II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 216

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to authorize

appropriations for fiscal years 1998 through 2002, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 28, 1997

Mr. JEFFORDS (for himself, Mr. FRIST, and Mrs. HUTCHISON of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1998 through

2002, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Individuals with Dis5 abilities Education Act Amendments of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

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

Sec. 1. Short title.

Sec. 2. Table of contents.

Sec. 3. References.
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TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Findings.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Sec. 103. Office of Special Education Programs.

Sec. 104. Requirements for prescribing regulations.

Sec. 105. Eligibility for financial assistance.

Sec. 106. Administrative provisions applicable to discretionary assistance

programs.

Sec. 107. Repeals.

Sec. 108. Transition rule.

Sec. 109. Effective date.

TITLE II—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES

Sec. 201. Entitlements and allocations.

Sec. 202. State eligibility.

Sec. 203. Local educational agency and State agency eligibility.

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

placements.

Sec. 205. Chapter 1 State agencies.

Sec. 206. Procedural safeguards.

Sec. 207. Withholding and judicial review.

Sec. 208. Administration.

Sec. 209. Evaluation and program information.

Sec. 210. Preschool grants.

Sec. 211. Payments.

Sec. 212. Applicability of definitions.

Sec. 213. Conforming and technical amendments.

Sec. 214. Effective dates.I74TITLE III—SYSTEMS CHANGE

Sec. 301. Systems change.

Sec. 302. Effective date.

TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION

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

and results for children with disabilities through coordinated

research and personnel preparation.

Sec. 402. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 403. Effective date.

TITLE V—TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

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

and results for children with disabilities through coordinated

technical assistance, support, and dissemination of information.

Sec. 502. Conforming amendments.

Sec. 503. Effective date.

TITLE VI—INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

Sec. 601. Findings and policy.

Sec. 602. Definitions.

Sec. 603. General authority.

Sec. 604. Eligibility.
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Sec. 605. Continuing eligibility.

Sec. 606. Requirements for statewide system.

Sec. 607. Individualized family service plan.

Sec. 608. State application and assurances.

Sec. 609. Uses of funds.

Sec. 610. Procedural safeguards.

Sec. 611. State Interagency Coordinating Council.

Sec. 612. Conforming amendment.

Sec. 613. Allocation of funds.

Sec. 614. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.

Sec. 615. Study of definition of developmental delay.

Sec. 616. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 617. Effective date.

1 SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms

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

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

8 TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

9 SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

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

11 follows:

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

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

14 ‘Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’.

15 ‘‘(b) FINDINGS.—With respect to this Act, Congress

16 finds the following:

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

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

2 of American society, including education.

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

6 amendment to the United States Constitution.

7 ‘‘(C) That improving educational results for

8 children with disabilities is an essential element in

9 ensuring equality of opportunity in all aspects of

10 society.

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

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

15 independently.

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

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

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

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

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

2 for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public

3 Law 94–142), significant progress has been made in

4 addressing problems that existed at the time the law

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

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

9 disabilities within the State between the ages of

10 3 and 18, and most States extend that provi11 sion of a free appropriate public education

12 through age 21.

13 ‘‘(B) Over 5,000,000 children with disabil14 ities are receiving special education and related

15 services.

16 ‘‘(C) All States now provide early interven17 tion services to infants and toddlers with dis18 abilities from birth through age 2 and to fami19 lies of such infants and toddlers.

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

21 research in the education of children with disabil22 ities, there is a general recognition of the following:

23 ‘‘(A) The provision of quality education

24 and services to children with disabilities must
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1 be based on an individualized assessment of

2 each child’s unique needs and abilities.

3 ‘‘(B) To the maximum extent appropriate,

4 children with disabilities should be educated

5 with children who are not disabled and children

6 with disabilities should be removed from the

7 regular educational environment only when the

8 nature and severity of the disability is such that

9 education in regular classes with the use of sup10 plementary aids and services cannot be achieved

11 satisfactorily.

12 ‘‘(C) Students with disabilities achieve at

13 significantly higher levels when schools have

14 high expectations (and establish high goals) for

15 such students, ensure the access of such stu16 dents to the general curriculum (whenever ap17 propriate), and provide such students with the

18 necessary services and supports.

19 ‘‘(D) That including children with disabil20 ities in State and districtwide assessment sys21 tems is an effective accountability mechanism

22 and a critical strategy for improving edu23 cational results for such children.

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

25 aligned with general educational reforms with
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1 respect to the improvement of education for all

2 children, so that children with disabilities have

3 the opportunity to benefit from such reforms.

4 ‘‘(F) Parent participation is a crucial com5 ponent in the education of children with disabil6 ities, and parents should have meaningful op7 portunities, through appropriate training, dis8 semination of information and other supports,

9 to participate as partners with teachers and

10 other school staff in assisting their children to

11 achieve to high standards.

12 ‘‘(G) School administrators must have the

13 resources and skills needed to ensure that

14 school environments are safe and conducive to

15 learning.

16 ‘‘(5)(A) That State and local educational agen17 cies must be responsive to the increasing racial, eth18 nic, and linguistic diversity that prevails in the Na19 tion’s public schools today.

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

21 the intensification of problems connected with inap22 propriately identifying and mislabeling children from

23 minority backgrounds as children with disabilities.

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

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

2 school population.

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

4 times more likely to be identified by their school as

5 mentally retarded than are their white counterparts,

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

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

11 long-term employment.

12 ‘‘(v) Disproportionality in the identification of

13 such students as children with disabilities may be

14 explained in part by the relationship between poverty

15 and disability, which is well documented. Poor pre16 natal care and nutrition are factors that contribute

17 to higher rates of disability within minority popu18 lations. However, disproportionality may be due to

19 misclassification of minority children as disabled and

20 inappropriate placement of minority children, par21 ticularly in separate settings, which raises civil

22 rights concerns.

23 ‘‘(C) Children with limited English proficiency

24 continue to be underidentified as needing special

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

2 population.

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

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

7 diverse backgrounds can be effectively addressed

8 when the following are done:

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

10 evaluating children with disabilities include ap11 propriate safeguards to prevent the overidenti12 fication or underidentification of minority stu13 dents requiring special education.

14 ‘‘(ii) Prereferral intervention strategies are

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

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

19 manner.

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

21 post-school results among minority students

22 with disabilities.

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

24 Federal Government has a role with respect to the

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

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

4 such children, and to ensure equal protection of

5 the law.

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

7 early intervention services.

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

10 children with disabilities and early intervention

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

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

15 coordinated technical assistance, dissemination,

16 and support, and technology development and

17 media services.

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

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

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

22 services designed to meet the unique needs of such

23 children and enable such children to lead productive,

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

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

4 the education of all children with disabilities;

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

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

8 services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and

9 their families;

10 ‘‘(3) promote the improvement of educational

11 and transitional services and results for children

12 with disabilities and early intervention services for

13 infants and toddlers with disabilities by

14 supporting—

15 ‘‘(A) systems change activities carried out

16 by State educational agencies in partnership

17 with other interested parties;

18 ‘‘(B) coordinated research and personnel

19 preparation; and

20 ‘‘(C) coordinated technical assistance, dis21 semination, and support, and technology devel22 opment and media services; and
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1 ‘‘(4) assess and promote the effectiveness of ef2 forts to educate children with disabilities and to pro3 vide early intervention services for infants and tod4 dlers with disabilities.’’.

5 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

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

7 1401) is amended—

8 (1) by striking the section heading and insert9 ing the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.’’;

11 and

12 (2) by striking ‘‘SEC. 602.’’.

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

14 amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)—

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

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

18 the following:

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

20 DISABILITY AGED 3 THROUGH 5; CHILDREN WITH

21 DISABILITIES.—

22 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The

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

24 (B) in clause (i)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘hearing impairments’’

2 and inserting ‘‘a hearing impairment’’;

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘speech or language

4 impairments, visual impairments’’ and in5 serting ‘‘a speech or language impairment,

6 a visual impairment’’;

7 (iii) by striking ‘‘orthopedic impair8 ments’’ and inserting ‘‘an orthopedic im9 pairment’’; and

10 (iv) by striking ‘‘other health impair11 ments, or specific learning disabilities’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘other health impairment, or a

13 specific learning disability’’;

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

15 inserting ‘‘needs’’; and

16 (D) by realigning the margins of clauses

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

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

19 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)—

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

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

22 inserting the following:

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

24 THROUGH 5.—At the discretion of the State,
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1 the term ‘child with a disability’ includes a child

2 aged 3 through 5—’’;

3 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(i) experienc4 ing developmental delays’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)

5 who is experiencing a developmental delay’’;

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

7 inserting ‘‘needs’’;

8 (D) by realigning the margin of subpara9 graph (B) so as to align with subparagraph (B)

10 of paragraph (11); and

11 (E) by realigning the margins of clauses

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

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

14 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1)(B), the fol15 lowing new subparagraph:

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

17 term ‘children with disabilities’ means more than 1

18 child with a disability.’’;

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

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

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

22 and inserting ‘‘EQUIPMENT.—The term’’;

23 (6) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the

24 following:
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1 ‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of

2 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com3 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying

4 areas.’’;

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

6 and inserting ‘‘STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The

7 term’’;

8 (8) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the

9 following:

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

11 ‘local educational agency’ means—

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

13 public authority legally constituted within a

14 State for either administrative control or direc15 tion of, or to perform a service function for—

16 ‘‘(i) public elementary or secondary

17 schools in a city, county, township, school

18 district, or other political subdivision of a

19 State; or

20 ‘‘(ii) a combination of school districts

21 or counties as are recognized in a State as

22 an administrative agency for the public ele23 mentary or secondary schools of the State;
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1 ‘‘(B) any other public institution or agency

2 having administrative control and direction of a

3 public elementary or secondary school; or

4 ‘‘(C) an educational service agency, as de5 fined in paragraph (7).’’;

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

7 and inserting ‘‘ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term’’;

8 (10) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘The term’’

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

10 (11) by striking paragraph (11) and inserting

11 the following:

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

13 The term ‘institution of higher education’—

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

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

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

17 ‘‘(B) includes any community college re18 ceiving funding from the Secretary of the Inte19 rior under the Tribally Controlled Community

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

21 1801 et seq.).’’;

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

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

24 (13) by striking paragraph (13);
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1 (14) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘The term’’

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

3 (15) by striking paragraph (15) and inserting

4 the following:

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

6 term ‘specific learning disability’—

7 ‘‘(A) means a disorder—

8 ‘‘(i) in one or more of the basic psy9 chological processes involved in under10 standing or in using language, spoken or

11 written; and

12 ‘‘(ii) that may manifest itself in im13 perfect ability to listen, think, speak, read,

14 write, spell, or do mathematical calcula15 tions;

16 ‘‘(B) includes such conditions as percep17 tual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain

18 dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental apha19 sia; and

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

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

22 motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of

23 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cul24 tural, or economic disadvantage.’’;

25 (16) in paragraph (16)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

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

3 (B) by striking ‘‘or guardians’’;

4 (17) in paragraph (17)—

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

6 ‘‘RELATED SERVICES.—The term’’;

7 (B) by striking ‘‘speech pathology and

8 audiology’’ and inserting ‘‘speech-language pa9 thology services and audiology services’’; and

10 (C) by striking ‘‘rehabilitation counseling,’’

11 and inserting ‘‘rehabilitation counseling, ori12 entation and mobility services,’’;

13 (18) in paragraph (18)—

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

15 ‘‘FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION.—

16 The term’’; and

17 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘re18 quired under section 614(a)(5)’’ and inserting

19 ‘‘requirements of subsections (d) through (i) of

20 section 614 (as amended by section 204 of the

21 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

22 Amendments of 1997)’’;

23 (19) by striking paragraph (20) and inserting

24 the following:
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1 ‘‘(20) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM;

2 IEP.—The term ‘individualized education program’

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

4 each child with a disability that is developed, re5 viewed, and revised in accordance with subsections

6 (d) through (i) of section 614 (as amended by sec7 tion 204 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu8 cation Act Amendments of 1997).’’;

9 (20) in paragraph (21)—

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

11 ‘‘EXCESS COSTS.—The term’’;

12 (B) in subparagraph (A)—

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

14 part’’ and inserting ‘‘part B’’;

15 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘under

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

17 I’’; and

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

19 VII’’ and inserting ‘‘part A of title VII’’;

20 and

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

22 part, chapter, or title’’ and inserting ‘‘a part re23 ferred to in subparagraph (A)’’;

24 (21) in paragraph (22)—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘NATIVE LANGUAGE.—The term’’; and

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

4 inserting ‘‘section 7501(11)’’;

5 (22) in paragraph (23)—

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

7 educational unit’ means’’ and inserting ‘‘EDU8 CATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The term ‘edu9 cational service agency’ means’’; and

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

11 and inserting ‘‘local educational agency de12 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of para13 graph (19),’’;

14 (23) by striking paragraph (24) and inserting

15 the following:

16 ‘‘(24) INDIAN; INDIAN TRIBE.—

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

18 an individual who is a member of an Indian

19 tribe.

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

21 tribe’ means any Federal or State Indian tribe,

22 band, rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community,

23 including any Alaska Native village or regional

24 village corporation (as defined in or established
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1 under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement

2 Act).’’;

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

4 and inserting ‘‘ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE.—

5 The term’’;

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

7 and inserting ‘‘ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE.—

8 The term’’;

9 (26) by striking paragraph (27) and inserting

10 the following:

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

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

13 populations include populations such as individuals

14 with disabilities who are from racial and ethnic mi15 nority backgrounds, who are poor individuals, who

16 are individuals with limited English proficiency, and

17 who are individuals from underserved geographic

18 areas, both urban and rural.’’;

19 (27) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (4), (5),

20 (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (14), (15), (16),

21 (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25),

22 (26), and (27) as paragraphs (4), (5), (9), (29),

23 (30), (19), (8), (25), (18), (21), (26), (28), (27),

24 (24), (11), (33), (15), (10), (20), (7), (14), (1), (2),

25 and (35), respectively, and transferring each such
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1 redesignated paragraph to the appropriate place in

2 the section so as to arrange the paragraphs in the

3 section in numerical order;

4 (28) by inserting after paragraph (2) (as so re5 designated by paragraph (27)) the following new

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(3) BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The

8 term ‘behavior management plan’ means a plan, de9 veloped by the State educational agency or local edu10 cational agency, consisting of strategies and services

11 to address the behavior of a child with a disability

12 and to help the child learn appropriate behavior in

13 the school and other community-based educational

14 settings.’’;

15 (29) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so re16 designated by paragraph (27)) the following new

17 paragraph:

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

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

20 means an impairment or other condition described in

21 paragraph (4) (relating to the definition of a child

22 with a disability).’’;

23 (30) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as so

24 redesignated by paragraph (27)) the following new

25 paragraphs:
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1 ‘‘(12) GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM.—

2 The term ‘general education curriculum’ means the

3 curriculum adopted by the local educational agency

4 for all children from preschool through secondary

5 school.’’;

6 ‘‘(13) INAPPROPRIATELY IDENTIFIED.—The

7 term ‘inappropriately identified’ with respect to pop8 ulation means a population of students from racial

9 or ethnic minority backgrounds in which students

10 are overidentified or underidentified as having dis11 abilities.’’;

12 (31) by inserting after paragraph (15) (as so

13 redesignated by paragraph (27)) the following new

14 paragraphs:

15 ‘‘(16) INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN;

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

17 and the term ‘IFSP’ mean a written plan for provid18 ing early intervention services to each infant and

19 toddler with a disability that meets the requirements

20 of section 677(d).

