assistance to Parent Projects since October 1, 1997. The

Alliance provides technical assistance for establishing, developing, and coordinating Parent

Training and Information centers under IDEA. The Alliance maintains a web site with links to

PTIs and other parent resources and organizations. The site is available in a text-only as well as

a graphic format. On request the Alliance provides technical assistance materials on audiotape

and in large print, and audio described and captioned videos.

e. Technical Assistance to Indian Communities

OSEP has worked closely with parents, educators, tribal leaders, and advocates in the

Native American community. For example, OSEP staff participated in the National Indian

School Board Association’s 1997 and 1998 annual conferences and the National Indian

Education Association’s 1998 conference, conducting focus groups and individual meetings with

parents, tribal leaders, and advocates. In 1999, OSEP provided an intensive two-day training for
209

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) staff, including non-central office staff. OSEP has also worked

with BIA staff in providing training to OSEP monitoring staff regarding Native American

cultures. OSEP will be working closely in the future with BIA’s newly created special education

advisory board.

Despite OSEP’s increased efforts, Native American leaders report a lack of general

knowledge among local people about the law, their rights under the law, and the role of BIA in

ensuring that all requirements of Part B are met. Improved implementation of IDEA in Native

American communities depends, in part, on effective participation by parents of children with

disabilities, tribal leaders, and representatives from national Indian education organizations on

the advisory boards and steering committees directing BIA efforts.

2. National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), one of three

OSERS programs, undertakes research related to the rehabilitation of individuals with

disabilities. Some NIDRR projects include the development of training, technical assistance, and

other general materials related to IDEA or other special education issues. Some projects develop

materials specifically for parents and families. Others are aimed at various professional

audiences but may be of general interest to parents. NIDRR also administers the Protection &

Advocacy for Assistive Technology (PAAT) program, created in 1994 when Congress expanded

the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act (Tech Act) to include

funding for Parent and Advocacy systems (P&As) to “assist individuals with disabilities and their

family members, guardians, advocates, and authorized representatives in accessing technology

devices and assistive technology services” through case management, legal representation, and

self-advocacy training.

3. Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA)

RSA administers the Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights (PAIR) program,

established by Congress as a national program under the Rehabilitation Act in 1993. PAIR
210

programs were created to protect and advocate for the legal and human rights of persons with

disabilities who were not covered by previous legislation.

4. Office for Civil Rights

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regularly provides technical assistance to parents and

educators on rights under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

through presentations at conferences, community meetings, published materials, and posting of

information on DoED’s web site. A toll-free number, staffed at the OCR headquarters office in

Washington, DC, handled nearly 5,000 inquires in FY 1998.335 OCR staff members at

headquarters and in the 12 enforcement offices throughout the country handle many more

inquiries from students and parents by telephone, written correspondence, and electronic mail. In

addition, OCR provides technical assistance on the rights of students with disabilities to the

students themselves, their families, and educators in conjunction with the investigation of

disability complaints, which make up 60% of OCR’s total complaint receipts.336

5. Department of Health and Human Services—Administration on 

Developmental Disabilities

The Administration for Children, Youth, and Families’ Administration on Developmental

Disabilities (ADD) administers the Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Developmental

Disabilities (PADD) program, a system in each state and territory that provides protection of the

rights of persons with disabilities through legally based advocacy. The P&As system was created

by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights (DD) Act of 1975.

The National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS) reports

providing about 250,000 individuals annually with information, technical assistance, and referral

to other resources. Of this number, approximately 40,000 students with disabilities, their

parents, and their families are provided with information related to their educational rights and

responsibilities under IDEA. NAPAS also reports representing approximately 19,000 students
211

with disabilities in IDEA matters either with informal or formal advocacy, or representation at

administrative hearings or in court.337

B. Resource List of IDEA and Education-Related Technical Assistance, Training, and

Informational Materials Collection Approach

In an effort to identify federally funded IDEA- and education-related technical assistance

and informational materials for students with disabilities, parents, and families, lists of materials

were collected from sources that could verify federal support for the creation of the documents.

These sources included NICHCY, the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC)—a

NIDRR project that collects and disseminates the results of federally funded research projects—

some individual PTI centers, the Technical Assistance Alliance, NAPAS, and several

NIDRR-funded grantees. A database was created that assigned the titles to one of two audience

categories: Category One—students, parents and families, and advocates; Category Two—

general audience. Those titles included in the general audience category were also considered

useful to parents, although they are not the intended primary audience as far as could be

discerned from indicators such as the works’ title, abstract, source, and keywords.

Titles were not included when professionals were clearly the intended audience, or

applicability to and interest for parents and families was not apparent. If the information was

available, the database also includes a notation if the materials are available in languages other

than English, and whether the list’s source—web site or larger databases such as found on

NARIC for example—indicated whether the materials are available in alternative formats such as

audiotape, disk, or Braille.

Two hundred eighteen federally funded education or IDEA technical assistance, training,

public, or general information titles were identified that were either created for parents and

families or that are potentially useful to them. Of these, 66 appear aimed at either a general or a

professional audience, but could be of interest to parents and families; and 152 were specifically

created for students with disabilities, their parents and families, and advocates. Three are

advertised as available in Braille; four are videos; three of the videos provide captioning. Forty-
212

eight titles are available in languages other than English; 90 titles are available in full text format

on the web. The titles were assigned to the 24 content categories in the following table:

Table 24: IDEA/Education-Related Technical Assistance Materials and Information

Category Number of Titles

Technology 34

General Interest 20

Disability/Diagnosis 23

Transition 22

Law/Rights 30

Advocacy/Communication 14

Individualized Education Plan 12

Resources 11

Inclusion 9

Assessment 8

Related Services 6

For Students Only 4

Juvenile Justice 4

Discipline 4

Due Process 4

Families 3

Organizing 2

Mediation, Literature, Gender, Culture, Private Schools,

Culturally Appropriate Services, Least Restrictive Environment

and Miscellaneous

8 (1 ea.)

Total 218

C. Findings and Recommendations

Finding # VII.1

During 1999, OSEP committed about one-third of its technical assistance resources to

informational programs for students, parents, and families—an increase from previous

years.
213

This increase showed a clear commitment to enhancing the ability of students and parents

to participate in the educational planning process by developing and disseminating training and

informational materials and resources, providing peer and professional support, and

strengthening parent organizations through capacity building.

Recommendation # VII.1

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) should strongly

promote inter- and intra-agency collaboration to leverage existing resources available to help

states correct areas of noncompliance. The objective of this collaboration should be to make

available the technical assistance materials and programs state education agencies (SEAs)

and local education agencies (LEAs) may request or be required to accept in order to correct

specific noncompliance problems.

Finding # VII.2

Only 2 percent of OSERS’ resource list publications provided support and information to

students themselves in planning their own educational and transition programs. 

OSERS’ resource materials and programs needed greater emphasis on helping students

with disabilities to understand and advocate for their civil rights as students in public schools,

and in the transition to living as adults with disabilities in their communities. As OSERS

continues to stress transition from school to work and community life, students and their parents

must understand how IDEA, ADA, the Fair Housing Act (FHAA), and Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act affect their opportunities for meaningful integration, employment, and access

to post-secondary educational programs. 

Recommendation # VII.2

OSERS should prepare students for effective self-advocacy in their education planning and

transition to employment and independent living by (1) expanding its resource publications

dealing with these issues, (2) developing training initiatives and technical assistance materials,

and (3) supporting model student-led self-advocacy programs.
214

OSEP should develop materials and provide training for students with disabilities and

their parents about the provisions of the ADA, Section 504, FHAA, and other pertinent disability

laws to help young adults with disabilities understand their civil rights and inform them about the

programs available to assist their transition from school to independent living in the community,

employment, and post secondary education. Greater emphasis on self-advocacy also will prepare

students with disabilities and their families to support state and federal compliance monitoring

and enforcement activities more effectively.

Finding # VII.3

OSEP’s outreach priorities and resource materials did not address judicial interpretations

of IDEA and OSEP policies in a way that assists students with disabilities and their parents

in understanding of their implications.

Since schools are familiar with legal developments, students and parents can be

disadvantaged without this same information.

Recommendation # VII.3

OSEP should fund the development of materials and provide training and technical assistance

for parents and students on the implications of judicial interpretations of IDEA court cases

and OSEP policies.

Finding # VII.4

Current technical assistance initiatives have not met the need for materials, training and

technical assistance to help students with disabilities and their parents understand and

evaluate their states’ monitoring system.

Recommendation # VII.4

OSEP should initiate and develop a program to train students with disabilities and parents in

evaluating the effectiveness of their state’s IDEA compliance monitoring systems and their

state’s self-assessment process.
215

Finding # VII.5

Twenty-two percent of technical assistance and informational materials from the resource

list were either directed to non-English speaking audiences or available in languages other

than English.

Recommendation # VII.5

OSERS should continue to expand its initiatives to serve non-English speaking groups and

create culturally appropriate training materials by (1) increasing outreach to minority

students and parents, (2) enhancing the capability of the Technical Assistance Alliance, PTIs,

the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), and NIDRR research projects to

create culturally appropriate non-English language materials, and (3) translating more

existing materials into languages other than English.

This percentage is a notable increase from previous years, yet there are still too few

culturally appropriate materials available in languages other than English in relation to the

number of students and their families needing them.

Finding # VII.6

The need for training of students with disabilities and their parents in the requirements of

IDEA is especially urgent in communities where noncompliance persists over time. Despite

a steady increase over time in the amount of technical assistance materials available to

under-served populations of students with disabilities and their families, noncompliance

still tends to persist at a higher rate and over longer periods of time in these communities.

The resource list shows that materials are still scarce for students with disabilities in the

juvenile justice, immigration, and naturalization and child welfare systems, as well as for

students attending schools operated or funded by the BIA. Multicultural and languageappropriate materials for these groups are scarcer still.

Recommendation # VII.6A
216

OSEP should expand its program support for initiatives that promote educational

opportunities and rights for under-served populations of children and youth with disabilities

and their families. More programs are needed to explain IDEA’s requirements in light of the

unique needs of students with disabilities involved in the juvenile justice, immigration, and

naturalization and child welfare systems, as well as in schools operated or funded by BIA, to

their families and advocates, as follows:

C culturally appropriate technical assistance to ensure the ability of Native

American children with disabilities, their families, tribal leaders, and advocates

in every interested tribe to participate as full partners in implementing IDEA in

their communities. Culturally appropriate training and technical assistance

should be developed and delivered through the satellite offices of disability

technical assistance centers (DBTACs) around the country that are managed

and staffed primarily by Native Americans.

C training of the appropriate players in the juvenile justice system, including

judicial and institutional personnel, in IDEA’s civil rights requirements, how

they apply within the juvenile justice system, and ways the law can be used to

help minimize detention of children with disabilities in the juvenile justice

system.

C training of the appropriate players in the immigration and naturalization and

child welfare systems, including federal and state agency, judicial, and

institutional personnel, in IDEA’s civil rights requirements.

Recommendation # VII.6B

OSEP, in conjunction with the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), should also fund training programs for special education

lawyers on applying IDEA in the criminal justice system, and for public defenders and staff on

IDEA’s educational requirements to enable both to advocate more effectively for the
217

educational rights of students with disabilities involved in state and local criminal justice

systems.

Finding # VII.7A

The Department of Education’s IDEA technical assistance program addressed a wide

range of important information and training needs. The overall strategy, however, did not

seem to place priority on developing a comprehensive, coordinated, and targeted technical

assistance system in each state focused on empowering students with disabilities and their

families for effective self-advocacy to address documented areas of noncompliance statewide.

Finding # VII.7B

The advocacy training programs and services available in most states fell far short of the

existing need.

Recommendation # VII.7

The Department of Education should give priority support to the formation of a

comprehensive, high quality, and coordinated technical assistance system in each state by

developing a separate OSEP-administered funding stream to aid federally funded advocacy

groups in coordinating and making available self-advocacy training programs, resources, and

services to students with disabilities and their parents throughout the state. Elements of the

coordinated technical assistance systems should include the following:

C The availability of a lawyer at every state PTI center, protection and advocacy

agency, and independent living center able to provide competent legal advice to

students with disabilities and their parents in advocating for their rights.
218

C Self-advocacy training programs for students with disabilities and their parents

focused on civil rights awareness, education and transition planning, and

independent living in the community.

C The establishment of a national backup center to make legal materials,

training, and other supports available for attorneys working on IDEA cases and

issues at the state level.

C Expansion of involvement by the private bar and legal services organizations in

providing legal advice to students with disabilities and their parents in

advocating for their legal rights under IDEA.

The key disability advocacy organizations at the state level (PTIs, P&As, and IL centers)

need additional funding to effectively implement a joint collaborative strategy for increased

outreach and education of the general public and state legislators, technical assistance and

advocacy for transition planning and services, independent monitoring of state compliance with

IDEA, and affordable legal assistance to parents advocating for their child with a disability. The

goal of the collaborative strategy is to increase each state’s compliance with FAPE, LRE, IEP,

Transition, General Supervision, Procedural Safeguards, and Protection in Evaluation.

Part VIII summarizes the findings and recommendations of this report.
219

VIII. Summary and Conclusions

This report assessed the monitoring, compliance, and enforcement activities of the

Federal Government related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In the

Department of Education (DoED), it considered the grant eligibility process, the state monitoring

process up to the fall of 1998, and the federal complaint processes. Enforcement efforts were

examined, as well as the role of the Department of Justice (DOJ). These activities were

examined in terms of the outcomes they have produced and the compliance/enforcement

authorities available under the law. Litigation challenging state monitoring systems was

reviewed, as were the features of new state monitoring systems currently being developed as a

result of litigation. Technical assistance/public information initiatives targeted to parents and

families of children served by IDEA were highlighted. Views from IDEA stakeholders,

including parents, advocates, and a state special education director, were offered.

The findings indicate that failure to ensure compliance with IDEA is widespread and

persists over time. While noncompliance is regularly documented by the Department of

Education, sanctions have rarely been used. Some authorities available for enforcement have not

been utilized; others have been under-utilized. The very extensive state monitoring process used

by DoED appeared to serve multiple purposes and be related more to program improvement than

enforcing full compliance with the law. There was a lack of balance between these objectives,

with continuing emphasis on program improvement, even in instances of persistent

noncompliance. Parents expressed frustration and disappointment at the slow progress in the

implementation of IDEA.

The recommendations in this report are intended to strengthen federal authority for

enforcement, as well as federal systems for monitoring and ensuring compliance. They are

intended to build upon what has been learned in 25 years of monitoring compliance and

enforcement activity under IDEA, as well as what has been learned about effective enforcement

mechanisms in our nation’s other civil rights laws. Activities generated by the 1997 amendments

to IDEA make this a unique opportunity to redesign some features of the monitoring/enforcement
220

scheme to ensure that the new law produces the intended results for students with disabilities and

their families.
221

1. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY, ACHIEVING INDEPENDENCE: A CHALLENGE FOR THE 21ST

CENTURY 53 (1996).

2. Interview with Curtis Decker, Executive Director of National Association of Protection and

Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), in Washington, DC (February 1999).

3. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (1999), formerly known, in reverse chronological order, as

Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, Pub. L. No. 94-142, 89 Stat. 773, as

amended by Act of October 10, 1990; and Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,

Pub. L. 93-380, 88 Stat. 484, as amended by Act of November 29, 1975. Pub. L. 94-142

represented a culmination of trends toward increased federal involvement in the education of

disabled children. A significant portion of the requirements set out in PL 94-142 had already

been set forth in PL 93-380. The current IDEA regulations appear at 34 C.F.R.§§ 300 et seq.

(1999).

4. 29 U.S.C. § 794 (a) (1973), as amended by Act of 1978. The Section 504 regulations

concerning education can be found at 34 C.F.R. § 104 (1990).

5. 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. (1990).

6. See 28 C.F.R pt. 35 Appendix A, preamble commentary on Part 35.102. Under Title II, public

school systems “must provide program accessibility not only for children, but also for parents

and guardians with disabilities, to programs, activities, or services, and appropriate auxiliary aids

and services whenever necessary to ensure effective communication, as long as the provision of

the auxiliary aids results neither in an undue burden nor in a fundamental alteration of the

program.” 

7. Section 504 was originally introduced in 1971–72 as a bill to include disability in the Civil

Rights Act of 1964. Because the legislative history of Section 504 parallels the history of IDEA,

we include it here.

8. Disabled children have also been routinely exempted from state compulsory education laws.

1929 riz. Sess. Laws, ch. 93 p.21 (physical or mental condition that made attendance inexpedient

or impracticable); 1921 Idaho Sess. Laws, ch. 215, p.71 (child’s bodily or mental condition does

not permit its attendance at school); Mich. Comp. Laws, p. 59798 (1915) (physically unable to

attend).

9. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).

10. Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 333 F.

Supp. 1257 (E.D. Pennsylvania 1971), and Mills v. Board of Education of the District of

Columbia, 348 F. Supp. 866 (D.D.C. 1972).

ENDNOTES
222

11. Letter from the Cameron School Parents Group to the State Commission on Special

Education, June 24, 1981, reprinted in Stepping Stones: Successful Advocacy for Children, editor

Sheryl Dicker, Foundation for Child Development, 1990, p. 113. Original article by Julie

Landau, The Richmond Case Study: Ending Segregated Education for Disabled Children.