21 ‘‘(17) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABIL22 ITY; INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES.—

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

24 ‘infants and toddlers with disabilities’ have the

25 meanings given the terms in section 672.’’;
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1 (32) by inserting after paragraph (21) (as so

2 redesignated by paragraph (27)), the following new

3 paragraphs:

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

5 areas’ means the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

6 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

7 Islands, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated

8 States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

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

10 legal guardian.’’;

11 (33) by inserting after paragraph (30) (as so

12 redesignated by paragraph (27)) the following new

13 paragraphs:

14 ‘‘(31) SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS AND SERVICES.—

15 The term ‘supplementary aids and services’ means

16 aids, services, and other supports that are provided

17 to enable children with disabilities to be educated

18 with nondisabled children to the maximum extent

19 appropriate, in accordance with section 612(a)(5)

20 (as amended by section 202 of the Individuals with

21 Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997).’’;

22 ‘‘(32) SYSTEMS CHANGE ACTIVITIES; SYSTEMS

23 CHANGE OUTCOMES.—

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

25 term ‘systems change activities’ means efforts
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1 to design, implement, and evaluate strategies

2 and activities leading to systems change out3 comes.

4 ‘‘(B) SYSTEMS CHANGE OUTCOMES.—The

5 term ‘systems change outcomes’ means

6 systemswide changes in policies, procedures,

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

8 and school-age peers of children with disabilities

9 that benefit and improve the early intervention,

10 educational, and transitional services and re11 sults of children with disabilities.’’;

12 (34) by inserting after paragraph (33) (as so

13 redesignated by paragraph (27)) the following new

14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(34) TRANSITIONAL SERVICES.—The term

16 ‘transitional services’ includes transition services.’’;

17 and

18 (35) by striking ‘‘(a) As used in this title—’’

19 and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(a) TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided, the fol21 lowing terms have the following meanings as used in this

22 Act:’’.

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

24 U.S.C. 1401(b)) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(b) REFERENCES TO ACT OR TITLE.—If a provision

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

3 provision shall be deemed to refer to the Individuals with

4 Disabilities Education Act.’’.

5 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

6 (1) REFERENCES TO CHILDREN WITH DISABIL7 ITIES.—

8 (A) TITLE 10.—Section 2164(f)(3) of title

9 10, United States Code, is amended—

10 (i) by striking ‘‘section 602(a)(1)’’

11 and inserting ‘‘section 602(a)(4)(C)’’; and

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘1401(a)(1)’’ and in13 serting ‘‘1401(a)(4)(C)’’.

14 (B) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU15 CATION ACT OF 1965.—Section 14603(2) of the

16 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8923(1)) is amended by strik18 ing ‘‘section 602(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘section

19 602(a)(4)(C)’’.

20 (C) NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

21 ACT OF 1990.—Section 101(21) of the National

22 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.

23 12511(21)) is amended—

24 (i) by striking ‘‘section 602(a)(1)’’

25 and inserting ‘‘section 602(a)(4)(C)’’; and
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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘1401(a)(1)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘1401(a)(4)(C)’’.

3 (2) REFERENCE TO TRANSITION SERVICES.—

4 Section 563(d)(2) of the Public Health Service Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 290ff-2(d)(2)) is amended by striking

6 ‘‘section 602(a)(19)’’ and inserting ‘‘section

7 602(a)(33)’’.

8 SEC. 103. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

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

10 at the end thereof the following new subsection:

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

12 States Code, the Secretary is authorized to accept vol13 untary and uncompensated services in furtherance of the

14 purposes of this Act.’’.

15 SEC. 104. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING

16 REGULATIONS.

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

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

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

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

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

22 period for an opportunity for public comment is otherwise

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

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

3 follows:

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

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

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

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

10 eligible to receive a grant under section 619 (as amended

11 by section 210 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu12 cation Act Amendments of 1997).’’.

13 SEC. 106. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO

14 DISCRETIONARY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

15 Section 610 (20 U.S.C. 1409) is amended to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘SEC. 610. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS FOR DISCRE18 TIONARY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

19 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS WITH RESPECT TO ADDRESSING DI20 VERSITY UNDER PARTS D AND E.—With respect to this

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

22 ‘‘(1)(A) The Federal Government must be re23 sponsive to the growing needs of an increasingly

24 more diverse society. A more equitable allocation of

25 resources is essential for the Federal Government to
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1 meet its responsibility to provide an equal edu2 cational opportunity for all individuals.

3 ‘‘(B) Recent data indicate that the number of

4 African American and Hispanic children in schools,

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

6 number of minority teachers and related services

7 personnel produced in the colleges and universities

8 of the United States continues to decrease.

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

10 aiding institutions of higher education that have his11 torically served students who have been denied ac12 cess to postsecondary education because of race or

13 national origin and whose participation in the Unit14 ed States system of higher education is in the inter15 est of the United States so that the access to, and

16 the quality of, postsecondary education are enhanced

17 for all students.

18 ‘‘(3)(A) Historically Black Colleges and Univer19 sities and other institutions of higher education with

20 substantial minority enrollments have an important

21 role in the development of a professional workforce

22 in special education and related services that reflects

23 the full participation of all members of society by

24 providing access and high-quality education to low25 income and minority students who will enter the
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1 field of special education and other related fields.

2 Upon completing their education at such colleges

3 and universities and institutions, many low-income

4 and minority students become teachers or profes5 sionals in related fields and provide services to chil6 dren with disabilities in inner-city urban and rural

7 areas that have experienced significant shortages in

8 qualified personnel.

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

10 Black Colleges and Universities enroll nearly 50 per11 cent of the African American teacher trainees in the

12 United States. However, during the time period cov13 ered by the data, such colleges and universities re14 ceived only 4 percent of the discretionary funds for

15 special education and related services personnel

16 training under this Act.

17 ‘‘(b) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.—

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

19 and implement a comprehensive plan for activities

20 carried out under parts D and E in order to enhance

21 the provision of educational, related, and early inter22 vention services to children with disabilities under

23 parts B and H. Such plan shall include mechanisms
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1 to address early intervention, educational, and tran2 sitional needs identified by States in applications

3 submitted for systems change grants under part C.

4 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS IN PLAN DEVELOPMENT.—

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

6 the Secretary shall involve—

7 ‘‘(A) individuals with disabilities;

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

9 ‘‘(C) appropriate professionals; and

10 ‘‘(D) representatives of State and local

11 educational agencies, private schools, institu12 tions of higher education, other Federal agen13 cies, the National Council on Disabilities, and

14 national organizations with an interest in, and

15 expertise in, providing services to children with

16 disabilities and their families.

17 The Secretary shall publish the plan in the Federal

18 Register for public comment.

19 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—In implement20 ing the plan described in paragraph (1), the Sec21 retary shall, to the extent appropriate, ensure that

22 funds are awarded to recipients under parts D and

23 E to carry out activities that benefit, directly or in24 directly, children with disabilities of all ages.

25 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subsection and parts D and E, the fol3 lowing entities are eligible to apply for a grant, con4 tract, or cooperative agreement under part D or E:

5 ‘‘(A) A State educational agency.

6 ‘‘(B) A local educational agency.

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

8 ‘‘(D) Any other public agency.

9 ‘‘(E) A private nonprofit organization.

10 ‘‘(F) An outlying area.

11 ‘‘(G) An Indian tribe or tribally controlled

12 school funded by the Department of the Inte13 rior.

14 ‘‘(H) A for-profit organization, if the Sec15 retary determines that such organization is an

16 appropriate entity to be eligible to apply for a

17 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under

18 part D or E.

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

20 the entities eligible for an award of a grant, con21 tract, or cooperative agreement to 1 or more cat22 egories of eligible entities described in paragraph

23 (1). In the case of the award of a grant, contract,
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1 or cooperative agreement under section 634, an eligi2 ble entity shall demonstrate the capacity to conduct

3 personnel preparation activities.

4 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS BY THE SECRETARY.—

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

6 other provision of law and subject to subpara7 graph (B), the Secretary may use not more

8 than 20 percent of the total funds available

9 under parts D and E (other than section 643)

10 to carry out, through a grant, contract, or coop11 erative agreement, a project that consists of, or

12 a combination of—

13 ‘‘(i) a research or innovation activity

14 that meets an objective described in section

15 633(a) or a personnel preparation activity

16 that meets an objective described in section

17 634(a); and

18 ‘‘(ii) a technical assistance or informa19 tion dissemination activity that meets an

20 objective described in section 644(a) or a

21 technology development, demonstration, or

22 utilization activity, or an educational media

23 service, that meets an objective described

24 in section 645(a);
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1 subject to such conditions as the Secretary de2 termines are appropriate to effectively meet the

3 objectives involved.

4 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES.—In carrying out a

5 project or combination under subparagraph (A),

6 the Secretary shall use funds made available

7 under—

8 ‘‘(i) section 633 if the project or com9 bination involves a research or innovation

10 activity;

11 ‘‘(ii) section 634 if the project or com12 bination involves a personnel preparation

13 activity;

14 ‘‘(iii) section 644 if the project or

15 combination involves a technical assistance

16 or information dissemination activity; and

17 ‘‘(iv) section 645 if the project or

18 combination involves a technology develop19 ment, demonstration, or utilization activ20 ity, or an educational media service.

21 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—

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

23 an award of a grant, contract, or cooperative agree24 ment under part D or E, the Secretary shall, as ap25 propriate, require an applicant to demonstrate how
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1 the applicant will address the needs of children with

2 disabilities from unserved, underserved, or inappro3 priately identified populations.

4 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST5 ANCE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this

6 Act, the Secretary—

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

8 the total amount of funds appropriated for

9 parts D and E is used—

10 ‘‘(i) for providing outreach and tech11 nical assistance to Historically Black Col12 leges and Universities, and to institutions

13 of higher education with minority enroll14 ments of at least 25 percent, to promote

15 the participation of such colleges, univer16 sities, and institutions in activities under

17 such parts; and

18 ‘‘(ii) to enable the Historically Black

19 Colleges and Universities and the institu20 tions described in clause (i) to assist other

21 colleges, universities, institutions, and

22 agencies in improving educational and

23 transitional results for children with dis24 abilities; and
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1 ‘‘(B) may reserve funds appropriated

2 under parts D and E to meet the requirement

3 of subparagraph (A).

4 ‘‘(e) PRIORITIES.—

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

6 that a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement

7 awarded under part D or E is awarded only for ac8 tivities that are designed to benefit children with dis9 abilities or their families or the personnel employed

10 to work with such children or their families or to

11 benefit other individuals with disabilities whom such

12 part is intended to benefit.

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Subject to para14 graph (1), the Secretary, in making an award of a

15 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under part

16 D or E, may, without conducting rulemaking under

17 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, limit the

18 entities eligible for the grant, contract, or coopera19 tive agreement to, or otherwise give priority to, eligi20 ble entities that carry out the following activities:

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

22 personnel preparation, training, research, dis23 semination of information, technical assistance,

24 technology development, and educational media

25 services that address 1 or more of the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) The age ranges of children with

2 disabilities.

3 ‘‘(ii) The types of disabilities of

4 children.

5 ‘‘(iii) The school grades of children

6 with disabilities.

7 ‘‘(iv) The types of educational place8 ments or early intervention environments

9 of children with disabilities.

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

11 children with disabilities.

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

13 ‘‘(vii) Effective strategies for helping

14 children with disabilities learn appropriate

15 behavior in the school and other commu16 nity-based educational settings.

17 ‘‘(B) ACTIVITIES RELATED TO SEVERITY

18 OF DISABILITY.—Activities relating to personnel

19 preparation, training, research, dissemination of

20 information, technical assistance, technology de21 velopment, and educational media services that

22 address the needs of children based on the se23 verity of the disability of the children.
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1 ‘‘(C) OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES.—Ac2 tivities relating to personnel preparation, train3 ing, research, dissemination of information,

4 technical assistance, technology development,

5 and educational media services that address the

6 needs of the following individuals and areas:

7 ‘‘(i) Low-achieving students.

8 ‘‘(ii) Underserved populations.

9 ‘‘(iii) Children from low-income

10 families.

11 ‘‘(iv) Children with limited English

12 proficiency.

13 ‘‘(v) Unserved and underserved areas.

14 ‘‘(vi) Children whose behavior inter15 feres with their learning and socialization.

16 ‘‘(vii) Inappropriately identified popu17 lations.

18 ‘‘(D) NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Activities

19 relating to personnel preparation, training, re20 search, dissemination of information, technical

21 assistance, technology development, and edu22 cational media services that are carried out in

23 particular areas of the country, to ensure broad

24 geographic coverage.
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1 ‘‘(E) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Any ac2 tivity that is expressly authorized in the appli3 cable part.

4 ‘‘(f) APPLICANT AND RECIPIENT RESPONSIBIL5 ITIES.—

6 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF

7 PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall require that an ap8 plicant for, and a recipient of, a grant, contract, or

9 cooperative agreement for a project under part D or

10 E—

11 ‘‘(A) involve individuals with disabilities or

12 parents of individuals with disabilities in plan13 ning, implementing, and evaluating the project;

14 and

15 ‘‘(B) where appropriate, determine whether

16 the project has any potential for replication and

17 adoption by other entities.

18 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—The

19 Secretary may require a recipient of a grant, con20 tract, or cooperative agreement under part D or E

21 to—

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

23 recipient;
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1 ‘‘(B) prepare the research and evaluation

2 findings and products from the project in for3 mats that are useful for specific audiences, in4 cluding parents, administrators, teachers, early

5 intervention personnel, related services person6 nel, and individuals with disabilities;

7 ‘‘(C) disseminate such findings and prod8 ucts; and

9 ‘‘(D) collaborate with other such recipients

10 in carrying out the activities described in sub11 paragraphs (B) and (C).

12 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION MANAGEMENT.—

13 ‘‘(1) STANDING PANELS.—

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

15 establish and use standing panels of experts

16 who are competent, by virtue of their training,

17 expertise, or experience, to evaluate applications

18 under parts D and E that, individually, request

19 more than $75,000 a year in assistance.

20 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT LIMITA21 TION.—A majority of the individuals on each

22 panel described in subparagraph (A) shall be

23 individuals who are not employees of the Fed24 eral Government.
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1 ‘‘(2) SELECTION AND PARTICIPATION OF PANEL

2 MEMBERS.—

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

4 establish criteria to use in the selection of the

5 panel members. Such criteria shall ensure that

6 the membership of standing panels includes—

7 ‘‘(i) individuals with knowledge and

8 expertise on the issues addressed by the

9 activities authorized by parts D and E;

10 and

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

12 of children with disabilities, individuals

13 with disabilities, and persons from diverse

14 racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.

15 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—Standing panel

16 membership shall include, at a minimum—

17 ‘‘(i) individuals who are representa18 tives of institutions of higher education

19 that plan, develop, and carry out programs

20 of personnel preparation;

21 ‘‘(ii) individuals who design and carry

22 out programs of research targeted to the

23 improvement of special education programs

24 and services;
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1 ‘‘(iii) individuals who have recognized

2 experience, and knowledge, necessary to in3 tegrate and apply research findings to im4 prove educational and transitional results

5 for children with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(iv) individuals who administer pro7 grams at the State or local level in which

8 children with disabilities participate;

9 ‘‘(v) individuals who prepare parents

10 of children with disabilities to participate

11 in making decisions about the education of

12 their children;

13 ‘‘(vi) individuals who establish policies

14 that affect the delivery of services to chil15 dren with disabilities;

16 ‘‘(vii) individuals who are parents of

17 children with disabilities who are benefiting

18 or have benefited from coordinated re19 search, personnel preparation, and tech20 nical assistance; and

21 ‘‘(viii) individuals who are individuals

22 with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall pro24 vide training to the individuals who are selected
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1 as members of the standing panels under this

2 paragraph.

3 ‘‘(D) TERM.—Membership on any such

4 standing panel shall be for a period of not more

5 than 3 consecutive years.

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

7 USE OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FOR ADMINISTRA8 TIVE PURPOSES.—

9 ‘‘(A) EXPENSES AND FEES OF NON-FED10 ERAL PANEL MEMBERS.—The Secretary may

11 use funds available under parts D and E to pay

12 the expenses and fees of the panel members

13 who are not members of the Federal Govern14 ment.

15 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The

16 Secretary may use not more than 1 percent of

17 the funds available under parts D and E to pay

18 non-Federal entities for administrative support

19 related to management of applications submit20 ted under part D or E.

21 ‘‘(C) MONITORING.—The Secretary may

22 use funds available under parts D and E to pay

23 the expenses of Federal employees to conduct

24 onsite monitoring of projects receiving
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1 $500,000 or more, for any fiscal year under

2 part D or E.

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

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

5 evaluate activities carried out under such parts.

6 ‘‘(i) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—

7 ‘‘(1) REFERENCES TO EARLY INTERVENTION

8 SERVICES.—

9 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a

10 provision of this section or part C, D, or E re11 fers to services for a child with a disability (or

12 a family member of the child), and the services

13 include early intervention services or services

14 provided under part H, the provision shall be

15 deemed to refer to—

16 ‘‘(i) early intervention services or serv17 ices provided under part H, respectively,

18 for an infant or toddler with a disability

19 (or a family member of the infant or tod20 dler, as appropriate); and

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

22 the provision for a child with a disability

23 (or a family member of the child, as

24 appropriate).
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1 ‘‘(B) PERSON WITH A RELATIONSHIP TO A

2 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a provision of

3 this section or part C, D, or E refers to a bene4 fit (such as training or research) for a person

5 (such as a parent or education professional)

6 with a relationship to a child with a disability

7 (or a family member of the child), and the ben8 efit is provided with respect to services that in9 clude early intervention services or services pro10 vided under part H, the provision shall be

11 deemed to refer to—

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

13 to early intervention services or services

14 provided under part H, respectively, for a

15 person with a relationship to an infant or

16 toddler with a disability (or a family mem17 ber of the infant or toddler, as appro18 priate); and

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

20 to the other services referred to in the pro21 vision, for a person with a relationship to

22 a child with a disability (or a family mem23 ber of the child, as appropriate).

24 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO EARLY INTERVENTION

25 RESULTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a

2 provision of this section or part C, D, or E re3 fers to results for a child with a disability, and

4 the results include early intervention results,

5 the provision shall be deemed to refer to—

6 ‘‘(i) early intervention results for an

7 infant or toddler with a disability; and

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

9 the provision for a child with a disability.

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

11 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—If a provision of

12 this section or part C, D, or E refers to a bene13 fit (such as training or research) for a person

14 described in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) that is pro15 vided to achieve results for a child with a dis16 ability, and the results include early interven17 tion results, the provision shall be deemed to

18 refer to—

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

20 early intervention results, for a person with

21 a relationship to an infant or toddler with

22 a disability; and

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

24 other results referred to in the provision,
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1 for a person with a relationship to a child

2 with a disability.’’.

3 SEC. 107. REPEALS.

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

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

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

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

8 of this Act.

9 SEC. 108. TRANSITION RULE.

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

11 funds appropriated under the Individuals with Disabilities

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

13 1997 to carry out such administrative activities as may

14 be necessary (including activities described in section 610

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

16 of applications for financial assistance for fiscal year 1998

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

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

19 V), the selection of recipients for such assistance, and the

20 promulgation of regulations), to ensure the efficient imple21 mentation by October 1, 1997, of—

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

23 (2) the provisions of part A of such Act that re24 late to activities carried out under such part C, D,
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1 or E, with respect to such activities, and subsection

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

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

4 amendments made by section 106 shall be construed to

5 grant the Secretary the authority to provide assistance to

6 any person, prior to October 1, 1997, to carry out any

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

8 Disabilities Education Act (as amended in section 106)

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

10 of such Act.

11 (c) FISCAL YEAR 1997.—Section 610 of the Individ12 uals with Disabilities Education Act (as in effect on the

13 day before the date of enactment of this Act) shall apply

14 with respect to administrative activities related to the pro15 vision of financial assistance for fiscal year 1997 under

16 parts C through G of such Act (as in effect on such date).

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

18 on the date of enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 109. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 Except as provided in section 107, the amendments

21 made by this title shall take effect on October 1, 1997.
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1 TITLE II—ASSISTANCE FOR EDU2 CATION OF ALL CHILDREN

3 WITH DISABILITIES

4 SEC. 201. ENTITLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.

5 (a) WITHIN STATE DISTRIBUTIONS.—Section 611

6 (20 U.S.C. 1411) is amended—

7 (1) in the matter immediately following sub8 section (b)(3)(B), by striking ‘‘(c)’’ and all that fol9 lows through ‘‘(1) Of the funds’’ and inserting the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(c)(1) Of the funds’’;

12 (2) in the matter immediately following sub13 section (c)(1) (as amended by paragraph (1)), by

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

15 From the funds’’ and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(2)(A) From the funds’’; and

17 (3) in subsection (c) (as amended by para18 graphs (1) and (2))—

19 (A) in paragraph (1)—

20 (i) by realigning the margins of sub21 paragraphs (A) and (B) so as to align with

22 clause (i) of paragraph (4)(A); and

23 (ii) in subparagraph (B)—

24 (I) by striking ‘‘paragraph (4)’’

25 and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)(3)’’;
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘and intermedi2 ate educational units’’; and

3 (III) by striking ‘‘, for use in ac4 cordance with priorities established

5 under section 612(3)’’;

6 (B) in paragraph (2)(A) (as so redesig7 nated by paragraph (2))—

8 (i) by realigning the margins of

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

10 clause (i) of paragraph (4)(A);

11 (ii) by realigning the margins of sub12 clauses (I) and (II) of clause (ii) so as to

13 align with subclause (I) of subsection

14 (d)(2)(A)(i);

15 (iii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘admin16 istrative costs related to carrying out sec17 tions 612 and 613; and’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘the purposes of administering this part;’’;

19 and

20 (iv) in clause (ii)—

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

22 ‘‘in accordance with priorities estab23 lished under section 612(3); and’’ and

24 inserting a semicolon;
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1 (II) in subclause (II), by striking

2 the period at the end thereof and in3 serting a semicolon; and

4 (III) by adding at the end thereof

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(III) to establish and implement the me7 diation process required by section 615(e); and

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

9 levels to meet the performance goals established

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

11 ‘‘(iii) may use the remainder—

12 ‘‘(I) to develop and implement systems

13 change activities under part C;

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

15 develop and implement a statewide fully inte16 grated and coordinated services system that

17 links education, health, social welfare services,

18 support systems, private entities, and commu19 nity entities in a manner designed to improve

20 the educational and transitional results for chil21 dren and families (including children with dis22 abilities and their families), but not to exceed 1

23 percent of the amount received by the State

24 under this section; or
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1 ‘‘(III) for other appropriate activities, at

2 the discretion of the State educational agency,

3 that are consistent with the purposes described

4 in paragraphs (1) and (4) of section 601(c).

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

6 be coordinated with, and to the extent appropriate, sup7 port the coordinated, services developed by the State

8 under part H.’’;

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

10 613(a)(9)’’ and inserting ‘‘section

11 612(a)(18)(A) (ii) and (iii)’’; and

12 (D) by striking paragraph (4).

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

14 1411(d)) is amended—

15 (1) in paragraph (1)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘or intermediate edu17 cational unit’’;

18 (B) by striking ‘‘or unit’’; and

19 (C) by striking ‘‘and units’’; and

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

21 new paragraphs:

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

23 any local educational agency under this section or under

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

25 educational agency would receive, from the combination
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1 of funds under this section and section 619, is less than

2 $7,500.

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

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

5 would otherwise be provided to the local educational agen6 cy to ensure the provision of a free appropriate public edu7 cation to children with disabilities residing in the area

8 served by that agency.

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

10 does not apply to a State agency that is eligible for a pay11 ment under paragraph (2) or section 619(g).

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

13 a local educational agency is adequately providing a free

14 appropriate public education to all children with disabil15 ities residing in the area served by that agency with State

16 and local funds, the State educational agency may reallo17 cate any portion of the funds under this part that are not

18 needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate

19 public education to other local educational agencies in the

20 State that are not adequately providing special education

21 and related services to all children with disabilities resid22 ing in the areas such other local educational agencies

23 serve.’’.

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

25 1411) is amended—
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1 (1) in the matter immediately following sub2 section (d), by striking ‘‘(e)’’ and all that follows

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

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

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

6 and

7 (2) in paragraph (2)—

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

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

10 (B) by striking ‘‘such jurisdiction’’ and in11 serting ‘‘of the outlying areas’’; and

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

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

14 (3) in paragraph (3)—

15 (A) by striking ‘‘each jurisdiction’’ and in16 serting ‘‘each of the outlying areas’’;

17 (B) by striking ‘‘such jurisdiction’’ and in18 serting ‘‘each of the outlying areas’’; and

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

20 ‘‘(2) The’’; and

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

22 new paragraph:

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

24 134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a), permitting the consolidation of
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1 grants to outlying areas, shall not apply to funds such

2 areas receive under this section.’’.

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

4 (20 U.S.C. 1411(f)) is amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1)—

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

7 inserting ‘‘for children with disabilities aged 3

8 through 21, who are enrolled in programs affili9 ated with the BIA’’; and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘aggregate amounts avail11 able for all States under this section for that

12 fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘amount appro13 priated under subsection (h) for that fiscal

14 year’’;

15 (2) in paragraph (3)—

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

17 and inserting ‘‘information that—’’;

18 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) and in19 serting the following:

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

21 Interior meets the appropriate requirements, as de22 termined by the Secretary of Education, of sections

23 612 (including monitoring and evaluation activities)

24 and 613;’’;
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1 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘sec2 tion 618(b)(1)’’ and all that follows through

3 ‘‘required in section 618(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec4 tion 618’’;

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

6 assurance that, by October 1, 1992, the Sec7 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of

8 Health and Human Services’’ and all that fol9 lows through ‘‘memorandum of agreement’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘information that describes the activi11 ties undertaken with regard to the memoran12 dum of agreement between the Secretaries of

13 the Interior and of Health and Human Serv14 ices’’; and

15 (E) in subparagraph (F)—

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

17 inserting ‘‘the Department of Edu18 cation’s’’;

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

20 and inserting ‘‘related to information sub21 mitted to the Secretary of Education under

22 this paragraph’’; and

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘its duties’’ and in24 serting ‘‘the duties of the Department of

25 the Interior’’;
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1 (3) in the matter immediately following para2 graph (3)(F), by striking ‘‘application.’’ and insert3 ing the following: ‘‘information. The Secretary of the

4 Interior shall submit annually to the Secretary of

5 Education a report on the status on the activities

6 described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) that the

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

8 (4) in paragraph (4)—

9 (A) in subparagraph (A)—

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

11 all that follows through ‘‘under section

12 611(a) for fiscal year 1992,’’ and inserting

13 ‘‘With funds appropriated under subsection

14 (h),’’; and

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘aggregate amounts

16 available for all States under this section’’

17 and inserting ‘‘amount appropriated under

18 subsection (h)’’;

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in20 serting the following:

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

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

23 by allocating to each tribe or tribal organization an

24 amount based on the number of children with disabilities,
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1 aged 3 through 5, residing on reservations as reported an2 nually divided by the total of such children served by all

3 tribes or tribal organizations.’’;

4 (C) in subparagraph (D)—

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

6 inserting ‘‘shall’’;

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

8 and inserting ‘‘The tribe and tribal organi9 zation’’; and

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘diagnosis’’ and in11 serting ‘‘diagnosis of the children’’;

12 (D) in subparagraph (E)—

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

14 inserting ‘‘an annual report’’;

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

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

17 which’’;

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

19 inserting ‘‘an annual basis’’; and

20 (iv) by striking ‘‘under this sub21 section’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph

22 (3)’’; and

23 (E) in subparagraph (F)—

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

25 intermediate educational units)’’; and
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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘its divisions and of2 fices’’ and inserting ‘‘any appropriate divi3 sion or office of the Department of the In4 terior’’;

5 (5) in paragraph (5)—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘January 1, 1992’’ and in7 serting ‘‘June 1, 1997’’;

8 (B) by striking ‘‘Committee on Education

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

10 Committee on Economic and Educational Op11 portunities’’;

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

13 inserting ‘‘Chairman of the Committee on

14 Labor’’;

15 (D) by striking ‘‘interested and involved

16 parties’’ and inserting ‘‘interested and involved

17 parties, including parents of Indian children

18 with disabilities’’; and

19 (E) by striking ‘‘interested parties’’ and in20 serting ‘‘interested agencies, organizations, or

21 individuals’’; and

22 (6) in paragraph (6)—

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

24 this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘section 612(a)(20)’’;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘, within 6 months’’ and

2 all that follows through ‘‘Bureau of Indian Af3 fairs (BIA),’’;

4 (C) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘chil5 dren, and youth’’ and inserting ‘‘and children’’;

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

7 ‘‘and;’’ and inserting a semicolon;

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

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

10 and

11 (F) by adding at the end thereof the fol12 lowing new subparagraph:

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

14 and transitional results for Indian children with dis15 abilities, to be submitted to the Secretary of the In16 terior on January 2, 1998.’’.

17 (e) REPORTING DATES FOR FUNDING ESTIMATES.—

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

19 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)(i), by striking ‘‘and in20 termediate educational units’’; and

21 (2) in paragraph (2)—

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

23 intermediate educational unit’’; and

24 (B) in subparagraph (B)—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and intermediate edu2 cational units’’ each place it appears; and

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

4 appears.

5 (f) CHILD COUNT.—Section 611(a)(3) is amended by

6 striking ‘‘December 1’’ and inserting ‘‘the last Friday of

7 October or December 1’’.

8 SEC. 202. STATE ELIGIBILITY.

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

10 follows:

11 ‘‘SEC. 612. STATE ELIGIBILITY.