12. For example, the Office for Handicapped Individuals (1979) reported the following

predictions for employment of disabled persons from 1979 to 1983: Only 525,000 (21%) will be

fully employed or enrolled in college; 1,000,000 (40%) will be underemployed at poverty level;

200,000 (8%) will be in their home community and idle much of the time; 650,000 (26%) will be

unemployed and on welfare; 75,000 (3%) will be totally dependent and institutionalized.

13. Brown, 347 U.S. at 495.

14. Id. at 493.

15. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(3)(A)-(B)(1999). The term "children with disabilities" is defined as a

child with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language

impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance,

orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific

learning disabilities, who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services. For

children ages three through nine, the term "children with a disability" may, at the discretion of

the state and local education agency, include a child experiencing development delays, as defined

by the state and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or

more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication

development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development, who, by reason thereof,

needs special education and related services.

16. 34 CFR § 300.2. (1999).

17. Id.

18. Pub. L. No. 94-182 itself was an amendment to the existing EHA law, Pub. L. No. 91-230,

that established a state grant program for services for children with disabilities, but did not

protect individual rights of children with disabilities to an education.

19. Handicapped Children’s Protection Act, Pub. L. 99-372, August 5, 1986, Stat.796.

20. Smith v. Robinson, 468 U.S. 992 (1984). See generally MARY LOU BRESLIN, DISABILITY

RIGHTS EDUCATION AND DEFENSE FUND, THE HANDICAPPED CHILDREN’S PROTECTION ACT OF

1986: IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES (1997).

21. See 20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A), (30) (1999) (“The term ''transition services'' means a coordinated

set of activities for a student with a disability that—

 (A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from

school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, 
223

integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult

services, independent living, or community participation;

 (B) is based upon the individual student’s needs, taking into account the student’s

preferences and interests; and 

 (C) includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of

employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of

daily living skills and functional vocation evaluation.”)

22. See e.g., Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Equalization, El Paso Independent School District,

874 F.2d 1036 (5th Cir. 1989); Green v. Rome City School District, 950 F.2d 688 (11th Cir.

1991); Oberti v. Board of Education, 995 F.2d 1204 (3rd. Cir. 1993); Board of Education,

Sacramento City Unified School District v. Holland, 14 F.3d 1398 (9th Cir. 1994), cert. denied,

512 U.S. 1207 (1994).

23. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(c).

24. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(c)(1), (4), and (5).

25. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1).

26. 20 U.S.C. § 1416 (b).

27. 20 U.S.C. § 1416 (a).

28. HOUSE COMM. ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997, H.R. Rep. No. 95, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. 339 (1997).

See also SENATE COMM. ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997, S. Rep. No. 17, 105th Cong., 34 (1997).

29. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES, MONITORING

ACADEMY, CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MONITORING PROCESS 1999%2000 MONITORING

MANUAL, 52 (1999). (OSEP’s 1999–2000 Monitoring Manual describes all the enforcement

alternatives available under the revised monitoring process, but provides no description of the

criteria that will trigger such actions, except as follows: “If serious noncompliance persists

despite OSEP’s efforts to work with the state to ensure effective correction, OSEP reviews the

situation to determine whether formal enforcement action is necessary to ensure timely

correction.”).

30. 20 U.S.C. § 1402(a).

31. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1417(b).

32. 20 U.S.C. § 1411(a)(1).

33. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a).
224

34. Id.

35. 20 U.S.C. § 1474 (a)(1)(A) (1999); see also General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20

U.S.C. § 1231(a)(3) (1999) requiring the Secretary to collect data and information for the

purpose of obtaining objective measurements of the effectiveness of programs in achieving the

programs’ intended purposes.

36. 20 U.S.C. § 1416(a)(1), (emphasis added).

37. Of the 360 staff, 289 are in the Washington office and 71 are in the regions.

38. The total appropriation for all IDEA programs for FY ’99 was $5,334,146,000. Of that

amount, $4,100,700,000 is for the Part B state grant program. The preschool state grants are

funded at $373,985,000 and the infants and families state grants are funded at $370,000,000. The

remaining $279,461,000 is for discretionary programs authorized by Part D of IDEA.

39. Interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, U.S. Department of Education, Washington DC,

June 23, 1998.

40. Memorandum from Eileen Hanrahan, Office for Civil Rights to Ruth Ryder, Office of

Special Education Programs, July 30, 1999.

41. Memorandum of Understanding Between the Office for Civil Rights and The Office of

Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Madeline Will and LeGree S. Daniels, July 29,

1987.

42. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p.51.

43. Conversation with Eileen Hanrahan, Office for Civil Rights, Washington, DC, January 11,

1999.

44. Memorandum from Eileen Hanrahan to Ruth Ryder, July 30, 1999.

45. Memorandum from Ronald Petraka, U.S. Department of Education, Office of General

Counsel, to Kathleen Blank, National Council on Disability, October 26, 1999.

46. 20 U.S.C.§ 1412(a)(11)(A).

47. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A).

48. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5).

49. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(6).

50. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(18)(A).
225

51. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(14).

52. 20 U.S.C. §§ 1412(a)(14), 1453(c)(3)(D)(vii).

53. Id.

54. 20 U.S.C. § 1412 (a)(16)-(17).

55. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(a).

56. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(a)(1).

57. Id.

58. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(d)(1).

59. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(h); 34 C.F.R. § 300.360-361. (1999).

60. 34 C.F.R. § 300.660-661. (1999).

61. The impact of a “cessation of services” policy on children with disabilities is that they can be

left without any support or programming, resulting in loss of skills, lack of social contact,

isolation, and potential involvement with crime, with devastating consequences to the children

and their communities.

62. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)(A).

63. Memorandum from National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, Washington,

DC, pp.1-2 (on Ninth Edition of the Docket of P&A Special Education Cases).

64. Id at 3.

65. Conversation with Diana MTK Autin, Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, Newark, NJ,

February 19, 1999.

66. Conversation with Mary Lou Breslin, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

(DREDF), Berkeley, CA, February 23, 1999. (DREDF represented the Holland family in court.)

67. Quoted in Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund letter to “Friends of DREDF” from

Margaret Jakobson, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Chair and President, 1994.

68. The Washington Post, “Student Tells Her Story of Schools’ Failures,” p.B9, February 19,

1999.

69. Conversation with Diana MTK Autin, Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, Newark, NJ,

February 19, 1999.
226

70. Memorandum from National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems, p.30 (on

Ninth Edition of the Docket of P&A Special Education Cases). 

71. Comment from participant in the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability, Washington,

DC, September 22, 1999.

72. Comment from participant in the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability, Washington,

DC, September 22, 1999.

73. Comment from participant in the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability, Washington,

DC, September 22, 1999.

74. Comment from participant in the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability, Washington,

DC, September 22, 1999.

75. Comment from participant in the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability, Washington,

DC, September 22, 1999.

76. National Parent Network on Disabilities, Implementation, Monitoring and Compliance

Program.

77. Conversation with Linda Sheppard, Parents Educating Parents and Professionals, February

22, 1999.

78. Conversation with Diana MTK Autin, Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, Newark, NJ,

February 19, 1999.

79. See NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY, SERVING THE NATION’S STUDENTS WITH

DISABILITIES: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS, (March 4, 1993); NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY,

MEETING THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF MINORITIES WITH DISABILITIES: A REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT

AND CONGRESS, (April 26, 1993); and NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY INCLUSIONARY

EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: KEEPING THE PROMISE, (December 30, 1994). 

(Studies and testimony relating to disproportionate labeling and placement of minority children

with disabilities in separate settings are cited and quoted throughout these reports)

80. Comment by parent participant at the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability,

Washington, DC, September 22, 1999.
227

81. GEMIGNANI, R.J., U.S. DEPT. OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF JUVENILE JUSTICE AND DELINQUENCY

PREVENTION, JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL EDUCATION: A TIME FOR CHANGE 2 (1994).

82. 20 U.S.C. § 1412.

83. 20 U.S.C. § 1416.

84. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a).

85. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(1)-(22).

86. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(c)(2)-(3).

87. Interview with Lois Taylor, Department of Education, Washington, DC, December 20, 1998.

88. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(d).

89. A total of 58 entities submit Part B plans to OSEP. These include the 50 states, the District

of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (on behalf of the American Indian lands), and US

territories, including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Virgin

Islands, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

90. 20 U.S.C. § 1451-1456.

91. 20 U.S.C. § 1454(b)(1).

92. 20 U.S.C. § 1453(b)(2)(C).

93. 20 U.S.C. § 1453(c)(3)(E).

94. 20 U.S.C. § 1413(d)(1).

95. Memorandum from Larry Ringer, Office of Special Education Programs to Kathleen Blank,

National Council on Disability, August 23, 1999.

96. Memorandum from Thomas Hehir to Chief State School Officers, March 2, 1995 (regarding

Monitoring Procedures of the Office of Special Education Programs).

97. Ryder and Taylor interview, June 23, 1998.

98. Id.

99. Memorandum from Thomas Hehir to Chief State School Officers, March 2, 1995 (regarding

Monitoring Procedures of the Office of Special Education Programs).

100. Ryder and Taylor interview, June 23, 1998.
228

101. Id.

102. Ryder and Taylor interview, June 23, 1998.

103. Interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, U.S. Department of Education, Washington,

DC, July 24, 1998.

104. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, MONITORING ACADEMY (1997).

105. Memorandum from Thomas Hehir to Chief State School Officers March 2, 1995 (regarding

Monitoring Procedures of the Office of Special Education Programs).

106. Memorandum from Thomas Hehir to Chief State School Officers March 2, 1995 (regarding

Monitoring Procedures of the Office of Special Education Programs).

107. Ryder and Taylor interview, July 27, 1998.

108. Memorandum from Sonya Savkar to Jane West, p. 2, September 4, 1998.

109. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY, SERVING THE NATION’S STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:

PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS, Washington, DC, March 4, 1993.

110. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p. 98.

111. See OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, NORTH

CAROLINA REPORT, September 29, 20 footnote 10 1995. "..during the 1991-92 school year when

public agency C was monitored by NCDPI, NCDPI had no procedure for determining whether

extended school year services were made available, as a necessary component of FAPE. When

OSEP visited this agency in 1995, it identified continuing deficiencies with regard to this

requirement. This is not included as a finding in this Report, because OSEP does not consider

this single instance to demonstrate systemic noncompliance," (emphasis added).

112. See 20 U.S.C. § 1412 (a) (11) (A).

113. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,

TEXAS REPORT 5 (1997). (emphasis added)

114. See id.

115. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

Insert 1, received August 3, 1999.

116. The asterisk (*) in the General Supervision column for Mississippi indicates that the report

appears to include sufficient data to support a finding of noncompliance in the area of state
229

monitoring of public agencies, yet the finding was not made. While the reports of several other

states also raise this issue, only Mississippi’s report does not contain findings of noncompliance

in other areas under General Supervision. For a full discussion of this issue, see the State

Monitoring section below.

117. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ALABAMA

REPORT 2 (February 21, 1996).

118. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, IOWA

REPORT 18 (1995).

119. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, DELAWARE

REPORT 3 (1995).

120. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CONNECTICUT REPORT 16 (1995).

121. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ARKANSAS

REPORT 3 (1995).

122. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, FLORIDA

REPORT (1997).

123. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MINNESOTA REPORT 17 (1994).

124. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ARIZONA

REPORT 28 (1995).

125. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

OKLAHOMA REPORT 10 (1997).

126. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CALIFORNIA REPORT 22-23 (1996).

127. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, DELAWARE

REPORT 4 (1995).

128. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ARKANSAS

REPORT 4 (1995).

129. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

PENNSYLVANIA REPORT 25 (1994).

130. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CONNECTICUT REPORT 15 (1995).
230

131. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, KENTUCKY

REPORT 7 (1996).

132. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, OHIO

REPORT 7 (1995).

133. OSEP’s unwillingness to make site visits to such facilities is apparently a longstanding

issue. A former OSEP administrator responsible for federal monitoring until mid-1986 testified

before a Congressional committee in 1988:

 ...since 1984, no state schools for students who are deaf or blind have been

visited by an OSEP monitoring team as part of a normally scheduled

monitoring review. The teams have been directed to not propose these agencies

for monitoring. These schools represent the most segregated educational

programming offered for the purpose of education. In the face of a major LRE

initiative, OSEP has chosen to not protect the rights of students who are deaf

and blind to education with nonhandicapped students to the maximum extent

appropriate. (David J. Rostetter, Testimony Before the Committee on Select

Education, pp.12-13, March 30, 1988) (emphasis in original).

134. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, KENTUCKY

REPORT 5 (1996).

135. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, IOWA

REPORT vii (1995) (emphasis added).

136. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MISSISSIPPI REPORT 3-4 (1997).

137. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, DELAWARE

REPORT 5 (1995).

138. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, IDAHO

REPORT 12-13 (1995).

139. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, IOWA

REPORT 9 (1995).

140. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW YORK

REPORT 41 (1994).

141. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, SOUTH

CAROLINA REPORT 6 (1995).
231

142. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CALIFORNIA REPORT 16 (1996).

143. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, OHIO

REPORT 21 (1995).

144. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, IOWA

REPORT 10 (1995).

145. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CONNECTICUT REPORT 34 (1995).

146. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, RHODE

ISLAND REPORT 6 (1996). (footnote omitted.)

147. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW

JERSEY REPORT 26 (1994).

148. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NORTH

CAROLINA REPORT 10-11 (1995).

149. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, GEORGIA

REPORT 13 (1996).

150. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW

JERSEY REPORT 11-12 (1994).

151. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, KENTUCKY

REPORT 14 (1996).

152. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MASSACHUSETTS REPORT 17-18 (1995). (emphasis in original.)

153. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NORTH

CAROLINA REPORT 4 (1995).

154. Comment by a student participant at the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, sponsored by the National Council on Disability,

Washington, DC, September 22, 1999.

155. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW

HAMPSHIRE REPORT 25 (1994).

156. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MASSACHUSETTS REPORT 21 (1995).
232

157. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, MISSOURI

REPORT 19 (1998).

158. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, COLORADO

REPORT 8 (1996).

159. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW

HAMPSHIRE REPORT 25 (1994).

160. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CALIFORNIA REPORT 3-4 (1996).

161. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MINNESOTA REPORT 27 (1994).

162. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

PENNSYLVANIA REPORT 8 (1994).

163. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, KANSAS

REPORT 3 (1996).

164. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NORTH

DAKOTA REPORT 5 (1994).

165. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ARIZONA

REPORT 4 (1995). (footnote omitted.)

166. Id.

167. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, VIRGINIA

REPORT 3-4 (1995). (footnote omitted.)

168. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, TEXAS

REPORT 4 (1997).

169. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ILLINOIS

REPORT 18-19 (1996). (footnote omitted.)

170. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, INDIANA

REPORT 5 (1996).

171. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, LOUISIANA

REPORT 1 (1995).

172. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CALIFORNIA REPORT 10-11 (1996) (footnote omitted, emphasis in original).
233

173. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ALASKA

REPORT 5 (1997) (emphasis added).

174. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ALABAMA

REPORT 9-11 (1996).

175. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, MAINE

REPORT 9 (1997).

176. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, SOUTH

CAROLINA REPORT 1 (1995) (emphasis added).

177. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, TENNESSEE

REPORT 8 (1996).

178. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ILLINOIS

REPORT 3 (1996).

179. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, GEORGIA

REPORT 6 (1996).

180. For the purposes of this review, protection in evaluation includes delays in initial

evaluations, which are treated by U.S. Department of Education as Free Appropriate Public

Education violations.

181. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, TEXAS

REPORT 15 (1997).

182. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, RHODE

ISLAND REPORT 11 (1996).

183. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, INDIANA

REPORT 8%9 (1996).

184. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW YORK

REPORT 50%51 (1994).

185. The Government Performance and Results Act, 31 U.S.C. §1115 (1993).

186. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p.98.

187. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, West Virginia

Report 2 (1997).

188. 34 CFR § 300.382 (1999).
234

189. 34 CFR §§ 300.550(a) (1999) (current to March 12, 1999); 300.552(c) (1999) (current to

March 12, 1999).

190. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NORTH

DAKOTA REPORT 10%11 (1994).

191. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, UTAH

REPORT 19%20 (1994).

192. David J. Rostetter, Testimony Before the Committee on Select Education, pp.13%14, March

30, 1988.

193. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, OHIO

REPORT cover letter 1 (1995).

194. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NORTH

CAROLINA REPORT cover letter 2 (1995).

195. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW YORK

REPORT cover letter 1%2 (1994) (emphasis in original).

196. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, NEW

MEXICO REPORT cover letter 1 (1995) (emphasis in original).

197. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MINNESOTA REPORT cover letter 2 (1994).

198. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

MASSACHUSETTS REPORT cover letter 2%3 (1995).

199. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, MAINE

REPORT 12 (1997).

200. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, KENTUCKY

REPORT 5 (1996).

201. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ILLINOIS

REPORT 1%2 (1996).

202. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, FLORIDA

REPORT cover letter 2 (1997).

203. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS,

CONNECTICUT REPORT cover letter 2 (1995).
235

204. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS, ALASKA

REPORT cover letter 2, (1997).

205. Memorandum from Jane West to Lois Taylor, June 16, 1998.

206. Memorandum from Sonya Savkar to Jane West, p.2, September 4, 1998.

207. A "follow-up" report was also available as an additional source of information for the state

of New York.

208. U.S. Department of Education, Report to Congress on the Implementation of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, p.A-1, 1997.

209. David J. Rostetter, Testimony Before the Committee on Select Education, p.15, March 30,

1988 (emphasis in original).

210. In addition to the other limitations discussed, U.S. Department of Education apparently

monitored New York in 1987 but could not produce a copy of the report for this study.

211. Memorandum from Larry Ringer to Kathleen Blank, August 23, 1999.

212. Id.

213. Memorandum from Eileen Hanrahan to Ruth Ryder, July 30, 1999.

214. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p.10.

215. Memorandum from Eileen Hanrahan to Ruth Ryder, July 30, 1999.

216. Id.

217. National Association of State Directors of Special Education, NASDSE’s Vision for

Balanced Accountability, p.2, 1995.

218. Id.

219. Interview with Martha Fields, National Association of State Directors of Special Education,

Alexandria, VA, March 8, 1998.

220. Ryder and Taylor interview, July 24, 1998.

221. Memorandum from U.S. Department of Education to Jane West, September 1998.

222. U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General Audit Report ACN:

11-50201, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Secretarial Review Process in
236

Need of Change, August, 1997.

223. Compare 34 C.F.R. § 300.661, (September 29, 1992) to current regulations 34 C.F.R. §

300.661 (March 12, 1999).

224. 62 Fed. Reg. 55,026, 55,050 (1997) (to be codified at 34 C.F.R. § 300.661).

225. U. S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this

study, received August 3, 1999, p.142.

226. 64 Fed. Reg. 12,406, 12,667 (1999) (to be codified at §§ 300.661(c), 303.512(c)).

227. C.F.R. § 300.504(b)(14) (March 12, 1999).

228. U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General Audit Report ACN:

11-50201, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Secretarial Review Process in

Need of Change, August, 1997.

229. 20 U.S.C. §1418(a)(2).

230. See 34 C.F.R. § 80.12

231. See 20 U.S.C. 1234(c)(3).

232. Interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, Office of Special Education Programs,

Washington, DC, July 27, 1998.

233. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Summary of Past

Enforcement Actions by the Department of Education under the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act, September 1998, and U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the

courtesy review draft of this study, received August 3, 1999, p.60.

234. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p.60.

235. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs also added special

conditions to the Part C award for the state of Illinois for FY ’96 and FY ’97 for failure to ensure

service to all eligible infants and toddlers and their families. This action is not included in the

table as it is not a Part B determination.

236. See supra, note 232.

237. Id.

238. “Special Ed Woes Persist in the District,” Washington Post, March 15, 1999, at p.B1, B6.
237

239. 20 U.S.C. § 1416 (a)(1)(A).

240. 20 U.S.C. § 1416. 

241. 20 U.S.C. § 1416 (a)(1)(B).

242. 20 U.S.C. § 1412 (a)(1)(A).

243. See 20 U.S.C. 1234c(a)(2).

244. Description of this process adapted from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of

Special Education Programs, Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process, 1999-2000

Monitoring Manual, May, 1999, p.54.

245. Letter to Secretary Riley from Governor Allen, February 18, 1994. (Letter in Appendix D).

246. Letter to Secretary Riley from Senator Warner, Representative Bliley, Senator Robb,

Representative Bateman, Representative Boucher, Representative Byrne, Representative

Goodlatte, Representative Moran, Representative Payne, Representative Pickett, Representative

Scott, Representative Sisisky, and Representative Wolf, April 15, 1994 (letter in Appendix D).

247. Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of Public Law 94-142: The

Education for all Handicapped Children Act, p.v., referencing section 618(f)(1) of EHA-B. IDEA

has since been amended again, and the revised mandate requires that "The Secretary shall

periodically report to the Congress on the Secretary's activities under this subsection." Section

661(a)(5). Subsection 661(a) directs the Secretary to develop a comprehensive plan to enhance

services and provide funding for education of children with disabilities.

Whether the alterations made to state plans in order to receive funding were effectively

carried out then becomes part of the compliance monitoring process; however, in none of the

reports are connections drawn between those states whose plans required correction and states

later found to be noncompliant.

248. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, v (1986).

249. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 112 (1990).

250. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1979); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1980).

251. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1981); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1982); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1983).

252. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 31 (1983).
238

253. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1984); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1985); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1986); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1987); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1988); DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1989).

254. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 97 (1986).

255. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 112 (1990).

256. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 72–73 (1979).

257. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 70, 100–101 (1980).

258. Id. at 102%103.

259. Id. at 101.

260. Id. at 103.

261. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 101 (1981).

262. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 69 (1982).

263. Id. at 73.

264. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 98 (1985).

265. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 104 (1986).

266. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 112 (1990).

267. Id. at 113.

268. Id.

269. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 45 (1997).

270. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 100 (1980).

271. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 101 (1981).

272. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 108 (1986).

273. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 113 (1990).
239

274. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1979); U. S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1980); U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1981).

275. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1984); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT (1985); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1986); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1987); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1988); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1989); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1994); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1995); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT

(1997).

276. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1984); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1985); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1987); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1992); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1993); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT

(1994); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1995).

277. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1996).

278. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 99 (1981). 

279. Id. at 102.

280. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 69 (1982).

281. Id. at 69-70.

282. Id. at 70.

283. Id. at 73.

284. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 32–33 (1983).

285. Id. at 108.

286. See supra, note 41, at 63.

287. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 184–184 (1989).

288. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 132 (1990).

289. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 105 (1986); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 154 (1989).

290. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 116 (1990).
240

291. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 105 (1986).

292. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 114 (1990).

293. Id. at 124.

294. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1979); U.S. DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT (1980).

295. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 69 (1982).

296. Id.

297. Id.

298. Id. at 71.

299. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 31 (1983).

300. Id. at 32.

301. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 111 (1990).

302. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 197 (1983).

303. Id.

304. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 97 (1981).

305. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 69 (1982).

306. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, ANNUAL REPORT, 32 (1983).

307. Curtis Decker, Executive Director, National Association of Protection and Advocacy

Systems (NAPAS) at the Town Meeting on Federal Enforcement of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act, Washington, DC, September 22, 1999.

308. Sacramento City Unified School District v. Holland 14 F.3d 1398, (1994) cert. denied, 512

U.S. 1207 (1994); Emma C. v. Eastin, 985 F. Supp. 940 (1997); Corey H. v. Board of Education

of City of Chicago, 995 F. Supp. 900 (N.D. Ill 1998).

309. Id. at 902.

310. Id. at 903.

311. Id. at 912.
241

312. Id. at 904, 915.

313. Id. at 904.

314. Id. at 914.

315. Id.

316. Id. at 908%911.

317. The hearing was postponed to December 1999.

318. Eastin, 985 F. Supp. 940.

319. Id. at 945.

320. Texas Compliance Monitoring System, A Proposal For Change (1998) (supported by

Advocacy Inc., Texas).

321. Members of the Chicago Group include David J. Rostetter, W. Alan Coulter, William R.

Sharpton, Mark A. Mlawer, and Brian McNultey.

322. Id. at p.3.

323. Id.

324. Id. at p.10.

325. Texas Compliance Monitoring System, A Proposal For Change 10–14 (1998).

326. Id. at p.13–14.

327. Id. at p.18–20.

328. Interviews with Mark Gross, Appellate Division of Department of the U.S. Department of

Justice, Washington, DC, January 4, 1999; and Robert Kopp, Civil Division of Department of the

U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, January 7, 1999.

329. Memorandum from Elizabeth Savage to Andrew Imparato, August 10, 1999.

330. Interview with Mark Gross, Appellate Division of Department of the U.S. Department of

Justice, Washington, DC, January 4, 1999.

331. See, e.g., Alexander v. Flora Brooks Boyd, C.A. No. 3:99-3062-17 (D.S.C.) and Magyar v.

Tucson Unified School District, No. CV-46-998 (D.Ariz).
242

332. 20 U.S.C. 1485(a).

333. Memorandum from Larry Ringer to Kathleen Blank, August 23, 1999.

334. 20 U.S.C. 1482(b).

335. Memorandum from Eileen Hanrahan to Ruth Ryder, July 30, 1999.

336. Id.

337. Interview with Curtis Decker, Executive Director, National Association of Protection and

Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), February 1999.
243

Appendix A

List of Interviews for This Study
244

1. Jane West interview with Diane Lipton of the Disability Rights Education Defense Fund,

2/12/98

2. Jane West interview with Steve Aleman and Nancy Jones of the Congressional Research 

Service, Library of Congress, 3/25/98

3. Jane West interview with Tom Hehir, JoLeta Reynolds, Ruth Ryder of the Office of 

Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education, 4/8/98

4. Jane West interview with Martha Fields, National Association of State Directors of 

Special Education, 4/8/98

5. Jane West and Nancy Mudrick interview with Rebecca Fitch, Office for Civil Rights, 

U.S. Department of Education, 5/14/98

6. Jane West meeting with Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Task Force on Civil 

Rights, 5/20/98

7. Jane West and Nancy Mudrick interview with Eileen Hanrahan, Office for Civil Rights, 

U.S. Department of Education, 5/28/98

8. Jane West and Nancy Mudrick interview with Elinor Baker and Ting Ting Elinore, Office

for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 5/28/98

9. Jane West interview with Patty McGill-Smith, National Parent Network, 6/10/98

10. Jane West and Jillian Cutler interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, Office of

Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 6/23/98 

11. Jane West interview with Diane Lipton, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, 

7/1/98

12. Jane West and Jillian Cutler interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, Office of 

Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education, 7/25/98

13. Jane West and Jillian Cutler interview with Ruth Ryder and Lois Taylor, U.S. Department

of Education, 7/27/98

14. Jane West telephone interview with Suzanne Sheridan, Office of General Counsel

(OGC), U.S. Department of Education, 12/9/98

15. Jane West telephone interview with Mark Gross, Appellate Section of Civil Rights 

Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1/4/99

16. Jane West telephone interview with Robert Kopp, Civil Division, U.S. Department of 

Justice, 1/7/99

17. Jillian Cutter interviews with fourteen parents from California, Florida, Illinois, New

Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont, 8/4–8/11/1998

18. Mary Lou Breslin telephone interview with Curtis Decker, National Association of 

Protection and Advocacy Systems (NAPAS), 1/21/99

19. Kathleen Blank telephone interview with JoLeta Reynolds, OSEP, 7/99

20. Kathleen Blank telephone interview with Larry Ringer, OSEP, 8/19/99

21. Kathleen Blank interview with Ruth Ryder and Larry Ringer, OSEP, 8/24/99

22. Kathleen Blank telephone interview with Suzanne Sheridan, OGC, 9/99

23. Kathleen Blank telephone interview with Ronald Petracca, OGC, U.S. Department of

Education, 10/26/99

24. Kathleen Blank telephone interview with JoLeta Reynolds, OSEP, 10/28/99
245

Appendix B

Educational Inequity and Children With Disabilities:

Ten Problem Areas IDEA Was Intended to Address1
246

Through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Congress attempted to

remedy the most egregious problems facing children with disabilities in the education system.

Although IDEA has improved the system considerably, problems in all of these areas persist

today. The following are 10 problem areas facing children with disabilities in accessing public

education that Congress intended to address in enacting IDEA in 1975: (1) exclusion, (2) special

needs, (3) disciplinary exclusion, (4) evaluation, (5) lack of educational goals, (6)

placement/segregation, (7) related services, (8) parental involvement, (9) access to records, and

(10) due process.

(1) Exclusion

Prior to the early 1970s, state education laws frequently excluded entire categories of

children with disabilities. Under IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a free

appropriate public education must be made available to all eligible children with disabilities.

(2) Special Needs

Historically, society has failed to recognize the special needs of children with disabilities.

School districts frequently have failed to identify these children, and even when they were

identified as needing special assistance, they were frequently shuffled from one agency to

another. Not surprisingly, many of them “fell through the cracks.” Today, special education

legislation requires that school districts seek out and identify children with disabilities and

coordinate and make FAPE available to them.

(3) Disciplinary Exclusion

Even when a school district recognized that a child had special needs, the child would

sometimes break school rules or, because of the child’s disability, be unable to conform his or

her behavior to school rules and then be excluded from the educational program on that basis.

Schools would then suspend, transfer, expel, or otherwise prevent the child’s attendance.

(4) Evaluation

In the past, placement in special classes was often based on the results of a single

evaluation instrument, such as the “IQ” test. Several years ago parents challenged a state 

superintendent of schools for placing a disproportionate number of African-American children in 
247

“educable mentally retarded” classes due to a culturally biased testing process.2

 Congress

addressed the evaluation problem by requiring nondiscriminatory assessment procedures.

(5) Educational Goals

Traditionally, special education focused on placement; thus, educators largely ignored the

need to develop individualized instruction and monitor goals for individual children. Congress

therefore established the Individualized Education Program (IEP) as the means through which

schools develop educational plans and goals and monitor progress of individual children.

(6) Placement/Segregation

Placement in special education historically meant placement in segregated programs or

institutions. Segregation, coupled with the absence of goal orientation, created a crisis in the

quality of special education. This spurred Congress to mandate the concept of placement in the

least restrictive environment (LRE), which pervades IDEA.

(7) Related Services

Historically, many children needed related services outside the educational system’s

previously conceived areas of responsibility; among them were occupational therapy, physical

therapy, family counseling, and so forth. Many people viewed these services as peripheral to the

goals of public education. To guarantee the children’s rights, Congress declared related services

to be essential if a child needs them to benefit from special education.

(8) Parental Involvement

Traditionally, parents were denied a role in the special education process. In contrast,

IDEA considers parental involvement essential and affords parents a primary role in decision

making. IDEA requires school officials to notify parents whenever the school proposes any

change to the child’s identification, evaluation, placement, or provision of FAPE, as well as to

obtain their consent and involve them in the development and review of their child’s IEP. They

must notify parents and obtain their consent when making an evaluation or reevaluation for the

initial provision of special education. School officials must also notify parents when refusing a

change to their child’s identification, evaluation, placement, or provision of FAPE.

(9) Access to Records

Schools also frequently denied parent requests for access to their child’s records if they
248

1. Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this section comes from Arlene Mayerson, The

Educational Process, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, 1990.

2. Larry P. v. Riles, 793 F.2d 969 (1984).

wished to question a placement or other education-related decision. Under IDEA, parents may 

“inspect and review,” and may obtain copies of any educational records, if not having copies of

those records will impede the exercise of their right to “inspect and review.”

(10) Due Process

Even with access to records, parents who wished to challenge school actions were often

hampered by a lack of procedural safeguards. IDEA solves this problem by establishing a

specific system for achieving due process.
249

Appendix C

Basic Requirements of IDEA
250

The basic requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) outlined in this

appendix are (1) free appropriate public education (FAPE), (2) least restrictive environment

(LRE), (3) parent and student rights, (4) child-find, (5) evaluation procedures, (6) individualized

education program (IEP), and (7) procedural safeguards.

1. Free Appropriate Public Education

IDEA defines a free appropriate public education as special education and related services

provided at public expense that meet the standards of the state education agency (SEA). It

includes appropriate pre-, elementary, and secondary school education in the state involved and

must be provided in accordance with the IEPs.1

 In other words, FAPE for an individual student

is defined by the student’s IEP. Because of this student-specific approach, “provision of a FAPE

to children with disabilities is a potent requirement of IDEA,”2 and represents a revolutionary

advance in education, the notion of tailoring education to fit individual student needs.

In providing FAPE to children with disabilities, schools cannot simply provide one type

of educational program. Children with disabilities must be afforded "the same variety of

educational programs and services...as other children, including art, music, industrial arts,

consumer and homemaking education, and vocational education."3

Schools are required to make FAPE available to every child who qualifies under the

statute. IDEA ’97 added an explicit provision requiring FAPE even for children with disabilities

who have been suspended or expelled.4 States are obliged to make FAPE available to all

children with disabilities through age 21, unless its application to those children would be

inconsistent with state law or practice, or the order of any court, respecting the provision of

public education. States are not obliged to make FAPE available to children ages 18–21

incarcerated in state correctional facilities, where state law does not require that special education

and related services under IDEA be provided if the child was not actually identified as a child

with a disability or did not have an IEP in his or her educational placement before incarceration

in an adult correctional facility.5
251

Free Education

IDEA requires that all aspects of the educational program, including related services, be

provided without cost to parents or guardians. School districts are not necessarily required to pay

for everything; some services may be funded by other agencies.

Free education sometimes extends to private schools as well. When a placement decision

calls for attendance at a private school (the school district places the child in a private school),

the student must be provided with special education and related services in conformance with the

IEP at no cost to the parents. Moreover, the child is to be afforded all the rights guaranteed under

IDEA, and the child must be provided an education that meets the standards that apply to

education provided by state and local education agencies (LEAs).6

 The SEA is responsible for

monitoring compliance with these requirements, for disseminating standards to these schools,

and for involving them in the development of state standards.7

 Children placed by their parents

in private schools have no right to FAPE if the public agency has made FAPE available.8

Special Education

Special education is defined as specially designed instruction at no cost to parents to meet

the unique needs of a child with a disability.9

 As IDEA ’97 emphasizes, special education does

not refer to a place or a particular classroom, school, or other setting. Once instruction has been

individualized to address a particular child’s needs, it can be provided in a variety of settings

appropriate for the child, including the regular education classroom. Thus, it would be illegal for

a school district to provide "special education" by automatically placing a child with a disability

in a particular class based on a disability label.

Related Services

Related services are often crucial for creating "program accessibility" in public school for

children with disabilities. The law defines related services as follows:

"transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services

(including speech-language pathology and audiology services, psychological services,

physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social
252

work services, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and

mobility services, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for

diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a

disability to benefit from special education, and includes the early identification and

assessment of disabling conditions in children."10

Comparable Benefits and Services

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act also requires school systems to provide students

with disabilities with benefits and services comparable to those provided to nondisabled students.