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

13 under this part for any fiscal year if the State dem14 onstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the

15 State has in effect policies and procedures to ensure that

16 the State meets each of the following conditions:

17 ‘‘(1) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU18 CATION.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A free appropriate

20 public education is available to all children with

21 disabilities aged 3 through 21 who are residing

22 in the State.

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

24 does not apply with respect to children aged 3

25 through 5 and 18 through 21 in a State to the
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1 extent that the application of such subpara2 graph to such children would be inconsistent

3 with State law or practice, or the order of any

4 court, respecting the provision of public edu5 cation to children in such age ranges.

6 ‘‘(2) FULL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

7 GOAL.—The State has established a goal of provid8 ing full educational opportunity to all children with

9 disabilities and a detailed timetable for accomplish10 ing the goal.

11 ‘‘(3) CHILD FIND.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All children with dis13 abilities residing in the State are identified, lo14 cated, and evaluated, regardless of the severity

15 of the disability of the children.

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

17 Act requires that children be classified by their

18 disability so long as each child who has a dis19 ability listed in section 602(a)(4)(A)(i) and

20 who, by reason of that disability, needs special

21 education and related services is regarded as a

22 child with a disability under this part.

23 ‘‘(4) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

24 An individualized education program (or an individ25 ualized family service plan that meets the content
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1 requirements of section 677(d)) is developed, re2 viewed, and revised in accordance with subsections

3 (d) through (i) of section 614.

4 ‘‘(5) LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex6 tent appropriate, children with disabilities (in7 cluding children in public or private institutions

8 or other care facilities) are educated with chil9 dren who are not disabled, and special classes,

10 separate schooling, or other removal of children

11 with disabilities from the regular educational

12 environment occurs only when the nature or se13 verity of a child’s disability is such that edu14 cation in regular classes with the use of special

15 education and related services and supple16 mentary aids and services cannot be achieved

17 satisfactorily.

18 ‘‘(B) FUNDING.—

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

20 funding mechanism by which the State dis21 tributes State funds on the basis of the

22 type of setting in which a child is served,

23 the funding mechanism does not result in

24 placements that violate the requirements of

25 subparagraph (A).
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1 ‘‘(ii) ASSURANCE.—If the State does

2 not have policies and procedures to ensure

3 compliance with clause (i), the State shall

4 provide the Secretary with an assurance

5 that the State will revise the funding

6 mechanism used by the State as soon as

7 feasible to ensure that the funding mecha8 nism does not result in such placements.

9 ‘‘(C) DISPROPORTIONALITY.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Data are exam11 ined by the State educational agency to de12 termine if significant racial dis13 proportionality is occurring in the identi14 fication of children as children with disabil15 ities (including the classification of such

16 children according to a particular impair17 ment described in section 602(a)(4)) or in

18 the placement of such children in particu19 lar types of settings.

20 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW AND REVISION OF POLI21 CIES.—In the case of an occurrence de22 scribed in clause (i), the placement and
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1 evaluation policies, procedures, and prac2 tices are reviewed and, if appropriate, re3 vised, to ensure that such policies, proce4 dures, and practices comply with the re5 quirements of this Act.

6 ‘‘(6) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—Children

7 with disabilities and their parents are afforded the

8 procedural safeguards required by section 615 and

9 615A.

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

11 are evaluated in accordance with subsections (a)

12 through (c) of section 614.

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

14 comply with section 617(c), relating to the confiden15 tiality of records and information.

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

17 PROGRAMS.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Children who are par19 ticipating in early intervention programs under

20 part H and who will participate in preschool

21 programs assisted under this part, are provided

22 an effective transition to such preschool pro23 grams.

24 ‘‘(B) TRANSITION PLANNING.—Local edu25 cational agency personnel will participate in
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1 transition planning conferences convened by the

2 designated or established lead agency under

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

4 ‘‘(C) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PRO5 GRAM; INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE

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

7 participates in the programs described in sub8 paragraph (A), an individualized education pro9 gram or, if consistent with section 614(d)(1)(B)

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

11 has been developed and is being implemented.

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

13 ‘‘(A) CHILDREN PLACED IN PRIVATE

14 SCHOOLS BY THEIR PARENTS.—To the extent

15 consistent with the number and location of chil16 dren with disabilities in the State who are en17 rolled by their parents in private elementary

18 and secondary schools, provision is made for the

19 participation of such children in the program

20 assisted or carried out under this part by pro21 viding special education and related services for

22 such children.

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

24 TO, PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Children with dis2 abilities in private schools and facilities are

3 provided special education and related

4 services, in accordance with individualized

5 education programs, at no cost to their

6 parents, if such children are placed in, or

7 referred to, such schools or facilities by the

8 State or a local educational agency in

9 order to comply with this part or with any

10 other law requiring the provision of special

11 education and related services to all chil12 dren with disabilities in the State.

13 ‘‘(ii) STANDARDS.—In all cases de14 scribed in clause (i), children with disabil15 ities are placed in, or referred to, only pri16 vate schools and facilities that meet stand17 ards that apply to State and local edu18 cational agencies, and children with dis19 abilities served in such schools and facili20 ties have all the rights such children would

21 have if served by such agencies.

22 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT FOR EDUCATION OF CHIL23 DREN PLACED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS WITHOUT

24 CONSENT OF OR REFERRAL BY THE PUBLIC

25 AGENCY.—
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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub2 paragraph (A), this part does not require

3 a local educational agency to pay for the

4 cost of education, including special edu5 cation and related services, of a child with

6 a disability at a private school or facility if

7 that agency made a free appropriate public

8 education available to the child and the

9 parents elected to place the child in such

10 private school or facility.

11 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON REIMBURSE12 MENT FOR SERVICES.—If, as a result of

13 mediation described in section 615(e), or

14 as a result of a decision rendered under

15 the procedural safeguards of section 615,

16 the parents of a child with a disability who

17 previously received special education and

18 related services under the authority of a

19 local educational agency enroll their child

20 in a private elementary or secondary school

21 without the consent of, or a referral by the

22 local educational agency, any reimburse23 ment for the cost of that enrollment that

24 the local educational agency may otherwise
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1 be required to make to the parents may be

2 reduced or denied—

3 ‘‘(I) if, 10 business days (includ4 ing any holidays that occur on a busi5 ness day) prior to the removal of the

6 child from the public school, the par7 ents do not provide a written state8 ment rejecting the placement proposed

9 by the local educational agency to pro10 vide a free appropriate public edu11 cation to the child; or

12 ‘‘(II) upon a judicial finding of

13 unreasonableness with respect to ac14 tions taken by the parents.

15 ‘‘(11) SEA RESPONSIBLE FOR GENERAL

16 SUPERVISION.—

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

18 agency is responsible for ensuring the following:

19 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENTS.—The require20 ments of this part are carried out.

21 ‘‘(ii) EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.—All

22 educational programs for children with dis23 abilities in the State, including all such

24 programs administered by any other State
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1 or local agency, are under the general su2 pervision of the persons in the State edu3 cational agency who are responsible for

4 educational programs for children with dis5 abilities and meet educational standards of

6 the State educational agency.

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

8 shall not be construed as limiting the obliga9 tions of agencies other than educational agen10 cies to provide, or pay for some or all of the

11 costs of, a free appropriate public education for

12 any child with a disability in the State.

13 ‘‘(12) OBLIGATIONS RELATED TO AND METH14 ODS OF ENSURING SERVICES.—

15 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHING RESPONSIBILITY FOR

16 SERVICES.—The Chief Executive Officer of the

17 State or designee of the Chief Executive Officer

18 shall ensure that an interagency agreement or

19 other mechanism for interagency coordination is

20 in effect between each public agency described

21 in subparagraph (B) and the appropriate edu22 cational agency within the State, in order to en23 sure that all services described in subparagraph

24 (B)(i) that are needed to ensure a free appro25 priate public education are provided, including
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1 the provision of such services during the pend2 ency of any dispute under clause (iii). Such

3 agreement or mechanism shall include the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(i) AGENCY FINANCIAL RESPON6 SIBILITY.—An identification of, or a meth7 od for defining, the financial responsibility

8 of each agency for providing all services

9 described in subparagraph (B)(i) to ensure

10 a free appropriate public education to chil11 dren with disabilities provided that the fi12 nancial responsibility of each public agency

13 described in subparagraph (B) including

14 the State Medicaid agency, and other pub15 lic or private insurers of children with dis16 abilities (if the filing of claims with such

17 insurers is voluntary on the part of the

18 parents) shall precede the financial respon19 sibility of the local educational agency (or

20 the State agency responsible for developing

21 the child’s IEP).

22 ‘‘(ii) CONDITIONS, TERMS, AND PRO23 CEDURES OF REIMBURSEMENT.—The con24 ditions, terms, and procedures under which
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1 a local educational agency shall be reim2 bursed by other agencies.

3 ‘‘(iii) INTERAGENCY DISPUTES.—Pro4 cedures for resolving interagency disputes

5 (including procedures under which local

6 educational agencies may initiate proceed7 ings) under the agreement or other mecha8 nism to secure reimbursement from other

9 agencies or otherwise implement the provi10 sions of the agreement or mechanism.

11 ‘‘(iv) COORDINATION OF SERVICES

12 PROCEDURES.—Policies and procedures for

13 agencies to determine and identify the

14 interagency coordination responsibilities of

15 each agency to promote the coordination

16 and timely delivery of services described in

17 subparagraph (A)(i).

18 ‘‘(B) OBLIGATION OF PUBLIC AGENCY.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If any public

20 agency other than an educational agency is

21 otherwise obligated under Federal or State

22 law, or assigned responsibility under State

23 policy or under subparagraph (A), to pro24 vide or pay for any services that are also

25 considered as special education or related
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1 services (such as, but not limited to, serv2 ices described in sections 602(a)(1) relat3 ing to assistive technology devices,

4 602(a)(2) relating to assistive technology

5 services, 602(a)(24) relating to related

6 services, 602(a)(31) relating to supple7 mentary aids and services, and section

8 602(a)(33) relating to transition services)

9 that are necessary for ensuring a free ap10 propriate public education to children with

11 disabilities within the State, such public

12 agency shall fulfill that obligation or re13 sponsibility, either directly or through con14 tract or other arrangement.

15 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT FOR SERVICES

16 BY PUBLIC AGENCY.—In a case in which a

17 public agency other than an educational

18 agency fails to fulfill the agency’s financial

19 responsibility described in subparagraph

20 (A)(i) to provide or pay for the special edu21 cation or related services described in

22 clause (i) for children with disabilities and

23 the local educational agency (or State

24 agency responsible for developing the

25 child’s IEP) provides or pays for such
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1 services to such children, the local edu2 cational agency (or State agency respon3 sible for developing the child’s IEP) may

4 claim reimbursement from such public

5 agency for such services. Such public agen6 cy shall reimburse the local educational

7 agency (or State agency responsible for de8 veloping the child’s IEP) pursuant to the

9 terms of the interagency agreement or

10 other mechanism in effect under subpara11 graph (A)(i) according to the procedures

12 established pursuant to subparagraph

13 (A)(ii).

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

15 subparagraph (A) may be met through—

16 ‘‘(i) State statute or regulation;

17 ‘‘(ii) signed agreements between re18 spective agency officials that clearly iden19 tify the responsibilities of each agency re20 lating to the provision of services; or

21 ‘‘(iii) other appropriate methods as

22 determined by the Chief Executive Officer

23 of the State or designee of the Chief Exec24 utive Officer.
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1 ‘‘(13) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ELIGI2 BILITY.—The State educational agency will not

3 make a final determination that a local educational

4 agency is not eligible for assistance under this part

5 without first affording the local educational agency

6 reasonable notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

7 ‘‘(14) COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL

8 DEVELOPMENT.—The State has in effect, consistent

9 with the purposes of this Act and with section

10 676(b)(8), a comprehensive system of personnel de11 velopment that is designed to ensure an adequate

12 supply of qualified special education and related

13 services personnel necessary to carry out this part

14 and that includes the following:

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

16 that include the number of personnel providing

17 special education and related services, and of

18 that number, the number of individuals with

19 temporary certification, and the number of

20 vacancies.

21 ‘‘(B) PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—

22 A personnel development plan that meets the

23 following requirements:

24 ‘‘(i) CONSULTATIONS.—The plan is

25 developed in consultation with parents of
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1 children with disabilities, State and local

2 educational agencies, institutions of higher

3 education, and professional associations.

4 ‘‘(ii) PERSONNEL.—The plan address5 es or includes the following:

6 ‘‘(I) PERSONNEL NEEDS.—The

7 current and projected needs for spe8 cial education and related services

9 personnel throughout the State.

10 ‘‘(II) SERVICE PREPARATION OF

11 PERSONNEL.—The plan addresses the

12 need for the preservice and inservice

13 preparation of personnel throughout

14 the State, including regular education,

15 special education, and related services

16 personnel, to provide educational and

17 related services to children with dis18 abilities.

19 ‘‘(III) RECRUITMENT.—The plan

20 includes a system or procedures for

21 recruiting, preparing, and retaining

22 qualified personnel, including person23 nel with disabilities and personnel
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1 from groups that are underrep2 resented in the field of special edu3 cation and related services.

4 ‘‘(IV) INTEGRATION WITH OTHER

5 PLANS.—The plan is integrated, to

6 the maximum extent possible, with

7 other professional development plans

8 and activities, including plans and ac9 tivities developed or carried out under

10 other Federal law and State law that

11 address personnel recruitment and

12 training.

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

14 every 3 years.

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

16 educational agency has established policies and pro17 cedures relating to the establishment and mainte18 nance of standards to ensure that personnel nec19 essary to carry out the purposes of this part are ap20 propriately and adequately prepared and trained, in21 cluding the following:

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

23 maintenance of standards that are consistent
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1 with any State approved or recognized certifi2 cation, licensing, registration, or other com3 parable requirements that apply to the area in

4 which such personnel are providing special edu5 cation or related services.

6 ‘‘(B) RETRAINING AND HIRING.—To the

7 extent such standards described in subpara8 graph (A) are not based on the highest require9 ments in the State applicable to a specific pro10 fession or discipline, the State is carrying out

11 measures to require the retraining or hiring of

12 personnel that meet appropriate professional re13 quirements in the State.

14 ‘‘(C) USE OF PARAPROFESSIONALS.—

15 Nothing in this Act, including subparagraphs

16 (A) and (B), prohibits the use of paraprofes17 sionals who are appropriately trained and su18 pervised by qualified personnel (in accordance

19 with State law, regulations, or written policy),

20 in meeting the requirements of this part.

21 ‘‘(16) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND INDICA22 TORS.—

23 ‘‘(A) GOALS.—The State has established

24 goals for the performance of children with dis25 abilities in the State that are consistent with
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1 the purposes of section 601(c)(1) and that are

2 consistent, to the maximum extent appropriate,

3 with other goals and standards established by

4 the State.

5 ‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.—The

6 State has established performance indicators

7 that the State will use to assess the progress to8 ward achieving the goals described in subpara9 graph (A) and that, at a minimum, address the

10 performance of children with disabilities on as11 sessments and the dropout rates and gradua12 tion rates of such children.

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

14 2 years to the Secretary and the public on the

15 progress of the State, and of children with dis16 abilities in the State, toward meeting the goals

17 established under subparagraph (A).

18 ‘‘(17) PARTICIPATION IN ASSESSMENTS.—

19 ‘‘(A) ASSESSMENTS.—

20 ‘‘(i) STATE AND DISTRICTWIDE AS21 SESSMENTS.—Children with disabilities are

22 included in general State and districtwide

23 assessment programs, with appropriate ac24 commodations, where necessary.
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1 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS.—

2 The State educational agency or local edu3 cational agency, as appropriate, will de4 velop guidelines for the participation of

5 children with disabilities in alternate as6 sessments for such children who cannot

7 participate in State and districtwide as8 sessment programs and as soon as feasible,

9 but not later than July 1, 1999, will con10 duct such alternate assessments.

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

12 educational agency shall, as soon as feasible,

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

14 to the public, with the same frequency and in

15 the same detail as the State makes reports on

16 the assessment of nondisabled children, on the

17 following information with respect to children

18 with disabilities:

19 ‘‘(i) REGULAR ASSESSMENTS.—The

20 number of children with disabilities partici21 pating in regular assessments.

22 ‘‘(ii) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS.—

23 The number of such children participating

24 in alternate assessments.
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1 ‘‘(iii) PERFORMANCE.—The perform2 ance of children with disabilities on regular

3 assessments and on alternate assessments

4 when doing so meets generally accepted

5 professional standards and would not re6 sult in the disclosure of performance re7 sults identifiable to individual children.

8 ‘‘(18) USE OF FUNDS.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—

10 ‘‘(i) EXPENDITURES.—Funds paid to

11 the State under this part will be expended

12 in accordance with all provisions of this

13 part.

14 ‘‘(ii) NONCOMMINGLING.—The funds

15 described in clause (i) will not be commin16 gled with State funds.

17 ‘‘(iii) SUPPLEMENT—NOT SUP18 PLANT.—Except as provided in subpara19 graph (B), the funds described in clause (i)

20 will be used to supplement State, local, and

21 other Federal funds (including funds not

22 under the direct control of State or local

23 educational agencies) expended for special

24 education and related services, and not to

25 supplant such funds.
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1 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive,

2 in part, the requirements of clause (iii) of sub3 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines that

4 the State has provided clear and convincing evi5 dence that all children with disabilities in the

6 State have available a free appropriate public

7 education.

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

9 adoption of any policies and procedures needed to

10 comply with this section (including any amendments

11 to such policies and procedures), there are public

12 hearings, adequate notice of the hearings, and an

13 opportunity for comment available to the general

14 public, including individuals with disabilities and

15 parents of children with disabilities. In a case in

16 which policies and procedures have been developed

17 by a State educational agency or through a State

18 legislative hearing and comment process that pro19 vides an opportunity for comment by the general

20 public prior to the adoption of any policies and pro21 cedures by the State, no further public review or

22 public comment period is required.

23 ‘‘(20) STATE ADVISORY PANEL.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State has an ad25 visory panel, appointed by the Governor or any
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1 other official authorized under State law to

2 make such appointments, that is representative

3 of the State population and that is composed of

4 individuals involved in, or concerned with, the

5 education of children with disabilities, including

6 the following:

7 ‘‘(i) Parents of children with

8 disabilities.

9 ‘‘(ii) Individuals with disabilities.

10 ‘‘(iii) Teachers.

11 ‘‘(iv) Representatives of institutions of

12 higher education that prepare special edu13 cation and related services personnel.

14 ‘‘(v) State and local education

15 officials.

16 ‘‘(vi) Administrators of programs for

17 children with disabilities.

18 ‘‘(vii) Representatives of other State

19 agencies involved in the financing or deliv20 ery of related services to children with

21 disabilities.

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

23 vocational, community, or business organi24 zation concerned with the provision of
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1 transition services to children with

2 disabilities.

3 ‘‘(ix) Any other individual, as deter4 mined by the State educational agency.

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

6 carry out the following duties:

7 ‘‘(i) Advise the State educational

8 agency of unmet needs within the State in

9 the education of children with disabilities.

10 ‘‘(ii) Comment publicly on any rules

11 or regulations proposed by the State re12 garding the following:

13 ‘‘(I) The education of children

14 with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(II) The procedures for dis16 tribution of funds received by the

17 State under this part.

18 ‘‘(iii) Advise the State educational

19 agency with respect to developing evalua20 tions and reporting on data to the Sec21 retary under section 618.
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1 ‘‘(iv) Advise the State educational

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

5 this part.

6 ‘‘(v) Advise the State educational

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

10 disabilities.

11 ‘‘(C) CONSOLIDATION OF PANELS.—Any

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

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

15 practitioners created under section 1603(b) of

16 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

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

18 the State advisory panel under this part if such

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

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

22 SERVICES.—If a State educational agency provides free

23 appropriate public education to children with disabilities,

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

3 agency were a local educational agency; and

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

5 to the State educational agency under this part to

6 serve such children without regard to section

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

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

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

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

12 to the Secretary such information as the Secretary

13 may reasonably require.

14 ‘‘(2) EXISTING INFORMATION ON POLICIES AND

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

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

19 part as in effect prior to the date of enactment of

20 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

21 Amendments of 1997, the Secretary shall consider

22 the State as meeting that requirement.

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

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

4 ‘‘(d) SECRETARIAL APPROVAL.—

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

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

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

9 a final determination that a State is not eligible

10 under this section only after providing the State—

11 ‘‘(A) reasonable notice; and

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

13 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE UNDER OTHER FEDERAL PRO14 GRAMS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to permit

15 a State to reduce medical and other assistance available,

16 or to alter eligibility, under titles V and XIX of the Social

17 Security Act with respect to the provision of a free appro18 priate public education for children with disabilities within

19 the State.

20 ‘‘(f) BYPASS FOR CHILDREN IN PRIVATE

21 SCHOOLS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, on the date of enact23 ment of the Education of the Handicapped Act

24 Amendments of 1983, a State educational agency
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1 was prohibited by law from providing for the partici2 pation in special programs of children with disabil3 ities enrolled in private elementary and secondary

4 schools as required by subsection (a)(10)(A), the

5 Secretary shall waive such requirement, and shall ar6 range for the provision of services to such children

7 through arrangements that shall be subject to the

8 requirements of subsection (a)(10)(A).

9 ‘‘(2) FUNDING.—

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

11 arranges for services pursuant to this sub12 section, the Secretary, after consultation with

13 the appropriate public and private school offi14 cials, shall pay to the provider of such services

15 an amount per child that does not exceed the

16 amount determined by dividing—

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

18 State under this part; by

19 ‘‘(ii) the number of children with dis20 abilities served by the State in the preced21 ing year as reported to the Secretary under

22 section 618.

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

24 final resolution of any investigation or com25 plaint that could result in a determination
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1 under this subsection that the State is prohib2 ited from complying with subsection (a)(10)(A)

3 by State law, the Secretary may withhold from

4 the allocation of the affected State educational

5 agency the amount the Secretary estimates

6 would be necessary to pay the cost of such

7 services.

8 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATIONS BY THE SEC9 RETARY.—Any determination by the Secretary

10 under this subsection shall continue in effect

11 until the Secretary determines that there will

12 no longer be any failure or inability on the part

13 of the State educational agency to meet the re14 quirements of subsection (a)(10)(A).

15 ‘‘(3) FINAL ACTION.—

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

17 not take any final action under this subsection

18 until the State educational agency affected by

19 such action has had an opportunity, for at least

20 45 days after receiving written notice thereof,

21 to submit written objections and to appear be22 fore the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee

23 to show cause why such action should not be

24 taken.
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1 ‘‘(B) PETITION FOR REVIEW.—If a State

2 educational agency is dissatisfied with the Sec3 retary’s final action after a proceeding under

4 subparagraph (A), the State educational agency

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

6 file with the United States court of appeals for

7 the circuit in which such State is located a peti8 tion for review of that action. A copy of the pe9 tition shall be forthwith transmitted by the

10 clerk of the court to the Secretary. The Sec11 retary thereupon shall file in the court the

12 record of the proceedings on which the Sec13 retary based the Secretary’s action, as provided

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

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

16 the Secretary, if supported by substantial evi17 dence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for

18 good cause shown, may remand the case to the

19 Secretary to take further evidence. The Sec20 retary may thereupon make new or modified

21 findings of fact and may modify the Secretary’s

22 previous action, and shall file in the court the

23 record of the further proceedings. Such new or

24 modified findings of fact shall likewise be con25 clusive if supported by substantial evidence.
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1 ‘‘(D) COURT’S ACTION.—Upon the filing of

2 a petition under subparagraph (B), the court

3 shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of

4 the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in

5 part. The judgment of the court shall be subject

6 to review by the Supreme Court of the United

7 States upon certiorari or certification as pro8 vided in section 1254 of title 28, United States

9 Code.’’.

10 SEC. 203. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND STATE AGEN11 CY ELIGIBILITY.

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

13 follows:

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

15 AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency is eli17 gible for assistance under this part for any fiscal year if

18 the local educational agency demonstrates to the satisfac19 tion of the State educational agency that the local edu20 cational agency meets each of the following conditions:

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

22 The local educational agency, in providing for the
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1 education of children with disabilities within the ju2 risdiction of the local educational agency, has in ef3 fect policies, procedures, and programs that are con4 sistent with the State policies and procedures estab5 lished under section 612 with respect to the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(A) The availability of a free appropriate

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

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

10 opportunity to all children with disabilities

11 under section 612(a)(2).

12 ‘‘(C) The identification, location, and eval13 uation of children with disabilities under section

14 612(a)(3).

15 ‘‘(D) Individualized education programs

16 under section 612(a)(4).

17 ‘‘(E) Education of children in the least re18 strictive environment under section 612(a)(5).

19 ‘‘(F) Procedural safeguards under section

20 612(a)(6).

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

22 ‘‘(H) Confidentiality under section

23 612(a)(8).
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1 ‘‘(I) Transition of children from early

2 intervention programs under part H to pre3 school programs under section 612(a)(9).

4 ‘‘(J) Children in private schools under sec5 tion 612(a)(10).

6 ‘‘(2) COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL

7 DEVELOPMENT.—The local educational agency, to

8 the extent appropriate, contributes to and uses the

9 State’s comprehensive system of personnel develop10 ment established under section 612(a)(14).

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

12 local educational agency under this part will be ex13 pended or used in the following manner:

14 ‘‘(A) EXPENDITURES.—Funds will be ex15 pended in accordance with the applicable provi16 sions of this part.

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

18 only to pay the excess costs of providing special

19 education and related services to children with

20 disabilities.

21 ‘‘(C) SUPPLEMENT—NOT SUPPLANT.—

22 Funds will be used to supplement State, local,

23 and other Federal funds and not to supplant

24 such funds.
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1 ‘‘(D) LEVEL OF EXPENDITURES.—Except

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

3 be used to reduce the level of expenditures for

4 the education of children with disabilities made

5 by the local educational agency from State or

6 local funds below the level of such expenditures

7 for the preceding fiscal year.

8 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding the

9 limitation in subparagraph (D), a local edu10 cational agency may reduce the level of expendi11 tures for the education of children with disabil12 ities if such reduction is the result of—

13 ‘‘(i) the voluntary departure, by re14 tirement or otherwise, of special education

15 personnel who are paid at or near the top

16 of the agency’s salary scale;

17 ‘‘(ii) decreases in enrollment of chil18 dren with disabilities;

19 ‘‘(iii) the end of the agency’s obliga20 tion, consistent with this part, to provide

21 an exceptionally costly program of special

22 education to a particular child with a dis23 ability because the child—

24 ‘‘(I) has left the agency’s juris25 diction;
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1 ‘‘(II) has reached the age at

2 which the agency’s obligation to pro3 vide a free appropriate public edu4 cation to the child terminates; or

5 ‘‘(III) no longer needs the pro6 gram; or

7 ‘‘(iv) the termination of unusually

8 large expenditures for such long-term pur9 poses as the acquisition of equipment and

10 the construction of school facilities.

11 ‘‘(4) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—Notwith12 standing paragraph (3)(B) or section

13 612(a)(18)(A)(ii) (relating to commingled funds),

14 funds provided to the local educational agency under

15 this part may be used for the following activities:

16 ‘‘(A) SERVICES AND AIDS THAT ALSO BEN17 EFIT NONDISABLED CHILDREN.—For the costs

18 of special education and related services and

19 supplementary aids and services provided in a

20 regular class to a child with a disability in ac21 cordance with the individualized education pro22 gram of the child, even if one or more non23 disabled children benefit from such services.

24 ‘‘(B) SERVICES AND AIDS THAT ALSO BEN25 EFIT OTHER DISABLED CHILDREN.—For the
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1 costs of special education and related services

2 and supplementary aids and services provided

3 to a child with a disability in accordance with

4 the individualized education program of the

5 child, even if one or more children with disabil6 ities who are protected by section 504 of the

7 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and title II of the

8 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 benefit

9 from such services.

10 ‘‘(C) INTEGRATED AND COORDINATED

11 SERVICES SYSTEM.—To develop and implement

12 a fully integrated and coordinated services sys13 tem in accordance with subsection (f).

14 ‘‘(D) SCHOOL-BASED IMPROVEMENT

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

16 school-based improvement plan (in accordance

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

18 purposes described in part C and that is de19 signed to improve educational and transitional

20 results for all children with disabilities and, as

21 appropriate, other children consistent with sub22 paragraphs (A) and (B).

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

24 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—Except as

2 provided in paragraph (2), a local educational agen3 cy that desires to establish its eligibility under this

4 section shall submit to the State educational agency

5 information demonstrating that the local educational

6 agency meets the requirements of subsection (a).

7 ‘‘(2) EXISTING INFORMATION ON POLICIES AND

8 PROCEDURES.—If a local educational agency has on

9 file with the State educational agency policies and

10 procedures that meet any requirement of this sec11 tion, including any policies, procedures, or applica12 tions filed under this part as in effect before the

13 date of enactment of the Individuals with Disabil14 ities Education Act Amendments of 1997, the State

15 educational agency may consider the local edu16 cational agency as meeting such requirement.

17 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS OF POLICIES AND PROCE18 DURES.—The State educational agency may require

19 a local educational agency to submit additional eligi20 bility information if the local educational agency

21 modifies the policies and procedures that the local

22 educational agency has filed with the State edu23 cational agency consistent with paragraphs (1) and

24 (2).

25 ‘‘(c) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPROVAL.—
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1 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the State edu3 cational agency determines that a local edu4 cational agency or State agency under sub5 section (i) is eligible under this section, the

6 State educational agency shall notify the agency

7 of the determination.

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON STATE NOTIFICA9 TION.—A State educational agency may not

10 give the notice to an agency described under

11 subparagraph (A) until the Secretary has noti12 fied the State educational agency that the State

13 is eligible under section 612.