The requirement flows from regulations prohibiting discriminatory practices. Children with

disabilities must be afforded an opportunity to participate in or benefit from an aid, benefit, or

service that is equal to that afforded others or be provided an aid, benefit, or service that is as

effective as that provided to others.11

2. Least Restrictive Environment 

IDEA mandates that children with disabilities be provided with special education and

related services in the least restrictive environment appropriate for the individual child with a

disability; that is, the environment that provides for maximum interaction with nondisabled

children consistent with the child’s needs. This key substantive right is perhaps the linchpin of

IDEA and of the other disability civil rights laws, sometimes referred to as the "integration

mandate." The statute compels states and schools systems to ensure

"that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including those

children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children

who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children

with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or

severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of

supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily."12

Every step away from the regular education classroom must be justified by a compelling

educational justification in light of the law’s strong preference for educating children with

disabilities in the regular education classroom.
253

In addition, school districts must place children with disabilities in the same schools they

would have attended if not disabled unless a student’s IEP requires some other arrangement.13

Schools must also provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities that comply

with the LRE requirements. Meals, recess, athletics, transportation, counseling services, health

services, recreation activities, special interest groups or clubs, and employment and

employment-related assistance all fall into this category.14 Agencies must ensure that each child

with a disability participates with other children in these services and activities "to the maximum

extent appropriate to the [child’s] needs."15

The integration mandate embodies Congressional judgment that educating children with

disabilities with children without disabilities is fundamental to providing equal educational

opportunity and to the goals of the Act. If children with disabilities are to lead independent lives

fully integrated in the community, children with and without disabilities must come to know

each other in the schools, our primary socializing institution. Learning, by all children, occurs in

significant part from other children and from modeling from each other.16 Further, separate

schooling for children with disabilities has historically often resulted in inequities in resources, 

watered-down curricula, low expectations, and substandard education. The LRE requirement is

intended to reverse these practices.

The IDEA implementing regulations call for the availability of a continuum of placement

options ranging from instruction in regular classes, resource room instruction, and itinerant

instruction to residential placement in a private school. The decision regarding which setting is

suitable for a particular child is to be made on an individual basis.

Placement decisions must be made annually and on an individual basis (i.e., must be

based on an IEP)&focusing on the child’s educational needs rather than administrative

convenience.17

Children in institutions&both public and private&are also protected by the LRE

mandate.18 Each state educational agency is responsible for making appropriate arrangements

with public and private institutions (e.g., a memorandum of agreement or special implementation

procedures) to ensure that this requirement is fulfilled.19
254

Staff Preparation

The SEA must ensure that staff at local schools receive the necessary training and

technical assistance to fulfill LRE requirements.20 The SEA is also responsible for monitoring

and assisting local school districts to ensure compliance with LRE.21

The Act’s requirement that the state establish a Comprehensive System of Personnel

Development is intended to ensure that personnel are adequately trained in "preferred practices"

and that the state adopts and disseminates information about such practices to teachers and

school systems. The requirement is crucial to ensuring general and special education teachers

understand and appropriately implement the LRE and general curriculum requirements in the

law.

3. Parent and Student Rights

Another of IDEA’s central and unprecedented requirements is the key role given to

parents of children with disabilities. IDEA was the first special education statute to carve out a

central role for parents. 22 The law makes them part of the education team that develops,

reviews, and revises the IEP. Numerous provisions in the regulations calling for parent

participation detail the responsibilities of the school system to include parents in this crucial IEP

process.23 IDEA also gives parents substantial control including the right to dispute agency

practices and decisions. Parents can appeal such decisions through formal due process hearings,

in which an impartial administrative hearing officer listens to both sides and issues a final

decision.24 Either the parent or the school district can appeal a hearing decision to state or federal

court.

4. Child Find

The "child-find" provisions require agencies to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with

disabilities from birth to age 21 in their jurisdiction. The policies and procedures on file to

establish state eligibility must include a child-find procedure to ensure the following:

 (1) All children with disabilities residing in the state, including 

children with disabilities attending private schools, regardless of the 
255

severity of their disability, and who are in need of special education 

and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated.

 (2) A practical method is developed and implemented to determine 

which children are currently receiving needed special education and 

related services.25

Clearly, Congress intended schools to aggressively undertake this task. The burden of

responsibility is on the schools, not the parents, to identify eligible children.

5. Evaluation

The abuses of special education programs, as well as their successes, are inextricably

bound to the evaluation process. An evaluation is a procedure for discerning the nature and

severity of a child’s disability and his or her educational needs. Placement of a disproportionate

number of minority students in classes for educable mentally retarded children based on

discriminatory evaluation procedures is one example of an abusive process. Culturally biased

testing or reliance on a single instrument or opinion can lead to this situation. On the other hand,

many children are never assessed, or are assessed too late; other children are misclassified or

receive inadequate evaluations (e.g., important aspects of the child’s behavior, performance, or

health are not diagnosed). In these instances, the child is denied essential educational services.

Those children who receive a thorough and appropriate evaluation are more likely to receive

services tailored to their needs. A good evaluation forms the cornerstone of a free appropriate

public education.

IDEA and its regulations recognize that fair evaluation procedures, which culminate in

comprehensive and accurate assessments of children with disabilities, are necessary in order to

maximize the benefits of special education and related services. IDEA requires agencies to

conduct a full and individual evaluation of a child’s needs before the initial provision of special

education and related services to a child with a disability.26 This initial evaluation requirement is

significant because it was intended to halt the arbitrary placement practices that had pervaded

special education.

The statute sets forth several specific provisions that educational agencies must follow in
256

evaluating children with disabilities. Agencies are prohibited from using testing and evaluation

materials and procedures that are culturally or racially discriminatory.27 Agencies must provide

and administer all tests and evaluation materials in the child’s native language or primary mode

of communication if at all feasible.28 Evaluation materials must include those tailored to assess

specific educational areas; a simple "IQ" test is inadequate.29 When evaluating children with

impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, materials must be selected and administered to

ensure that the impairment itself will not distort or skew test results.30 An assessment cannot rely

on just one single criterion for determining a child’s educational needs.31 Evaluations must be

conducted by a multidisciplinary group including at least one teacher or specialist knowledgeable

about the suspected disability.32

Finally, each child with a disability or suspected of having a disability must be evaluated

in all areas of the suspected disability. This may include health, vision, hearing, social, and

emotional status, academic performance, and motor and communication abilities.33

Independent Evaluation

If parents disagree with the public agency’s evaluation, they have a right to an

independent educational evaluation at public expense.34 If an agency-initiated hearing finds that

the original evaluation was satisfactory, parents can still obtain an independent evaluation if they

pay for it. If an independent evaluation is made at private expense, the results must be

considered in any decision by the IEP team regarding provision of a free appropriate public

education to the child.35

Re-evaluation

Recognizing that a person’s needs and physical condition can change, the regulations

specifically require that each child be re-evaluated at least once or more often every three years,

if conditions warrant or if the parent or teacher requests it. If the parent or teacher requests it, the

re-evaluation may be more frequent.36 This provision protects children from becoming

"forgotten" after initial placement in a special education program. It ensures that a child’s

changing educational needs are identified and that appropriate instructional strategies and
257

interventions are utilized.

6. Individualized Education Program

The centerpiece of the IDEA, the individualized education program, is the central

building block that parents use to ensure that an appropriate program is developed that meets

their child’s unique educational needs.

Under IDEA, public agencies, as well as private schools where children with disabilities

are placed by school districts, must develop and implement an IEP for each of these students.37

Public agencies must conduct meetings on at least an annual basis in order to develop, revise, or

review each child’s IEP.38 The public agency must also ensure that an IEP team for each child

includes 

(1) the parents of the child, 

(2) at least one regular education teacher of the child (if the child is, or may be,

participating in the regular education environment), 

(3) at least one special education teacher of the child or, if appropriate, at least one

special education provider of the child, 

(4) a representative of the public agency who 

(i) is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed

instruction to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities, 

(ii) is knowledgeable about the general curriculum, and

(iii) is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the public agency; 

(5) an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,

who may be a member of the team described in paragraphs (2) through (6) of this

section, 

(6) at the discretion of the parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge

or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as

appropriate, and 

(7) if appropriate, the child39

The IEP is a written statement that must be in effect before special education and related

services are provided to a child. After it is developed or reviewed, it must be implemented
258

without undue delay. It must be developed, reviewed, and revised during meetings that include a

representative of the school or agency who is qualified to provide or supervise the provision of

special education; the child’s special education teacher; the child’s parents; the child, if

appropriate; an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results;

and other individuals at the request of the parent or agency.

Contents of IEP

Each IEP must contain specific information regarding the child’s educational needs. It

must include the following:

a. A statement of present levels of performance including

i. how the child’s disability affects involvement and progress in the general

curriculum, and

ii. how, for preschoolers, the disability affects participation in appropriate

activities.

b. A statement of measurable annual goals, including benchmarks or short-term

objectives, related to

i. meeting the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to enable

the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum, and

ii. meeting each of the child’s other educational needs that result from the

child’s disability.

c. A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids

and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and a statement

of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be

provided for the child to

i. advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals,

ii. be involved and progress in the general curriculum and to participate in

extracurricular and other nonacademic activities, and

iii. be educated and participate with nondisabled children in the general

curriculum and in extracurriculum and other nonacademic activities.
259

d. An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with

nondisabled children in the regular class, in the general curriculum, and in other

activities (extracurricular and other nonacademic activities).

e. A statement of any individual modifications needed for the student to participate

in state- and districtwide assessments, or, if the IEP team determines that the

child will not participate in such assessments, a statement of why such

assessments are not appropriate and how the child will be assessed.

f. The projected date for the beginning of services and modifications and

frequency, location, and duration of services and modifications.

g. Beginning at age 14, a statement of the child’s transition service needs focusing

on the child’s course of study (such as participation in advanced-placement

courses or vocational education programs).

h. A statement of how the child’s progress toward the annual goals will be

measured and how parents will be regularly informed (by such means as report

cards), at least as often as parents of nondisabled children are informed of their

nondisabled children’s progress toward goals and the extent to which the

progress is sufficient to enable the child to achieve the goals by the end of the

year.

The references to the general education curriculum were added to the IEP requirements

by IDEA ’97. The LRE statements regarding any nonparticipation with children without

disabilities were also strengthened in the reauthorization. IDEA ’97 added some specific

considerations for the IEP team regarding behavior needs, language needs of children with

limited English proficiency, media needs for children who need instruction in Braille,

communication needs for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and assistive technology

needs. The requirement that a child’s IEP include a statement regarding the child’s participation

in state- and districtwide assessments reflects a new accountability requirement in the law. It is

now expected that nearly all children with disabilities will participate in such assessments and

districts will be held as accountable for their progress as they are for nondisabled children.
260

7. Procedural Safeguards

IDEA requires public agencies to establish and implement a system of procedural

safeguards including the following:

 A right to the opportunity to examine records.40

Parents have the right to examine all records pertaining to the identification, evaluation, or

placement of a child, or to the provision of a free and appropriate education.

 A right to obtain independent educational evaluations and be assured protection in

evaluation procedures.

 A right to prior notice.

Schools cannot propose or refuse to identify, evaluate, or place a child, or provide a free

appropriate public education to a child with or suspected of having a disability, without first

notifying the parents in writing. This notice must be sent a reasonable time in advance of the

proposed action. It must describe the school’s proposal (e.g., change in placement), other

options considered but discarded, or any test, evaluation procedure, record, or report used by

the school as a basis for its proposal. It must be written in language "understood by the

general public," and, if necessary, translated into the parents’ native language (if officials

know that the parents do not read, the notice must be read or otherwise communicated to

them so that they understand what it means).

 A right to parental consent.41

Schools must obtain parental consent before conducting any evaluation or initial provision

of special education and related services. If parents do not consent, the agency can use the

due process hearing procedure to obtain a decision to proceed with the evaluation or

placement regardless of parental consent. Parents must be notified about their rights, the

school’s actions, and the outcome of the hearing, and their right to appeal.

 A right to an impartial due process hearing.42

When parents disagree with the school on the identification, evaluation, placement, or their

child’s service needs, they can request a due process fair hearing before a neutral hearing

officer.43 The district or agency responsible for the child’s education conducts and pays for

the hearing. Further, the school is obligated to tell parents about free and low-cost legal or
261

other relevant services such as expert witnesses. If a parent wins a hearing or subsequent

appeal in court, a court may award attorney fees incurred in litigating the matter to the

parents.

 A right to administrative appeal and civil action in state or federal court.

 A right to the provision of surrogate parents.

 A right to confidentiality.
262

1. 20 U.S.C. § 1400(d)(1)(A), 1401(8)(D)(1997).

2. Susanne Lea, The Heart of the Educational Process, Disability Rights Education and Defense

Fund, 1980.

3. 34 C.F.R. § 300.305.

4. 34 C.F.R. § 300.300 (a)(1).

5. 20 U.S.C. § 1401(3) and 1412(a)(1)(B)(ii).

6. 34 C.F.R. § 300.401.

7. 34 C.F.R. § 300.402.

8. 20 U.S.C. § 1412 (a)(10)(c).

9. 20 U.S.C. § 1401 (25).

10. 34 C.F.R. § 300.16; see also 20 U.S.C. § 1401(22).

11. 34 C.F.R. § 104.4(b)(ii), 104.4(b)(iii).

12. 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5).

13. 34 C.F.R. § 300.552.

14. 34 C.F.R. § 300.553.

15. Id.

16. Thomas K. Gilhool, The Right to an Effective Education: From Brown to PL 94-142 and

Beyond. Dorothy Lipsky and Alan Gartner, Beyond Separate Education, 1989.

17. 34 C.F.R. § 300.552.

18. 34 C.F.R. § 300.554.

19. Id.

20. 34 C.F.R. § 300.555.

21. 34 C.F.R. § 300.556.
263

22. The term "parent" is defined to include legal guardians and designated surrogate parents. 20

U.S.C. § 1402(19).

23. 34 C.F.R. § 300.344-300.345

24. 34 C.F.R. § 300.506 et seq.

25. 34 C.F.R. § 300.125(a)(1)(i)-(ii).

26. 34 C.F.R. § 300.531 et seq.

27. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(3)(I).

28. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(3)(ii).

29. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b)(2) and (3).

30. 34 C.F.R. § 300.532(c).

31. 34 C.F.R. § 300.532(d).

32. 34 C.F.R. § 300.532(e).

33. 20 U.S.C. § 1414(b).

34. 34 C.F.R. § 300.503(b).

35. 34 C.F.R. § 300.503(c)(1).

36. 34 C.F.R. § 534(b).

37. 34 C.F.R. § 300.341.

38. 34 C.F.R. § 300.343.

39. 34 C.F.R. § 300.344.

40. 34 C.F.R. § 300.502.

41. 34 C.F.R. § 300.504(b).

42. 34 C.F.R. § 300.500 et seq.

43. "Neutral" means the officer is not employed by the school or agency servicing the child and

does not have a "personal or professional" conflict of interest that would compromise his or her

objectivity in the hearing. Both the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH) and the
264

Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have stated that school board members cannot serve as hearing

officers. (OCR Policy Interpretation No. 6, 43 F.R. 36036, August 14, 1978. BEH policy letter of

April 19, 1978, 2 EHLR 211:21).
265

Appendix D

Letters to Secretary Riley from Members of Congress

and from One Governor
September 2, 1998

Honorable Richard Riley

Secretary

U.S. Department of Education

Washington, DC 20202

Dear Mr. Secretary:

We are deeply concerned over the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to impose

"special conditions" on the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s award under the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for the 1998-99 school year. It appears that in making this

conditional award, the Department is taking the first step towards threatening to deny over $139

million in Federal assistance to over 200,000 children with disabilities in Pennsylvania. We

strongly urge you to review the appropriateness of the Department’s actions and to consider a

more constructive approach to ensuring compliance with IDEA in Pennsylvania.

According to Assistant Secretary Judith Heumann’s July 20th award letter to Pennsylvania

Secretary of Education Eugene Hickok, the Department’s decision to impose these special

conditions was based on its conclusion that the Commonwealth "has a history of unsatisfactory

performance and has failed to conform to the terms of previous awards with respect to its

obligation to ensure provision of a free appropriate public education to children with

disabilities". However, this conclusion is largely based on continued problems experienced by

only one of Pennsylvania’s 501 school districts, the Harrisburg School District.

It is our understanding that the issues related to Pennsylvania’s supervision of local

districts have already been resolved. The Office of Special Education Programs’

(OSEP) 1994 report on the Commonwealth’s supervision of school districts was primarily critical

of the previous administration’s failure to conduct reviews of school districts for compliance with

the requirements of IDEA. Since Governor Ridge took office in 1995, Pennsylvania has

instituted cyclical reviews of school districts throughout the Commonwealth so that all school

districts are reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) every 5 years.

We also question the basis upon which the Department has made this decision. It is our

understanding that in doing follow-up reviews, the Department focused on a judgmental sample

of 6 school districts, with a particular focus on singling out the Harrisburg School District. The

Department concedes that despite some continued deficiencies, Harrisburg has made a number of

improvements in addressing its 
Honorable Richard Riley

September 2, 1998

Page 2

compliance issues. Moreover, PDE has extensively monitored the Harrisburg School District in

addition to providing it with technical assistance. Given this, we fail to see how the Department

can reasonably draw such a conclusion about Pennsylvania’s overall performance in exercising

supervision of local school districts under the IDEA.

Finally, despite the Harrisburg School District’s progress and efforts in continuing to

address these issues, the Department on several occasions has urged Pennsylvania to deny

Federal IDEA funds to the district. We fail to see how taking this punitive action will improve

the current situation in Harrisburg. Such an action would only hurt children with disabilities in

the Harrisburg schools and shift even more of the financial costs on to local taxpayers. The

Department should support PDE’s continued efforts to work with the Harrisburg School District

to fully comply with IDEA.

Secretary Hickok and Special Education Director Penn have demonstrated their

willingness to do what is necessary to ensure that children with disabilities in Pennsylvania

receive a free appropriate public education. We urge you to reconsider the conditions placed on

Pennsylvania’s IDEA funding and to provide additional assistance to help the Harrisburg School

District comply with the IDEA requirements.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact any of

us, or have your staff contact Jeff Andrade on the House Committee on Education and the

Workforce staff at 225-6553.

Sincerely,

BILL GOODLING ARLEN SPECTER

Chairman, Committee on U.S. Senator

Education and the Workforce

GEORGE W. GEKAS RICK SANTORUM

Member of Congress U.S. Senator
268
269
270
271
272
273

Appendix E

Organizational Structure of the U.S. Department of Education
274

Office of 

General Counsel*

 

Office of Inspector

General

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Office of 

Legislation and

Congressional Affairs

Office of

Intergovernmental and

Interagency Affairs

Office of 

Postsecondary 

Education

Office of 

Vocational and 

Adult Education

Secretary of Education *

Deputy Secretary

Under Secretary

BUDGET, POLICY, & PLANNING

Budget 

Service

Planning and 

Evaluation Service

 PROGRAMS

Office of 

Elementary and Secondary

Education

Office of 

Educational Research and

Improvement

Office of Bilingual

Education and Minority

Languages Affairs

Office of Special Education

and Rehabilitative Services

*

Office of 

Public Affairs

DECISION/STRATEGY

SUPPORT

Executive Management

Committee

Re-invention Coordinating

Council

OPERATIONS

Office of 

Management

Office of the Chief

Information Officer

Office of the Chief

Financial Officer

Office for 

Civil Rights *

* Offices with IDEA-related enforcement responsibilities
275

Office of Special Education Programs

Office of the 

Director

Program Support

Services

Monitoring and State

Improvement Division

Research to 

Practice Division

Team

A

Team 

B

Team 

C

Early

Childhood

Elem & Second

Middle School

Second Trans/

Post Second

National

Initiatives

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Assistant Secretary

Deputy Assistant

Secretary

Executive Administrator

Correspondence 

Control Unit

Communication and Media

Support Services

Policy and Planning 

Staff

Management and Support

Staff

Office of Special Education

Programs

Rehabilitation Services

Administration

National Institute on Disability &

Rehabilitation Research
277

Appendix F

Responsibilities of Each Monitoring and State Improvement Team*
278

MONITORING

 Develop and implement a program of monitoring and technical assistance.

 Conduct pre-site monitoring activities, such as self-assessment, public meetings, outreach

meetings, document review, and interviews with knowledgeable individuals, to assist in

the identification of issues on which to focus.

 Carry out on-site activities, such as interviews with state education agency (SEA)

officials, local education agency (LEA) administrators, and service providers, and

document review, for the purpose of identifying areas of noncompliance and determining

needed corrective action.

 Develop monitoring report to describe areas of noncompliance and needed corrective

action.

 Work with state agencies to develop corrective action plan.

 Provide or coordinate the provision of technical assistance in the development and

implementation of the corrective action plan activities.

 Conduct follow-up activities to determine the effectiveness of the completed corrective

actions and determine the need for further corrective action activities.

 Maintain records and materials related to compliance monitoring.

 Respond to requests for information on the monitoring of states.

 Review monitoring procedures annually and recommend revisions to improve the

effectiveness and efficiency of Monitoring and State Improvement Planning Division

(MSIP) monitoring procedures.

ELIGIBILITY DOCUMENTATION/APPLICATION REVIEW

 Inform states of requirements and procedures for submitting eligibility (policy and

procedures) documents/application.

 Track required eligibility documents/application submissions and follow up with state

agencies, as needed.

 Review state policy and procedures/application documents and recommend approval.

 Coordinate the review and approval of the policy and procedures/application with other

teams, divisions, and offices.

 Provide technical assistance to state agencies to amend eligibility documents/application,

as needed, to ensure their consistency with federal requirements.

 Prepare the eligibility documentation/application approval and grant award letter and
279

* This description of the Division’s activities is adapted from a document provided by the U.S.

Department of Education in September 1998, titled Monitoring and State Improvement Planning

Division, to reflect some of the operational changes resulting from the IDEA reauthorization. 

track through clearance.

 Carry out any follow-up activities, such as reviewing amendments and ensuring

appropriate public notification, with the state agencies and other education offices.

 Maintain records and materials related to eligibility documentation/application review

and approval.

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

 Work informally with customers and partners to provide information and resolve

complaints.

 Refer complaints received to the SEA and track SEA resolution of complaints.

 Review and draft responses to requests for Secretarial Review.

 Analyze state complaints to determine patterns of noncompliance or problems in

resolution and provide technical assistance to the SEA in improving its procedures.

In addition to these monitoring/eligibility determination/complaint activities, the teams

provide customer service and participate in core agencywide activities such as strategic planning.
280
281

Appendix G

Summary: State by State Monitoring Outcomes
282

State Alabama Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/22/95

Date of Final Report 2/21/96 Time Elapsed in Days 152

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant 

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . .

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant 

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant
283

State Alaska Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/27/96

Date of Final Report 5/14/97 Time Elapsed in Days 229

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . .

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
284

State Arizona Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/28/94

Date of Final Report 2/1/95 Time Elapsed in Days 369

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............5

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 26

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
285

State Arkansas Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/21/94

Date of Final Report 1/17/95 Time Elapsed in Days 88

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day ...................................... Noncompliant

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant 

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant 

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Compliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
286

State California Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/27/95

Date of Final Report 2/5/96 Time Elapsed in Days 374

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................8

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 72

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
287

State Colorado Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/9/96

Date of Final Report 10/15/96 Time Elapsed in Days 159

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Compliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
288

State Connecticut Date Monitoring Visit Ended 12/17/93

Date of Final Report 3/3/95 Time Elapsed in Days 441

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................5

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............4

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ......................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
289

State Delaware Date Monitoring Visit Ended 12/9/94

Date of Final Report 3/6/95 Time Elapsed in Days 87

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day ...................................... Noncompliant

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant 

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant 

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant 

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant 

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................6

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............2

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
290

State Florida Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/17/97

Date of Final Report 9/26/97 Time Elapsed in Days 252

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day ...................................... Noncompliant

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Compliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................5

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............4

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
291

State Georgia Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/17/96

Date of Final Report 8/30/96 Time Elapsed in Days 105

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Compliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............3

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
292

State Hawaii Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/27/95

Date of Final Report 3/8/95 Time Elapsed in Days 40

FAPE ...................................................... Compliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Compliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
293

State Idaho Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/23/94

Date of Final Report 1/23/95 Time Elapsed in Days 122

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............3

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 17

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
294

State Illinois Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/5/95

Date of Final Report 2/21/96 Time Elapsed in Days 292

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day ...................................... Noncompliant

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant 

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings ................................................. Compliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant 

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant 

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant 

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Compliant 

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Compliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
295

State Indiana Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/22/95

Date of Final Report 2/6/96 Time Elapsed in Days 137

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
296

State Iowa Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/15/94

Date of Final Report 3/20/95 Time Elapsed in Days 339

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............1

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....6

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
297

State Kansas Date Monitoring Visit Ended 3/15/96

Date of Final Report 8/13/96 Time Elapsed in Days 151

FAPE ...................................................... Compliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant 

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
298

State Kentucky Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/29/95

Date of Final Report 5/23/96 Time Elapsed in Days 237

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant 

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Compliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
299

State Louisiana Date Monitoring Visit Ended 3/17/95

Date of Final Report 10/16/95 Time Elapsed in Days 213

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................3

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
300

State Maine Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/3/96

Date of Final Report 7/25/97 Time Elapsed in Days 295

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Compliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
301

State Maryland Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/5/95

Date of Final Report 11/30/95 Time Elapsed in Days 209

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
302

State Massachusetts Date Monitoring Visit Ended 11/3/94

Date of Final Report 8/17/95 Time Elapsed in Days 287

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
303

State Michigan Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/1/93

Date of Final Report 3/21/95 Time Elapsed in Days 536

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................6

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....8

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
304

State Minnesota Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/30/94

Date of Final Report 12/23/94 Time Elapsed in Days 84

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................1

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............1

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....3

Correction of Deficiencies ................................... Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
305

State Mississippi Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/25/97

Date of Final Report 8/22/97 Time Elapsed in Days 119

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Compliant

Length of School Day ...................................... Noncompliant

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Compliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
306

State Missouri Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/2/97

Date of Final Report 1/8/98 Time Elapsed in Days 251

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
307

State Montana Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/15/94

Date of Final Report 8/26/94 Time Elapsed in Days 133

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
308

State Nebraska Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/2/93

Date of Final Report 11/29/93 Time Elapsed in Days 241

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............1

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
309

State Nevada Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/27/95

Date of Final Report 2/6/96 Time Elapsed in Days 102

FAPE ...................................................... Compliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant 

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Compliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Compliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
310

State New Hampshire Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/15/94

Date of Final Report 8/25/94 Time Elapsed in Days 132

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statements of Needed Services ............................... Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............7

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 12

Correction of Deficiencies ................................... Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant 

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 
311

State New Jersey Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/2/93

Date of Final Report 5/18/94 Time Elapsed in Days 411

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
312

State New Mexico Date Monitoring Visit Ended 12/3/93

Date of Final Report 3/3/95 Time Elapsed in Days 455

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............4

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
313

State New York Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/29/93

Date of Final Report 8/16/94 Time Elapsed in Days 291

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant 

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 24

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
314

State North Carolina Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/5/95

Date of Final Report 9/29/95 Time Elapsed in Days 147

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/ Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met .... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................2

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............2

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 40

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
315

State North Dakota Date Monitoring Visit Ended 12/10/93

Date of Final Report 5/26/94 Time Elapsed in Days 167

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............3

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................... Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 
316

State Ohio Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/30/94

Date of Final Report 10/13/95 Time Elapsed in Days 378

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant 

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Compliant

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings ................................................. Compliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant 

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant 

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant 

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant 

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant 

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................... Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant 

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
317

State Oklahoma Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/10/96

Date of Final Report 6/11/97 Time Elapsed in Days 397

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant 

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant 

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
318

State Oregon Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/2/97

Date of Final Report 1/8/98 Time Elapsed in Days 251

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Compliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Compliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
319

State Pennsylvania Date Monitoring Visit Ended 3/12/93

Date of Final Report 3/31/94 Time Elapsed in Days 384

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................4

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............6

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
320

State Rhode Island Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/26/96

Date of Final Report 7/24/96 Time Elapsed in Days 180

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Compliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Compliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 24

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
321

State South Carolina Date Monitoring Visit Ended 3/31/95

Date of Final Report 8/4/95 Time Elapsed in Days 126

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content .................................................. Compliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
322

State South Dakota Date Monitoring Visit Ended 3/25/94

Date of Final Report 5/6/94 Time Elapsed in Days 42

FAPE ...................................................... Compliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Compliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . No

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Compliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
323

State Tennessee Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/26/96

Date of Final Report 7/24/96 Time Elapsed in Days 180

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Compliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Compliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
324

State Texas Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/20/96

Date of Final Report 9/16/97 Time Elapsed in Days 361

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....4

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Compliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
325

State Utah Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/24/93

Date of Final Report 11/17/94 Time Elapsed in Days 419

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/ Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met .... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually ....................... Noncompliant

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................4

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............8

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
326

State Vermont Date Monitoring Visit Ended 9/22/95

Date of Final Report 2/8/96 Time Elapsed in Days 139

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available ......... Noncompliant 

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . Yes

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant 
327

State Virginia Date Monitoring Visit Ended 5/5/95

Date of Final Report 9/29/95 Time Elapsed in Days 147

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met . . . . . No Information

Nonacademic & Extracurricular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information 

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................5

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 10

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Compliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Compliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
328

State Washington Date Monitoring Visit Ended 1/14/94

Date of Final Report 3/15/95 Time Elapsed in Days 425

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Noncompliant

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Noncompliant

Resolve Any Complaint .................................. Noncompliant

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 31

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant

Content of Notice .......................................... Noncompliant

Prior Notice/Parent Consent ................................. Noncompliant

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
329

State West Virginia Date Monitoring Visit Ended 12/6/96

Date of Final Report 4/22/97 Time Elapsed in Days 137

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP .................................... Noncompliant

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary ...................... Noncompliant

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meetings ................................................. Compliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Compliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days ................................. Compliant

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Compliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Compliant

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Compliant
330

State Wisconsin Date Monitoring Visit Ended 10/22/93

Date of Final Report 12/23/94 Time Elapsed in Days 427

FAPE ...................................................... Noncompliant

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Related Services ........................................... Noncompliant

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/ Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met .... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings ................................................. Noncompliant

Transition Services........................................... Noncompliant

Notice ................................................... Noncompliant

Statement of Needed Services ................................ Noncompliant

Meeting Participants ....................................... Noncompliant

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method .....................

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring . . . . . 15

Correction of Deficiencies ................................ Noncompliant

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant 

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Protection in Evaluation ...................................... Noncompliant
331

State Wyoming Date Monitoring Visit Ended 4/29/94

Date of Final Report 3/3/95 Time Elapsed in Days 308

FAPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

ESY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Related Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Length of School Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Provision of Special Education/Program Options Available . . . . . . . . . No Information

LRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Noncompliant

Ed. w/Nondis./Removal only when Aids/Services Standard Met ..... Noncompliant

Nonacademic & Extracurricular .............................. Noncompliant

Placement Based on IEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Continuum Available to Extent Necessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Placement Determined at Least Annually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

If no LRE Noncompliance, was Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . N/A

Was School for the Blind or Deaf Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Was Private Segregated School Visited? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

Were Files of Students Placed out of State Reviewed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . No

IEPs ....................................................... Noncompliant

Content .................................................. Noncompliant

Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Transition Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Statement of Needed Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

General Supervision ......................................... Noncompliant

Incarcerated Students ....................................... Noncompliant

Review & Approval of LEA Applications ....................... Noncompliant

Complaint Management ..................................... Compliant

Resolved within 60 Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Resolve Any Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

State Monitoring of LEAs ................................... Noncompliant

Method to Determine Compliance .......................... Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Complete Method to Determine Compliance ................. Noncompliant

# of Requirements Lacking Complete Method .............3

Effective Method for Identifying Deficiencies ................ Noncompliant

# of Discrepancies between Federal & State Monitoring .....1

Correction of Deficiencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Procedural Safeguards ....................................... Noncompliant

Hearing Decisions within 45 Days ............................ Noncompliant 

Content of Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Prior Notice/Parent Consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information

Establishment of Procedural Safeguards ........................ Noncompliant

Protection in Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Information
333

Appendix H

Overview of the New Continuous Improvement Monitoring System
334

In February 1998, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) convened a national

meeting of advocates and parents of children with disabilities, representatives from the states,

and other stakeholder groups to gather input for the proposed revision of OSEP’s monitoring

system. Their input significantly affected the design of the revised system. Program

improvement, accountability for outcomes, collaboration, and compliance are the multiple

objectives of the new continuous improvement monitoring system. OSEP claims a stronger

focus on state improvements that will significantly improve outcomes for children with

disabilities without diminishing the focus on ensuring compliance. OSEP sees monitoring as

having two main components, both necessary to improving compliance and actual results for

children in each state. The first component is the review and corrective action/improvement

process in each state, which should focus on those requirements having the greatest impact on

improving results for children. The second is the data collection to support findings of 

noncompliance, which is still necessary.

The revised procedures will require states to assume accountability for measuring and

reporting progress, identifying weak areas and identifying and implementing strategies for

improvement. It will require each state to collect and use data newly required under the IDEA

’97 amendments.1

 Each state will work with a steering committee made up of a broad range of

stakeholders, including advocates and parents, to design and implement an ongoing monitoring 

process focused on improving results for children and youth with disabilities. OSEP will

periodically visit programs in the states to verify their self-assessments.

Although states are not required to have a steering committee to conduct its selfassessment process, OSEP is strongly encouraging every state to use the steering committee

mechanism and to ensure representation of all stakeholder interests in the self-assessment

process.2

The concept of the new monitoring process differs significantly from that of the old

model. OSEP defines its key characteristics as follows:
335

1. 20 U.S.C. § 1418(a).

2. Conversation with Larry Ringer, Office of Special Education Programs, Washington, DC, 

September 2, 1999.

• A continuous, rather than episodic, accountability system that integrates self-assessment,

continuous feedback, and response and is clearly linked to systemic change.

• A partnership with parents, students, state education agencies (SEAs), local education

agencies (LEAs), and other federal agencies in a collaborative process in which

stakeholders are part of the entire process, including

6 the setting of goals and benchmarks;

6 the collection and analysis of self-assessment data;

6 the identification of critical problem issues and solutions; and

6 the development, implementation, and oversight of improvement strategies to

ensure compliance and improved results for children and youth with disabilities.

C A continuous improvement monitoring process in each state driven by data that focus on

improving results.