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

15 The State educational agency may not make a final

16 determination that a local educational agency or

17 State agency under subsection (i) is not eligible

18 under this section until after providing the local edu19 cational or State agency—

20 ‘‘(A) reasonable notice; and

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

22 ‘‘(d) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND STATE

23 AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—

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

25 agency, after reasonable notice and an opportunity
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1 for a hearing, finds that a local educational agency

2 or State agency described in subsection (i) that has

3 been found eligible under this section is not in com4 pliance with any of the eligibility requirements de5 scribed in subsection (a), the State educational agen6 cy shall make no further payments to the local edu7 cational agency or State agency under section 620

8 until the State educational agency has determined

9 that the agency is complying with the eligibility re10 quirements described in subsection (a).

11 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION OF PENDENCY OF AC12 TION.—Section 616(a) with respect to notification of

13 a pending action shall apply to any agency that re14 ceives a notice from the State educational agency

15 under this subsection.

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

17 responsibilities under paragraph (1), the State edu18 cational agency shall consider any decision made in

19 a hearing held under section 615 that is adverse to

20 the local educational agency or State agency involved

21 in that decision.

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

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

24 may join with another local educational agency to

25 meet the eligibility requirements of this section if the
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1 State educational agency determines that the local

2 educational agency would be ineligible under this

3 section because the local educational agency—

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

5 maintain programs of sufficient size and scope

6 to effectively meet the needs of children with

7 disabilities; or

8 ‘‘(B) does not qualify for the minimum

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

10 elects to use its authority under such section.

11 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(A) FUNDING.—If a local educational

13 agency joins with another local educational

14 agency to meet the eligibility requirements

15 under paragraph (1), the total amount of funds

16 made available to the affected local educational

17 agencies shall equal the sum of the payments

18 that each such local educational agency would

19 have received under section 611(c) if such local

20 agencies were eligible for such payments.

21 ‘‘(B) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND AD22 MINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS.—Local edu23 cational agencies that establish joint eligibility

24 under this subsection shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) adopt policies and procedures

2 that are consistent with the State’s policies

3 and procedures under section 612(a); and

4 ‘‘(ii) be jointly responsible for imple5 menting programs receiving assistance

6 under this part.

7 ‘‘(C) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an educational

9 service agency is required by State law to

10 carry out this part, the joint responsibil11 ities given to local educational agencies

12 under subparagraph (B)(ii) shall—

13 ‘‘(I) not apply to the administra14 tion and disbursement of any pay15 ments received by that service agency;

16 and

17 ‘‘(II) be carried out only by that

18 service agency.

19 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE.—Nothing in this

20 subsection relieves an educational service

21 agency of its responsibility to provide for

22 the education of children with disabilities

23 in the least restrictive environment, as re24 quired by section 612(a)(5) and subsection

25 (a)(1)(E).
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1 ‘‘(f) COORDINATED SERVICES SYSTEM.—

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

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

4 agency receives under this part for any fiscal year,

5 in combination with other funds (which shall include

6 funds other than education funds), to develop and

7 implement a fully integrated and coordinated service

8 system that links education, health, social welfare

9 services, support systems, private entities, and other

10 community entities in a manner designed to improve

11 educational and transitional results for all children

12 and their families, including all children with disabil13 ities and their families.

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

15 a local educational agency may carry out under this

16 subsection include—

17 ‘‘(A) improving the effectiveness and effi18 ciency of service delivery, including developing

19 strategies that promote accountability for the

20 educational and transitional results;

21 ‘‘(B) service coordination and case man22 agement that facilitate the linkage of individ23 ualized education programs under this part and

24 individualized family service plans under part H

25 with individualized service plans under other
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1 Federal and State programs, such as title I of

2 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (vocational reha3 bilitation), title XIX of the Social Security Act

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

5 Act (Supplemental Security Income);

6 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing inter7 agency financing strategies for the provision of

8 education, health, mental health, and social

9 services, including transition services and relat10 ed services under this Act; and

11 ‘‘(D) interagency personnel development

12 for the persons involved in the delivery of co13 ordinated services.

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—If a

15 local educational agency is carrying out a coordi16 nated services project under title XI of the Elemen17 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and a

18 coordinated services project under this part in the

19 same schools, the local educational agency shall use

20 funds under this subsection in accordance with that

21 title.

22 ‘‘(g) SCHOOL-BASED IMPROVEMENT PLAN.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational

24 agency may, in accordance with paragraph (2), use

25 funds made available under this part to permit a
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1 public school within the jurisdiction of the local edu2 cational agency to design, implement, and evaluate

3 a school-based improvement plan that is consistent

4 with the purposes described in part C and that is

5 designed to improve educational and transitional re6 sults for all children with disabilities and, as appro7 priate, for other children consistent with subsection

8 (a)(4) (A) and (B) in such public school.

9 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State educational

11 agency may grant authority to a local edu12 cational agency to permit a public school de13 scribed in paragraph (1) (through a school14 based standing panel established under para15 graph (4)(B)) to design, implement, and evalu16 ate a school-based improvement plan described

17 in paragraph (1) for a period not to exceed 3

18 years.

19 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITY OF LOCAL EDU20 CATIONAL AGENCY.—If a State educational

21 agency grants the authority described in sub22 paragraph (A), a local educational agency that

23 is granted such authority shall have the sole re24 sponsibility of oversight of all activities relating

25 to the design, implementation, and evaluation of
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1 any school-based improvement plan that a pub2 lic school is permitted to design under this sub3 section.

4 ‘‘(3) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—A school-based

5 improvement plan described in paragraph (1) shall—

6 ‘‘(A) be designed to be consistent with the

7 purposes described in part C and to improve

8 educational and transitional results for all chil9 dren with disabilities and, as appropriate, for

10 other children consistent with subsection (a)(4)

11 (A) and (B), who attend the school for which

12 the plan is designed and implemented;

13 ‘‘(B) be designed, evaluated, and, as ap14 propriate, implemented by a school-based stand15 ing panel established in accordance with para16 graph (4)(B);

17 ‘‘(C) include goals and measurable indica18 tors to assess the progress of the public school

19 in meeting such goals; and

20 ‘‘(D) ensure that all children with disabil21 ities receive the same level of services described

22 in the individualized education programs of

23 such children.

24 ‘‘(4) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LOCAL EDU25 CATIONAL AGENCY.—A local educational agency that
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1 is granted authority under paragraph (2) to permit

2 a public school to design, implement, and evaluate a

3 school-based improvement plan shall—

4 ‘‘(A) select each school under the jurisdic5 tion of such agency that is eligible to design,

6 implement, and evaluate such a plan;

7 ‘‘(B) require each school selected under

8 subparagraph (A), in accordance with criteria

9 established by such local educational agency

10 under subparagraph (C), to establish a school11 based standing panel to carry out the duties de12 scribed in paragraph (3)(B);

13 ‘‘(C) establish—

14 ‘‘(i) criteria that shall be used by such

15 local educational agency in the selection of

16 an eligible school under subparagraph (A);

17 ‘‘(ii) criteria that shall be used by a

18 public school selected under subparagraph

19 (A) in the establishment of a school-based

20 standing panel to carry out the duties de21 scribed in paragraph (3)(B) and that shall

22 ensure that the membership of such panel

23 reflects the diversity of the community in

24 which the public school is located and in25 cludes, at a minimum—
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1 ‘‘(I) parents of children with dis2 abilities who attend such public

3 school, including parents of children

4 with disabilities from unserved and

5 underserved populations, as appro6 priate;

7 ‘‘(II) special education and gen8 eral education teachers of such public

9 school;

10 ‘‘(III) special education and gen11 eral education administrators, or the

12 designee of such administrators, of

13 such public school; and

14 ‘‘(IV) related services providers

15 who are responsible for providing

16 services to the children with disabil17 ities who attend such public school;

18 and

19 ‘‘(iii) criteria that shall be used by

20 such local educational agency with respect

21 to the distribution of funds under this part

22 to carry out this subsection;

23 ‘‘(D) disseminate the criteria established

24 under subparagraph (C) to local school district

25 personnel and local parent organizations within
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1 the jurisdiction of such local educational

2 agency;

3 ‘‘(E) require a public school that desires to

4 design, implement, and evaluate a school-based

5 improvement plan to submit an application at

6 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

7 such information as such local educational

8 agency shall reasonably require; and

9 ‘‘(F) establish procedures for approval by

10 such local educational agency of a school-based

11 improvement plan designed under this sub12 section.

13 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—A school-based improve14 ment plan described in paragraph (1) may be sub15 mitted to a local educational agency for approval

16 only if a consensus with respect to any matter relat17 ing to the design, implementation, or evaluation of

18 the goals of such plan is reached by the school-based

19 standing panel that designed such plan.

20 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(A) PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.—In carry22 ing out the requirements of this subsection, a

23 local educational agency shall ensure that the

24 parents of children with disabilities are involved
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1 in the design, evaluation, and, where appro2 priate, implementation of school-based improve3 ment plans in accordance with this subsection.

4 ‘‘(B) PLAN APPROVAL.—A local edu5 cational agency may approve a school-based im6 provement plan of a public school within the ju7 risdiction of such agency for a period of 3

8 years, if—

9 ‘‘(i) the approval is consistent with

10 the policies, procedures, and practices es11 tablished by such local educational agency

12 and in accordance with this subsection;

13 and

14 ‘‘(ii) a majority of parents of children

15 who are members of the school-based

16 standing panel, and a majority of other

17 members of the school-based standing

18 panel, that designed such plan agree in

19 writing to such plan.

20 ‘‘(7) EXTENSION OF PLAN.—If a public school

21 within the jurisdiction of a local educational agency

22 meets the applicable requirements and criteria de23 scribed in paragraphs (3) and (4) at the expiration

24 of the 3-year approval period described in paragraph
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1 (6)(B), such agency may approve a school-based im2 provement plan of such school for an additional 3-

3 year period.

4 ‘‘(h) DIRECT SERVICES BY THE STATE EDU5 CATIONAL AGENCY.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

7 shall use the payments that would otherwise have

8 been available to a local educational agency or to a

9 State agency described in subsection (i) to provide

10 special education and related services directly to

11 children with disabilities residing in the area served

12 by that local agency, or for whom that State agency

13 is responsible, if the State educational agency deter14 mines that—

15 ‘‘(A) the local educational agency or the

16 State agency—

17 ‘‘(i) has not provided the information

18 needed to establish the eligibility of the

19 local educational agency or the State agen20 cy under this section; or

21 ‘‘(ii) is unable or unwilling to estab22 lish and maintain programs of free appro23 priate public education that meet the re24 quirements of subsection (a); or

25 ‘‘(B) the local educational agency—
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1 ‘‘(i) is unable or unwilling to be con2 solidated with other local educational agen3 cies in order to establish and maintain

4 such programs; or

5 ‘‘(ii) has one or more children with

6 disabilities who can best be served by a re7 gional or State program or service delivery

8 system designed to meet the needs of such

9 children.

10 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF PROVISION OF SERVICES.—

11 The State educational agency may provide special

12 education and related services under paragraph (1)

13 in such manner and at such locations (including re14 gional or State centers) as the State educational

15 agency considers appropriate, so long as the edu16 cation and services are provided in accordance with

17 this part.

18 ‘‘(i) STATE AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—Any State agency

19 that received funds for fiscal year 1994 under subpart 2

20 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and

21 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as such subpart was

22 in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment of

23 the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994) and desires

24 to receive a subgrant for any fiscal year under section
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1 611(c) or 619(g) shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of

2 the State educational agency that—

3 ‘‘(1) all children with disabilities who are par4 ticipating in programs and projects funded under

5 this part receive a free appropriate public education,

6 and that the children and their parents are provided

7 all the rights and procedural safeguards described in

8 this part; and

9 ‘‘(2) the State agency meets such other condi10 tions of this section as the Secretary finds

11 appropriate.’’.

12 SEC. 204. EVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION

13 PROGRAMS, AND EDUCATIONAL PLACE14 MENTS.

15 Section 614 (20 U.S.C. 1414) is amended to read as

16 follows:

17 ‘‘SEC. 614. EVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION

18 PROGRAMS, AND EDUCATIONAL PLACE19 MENTS.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

21 ‘‘(1) INITIAL EVALUATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A local educational

23 agency shall conduct a comprehensive initial

24 evaluation, in accordance with this paragraph

25 and subsections (b) and (c), before the initial
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1 provision of special education and related serv2 ices to a child with a disability.

3 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—An initial evaluation

4 shall include procedures to—

5 ‘‘(i) determine whether a child is a

6 child with a disability as defined in section

7 602(a)(4); and

8 ‘‘(ii) determine the educational needs

9 of the child.

10 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL CONSENT.—

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local edu12 cational agency proposing to conduct an

13 initial evaluation to determine if a child

14 qualifies as a child with a disability as de15 fined in section 602(a)(4) shall, prior to

16 such evaluation, obtain informed consent

17 from the parents of the child.

18 ‘‘(ii) REFUSAL.—If the parents of

19 such child refuse to consent to an evalua20 tion described in clause (i), a local edu21 cational agency may, but shall not be re22 quired to, continue to pursue the evalua23 tion through the mediation procedures

24 under section 615(e) and due process pro25 cedures under section 615(f).
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1 ‘‘(2) REEVALUATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A local educational

3 agency shall ensure that a reevaluation of each

4 child with a disability is conducted—

5 ‘‘(i) whenever the child’s parents or

6 teacher, other school personnel, or other

7 appropriate individuals, request the re8 evaluation; or

9 ‘‘(ii) at a natural transition point for

10 the child.

11 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of

12 subparagraph (A), the term ‘natural transition

13 point’ means the period that is close in time to

14 the transition of a child with a disability—

15 ‘‘(i) from preschool to elementary

16 grades;

17 ‘‘(ii) from elementary grades to mid18 dle or junior high school grades (except

19 that for a transition that will not occur for

20 a period of 5 years or more, the natural

21 transition point shall be at least every 3

22 years);

23 ‘‘(iii) from middle or junior high

24 school grades to high school grades; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) from high school grades to

2 postschool activities.

3 ‘‘(C) CONDUCT OF REEVALUATION.—Each

4 reevaluation shall be conducted in accordance

5 with subsections (b) and (c).

6 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The local educational agen8 cy shall provide notice to the parents of a child with

9 a disability, in accordance with subsections (b)(3),

10 (b)(4), and (c) of section 615, that describes any

11 evaluation procedures the local educational agency

12 proposes to conduct.

13 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF EVALUATION.—In conducting

14 the evaluation, the local educational agency shall—

15 ‘‘(A) use—

16 ‘‘(i) a variety of assessment tools and

17 strategies to gather relevant functional and

18 developmental information (including eval19 uations and information provided by the

20 child’s parents) that may assist in deter21 mining whether the child is a child with a

22 disability; and

23 ‘‘(ii) the content of the individualized

24 education program of the child, including

25 information related to enabling the child to
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1 participate and achieve in the general edu2 cation curriculum or, for a child who is in

3 preschool, in developmentally appropriate

4 activities; and

5 ‘‘(B) not use any single procedure as the

6 sole criterion for determining—

7 ‘‘(i) whether a child is a child with a

8 disability; or

9 ‘‘(ii) an appropriate educational pro10 gram for the child.