C Self-assessment and monitoring processes in each state that are public, with broad

dissemination of self-assessment results, monitoring reports, and the design,

implementation, and results of correction/improvement plans.

C Technical assistance from OSEP as part of its on-site work in each state.

C Technical-assistance plans as part of corrective action/improvement plans in each state. .

C The use of Regional Resource Centers and the National Early Childhood Technical

Assistance System (NECTAS) for technical assistance throughout continuous

improvement process in each state.
337

Appendix I

Complaints Received b Office for Civil Rights y the, U.S. Department of Education, 

Related to Primary or Secondary Schools
338

The following tables reflect discrimination complaints filed with the Office for Civil

Rights (OCR) for the period October 1, 1993%May 4, 1998. The complaint data displayed in

these tables are only those for which the respondent was a primary or secondary school. OCR

has classified all the complaints included in these tables as complaints related to Title II of the

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); most of them are also classified as complaints related to

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. There are 5,684 individual complainants (5,584

nonduplicative docket numbers) for the reporting period. These complainants raise 12,349

issues. Complainants often raise more than one issue and OCR treats each issue separately. The

complaints and issues raised with respect to primary and secondary schools constitute 72.3

percent of all the individual complainants and 74.7 percent of all issues raised with the Office for

Civil Rights under ADA Title II.

Chart 26 shows that the key issues for an ADA/504 complaint are admission to an

education program, program services for students with disabilities, and student treatment in areas

such as discipline, awards, and honors, and student or parents’ rights. By far, the issue for which

the most complaints are filed involves enrollment recruitment, requirements, or selection criteria

and procedures. The disabilities of the complainants vary. As it is noted in Table 27, a fairly

large proportion (18.65%) of the students identified had learning disabilities. Attention Deficit

and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) also accounts for a noticeable proportion of the

complainants. Approximately 33 percent of the complainants are categorized as "general"

disability or "other handicapped." It is unclear from these categories what types of disabilities

are experienced by those complainants. What is clear, however, is that a large proportion of the

ADA/504 complaints lodged against school districts involve students with cognitive disabilities.

The distribution of complaint resolutions is displayed in Table 28. This distribution

demonstrates the OCR focus on facilitating a resolution between the parties, rather than

determining violations. Approximately 40 percent of the cases are reported closed by a

resolution developed by the respondent, OCR, or another federal agency (and accepted by OCR).

In approximately 13 percent of the complaints, the case is closed by referral to another federal

agency for investigation or resolution. OCR finds insufficient basis or evidence to support an

allegation or finding in approximately 16 percent of the cases. The remaining complaints do not
339

ADA Title II/504 Complaints Filed with the Department of Education

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Year Complaint Received

(1998 is for Jan-Apr only)

No. of Complaints

result in a finding for the complainant for a variety of technical reasons, including the absence of

a signed consent by the complainant, a lack of cooperation by the complainant, lack of OCR

jurisdiction, withdrawal of the complaint by the complainant, or because the complaint was

previously investigated and handled and OCR has judged the current complaint as substantially

the same as the previously handled complaint.

Chart 25: Number of OCR Complaints From Primary or Secondary Schools 

Identified as "Title II Only" or "ADA/504"
340

Issues Raised in ADA Title II/504 Complaints

5%

42%

20%

3%

1%

2%

23%

4%

Employee Issues

Admission to Education Program

Program Service

Program Requirements

Support Services

Extracurricular Activities

Student/Beneficiary Treatments

Service Related Administration

 Chart 26: Issues Raised in DOE/OCR Title II and ADA/504 Complaints

Total number of Issues Raised: 12,349

 5% Employee Issues

42% Admission to Education Program

20% Program Services

 3% Program Requirements

 1% Support Services

 2% Extracurricular Activities

23% Student/Beneficiary Treatments

 4% Service Related Administration
341

Table 27: Type of Disability Constituting Basis of Complaint for OCR Complaints*

General 23.96%

Other health impairments 6.68%

Hearing problems 2.72%

Learning disability 18.65%

Mental illness 8.19%

Mental retardation 4.64%

Orthopedic or physical deformity impairment 6.51%

Visual impairments 1.26%

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) 7.38%

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 8.79%

Speech impairment 1.29%

Other handicapped 9.00%

Miscellaneous (e.g., HIV/AIDS, cancer, alcohol, epilepsy) 0.94%

Total (n = 11,281) 100.0%

* Bases are calculated by issue, thus total number of bases is larger than total number of

complainants.

Table 28: Distribution of OCR Complaint Resolutions*

Resolved by referral to other federal agency 1.61%

Not enough information or signed consent to proceed 4.78%

Complaint not timely 2.89%

OCR has no jurisdiction 9.07%

Complaint too suspect to proceed 0.68%

Previously investigated & handled 1.45%

Allegation is being investigated by another federal agency 11.61%

Resolved by respondent (recipient) 11.86%

OCR facilitated early resolution (ECR) 6.75%

OCR negotiates agreement for corrective action 19.96%

Resolved by other agency, OCR accepts outcome 1.33%

Complainant withdraws complaint 5.42%

Insufficient factual basis to support allegation 6.64%

Insufficient evidence to support finding of a violation 8.06%

No violation Letter of Findings (LOF) issued 0.67%

OCR negotiates agreement for corrective action & issues a

"violation corrected" LOF

0.57%
342

Complainant does not cooperate 1.37%

Misc. 0.20%

Allegation moot or complainant died & allegations cannot

be pursued

4.72%

Will treat as compliance review 0.37%

Total (n = 11,198) 100.00%

*Each issue raised has a resolution code. Total number of resolutions is larger than total

number of complainants.
343

Appendix J

List of Acronyms
344

ACAA Air Carrier Access Act

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

ADD Administration on Developmental Disabilities

ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder

AKDE Alaska Department of Education

ALJ Administrative Law Judge

BEH Bureau of Education for the Handicapped

CAP Corrective Action Plan

CBE Chicago Board of Education

CCD Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities

CDE California Department of Education

CSDE Colorado State Department of Education

CSPD Comprehensive System of Personal Development

DBTAC Disability Technical Assistance Center

DCPS District of Columbia Public Schools

DoED Department of Education

DOJ Department of Justice

DREDF Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund

ECR OCR-Facilitated Early Resolution

EDGAR Education Department General Administrative Regulations

EHA Education for All Handicapped Children Act

ESY Extended School Year

FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education
345

FHAA Fair Housing Act

FLDE Florida Department of Education

FTE Full-time Equivalent

GAO General Accounting Office

GEPA General Education Provisions Act

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

HCPA Handicapped Children’s Protection Act

IDE Iowa Department of Education

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

IEP Individualized Education Program

IG Inspector General

ISBE Illinois State Board of Education

KDE Kentucky Department of Education

KSBE Kansas State Department of Education

LEA Local Education Agency

LOF Letters of Findings

LRE Least Restrictive Environment

MASSDE Massachusetts Department of Education

MDE Minnesota Department of Education

MDOE Maine Department of Education

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

MSIP Monitoring and State Improvement Planning Division
346

NAPAS National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems

NARIC National Rehabilitation Information Center

NASDSE National Association of State Directors of Special Education

NCD National Council on Disability

NICHCY National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities

NIDRR National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research

NMSDE New Mexico State Department of Education

NPND National Parent Network on Disabilities

NYSED New York State Education Department

OCR Office for Civil Rights

OD Office of the Director

OGC Office of General Counsel

OIG Office of the Inspector General

OSEP Office of Special Education Programs

OSERS Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

P&A Protection and Advocacy

PAAT Protection & Advocacy for Assistive Technology

PADD Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

PAIR Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights

PAR Program Administrative Review

PDE Pennsylvania Department of Education

PRDE Puerto Rico Department of Education

PTI Parent Training and Information

RCF Residential Care Facilities

RFP Request for Proposal

RSA Rehabilitation Services Administration
347

RTP Research to Practice Division

SCDE South Carolina Department of Education

SEA State Education Agency

SEP Special Education Program

TEA Texas Education Agency

VADOE Virginia Department of Education

VIDE Virgin Islands Department of Education
349

Appendix K

Consolidated List of Findings and Recommendations 
350

Consolidated List of Findings and Recommendations

I. The Law, the Compliance/Enforcement Scheme, and the Context

Finding # I.1

The effectiveness of DoED’s internal coordination among the various offices and teams

involved in IDEA implementation and enforcement is unclear.

LOSEP is responsible for IDEA compliance monitoring and enforcement consulting with

several other offices within the Department of Education, as needed. Within OSEP, the close

integration of enforcement responsibility with responsibilities for state grant administration,

compliance monitoring, technical assistance, and program improvement can lead to conflicting

internal objectives. There appears to be no process for assessing whether the current approach to

internal collaboration has helped or hindered IDEA enforcement. 

Recommendation # I.1

The Department of Education should assess whether its current internal organization and

division of IDEA grant administration and enforcement functions/responsibilities effectively

supports the Department’s goals to correct persistent state noncompliance.

OSEP, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and perhaps the Office of General Counsel

(OGC) should further articulate the objectives of their joint activities in relation to the

enforcement of IDEA, Section 504, and ADA Title II, and describe the specific mechanisms and

divisions of responsibility they have developed to implement each objective. In addition, OSEP

and OCR should evaluate the effectiveness of their current collaboration for improving

compliance monitoring and enforcement of IDEA. 

Finding # I.2

The Department of Education’s mechanisms for external coordination and collaboration to

better implement and enforce IDEA need to be evaluated. 

Recommendation # I.2

The Department of Education should also articulate the objectives and mechanisms for

collaborating with other government agencies (i.e., the Department of Justice and the
351

Department of the Interior) on the enforcement of IDEA, and evaluate their effectiveness on

an ongoing basis. At least every two years, DoED’s annual report to Congress should report

on the effectiveness of these mechanisms and the agencies’ progress toward meeting their

collaboration objectives.

II. Grassroots Perspectives on Noncompliance and Federal Enforcement of IDEA

Finding # II.1A

The ongoing struggles of many students with disabilities, their parents, and advocates to

obtain services under IDEA leaves them with the impression that the Federal Government

is not enforcing the law.

Finding # II.1B

As a result of 25 years of nonenforcement by the Federal Government, parents are the main

enforcement vehicle for ensuring compliance with IDEA.

Recommendation # II.1A

The Department of Education must exercise leadership in enforcing the law, with parents as

partners and resources in carrying out their enforcement mandate.

Recommendation # II.1B

The Department of Education should publicly articulate and implement an enforcement

philosophy and plan that includes the strategic use of litigation and administrative sanctions.

When noncompliance is not corrected within the agreed upon time frame, the Department of

Education should aggressively enforce the law, using clearly defined appropriate sanctions to

improve accountability and achieve compliance with the law. 

Finding # II.2

Parents have identified a number of obstacles to their participation as full partners in the

IDEA monitoring and enforcement processes.

C Parents have not been invited consistently to be involved in the monitoring process,
352

and if invited, have not been given an opportunity consistently to be heard.

C Parents are not knowledgeable enough about either the requirements of IDEA or

the monitoring and enforcement processes.

C The presentation of compliance information in the monitoring reports is

inconsistent from one monitoring period to the next, making evaluation of

improvements over time difficult.

The recommendations below address how some of these obstacles can be corrected.

Recommendation # II.2A

OSEP should encourage the involvement of students with disabilities and their parents as

resources to improve monitoring.

Parents stressed that they and their children have the “frontline” experience and expertise

with the districts in their states and would like increased involvement in directing the monitoring

process and resources to areas of noncompliance that they have already identified.

Recommendation # II.2B

Congress should direct a change in the mission of the P&As and IL centers to include a

priority focus on special education advocacy, and in collaboration with the PTIs, the

development of a collaborative special education advocacy strategy for their states.

The combined resources of PTIs, P&As, and IL centers are needed to develop and

maintain special education advocacy services and programs statewide at a level commensurate

with the need of students with disabilities and their parents for assistance in obtaining services

and supports under IDEA, as well as participating effectively in monitoring and enforcement.

Recommendation # II.2C

OSEP should standardize the presentation of the monitoring reports and data.

Such standardization is essential for accurate and credible evaluation of compliance from

one monitoring period to the next. 
353

III. Grant Administration, Compliance Monitoring, Complaint Handling, and 

Enforcement Functions

Finding # III A.1

Many states are found eligible for full funding under Part B of IDEA while simultaneously

failing to ensure compliance with the law.

Although no state is fully ensuring compliance with IDEA, states usually receive full

funding every fiscal year. Once eligible for funding, a state receives regular increases, which are

automatic under the formula. OSEP’s findings of state noncompliance with IDEA requirements

usually have no effect on that state’s eligibility for funding unless (1) the state’s policies or

procedures create systemic obstacles to implementing IDEA, or (2) persistent noncompliance

leads OSEP to enforce by imposing high risk status with "special conditions" to be met for

continued funding.

Recommendation # III A.1

The Department of Education should link a state’s continued eligibility for federal funding

under Part B to the remedy of any noncompliance within the agreed upon time frame. 

When a state is found out of compliance with the law via federal monitoring, continued

eligibility for IDEA funding should be linked with achieving compliance within a designated

time frame. The state corrective action plan or compliance agreement should spell out what must

be done within a specific time frame to achieve compliance or the state will be found ineligible

for all or part of the available grant money for the next fiscal period.

Finding # III A.2

The competitive state Program Improvement Grants are intended to make funding

available to states for implementing improvement strategies to correct IDEA

noncompliance problems.

Recommendation # III A.2A

OSEP should require that five percent of funds awarded under the State Program

Improvement Grants be applied toward developing a statewide standardized data collection

and reporting system for tracking the core data elements needed to measure state compliance
354

with IDEA and evaluate educational results for children with disabilities.

Recommendation # III A.2B

When a state is found out of compliance with the law via federal monitoring, continued

eligibility for State Program Improvement Grant funding should be linked with achieving

compliance within a designated time frame.

Finding # III B.1A

After 25 years, all states are out of compliance with IDEA to varying degrees.

An analysis of the most recent federal monitoring report available for each state (from

1994–1998) indicated that no state had carried out its responsibilities to ensure compliance with

all the requirements of Part B. While the degree of noncompliance with any given requirement

(based on number and seriousness of infractions) varied among the states, many states had failed

to ensure compliance with a significant number of requirements. Of the seven areas analyzed, 24

percent, or 10 states, had failed to ensure compliance in five areas; 24 percent, or 10 states, had

failed to ensure compliance in six areas; and 12 percent, or six states, had failed to ensure

compliance in seven areas. Four percent, or two states, had failed to ensure compliance in only

one area.

Finding # III B.1B

More than half of the states have failed to ensure full compliance with the following areas:

general supervision (90%, or 45 states); transition (88%, or 44 states); free appropriate

public education (80%, or 40 states); procedural safeguards (78%, or 39 states); and least

restrictive environment (72%, or 36 states).

Other areas in which states failed to ensure compliance are IEPs (44%, or 22 states) and

protection in evaluation (38%, or 19 states).

Recommendation III B.1A

Congress should ask the General Accounting Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the extent to

which SEAs and LEAs are ensuring that the requirements of IDEA in the areas of general

supervision, transition, free appropriate public education, procedural safeguards, and least
355

restrictive environment are being met. In addition, the Department of Education should

conduct regular independent special education audits (fiscal and program) initiated by the

DoED Office of Inspector General (OIG). The purpose of the audits would be to examine

whether federal funds granted under IDEA Parts B and D (State Program Improvement

Grants) have been and are being spent in compliance with IDEA requirements. These audits

should be a supplement to OSEP’s annual compliance monitoring visits, and the audit results

should be in DoED's annual report to Congress. To the extent that the DoED OIG lacks the

subject matter expertise to conduct program audits under IDEA, the OIG should contract with

independent entities having such expertise when a program audit is necessary.

Recommendation # III B.1B

Congress should fund an independent consortium of nongovernment entities in every state to

develop and conduct independent monitoring and to produce independent reports to the

President and Congress on the status of each state’s compliance with IDEA at the local level. 

Members of the nongovernment consortium should include, but not be limited to, the state’s

PTI, P&A, and IL centers.

While parents of children with disabilities and students and adults with disabilities

participate in the federal monitoring process, they have no independent means for assessing the

extent or quality of state compliance, for determining why state failure to ensure compliance

persists, and for communicating these findings to the President and Congress. They need to be

able to provide reliable and regular assessments of their state’s compliance with IDEA, as well as

a realistic picture of the toll of noncompliance on children and families in their state, to federal

and state leaders and to the public at large.

Finding # III B.2

OSEP did not have an explicit objective standard for assessing whether noncompliance

with IDEA requirements found in any given state was systemic.

OSEP staff indicated that a state was found noncompliant with a given requirement only

if the failure to ensure compliance was "systemic," (i.e., observed by monitors "with some

frequency").1

 For example, a finding of noncompliance could have meant that out of 10 schools
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monitored, anywhere from three to 10 had failed to ensure compliance with a given requirement. 

There was no established standard (quantitative or qualitative) by which OSEP made a

determination that noncompliance was systemic.

Recommendation # III B.2A

The Department of Education should establish and use national compliance standards and

objective measures for assessing state progress toward better performance results for children

with disabilities and for achieving full compliance with IDEA.

Recommendation # III B.2B

OSEP should work with the states, students with disabilities, their parents, and other

stakeholders to identify the core data elements needed to assess whether compliance standards

are being met and performance results for children with disabilities are improving statewide. 

Recommendation # III B.2C

OSEP should closely monitor state progress in developing reliable data collection and

reporting mechanisms (qualitative and quantitative) that adequately and accurately assess

both state compliance and performance results for children with disabilities. This

recommendation coincides with a central goal of the 1997 IDEA reauthorization to focus

IDEA implementation more closely on objective performance standards and results measures.