11 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION TESTS AND MATERIALS.—

12 Each local educational agency shall ensure that—

13 ‘‘(A) tests and other evaluation materials

14 used to assess a child under this section are—

15 ‘‘(i) selected and administered so as

16 not to be racially or culturally discrimina17 tory;

18 ‘‘(ii) provided and administered in the

19 native language of the child or other mode

20 of communication unless it is clearly not

21 feasible to do so; and

22 ‘‘(iii) consistent with generally accept23 ed professional standards for assessments;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(B) any standardized tests that are given

2 to the child—

3 ‘‘(i) have been validated for the spe4 cific purpose for which the tests are used;

5 ‘‘(ii) are administered by trained per6 sonnel; and

7 ‘‘(iii) are administered in accordance

8 with any instructions provided by the pro9 ducer of the tests.

10 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE ON TESTS.—Tests shall

11 provide relevant information that directly assists

12 persons involved in providing services to a child with

13 a disability in determining the educational needs of

14 the child, including information with respect to in15 structional strategies and content that should be re16 flected in the individualized education program of

17 such child.

18 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EVALUA19 TIONS AND REEVALUATIONS.—

20 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF EXISTING EVALUATION

21 DATA.—As part of an initial evaluation (if appro22 priate) and as part of any reevaluation under this

23 section, the following tasks shall be carried out:
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1 ‘‘(A) A review of existing evaluation data

2 on the child, including evaluations and informa3 tion provided by the parents of the child, and

4 current classroom-based assessments and

5 observation.

6 ‘‘(B) On the basis of the review, the pro7 fessional judgment of appropriate individuals,

8 and the input from the parents of the child, an

9 identification of what additional data, if any,

10 are needed to determine—

11 ‘‘(i) whether the child has a particular

12 category of disability, as described in sec13 tion 602(a)(4)(A)(i), or, in the case of a

14 reevaluation of a child, whether the child

15 continues to have such a disability;

16 ‘‘(ii) the present levels of performance

17 and educational needs of the child;

18 ‘‘(iii) whether the child needs special

19 education and related services, or in the

20 case of a reevaluation of a child, whether

21 the child continues to need special edu22 cation and related services; and

23 ‘‘(iv) whether any additions or modi24 fications to the special education and relat25 ed services are needed to enable the child
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1 to meet the measurable annual objectives

2 set out in the individualized education pro3 gram of the child and to participate, as ap4 propriate, in the general education

5 curriculum.

6 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF DATA.—The local educational

7 agency shall administer such tests and other evalua8 tion materials as may be needed to produce the data

9 identified under paragraph (1)(B).

10 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL DATA.—If it is determined by

11 appropriate individuals based on their professional

12 judgment that no additional data are needed to de13 termine a factor described in clause (i), (ii), (iii), or

14 (iv) of paragraph (1)(B), the local educational

15 agency—

16 ‘‘(A) shall notify the parents of the child

17 of—

18 ‘‘(i) the results of the determination

19 of the individuals and the reasons for the

20 determination; and

21 ‘‘(ii) the right of the parents to re22 quest that additional data be obtained for

23 use in making a determination with respect

24 to a factor; and
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1 ‘‘(B) is not required to obtain the addi2 tional data described in clause (ii) of subpara3 graph (A) unless requested by the parents.

4 ‘‘(d) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—

5 ‘‘(1) IEP TO BE IN EFFECT AT THE BEGINNING

6 OF EACH SCHOOL YEAR.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of

8 each school year, each local educational agency

9 shall have in effect an individualized education

10 program for each child with a disability.

11 ‘‘(B) IEP FOR A CHILD AGED 3 THROUGH

12 5.—In the case of a child with a disability aged

13 3 through 5 (or, at the discretion of the State

14 educational agency, a 2-year-old child with dis15 abilities who will turn age 3 during the school

16 year), an IFSP that contains the material de17 scribed in section 677(d) and that is developed

18 in accordance with this section may serve as the

19 IEP of the child if using the plan as the IEP

20 is—

21 ‘‘(i) consistent with State policy; and

22 ‘‘(ii) agreed to by the agency and the

23 parents of the child.

24 ‘‘(2) IEP TEAM.—The IEP of each child shall

25 be developed in a meeting by a team (hereafter in
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1 this section referred to as the ‘IEP team’), composed

2 of—

3 ‘‘(A) a representative of the local edu4 cational agency who is qualified to provide, or

5 supervise the provision of, specially designed in6 struction to meet the unique needs of children

7 with disabilities, and who is knowledgeable

8 about the general education curriculum;

9 ‘‘(B) at least one special education pro10 vider who is knowledgeable about the disability

11 of the child, such as, if appropriate, the special

12 education teacher of the child;

13 ‘‘(C) to the extent appropriate, at least one

14 regular education teacher who knows the child

15 or is familiar with the curriculum of the child,

16 if the child is, or may be, participating in the

17 regular education environment;

18 ‘‘(D) the parents of the child;

19 ‘‘(E) when appropriate, the child;

20 ‘‘(F) an individual who is capable of inter21 preting the instructional implications of evalua22 tion results; and

23 ‘‘(G) at the discretion of the parents or the

24 agency, other individuals, such as related serv25 ices personnel, who have special expertise or
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1 special knowledge regarding the child’s abilities

2 and disability.

3 The team member described in subparagraph (F)

4 may be an existing team member described in sub5 paragraphs (A) through (C), if the existing team

6 member is qualified to interpret the results described

7 in subparagraph (F).

8 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENT OF THE IEP.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In developing each

10 child’s IEP, the IEP team shall consider—

11 ‘‘(i) the strengths of the child and the

12 concerns of the parents for enhancing the

13 education of their child; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the results of the initial evalua15 tion or most recent reevaluation of the

16 child.

17 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION OF SPECIAL FAC18 TORS.—In the case of a child whose behavior

19 impedes the learning of the child or that of oth20 ers, the IEP team, as appropriate, shall con21 sider strategies, including behavior management

22 plans, to address that behavior.

23 ‘‘(e) CONTENT OF IEP.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The IEP of each child with

25 a disability shall include the following:
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1 ‘‘(A) PRESENT LEVELS OF EDUCATIONAL

2 PERFORMANCE.—A statement of the present

3 levels of educational performance of the child,

4 including how the disability of the child affects

5 the progress of the child in the general edu6 cation curriculum (or, for a preschool child, as

7 appropriate, how the disability of the child af8 fects the progress of the child in developmen9 tally appropriate activities related to transition

10 to kindergarten and elementary school).

11 ‘‘(B) MEASURABLE ANNUAL OBJEC12 TIVES.—A statement of measurable annual ob13 jectives related to meeting each of the edu14 cational needs of the child that result from the

15 disability of the child, including objectives relat16 ed to enabling the child to progress in the gen17 eral education curriculum at the educationally

18 appropriate level for the child.

19 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED

20 SERVICES.—A statement of the special edu21 cation and related services and supplementary

22 aids and services to be provided to the child and

23 any program modifications necessary for the

24 child to attain the annual objectives, to progress
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1 in the general education curriculum, to partici2 pate in extracurricular and nonacademic activi3 ties and other educational activities, and to be

4 educated and participate with other children

5 with disabilities and nondisabled children in the

6 activities described in this subparagraph.

7 ‘‘(D) EXTENT OF PARTICIPATION WITH

8 NONDISABLED CHILDREN.—A statement of the

9 extent to which the child will participate with

10 nondisabled children in the regular class and in

11 the activities described in subparagraph (C).

12 ‘‘(E) PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL ASSESS13 MENTS.—

14 ‘‘(i) MODIFICATIONS.—A statement of

15 any modifications in the administration of

16 State or districtwide assessments that are

17 needed in order for the child to participate

18 in the assessments.

19 ‘‘(ii) NONPARTICIPATION.—If a child

20 will not participate in a particular State or

21 districtwide assessment (or part of such

22 assessment), a statement of why the as23 sessment is not appropriate for the child

24 and how the child will be assessed.
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1 ‘‘(F) PROJECTED DATES, FREQUENCY,

2 AND DURATION OF SERVICES.—The projected

3 date for the beginning of the services and pro4 gram modifications described in subparagraph

5 (C), and the anticipated frequency and duration

6 of such services and modifications.

7 ‘‘(G) INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHILD’S

8 PROGRESS.—A statement of how the progress

9 of the child toward the measurable annual ob10 jectives will be measured through benchmarks

11 or other measurable indicators of progress, and

12 how the parents of the child will be regularly in13 formed of the child’s progress, in accordance

14 with subsection (f).

15 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL IEP REQUIREMENTS FOR A

16 CHILD WITH A DISABILITY WHO IS OF SECONDARY

17 SCHOOL AGE.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The IEP for each stu19 dent who is a child with a disability and who

20 is of secondary school age (hereafter in this sec21 tion referred to as the ‘student’) shall include

22 additional information related to transition

23 services and the transfer of rights at the age of

24 majority, as described in subparagraphs (B)

25 through (D).
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1 ‘‘(B) ADDRESSING THE STUDENT’S TRAN2 SITION NEEDS.—For a student aged 14

3 through 21 (or younger than age 14 if deter4 mined appropriate by the IEP team), the tran5 sition services needs of the student shall be con6 sidered and, as appropriate, addressed under

7 the applicable components of the student’s IEP

8 described in paragraph (1) relating to present

9 levels of educational performance, measurable

10 annual objectives, special education and related

11 services, and other applicable components.

12 ‘‘(C) STATEMENT OF TRANSITION SERV13 ICES AND SUPPORTS.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In meeting the re15 quirements of subparagraph (B), the IEP

16 team shall give consideration to the stu17 dent’s participation in the general edu18 cation curriculum (such as participation in

19 advanced-placement courses or a vocational

20 education or school-to-work program, or

21 independent living skills training, which

22 lead to successful transition from second23 ary school to postschool adult environ24 ments).
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1 ‘‘(ii) TRANSITION SERVICES STATE2 MENT.—Beginning no later than age 16,

3 the student’s IEP shall include a state4 ment of needed transition services as de5 fined in section 602(33) including, where

6 appropriate, a statement of the interagency

7 responsibilities and needed linkages among

8 agencies to ensure delivery of services be9 fore the student leaves the school setting.

10 ‘‘(D) TRANSFER OF RIGHTS AT THE AGE

11 OF MAJORITY.—Beginning at least 1 year be12 fore the student reaches the age of majority

13 under State law, the IEP shall include a state14 ment about the rights under this Act, if any,

15 that will transfer to the student on reaching the

16 age of majority under section 615(j).

17 ‘‘(f) REPORTING EACH CHILD’S PROGRESS TOWARD

18 OBJECTIVES.—The local educational agency shall ensure

19 that—

20 ‘‘(1) the parents of each child with a disability

21 are informed of the progress of the child, toward the

22 measurable annual objectives, and the extent to

23 which such progress is sufficient to enable the child

24 to achieve the objectives by the end of the school

25 year; and
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1 ‘‘(2) in implementing the requirement in para2 graph (1), the parents are informed (by periodic re3 port cards or other appropriate means) at least as

4 often as parents of nondisabled children are in5 formed of the progress of their nondisabled children.

6 ‘‘(g) REVIEW AND REVISION OF IEP.—The local edu7 cational agency shall ensure that the IEP team for each

8 child—

9 ‘‘(1) reviews the child’s IEP periodically, but

10 not less than annually, to determine whether the an11 nual objectives for the child are being achieved; and

12 ‘‘(2) revises the IEP, as appropriate.

13 ‘‘(h) FAILURE TO MEET TRANSITION OBJEC14 TIVES.—If an entity (other than the local educational

15 agency) involved in planning or providing transition serv16 ices to a child with a disability fails to provide the transi17 tion services described in the IEP in accordance with sub18 section (e)(2)(A), the local educational agency shall recon19 vene the IEP team to identify alternative strategies to

20 meet the transition objectives for the student set forth in

21 the IEP.

22 ‘‘(i) CONSTRUCTION CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sec23 tion shall be construed to require the IEP team to include

24 information under one component of a child’s IEP that
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1 is already contained under another component of such

2 IEP.

3 ‘‘(j) PLACEMENTS.—Each local educational agency

4 shall ensure that the parents of each child with a disability

5 are members of any group that makes decisions on the

6 educational placement of their child.’’.

7 SEC. 205. CHAPTER 1 STATE AGENCIES.

8 Section 614A (20 U.S.C. 1414a) is repealed.

9 SEC. 206. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

10 (a) PROCEDURES.—Section 615(a) (20 U.S.C.

11 1415(a)) is amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘Any State educational agency,

13 any local educational agency, and any intermediate

14 educational unit which’’ and inserting ‘‘Any State

15 educational agency or local educational agency

16 that’’;

17 (2) by striking ‘‘subsection (b) through sub18 section (e) of’’;

19 (3) by striking ‘‘or guardians’’; and

20 (4) by striking ‘‘and units’’.

21 (b) TYPES OF PROCEDURES.—Section 615(b) (20

22 U.S.C. 1415(b)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking paragraph (2);

24 (2) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(A)

2 an opportunity for the parents or guardian’’

3 and inserting ‘‘(1) an opportunity for the

4 parents’’;

5 (B) in subparagraph (B)—

6 (i) by striking ‘‘(B) procedures’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘(2) procedures’’;

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’ each

9 place it appears; and

10 (iii) by striking ‘‘local educational

11 agency, or intermediate educational unit’’

12 and inserting ‘‘the local educational agen13 cy, or any other agency that is’’;

14 (C) in subparagraph (C)—

15 (i) by striking ‘‘(C) written prior no16 tice to the parents or guardian of the child

17 whenever such agency or unit’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘(3) written prior notice in accordance

19 with subsection (c) to the parents of the

20 child whenever such agency’’;

21 (ii) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘(i) pro22 poses’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) proposes’’; and

23 (iii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘(ii) re24 fuses’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) refuses’’;
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1 (D) by striking subparagraph (D) and in2 serting the following:

3 ‘‘(4) procedures designed to ensure that the no4 tice required by paragraph (3) is provided in the na5 tive language of the parents or other mode of com6 munication used by the parents, unless it clearly is

7 not feasible to do so;’’;

8 (E) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘(E)

9 an opportunity’’ and inserting ‘‘(6) an oppor10 tunity’’; and

11 (F) by inserting after paragraph (4) (as so

12 redesignated by subparagraph (D)) the follow13 ing new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(5) an opportunity for mediation in accordance

15 with subsection (e); and’’; and

16 (3) by striking ‘‘(b)(1) The’’ and inserting ‘‘(b)

17 The’’.

18 (c) OTHER PROVISIONS OF SECTION 615.—Section

19 615 (20 U.S.C. 1415) is amended—

20 (1) in subsection (c)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2) of sub22 section (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (f)’’; and

23 (B) by striking ‘‘or an intermediate edu24 cational unit’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsections

2 (b) and (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and (g)’’;

3 (3) in subsection (e)—

4 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para5 graph (2) of subsection (b)’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘subsection (f)’’;

7 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘decision

8 made under subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘de9 cision made under subsection (f)’’;

10 (C) by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ each place

11 it appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (g)’’;

12 (D) in paragraph (3)—

13 (i) by striking ‘‘(3)(A) Except as pro14 vided in subparagraph (B),’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘(3) Except as provided in subsections (c)

16 and (d) of section 615A,’’;

17 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B); and

18 (iii) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’ each

19 place it appears;

20 (E) in paragraph (4)—

21 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking

22 ‘‘this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘this sub23 section and section 615A’’;

24 (ii) in subparagraph (B)—
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1 (I) by striking ‘‘this subsection’’

2 and inserting ‘‘this subsection and

3 section 615A’’; and

4 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

5 (iii) in subparagraph (C)—

6 (I) by striking ‘‘For the purpose

7 of this subsection, fees’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘Fees’’; and

9 (II) by striking ‘‘under this sub10 section’’ each place it appears and in11 serting ‘‘under this subsection and

12 section 615A’’;

13 (iv) in subparagraph (D)—

14 (I) by striking ‘‘No award of at15 torneys’ fees and related costs may be

16 made’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro17 vided in subparagraph (E), attorneys’

18 fees may not be awarded and related

19 costs may not be reimbursed’’;

20 (II) by striking ‘‘under this sub21 section’’ and inserting ‘‘under this

22 subsection and section 615A’’; and

23 (III) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

24 each place it appears;

25 (v) in subparagraph (E)—
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1 (I) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding

2 the provisions of subparagraph (D)’’

3 and inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding sub4 paragraph (D)’’; and

5 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

6 (vi) in subparagraph (F)—

7 (I) by striking ‘‘(F) Whenever’’

8 and inserting ‘‘(F) Except as provided

9 in subparagraph (G), whenever’’; and

10 (II) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

11 and

12 (vii) by adding at the end thereof the

13 following new subparagraphs:

14 ‘‘(H) For the purpose of this section, the amount of

15 any award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party under

16 this section shall be determined in accordance with the law

17 established by the Supreme Court in Hensley v.