Recommendation # III B.2D

OSEP should make as its own compliance monitoring priority for the next five years the

assessment of state progress toward creating reliable and comprehensive data (quantitative

and qualitative) to support effective state compliance monitoring capabilities.

Finding # III B.3

OSEP’s monitoring reports did not clearly indicate which IDEA requirements were

monitored, why they were monitored, and what the compliance status was.

OSEP reported placing "a strong emphasis on those requirements most closely associated

with positive results for students with disabilities,"2

 and appeared to monitor a stable core of

requirements in every state. It also used information gathered during the pre-site process to help

determine what to monitor. 
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Federal monitoring reports, however, did not display all the requirements monitored, nor

did they consistently specify the requirements with which the state appeared to comply, based on

the sample of districts, student files, interviews, and state policies and procedures, as well as state

monitoring documents reviewed. In some cases, requirements with which the state appeared to

comply were mentioned in report cover letters, and in other cases they were not. Therefore, it

was not always possible to determine all the requirements monitored and the compliance status

of each.

Recommendation # III B.3

All OSEP monitoring reports should consistently state what requirements were monitored, the

rationale for choosing those requirements, which ones were in compliance, and which ones

were out of compliance.

Such reporting would have enabled a comparison between reports and over time. It also

would have enabled an understanding of where states were determined definitively to be in

compliance, which might have offered opportunities for positive acknowledgment.

Finding # III B.4

OSEP monitoring did not include observation of students; rather it involved collecting and

reading documents and interviewing education personnel.

In the experience of OSEP staff, observing students consumed a great deal of time and

often did not yield enough conclusive data to make clear-cut compliance determinations. Many

parents and advocates criticized the monitoring process, however, as one that focused too much

on talking with education personnel and reading documentation. Their concern was that this

approach did not provide an adequate measure of the extent to which students were being

appropriately served.

Recommendation # III B.4A

OSEP’s monitoring process in each state should routinely include an ethnically diverse

sample of children who are matched to their records and who are interviewed, along with their

parents and service providers, for a determination of whether the law’s requirements are being

met on their behalf.
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Routinely including interviews with children from ethnically diverse backgrounds, their

parents, and their service providers in the monitoring process would have provided a more

grounded understanding of the states’ compliance picture.

Recommendation # III B.4B

OSEP should review the files of more students placed in out-of-state residential facilities, and

increase the number of compliance monitoring site visits to separate public and private

facilities as well as to state schools for students who are deaf or have visual impairments.

Finding # III B.5

A complete historical inventory of all monitoring reports issued for every state is not

available, but since 1990 all reports issued have been maintained.

The historical monitoring data in these early reports were crucial to understanding what

areas had remained chronically out of compliance and how states had progressed in improving

compliance over time. In addition, an analysis of the historical data could have provided insight

into the impact of corrective action plans on reducing noncompliance.

Recommendation # III B.5

OSEP should undertake efforts to construct a database with all monitoring reports, corrective

action plans, and compliance agreements ever issued by OSEP; to standardize all newly issued

reports, plans, and agreements and capture in the database; and to undertake a historical

analysis of compliance for each state.

A historical picture of each state’s compliance status will greatly inform OSEP’s

monitoring work and allow for examining trends over time. In addition, it will provide a sense of

the persistence of certain problems in particular states.

Finding # III B.6

Important IDEA requirements appeared to be unmonitored or under-monitored

The federal monitoring reports examined from all fifty states showed that compliance

with one important requirement appeared not to be monitored and compliance with another

appeared to be under-monitored.
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IDEA required states to have "[p]rocedures for adopting, if appropriate, promising

practices, materials, and technology proven effective through research and demonstration."3

There was no evidence in the texts of the monitoring reports reviewed that compliance with this

requirement had ever been monitored.

SEAs are required to "ensure" that public agencies "ensure" that "[u]nless the IEP of a

child with a disability requires some other arrangement, the child is educated in the school that

he or she would attend if nondisabled."4 In the fifty reports reviewed, OSEP had made findings

of noncompliance with this requirement in two states&North Dakota5 and Utah.6 Both reports

were issued in 1994, the first year of reports reviewed. There was no evidence in the texts of the

other monitoring reports reviewed that compliance with this requirement had been monitored.

Recommendation # III B.6

OSEP should ensure that every IDEA requirement is monitored in every state at regular

intervals, even if not core requirements or not identified by the state as problem

noncompliance areas.

OSEP should develop a method for ensuring that requirements often overlooked in the

monitoring process are monitored at regular intervals. The compliance status of states with

noncore requirements or requirements rarely identified as problem areas during the pre-site visit

(i.e., implementation of promising practices) should be monitored at regular intervals in every

state.

Finding # III B.7

OSEP frequently took too long to issue monitoring reports.

For reports issued between 1994 and 1998, the amount of time from the date the

monitoring visit ended and the date of the final report was greater than 90 days for 45 states,

greater than 180 days for 27 states, and greater than 365 days for 12 states. The Department’s

present policy is to issue the report approximately five to six months (150%180 days) after the

on-site visit, but recognizes the need to get the reports out more quickly. OSEP has requested

additional staff, and is working on a new strategy to reduce lag time before the release of each

monitoring report.
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Recommendation # III B.7

OSEP should issue the monitoring report as soon as possible after the site visit, preferably

within 60 days (two months).

OSEP is requesting resources and working on a new strategy to issue the monitoring

reports in more timely fashion. An issuance date no later than two months following the end of

the end of the monitoring visit should be established.

Finding # III B. 8

DoED has been making monitoring reports available through the Department of

Education’s web site as soon as they are issued.

The most recent reports (or the report’s executive summary) from 27 states have been

made available on the OSEP web site. All new reports will be placed there in the future. Placing

the reports on the web site will allow timely access for a broad range of stakeholders and a

greater awareness of the monitoring issues in each state.

Finding # III B.9

DoED began implementing a new "continuous improvement" monitoring process where

the state is a collaborator with the Federal Government and other constituencies to assess

the educational success of students with disabilities and to design and implement steps for

improvement on an ongoing basis.

Recommendation # III B.9

DoED should conduct a formal assessment of the new continuous improvement monitoring

process within the next three years. The assessment should incorporate broad stakeholder

input, particularly from students with disabilities and their parents, on the effectiveness of the

new process in improving compliance with Part B and producing improvements in educational

results for students with disabilities.

Finding # III B.10

Some significant state noncompliance areas have changed over time.
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At the start of the federal monitoring process, large numbers of children with disabilities

were routinely and inappropriately placed in separate educational settings in many states. Recent

findings have shown that while such routine inappropriate placements have decreased in many

states, a lack of adequate supports to children placed in regular classrooms was still prevalent.

Finding # III B.11

States frequently failed to ensure compliance with the same requirement for years and for

several rounds of monitoring.

Looking at the three most recent monitoring reports (ranging from 1983 to 1998) for each

of six states, as a group they came into compliance with only18 of 66 noncompliant requirements

(27%) identified in the first or second of the three monitoring reports. For 48 (73%) of the 66

noncompliant requirements found, either noncompliance was found again or no compliance

finding was reported at all in the third monitoring report.

Of the 18 requirements with which states came into compliance, 10 (56%) had to do with

the state’s own administrative functioning (five&review and approval of LEA applications;

three&complaint management; one&hearing decisions within time lines; and one&effectiveness

of the monitoring system at identifying noncompliance).

Recommendation # III B.11

OSEP should strengthen compliance monitoring and enforcement by recognizing states that

are performing well, offering ongoing technical assistance to states to correct noncompliance,

and applying consequences consistently when improvement objectives are not met.

Finding # III B.12

The federal IDEA enforcement process has not provided clear and certain consequences

for failures to correct noncompliance that would motivate the states toward compliance.

SEAs cannot be motivated to garner the will and the resources to come into compliance,

when the record shows that sanctions rarely occur. 

Recommendation # III B.12A

The Department of Education’s approach to remedying state noncompliance should link
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noncompliance findings with (1) measurable improvement objectives to be met within a

defined time frame, and (2) a range of specific enforcement sanctions that will be incurred for

failures to meet each of the improvement objectives within the specified time frames.

Recommendation # III B.12B

The Department of Education, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior,

with input from students with disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should

develop a broad range of sanctions linked to a state’s failure to correct noncompliance within

the time frames agreed upon in their corrective action plans.

A wider range of options is needed to allow more flexibility and consistency in the

enforcement of IDEA. These options should clearly articulate the sanctions available with

examples of circumstances in which each would appropriately be applied.

Finding # III B.13

Some state compliance monitoring systems are inadequate because of a lack of staff, lack of

resources, and lack of a systematic, coordinated approach statewide.

Recommendation # III B.13

OSEP should increase its monitoring of state monitoring systems, offer targeted technical

assistance to correct deficiencies, and enforce when the state fails to take corrective action.

Finding # III B.14

Compliance monitoring at both the state and federal levels is not sufficiently data-driven,

objective, or consistent, relying too little on agreed upon indicators and measures of

performance.

Recommendation # III B.14

The Department of Education should maintain a priority on working with the states to

improve accountability for implementing IDEA through effective data collection and analysis.

OSEP should continue working with states to improve their compliance monitoring and

enforcement capabilities through data collection related to key performance indicators and

regular, thorough, and ongoing analysis of the data. Without these activities, the extent and
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nature of reported compliance problems cannot adequately be understood or corrected. Among

the reported problems that require continuous monitoring are the provision of FAPE and related

educational services to eligible youth with disabilities in state and local detention and

correctional systems, as well as the disproportionate representation of minority students with

disabilities in separate educational settings and in the state child welfare and juvenile justice

systems.

Finding # III C.1

There is no federal complaint process for IDEA to complement and expand the scope of

complaint handling systems at the state level.

There is a need for a federal complaint handling system to provide students with disabilities and

their parents a vehicle for filing and resolving complaints alleging widespread or systemic

violations occurring at the SEA or LEA levels. Because state complaint-handling systems are

largely geared to addressing individual complaints, such a federal process would help to close an

existing gap in the enforcement infrastructure.

Recommendation # III C.1A

Whenever Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B of IDEA, Congress and the President should appropriate at the

same time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total increase in Part B funding to build the

Department of Education’s and Department of Justice’s enforcement infrastructure to help

drive improvements in state compliance and better results for children. Priorities for use of

these funds should include a federal process for handling specific categories of IDEA

complaints and the expansion of technical assistance for improving state complaint handling,

monitoring, and enforcement systems.

Recommendation # III C.1B

Congress should amend IDEA to create a complaint handling process at the federal level to

address systemic violations occurring in SEAs or LEAs. 

Congress should designate the Department of Justice to administer the process and allocate
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adequate funding to enable it to take on this new role. This new federal complaint process

should be designed to complement, not supplant, state-level complaint-handling and due process

procedures. The federal process should be simple to use and easy to understand by parents and

students. The Department of Justice should develop and disseminate explicit criteria for the

types of complaints alleging systemic violations it will prioritize given its limited resources.

Finding # III C.2

Information about IDEA complaints filed with state complaint systems is often limited. 

The only complaint process for IDEA is at the state level. Information and analyses

about the nature and outcome of state complaints are not readily available to complainants or

other stakeholders at the state level and are not nationally compiled on a state-by-state basis. 

Recommendation # III C.2

The Secretary of Education should require states to submit annually a summary analysis of all

state complaints alleging violations of IDEA that includes a listing of complaints received by

category and by LEA, with a brief description of the allegations, opening and closing dates,

and type of resolution.

Under IDEA, the Secretary of Education may require the states to submit any data

deemed necessary to administer the law.7

 These analyses should inform OSEP’s monitoring,

compliance, and enforcement activities. This information should be shared with OCR and the

Department of Justice. It should be widely disseminated to stakeholders in the state.

Finding # III C.3

State complaint systems under IDEA need improvement.

According to the Inspector General’s report, state complaint systems should be improved

and more intensely monitored by OSEP. While the IDEA ’97 regulations intended to improve

state complaint systems, OSEP has lacked the necessary resources to conduct such evaluations.

Recommendation # III C.3

OSERS should work intensively with states to improve state complaint systems.
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OSERS should identify model practices in states and provide technical assistance for

improvement of systems in states to include development of a statewide mechanism for tracking

all complaints and capturing basic information about each complaint, such as nature of

complaint, a time line for resolution, an outcome, and the satisfaction of the complainant with

outcome. OSEP should monitor the adequacy of state complaint systems to produce accurate

accounting of all complaints filed and data sufficient to analyze the effectiveness of complaint

handling throughout the state.

Finding # III D.1

The Department of Education has identified six enforcement actions it has taken against

states for noncompliance with IDEA Part B, all within the last six years.

According to information provided by the Department of Education, only six enforcement

actions have been taken under IDEA Part B since its enactment. Five of these enforcement

actions were related to attaching special conditions to the grant award or developing compliance

agreements. The other was an attempt to withhold funds from a state, which was overruled by

the court. All have occurred since 1993.

Recommendation # III D.1

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop objective criteria for utilizing

compliance agreements and special conditions as enforcement actions.

These criteria should be based on certain outcomes of the monitoring process. For

example, if a state fails to ensure compliance with a particular requirement for a certain period of

time, after the provision of technical assistance and an opportunity for correction, it would

immediately be required to develop a compliance plan. If such a plan were not fully

implemented by a certain date, a greater sanction would be prescribed (see discussion under Part

VII about new approaches to monitoring in state systems).

Finding # III D.2

The Department of Education has withheld federal funds from a state because of
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noncompliance with Part B of IDEA only once in the past 25 years.

In 1994, DoED briefly withheld funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia because of a

state policy that denied any services to special education students who were suspended or

expelled from school. Although the Department lost its case against Virginia, IDEA was

subsequently amended to clarify that the Virginia policy was illegal. The 1997 amendments to

IDEA also explicitly gave DoED the authority to withhold a partial amounts of funds.

Recommendation # III D.2

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop a broad range of options for

withholding partial funds from noncompliant states and the criteria (triggers) for when they

will be used.

Consideration for how partial withholding of funds could be utilized might include the

notion of withholding state administrative funds for a state that fails to ensure compliance with

state monitoring requirements and using those funds to hire an independent entity to conduct

state monitoring. Again, withholding of funds should never be a surprise to anyone. Rather, it

should be the predictable result of certain behavior.

Finding # III D.3

Political resistance to IDEA enforcement from Congressional delegations and state

administrations of the noncompliant state may have a chilling effect on enforcement.

DoED enforcement actions in Pennsylvania and Virginia resulted in letters from members

of Congress and the Governor of Virginia, requesting that the Secretary rescind the actions. The

Secretary did not rescind either action. In some instances, the members who wrote questioning

and protesting the DoED’s actions had key roles in overseeing DoED’s funding or programs,

particularly with respect to IDEA. Such political resistance may cause DoED to be hesitant in

pursuing enforcement, impacting future enforcement efforts. 

Recommendation # III D.3A

The Department of Education should take the lead in educating both Congress and state

legislators about the failure of states to ensure compliance with IDEA and how this affects
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children with disabilities and their families.

The Department of Education should exercise its leadership as enforcer of IDEA to

educate federal, state, and local legislators about the extent to which the law has not been fully

implemented and the toll on children with disabilities, their families, and their communities. 

Specifically, DoED should brief the members of each state delegation before its planned

monitoring visits to discuss the technical assistance resources available to states in correcting

compliance problems, enforcement options, and the long-term consequences of persistent

noncompliance for children with disabilities. DoED should urge legislators to take responsibility

for helping their states achieve compliance.

The Department of Education should also be proactive in implementing a well-timed and

coordinated communication strategy for each planned enforcement action it takes, and it should

foster dialogue about the issues. The strategy should include media outreach and briefings

targeted to stakeholders and other interested parties, including federal, state, and local officials;

parent groups; and others.

Recommendation # III D.3B

The Department of Education should post any letters it receives from members of Congress

questioning enforcement actions related to IDEA on the DoED web site and distribute them to

Parent Training and Information Centers, Protection and Advocacy Systems, and other legal

advocacy organizations.

Such inquiries by members of Congress provide opportunities for parents and their

advocates to educate Congress about IDEA noncompliance in their state and the toll it takes on

their constituents.

Finding # III D.4A

The Department of Education has not yet provided policy guidance regarding criteria for

referral to the Department of Justice, authorized by the 1997 amendments to IDEA.

While new regulations provide some information on the process of referral to the

Department of Justice, they do not clarify the criteria for making such a referral.
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Finding # III D.4B

The Department of Education has never referred a state to the Department of Justice for

substantial noncompliance with IDEA.

Authority for the Department of Education to make such referrals was made explicit in

the 1997 IDEA reauthorization.

Recommendation # III D.4

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice, with input from students with

disabilities, their parents, and other stakeholders, should develop objective measures for

determining "substantial noncompliance," the point at which a state will be referred to the

Department of Justice for legal action.

IV. The National Compliance Picture Over Time: 

Analysis of Annual Reports to Congress 1978–1998

Finding # IV.1A

There was no consistency in either format or content for reporting about IDEA monitoring

in the Annual Reports to Congress between 1978 and 1998. 

The changing definitions and language used to describe monitoring from one Annual

Report to the next made it difficult to compare the status of monitoring/compliance findings over

time. Major variations in the content organization of reports published in different years further

challenged the reader in locating the information on monitoring.

Finding # IV.1B

The Annual Reports did not provide a picture of how compliance with IDEA changes over

time.

A historical or longitudinal analysis of compliance is not required in the Annual Report

by law.

Recommendation # IV.1

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice should issue an annual report to

the President and Congress on IDEA monitoring, compliance, enforcement, and technical
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assistance. 

The Annual Report issued by DoED is not required to, and therefore does not, report on

federal- and state-level enforcement activities or the due process/judicial system, a joint report by

DoED and DOJ to address this information void is needed. This proposed joint report should

include a description of all monitoring activities for the year (including corrective action plan

follow-up visits), the findings of the monitoring activities in terms of compliance and

noncompliance, and a description/analysis of cases in which the Department of Justice is

involved. Complaints and investigations of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil

Rights that are IDEA-related should be presented. The report should present the current

activities and findings in a context and format that will allow for historical/longitudinal analysis.

Finding # IV.2

There was little information in the Department of Education’s Annual Reports to Congress

about the relationship among findings of state noncompliance with IDEA, technical

assistance used by states to achieve compliance, and enforcement actions taken for failure

to correct noncompliance.

Links between compliance monitoring, technical assistance, and enforcement action were

not evident in the Annual Reports, making it difficult to piece together a picture of the state of

IDEA compliance across the nation. Reporting on enforcement authority and activity at the

federal or state levels, the due process/judicial system, or even court cases in which the

Department of Justice is involved is not required by law.

Recommendation # IV.2

The Department of Education and the Department of Justice should routinely issue reports

that provide longitudinal analyses tracking noncompliance findings, informal and formal

enforcement actions taken by the Federal Government, and use of technical assistance

resources to correct noncompliance with IDEA for each state over time.

These reports would enable the reader to determine how states have responded to

corrective action, technical assistance, and enforcement actions. These reports would provide the

data needed to document progress and achievements as well as identify areas that need continued
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improvement.

V. IDEA Litigation Challenging State Noncompliance

Finding # V.1

Parent advocacy and litigation have been critical means for exposing and remedying

persistent and systemic IDEA noncompliance.

The law depends on litigation in order to function effectively. Parents of children with

disabilities are uniquely situated to identify and raise the legal issues related to persistent

noncompliance with IDEA. Their financial situations, however, typically do not permit sustained

private legal action, and not enough public resources are available to assist them.

Recommendation # V.1A

Whenever Congress and the President approve an increase in the funding to be distributed to

local schools under Part B of IDEA, Congress and the President should appropriate at the

same time an amount equal to 10 percent of the total Part B increase to fund free or low-cost

legal advocacy services to students with disabilities and their parents through public and

private legal service providers, putting competent legal assistance within their financial reach

and leveling the playing field between them and their local school districts.

Litigation by parents is still a necessary recourse when administrative action at the state

level to obtain FAPE for their child has failed. In some states, litigation has also been a vital

catalyst to a more effective implementation of IDEA across the board. Access to legal assistance

that could result in obtaining an appropriate education for their children remains beyond the

financial reach of too many families. Federal funds currently available under the Developmental

Disabilities Act, the Technical Assistance Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Protection and

Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act for low cost legal services must be

supplemented to begin to address the need. This will be a start toward putting families on a more

equal playing field with school districts that use tax dollars to hire legal counsel to assist them in

avoiding compliance with IDEA requirements.

Recommendation # V.1B

OSEP should endorse the allocation of additional funding to public and private legal service
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providers, including the state PTIs, P&As, and IL centers; the private bar; and nonprofit legal

services centers for the purpose of carrying out a coordinated strategy for making legal

advocacy services more available to students with disabilities and their families.

Finding # V.2

Pilot programs in compliance monitoring and enforcement at the state level are testing the

use of a broad range of flexible enforcement options in the context of corrective action

plans linking specific noncompliance findings with agreed upon enforcement options and

time lines.

Recommendation # V.2

OSEP should develop and test the use of state compliance agreements that incorporate

appropriate sanctions selected from a broad range of enforcement options, and link them to

the state’s failure to correct specific noncompliant conditions within the agreed time frame.

OSEP should also encourage the state’s use of sanctions in this manner when the state’s

compliance monitoring indicates that LEAs are failing to correct findings of noncompliance.

VI. The Role of the Department of Justice

Finding #VI.1

The Department of Justice does not have independent authority under IDEA to pursue

IDEA investigations and enforcement against noncompliant educational entities.

The Department of Justice can pursue enforcement action against state educational

entities only if a referral is made from the Department of Education.

Recommendation # VI.1

Congress should amend IDEA to provide the Department of Justice with independent

authority to investigate and litigate against school districts or states where pattern and practice

violations of IDEA exist.

The Department of Justice should play a greater role overall in the enforcement of IDEA. 

DOJ is not plagued by the conflicting roles of grant manager and law enforcer with the same

entity. As an agency that specializes primarily in enforcing the law, DOJ’s first responsibility is
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to those protected by the laws it enforces. DOJ is not as susceptible to political pressure from

states and their Congressional delegations when initiating enforcement action because it has no

pre-existing economic relationship (grant maker%grantee) with the defendant. DOJ can initiate

an investigation upon receiving a complaint or other information and coordinate with the

Department of Education throughout case development. Information about coordinated

enforcement activities should be included in DOJ’s Annual Report to Congress.

Finding # VI.2

The Department of Justice has played a minimal role in IDEA litigation, participating in

only 26 IDEA cases at the Supreme Court and Appellate Court levels in the past 25 years.

Recommendation # VI.2

The Department of Justice should exercise greater leadership in IDEA enforcement by

initiating litigation against noncompliant states, publicizing its actions, and collaborating with

stakeholders on their legal stance and its implications.

The Department of Justice should take the initiative to identify key cases involving

noncompliance with important provisions of IDEA such as LRE, and aggressively litigate to put

noncompliant states on notice that the law is now being enforced. In doing so, DOJ should

actively seek the input of key stakeholders on their legal positions vis-a-vis these cases and the

policy implications.

Finding # VI.3

The Department of Justice has no structured mechanism for finding or determining what

IDEA cases to participate in, other than reviewing legal journals and networking

informally with advocacy groups.

Recommendation # VI.3

The Department of Justice should develop a system for tracking and monitoring litigation

related to IDEA and articulate explicit criteria for determining DOJ participation.

VII. Improving Public Awareness: Technical Assistance and Public Information 

for Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Advocates
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Finding # VII.1

During 1999, OSEP committed about one-third of its technical assistance resources to

informational programs for students, parents, and families—an increase from previous

years.

This increase showed a clear commitment to enhancing the ability of students and parents

to participate in the educational planning process by developing and disseminating training and

informational materials and resources, providing peer and professional support, and

strengthening parent organizations through capacity building.

Recommendation # VII.1

OSERS’ should strongly promote inter- and intra-agency collaboration to leverage existing

resources available to help states correct areas of noncompliance. The objective of this

collaboration should be to make available the technical assistance materials and programs

SEAs and LEAs may request or be required to accept in order to correct specific

noncompliance problems.

Finding # VII.2

Only 2 percent of OSERS’ resource list publications provided support and information to

students themselves in planning their own educational and transition programs. 

OSER’s resource materials and programs needed greater emphasis on helping students

with disabilities to understand and advocate for their civil rights as students in public schools and

in the transition to living as adults with disabilities in their communities. As OSERS continues

to stress transition from school to work and community life, students and their parents must

understand how IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act

(FHAA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act impact their opportunities for meaningful

integration, employment, and access to post-secondary educational programs. 

Recommendation # VII.2

OSERS’ should prepare students for effective self-advocacy in their education planning and

transition to employment and independent living by (1) expanding its resource publications
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dealing with these issues, (2) developing training initiatives and technical assistance materials,

and (3) supporting model student-led self-advocacy programs.

OSEP should develop materials and provide training for students with disabilities and

their parents about the provisions of the ADA, Section 504, FHAA, and other pertinent disability

laws, to help young adults with disabilities understand their civil rights and inform them about

the programs available to assist their transition from school to independent living in the

community, employment, and post-secondary education. Greater emphasis on self-advocacy also

will prepare students with disabilities and their families to support state and federal compliance

monitoring and enforcement activities more effectively.

Finding # VII.3

OSEP’s outreach priorities and resource materials did not address judicial interpretations

of IDEA and OSEP policies in a way that assists students with disabilities and their parents

in understanding of their implications.

Since schools are familiar with legal developments, students and parents can be

disadvantaged without this same information.

Recommendation # VII.3

OSEP should fund the development of materials and provide training and technical assistance

for parents and students on the implications of judicial interpretations of IDEA court cases

and OSEP policies.

Finding # VII.4

Current technical assistance initiatives have not met the need for materials, training, and

technical assistance to help students with disabilities and parents understand and evaluate

their states’ monitoring system.

Recommendation # VII.4

OSEP should initiate and develop a program to train students with disabilities and parents in

evaluating the effectiveness of their state’s IDEA compliance monitoring systems and their

state’s self-assessment process.
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Finding # VII.5

Twenty-two percent of technical assistance and informational materials from the resource

list were either directed to non-English speaking audiences or available in languages other

than English.

Recommendation # VII.5

OSERS should continue to expand its initiatives to serve non-English speaking groups and

create culturally appropriate training materials by increasing outreach to minority students

and parents; enhancing the capability of the Technical Assistance Alliance, PTIs, the

National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), and NIDRR research projects to create

culturally appropriate non-English language materials; and translating more existing

materials into languages other than English.

This percentage is a notable increase from previous years, yet there are still too few

culturally appropriate materials available in languages other than English in relation to the

number of students and their families needing them.

Finding # VII.6

The need for training of students with disabilities and their parents in the requirements of

IDEA is especially urgent in communities where noncompliance persists over time. Despite

a steady increase over time in the amount of technical assistance materials available to

under-served populations of students with disabilities and their families, noncompliance

still tends to persist at a higher rate and over longer periods of time in these communities.

The resource list shows that materials are still scarce for students with disabilities in the

juvenile justice, immigration and naturalization, and child-welfare systems, as well as for

students attending schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). 

Multicultural and language-appropriate materials for these groups are scarcer still.

Recommendation # VII.6A

OSEP should expand its program support for initiatives that promote educational

opportunities and rights for under-served populations of children and youth with disabilities

and their families. More programs are needed to explain IDEA’s requirements in light of the
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unique needs of students with disabilities involved in the juvenile justice, immigration and

naturalization, and child-welfare systems, as well as in schools operated or funded by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), to their families and advocates, as follows:

C culturally appropriate technical assistance to ensure the ability of Native

American children with disabilities, their families, tribal leaders, and advocates in

every interested tribe to participate as full partners in implementing IDEA in their

communities. Culturally appropriate training and technical assistance should be

developed and delivered through the satellite offices of disability technical

assistance centers (DBTACs) around the country that are managed and staffed

primarily by Native Americans.

C training of the appropriate players in the juvenile justice system, including judicial

and institutional personnel, in IDEA’s civil rights requirements, how they apply

within the juvenile justice system, and ways the law can be used to help minimize

detention of children with disabilities in the juvenile justice system.

C training of the appropriate players in the immigration and naturalization and

child welfare systems, including federal and state agency, judicial, and

institutional personnel, in IDEA’s civil rights requirements.

Recommendation # VII.6B

OSEP, in conjunction with the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), should also fund training programs for special education

lawyers on applying IDEA in the criminal justice system, and for public defenders and staff on

IDEA’s educational requirements to enable both to advocate more effectively for the

educational rights of students with disabilities involved in state and local criminal justice

systems.

Finding # VII.7A

The Department of Education’s IDEA technical assistance program addressed a wide

range of important information and training needs. The overall strategy, however, did not

seem to place priority on developing a comprehensive, coordinated, and targeted technical
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assistance system in each state focused on empowering students with disabilities and their

families for effective self-advocacy to address documented areas of noncompliance

statewide.

Finding # VII.7B

The advocacy training programs and services available in most states fell far short of the

existing need.

Recommendation # VII.7

The Department of Education should give priority support to the formation of a

comprehensive, high quality, and coordinated technical assistance system in each state by

developing a separate OSEP-administered funding stream to aid federally funded advocacy

groups in coordinating and making available self-advocacy training programs, resources, and

services to students with disabilities and their parents throughout the state. Elements of the

coordinated technical assistance systems should include the following:

• The availability of a lawyer at every state PTI center, protection and advocacy

agency, and independent living center able to provide competent legal advice to

students with disabilities and their parents in advocating for their rights.

• Self-advocacy training programs for students with disabilities and their parents

focused on civil rights awareness, education and transition planning, and

independent living in the community.

• The establishment of a national backup center to make legal materials, training,

and other supports available for attorneys working on IDEA cases and issues at

the state level.

• Expansion of involvement by the private bar and legal services organizations in

providing legal advice to students with disabilities and their parents in advocating

for their legal rights under IDEA.

The key disability advocacy organizations at the state level (PTIs, P&As, and IL centers)

need additional funding to effectively implement a joint collaborative strategy for increased

outreach and education of the general public and state legislators, technical assistance and
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1. U.S. Department of Education reviewer comment on the courtesy review draft of this study,

received August 3, 1999, p.98.

2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, West Virginia Report,

p.2, April 22, 1997.

3. 34 CFR § 300.382 (1999).

4. 34 CFR §§ 300.550(a) (1999) (current to March 12, 1999); 300.552(c) (1999) (current to

March 12, 1999).

5. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, North Dakota Report,

p.10-11, May 26, 1994.

6. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Utah Report, p.19-20,

November 17, 1994.

7. 20 U.S.C. §1418(a)(2).

advocacy for transition planning and services, independent monitoring of state compliance with

IDEA, and affordable legal assistance to parents advocating for their child with a disability. The

goal of the collaborative strategy is to increase each state’s compliance with FAPE, LRE,

Individual Education Plan (IEP), Transition, General Supervision, Procedural Safeguards, and

Protection in Evaluation.
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Appendix L

Mission of the National Council on Disability 
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MISSION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON DISABILITY

Overview and Purpose

NCD is an independent federal agency with 15 members appointed by the President of the

United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. 

The overall purpose of NCD is to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that

guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or

severity of the disability; and to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic selfsufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society.

Specific Duties

The current statutory mandate of NCD includes the following:

C Reviewing and evaluating, on a continuing basis, policies, programs, practices, and

procedures concerning individuals with disabilities conducted or assisted by federal

departments and agencies, including programs established or assisted under the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, or under the Developmental Disabilities

Assistance and Bill of Rights Act; as well as all statutes and regulations pertaining to

federal programs that assist such individuals with disabilities, in order to assess the

effectiveness of such policies, programs, practices, procedures, statutes, and regulations

in meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities.

C Reviewing and evaluating, on a continuing basis, new and emerging disability policy

issues affecting individuals with disabilities at the federal, state, and local levels, and in

the private sector, including the need for and coordination of adult services, access to

personal assistance services, school reform efforts and the impact of such efforts on

individuals with disabilities, access to health care, and policies that operate as

disincentives for individuals to seek and retain employment.

C Making recommendations to the President, Congress, the Secretary of Education, the

Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and other

officials of federal agencies, respecting ways to better promote equal opportunity,

economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all

aspects of society for Americans with disabilities.

C Providing Congress, on a continuing basis, advice, recommendations, legislative

proposals, and any additional information that NCD or Congress deems appropriate.

C Gathering information about the implementation, effectiveness, and impact of the 
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Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).

C Advising the President, Congress, the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services

Administration, the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

within the Department of Education, and the Director of the National Institute on

Disability and Rehabilitation Research on the development of the programs to be carried

out under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

C Providing advice to the Commissioner with respect to the policies and conduct of the

Rehabilitation Services Administration.

C Making recommendations to the Director of the National Institute on Disability and

Rehabilitation Research on ways to improve research, service, administration, and the

collection, dissemination, and implementation of research findings affecting persons with

disabilities.

C Providing advice regarding priorities for the activities of the Interagency Disability

Coordinating Council and reviewing the recommendations of this Council for legislative

and administrative changes to ensure that such recommendations are consistent with the

purposes of NCD to promote the full integration, independence, and productivity of

individuals with disabilities.

C Preparing and submitting to the President and Congress an annual report titled National

Disability Policy: A Progress Report. 

International

In 1995, NCD was designated by the Department of State to be the official contact point with the

U.S. government for disability issues. Specifically, NCD interacts with the special rapporteur of

the United Nations Commission for Social Development on disability matters.

Consumers Served and Current Activities

While many government agencies deal with issues and programs affecting people with

disabilities, NCD is the only federal agency charged with addressing, analyzing, and making

recommendations on issues of public policy that affect people with disabilities regardless of age,

disability type, perceived employment potential, economic need, specific functional ability, status

as a veteran, or other individual circumstance. NCD recognizes its unique opportunity to

facilitate independent living, community integration, and employment opportunities for people

with disabilities by ensuring an informed and coordinated approach to addressing the concerns of

persons with disabilities and eliminating barriers to their active participation in community and

family life.
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NCD plays a major role in developing disability policy in America. In fact, it was NCD that

originally proposed what eventually became the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). NCD’s

present list of key issues includes improving personal assistance services, promoting health care

reform, including students with disabilities in high-quality programs in typical neighborhood

schools, promoting equal employment and community housing opportunities, monitoring the

implementation of ADA, improving assistive technology, and ensuring that persons with

disabilities who are members of minority groups fully participate in society. 

Statutory History

NCD was initially established in 1978 as an advisory board within the Department of Education

(Public Law 95-602). The Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1984 (Public Law 98-221)

transformed NCD into an independent agency.