18 Eckerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (1983).

19 ‘‘(I) For the purpose of this section, an IEP meeting

20 shall not, in and of itself, be deemed to be a proceeding

21 triggering the awarding of attorneys’ fees.’’;

22 (4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘subsections

23 (b)(2) and (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (f) and

24 (g)’’;
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1 (5) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e)

2 as subsections (g) through (i), respectively;

3 (6) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub4 section (k);

5 (7) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow6 ing new subsections:

7 ‘‘(c)(1) The notice required by subsection (b)(3) with

8 respect to the proposal or refusal to initiate or change the

9 identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a

10 child described in such subsection or the provision of a

11 free appropriate public education to such child shall—

12 ‘‘(A) include—

13 ‘‘(i) a description of the action proposed or

14 refused by the agency;

15 ‘‘(ii) an explanation of why the agency pro16 poses or refuses to take the action; and

17 ‘‘(iii) a description of any other options

18 that the agency considered and the reasons why

19 the options were not chosen;

20 ‘‘(B) describe each evaluation procedure, test,

21 record, or report that the agency used as a basis for

22 the proposed or refused action;

23 ‘‘(C) describe any other factors that are rel24 evant to the proposal or refusal of the agency;
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1 ‘‘(D) include a full explanation of the proce2 dural safeguards available under this section and

3 section 615A, and under the regulations of the Sec4 retary, relating to independent educational evalua5 tions, notice, parental consent, mediation, and the

6 placement of the child during the pendency of due

7 process proceedings;

8 ‘‘(E) include at least a brief summary of the

9 procedural safeguards under this section and section

10 615A relating to due process hearings, State-level

11 appeals (if applicable in that State), civil actions,

12 and attorneys’ fees and a brief summary of the pro13 visions of section 612(a)(10)(C) relating to reim14 bursement of parents for unilateral placement of

15 their children in private schools at public expense;

16 ‘‘(F) include a statement that the agency will

17 provide a full explanation of—

18 ‘‘(i) the procedural safeguards available to

19 parents under this section and section 615A,

20 and under the regulations of the Secretary, re21 lating to—

22 ‘‘(I) access to educational records,

23 whenever requested by the parents; and

24 ‘‘(II) the hearings, appeals, actions,

25 and fees described in subparagraph (E),
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1 whenever the parents request such expla2 nation or file a complaint under subsection

3 (b)(6); and

4 ‘‘(ii) the provisions of section

5 612(a)(10)(C) relating to reimbursement of

6 parents for unilateral placement of their chil7 dren in private schools at public expense, when8 ever requested by the parents; and

9 ‘‘(G) include the name, address, and telephone

10 number of the Parent Information and Training

11 Center in the State and other resources in the State

12 that will assist a parent to understand the protec13 tions and opportunities under this part.

14 ‘‘(2) Each State educational agency and each local

15 educational agency that receives assistance under this part

16 shall provide the explanation described in paragraph

17 (1)(F) in the cases described in such paragraph.

18 ‘‘(d)(1) The parents of a child with a disability or

19 a suspected disability shall provide to the local educational

20 agency written notice of their intention to file a complaint

21 (other than a request for an expedited due process hearing

22 under section 615A) under subsection (b)(6) regarding the

23 identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the

24 child or the provision of a free appropriate public edu25 cation to the child, 10 business days (including holidays
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1 that occur on a business day) prior to the date of the filing

2 of the complaint if—

3 ‘‘(A) the parents have new information regard4 ing the identification, evaluation, or educational

5 placement of the child or the provision of a free ap6 propriate public education to the child; or

7 ‘‘(B) the parents are initiating a complaint

8 about the identification, evaluation, or educational

9 placement of the child or the provision of a free ap10 propriate public education to the child and the par11 ents have signed the most recent IEP of the child

12 that is currently being implemented.

13 ‘‘(2) Prior to filing a complaint, if the parents have

14 new information regarding the identification, evaluation,

15 or educational placement of the child or the provision of

16 a free appropriate public education to the child, the par17 ents shall provide the information to the local educational

18 agency along with the notice of their intent to file a

19 complaint.

20 ‘‘(3) If the parents were duly informed by the local

21 educational agency with respect to their obligation to file

22 a notice of intention to file a complaint under this sub23 section and the parents fail to provide such notice, a court,

24 in its discretion, may reduce an award of attorneys’ fees

25 and reimbursement of related costs if within 10 business
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1 days (including holidays that occur on a business day)

2 after filing a request for an administrative due process

3 hearing under section 615(f), the matter relating to the

4 complaint is resolved in a manner that is satisfactory to

5 all parties.

6 ‘‘(e)(1) Each State educational agency shall ensure

7 that procedures are established and implemented to allow

8 parties to disputes involving matters described in sub9 section (b)(6) to resolve such disputes through mediation.

10 ‘‘(2)(A) The procedures described in paragraph (1)

11 shall ensure—

12 ‘‘(i) that whenever a hearing is requested on

13 any matter in dispute under subsection (b)(6), the

14 parents are offered an opportunity for mediation to

15 resolve the dispute;

16 ‘‘(ii) that mediation—

17 ‘‘(I) is voluntary on the part of the parents

18 and may be waived by the parents at any time

19 during such process;

20 ‘‘(II) is not used to deny a parent the right

21 of a, or delay access by a parent to, due process

22 hearings under subsection (f) or to deny the

23 parents any other rights afforded under this

24 part; and
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1 ‘‘(III) is conducted by a qualified and im2 partial mediator who is not an employee of a

3 local educational agency or State agency de4 scribed in section 613(i) that is involved in the

5 education or care of the child or who is not a

6 person having a personal or professional conflict

7 of interest;

8 ‘‘(iii) that mediators are appointed from the list

9 described in subparagraph (B)(i);

10 ‘‘(iv) that whenever a mediator is not selected

11 on a random basis, both the parents and the local

12 educational agency are involved in selecting the me13 diator and are in agreement with the individual who

14 is selected;

15 ‘‘(v) that each session in the mediation process

16 shall be scheduled in a timely manner and shall be

17 held in a location that is convenient and accessible

18 to the parties to the dispute;

19 ‘‘(vi) that no statements made by either party

20 during the mediation under this subsection shall be

21 offered or used as evidence in any hearing, review of

22 a hearing decision, or civil action under this section;

23 and
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1 ‘‘(vii) that an agreement reached by the parties

2 to the dispute in the mediation process shall be set

3 forth in a written mediation agreement.

4 ‘‘(B)(i) Each State educational agency shall compile

5 and maintain a list of individuals who are—

6 ‘‘(I) trained in mediation; and

7 ‘‘(II) knowledgeable about the educational

8 needs of children with disabilities and applicable

9 statutes and regulations relating to the educational

10 rights of such children, including the requirements

11 of this part and the regulations of the Secretary

12 under this part.

13 ‘‘(ii) The State educational agency shall ensure that

14 mediation will be provided to parents at no cost.

15 ‘‘(3) If a State has on file with the Secretary docu16 mentation that the State has an established mediation

17 process that is comparable to the mediation process de18 scribed in this subsection, the mediation process of the

19 State shall be considered to be in compliance with this

20 subsection. Not later than 4 years after the date of enact21 ment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

22 Amendments of 1997, such State shall establish a medi23 ation process program that complies with the require24 ments of this subsection.
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1 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this part shall prohibit employees or

2 former employees of a State educational agency from serv3 ing as mediators in resolving disputes about any matter

4 described in subsection (b)(6), unless the dispute directly

5 involves such agency.

6 ‘‘(f) Whenever a complaint has been received under

7 subsection (b)(6), the parents shall have an opportunity

8 for an impartial due process hearing that shall be con9 ducted by the State educational agency or by the local edu10 cational agency, as determined by State law or by the

11 State educational agency. No hearing conducted pursuant

12 to the requirements of this subsection shall be conducted

13 by an employee of such agency involved in the education

14 or care of the child.’’; and

15 (8) by inserting after subsection (i) (as so re16 designated by paragraph (5)) the following new sub17 section:

18 ‘‘(j)(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2),

19 any State that receives funds under this part may provide

20 that, when a student with a disability reaches the age of

21 majority under State law—

22 ‘‘(A) the local educational agency shall provide

23 any notice required by this section to both the indi24 vidual and the parents;
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1 ‘‘(B) all other rights accorded to parents under

2 this part transfer to the child; and

3 ‘‘(C) the local educational agency shall notify

4 the individual and the parents of the transfer of

5 rights.

6 ‘‘(2) If, under State law, a student described in para7 graph (1) is determined to not have the ability to provide

8 informed consent with respect to the educational program

9 of the student, the State shall have in effect procedures

10 for appointing the parent or other individual to represent

11 the educational interests of the student throughout the

12 student’s eligibility under this part.’’.

13 (d) ALTERNATE PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part B (20 U.S.C. 1411 et

15 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 615 the

16 following new section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 615A. ALTERNATE PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

18 ‘‘(a) SHORT-TERM DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS (UP TO

19 10 SCHOOL DAYS).—If a child with a disability engages

20 in behavior that is a violation of the rules or code of con21 duct of the local educational agency, and if the rules or

22 code of conduct of the agency also applies to children with23 out disabilities who engage in the behavior, agency person24 nel with the authority to do so, may—
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1 ‘‘(1) utilize disciplinary measures such as deten2 tion, timeouts, increased supervision, and restriction

3 of privileges or extracurricular activities, provided

4 that any disciplinary measures that are inconsistent

5 with the child’s IEP shall be for no more than 10

6 school days; or

7 ‘‘(2) suspend the child for no more than 10

8 school days.

9 ‘‘(b) LONG-TERM DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS; MANI10 FESTATION DETERMINATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) CHANGE OF PLACEMENT.—If a child with

12 a disability engages in any of the behaviors de13 scribed in subsection (c)(1)(A) involving dangerous

14 weapons, drugs, or behavior resulting in serious bod15 ily injury or engages in ongoing serious disruptive

16 behavior as described in subsection (d)(1)(A), the

17 child may be placed in an interim alternative edu18 cational setting, in accordance with the provisions of

19 subsections (c) and (d), regardless of whether or not

20 the behavior is a manifestation of the disability of

21 the child.

22 ‘‘(2) DISCIPLINARY MEASURES APPLICABLE TO

23 ALL CHILDREN.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limita2 tion described in subparagraph (B), a local edu3 cational agency may, consistent with section

4 615(b), use long-term disciplinary measures

5 (for more than 10 school days) to address the

6 behavior of a child with a disability that is a

7 violation of the rules or code of conduct of the

8 agency, if the behavior was not a manifestation

9 of the disability of the child, and if the rules or

10 code of conduct also applies to children without

11 disabilities who engage in the same behavior.

12 ‘‘(B) PROVISION OF EDUCATIONAL SERV13 ICES.—In the case of a child with a disability

14 who engages in behavior that violates the rules

15 or code of conduct of the local educational

16 agency, the child shall continue to receive edu17 cational services, consistent with the provision

18 of a free appropriate public education, unless

19 the child was determined to be involved with

20 dangerous weapons or drugs, as described in

21 subsection (c)(1)(A), the behavior of the child

22 was not a manifestation of the disability of the

23 child, and the policy of the agency is to cease

24 educational services to any child determined to

25 be involved with such weapons or drugs.
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1 ‘‘(3) MANIFESTATION DETERMINATION.—Be2 fore subjecting a child with a disability to the same

3 long-term disciplinary measures (including the ceas4 ing of educational services as described in subpara5 graph (B)) that apply to children without disabil6 ities, the child’s IEP team shall determine, in ac7 cordance with the standards and considerations in

8 paragraphs (4) and (5), whether the behavior of the

9 child was a manifestation of the disability of the

10 child.

11 ‘‘(4) STANDARDS.—In making the determina12 tion described in paragraph (3), the child’s IEP

13 team shall determine whether, in the context in

14 which the behavior occurred, the disability of the

15 child—

16 ‘‘(A) impaired the ability of the child to

17 understand the impact and consequences of

18 such behavior; or

19 ‘‘(B) impaired the ability of the child to

20 control the behavior at issue.

21 ‘‘(5) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining wheth22 er the standards in paragraph (4) are met, the

23 child’s IEP team shall consider relevant information
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1 pertinent to the behavior at issue and the determina2 tion to be made pursuant to paragraph (3),

3 including—

4 ‘‘(A) the context in which the behavior oc5 curred and whether the child exhibited similar

6 behavior in the past;

7 ‘‘(B) evaluation and diagnostic results, in8 cluding such results or other relevant informa9 tion supplied by the parents of the child;

10 ‘‘(C) the appropriateness of the child’s

11 IEP and placement; and

12 ‘‘(D) the extent to which the child’s IEP—

13 ‘‘(i) has been implemented; and

14 ‘‘(ii) includes the provision of special

15 education and related services, and the use

16 of supplementary aids and services, strate17 gies and interventions, and behavior man18 agement techniques.

19 ‘‘(6) PROCEEDINGS.—

20 ‘‘(A) EXPEDITED DUE PROCESS HEAR21 ING.—If the parents of the child do not agree

22 with the determination described in paragraph

23 (3), the parents may request that a due process

24 hearing under section 615(b)(2) be conducted

25 on an expedited basis.
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1 ‘‘(B) PENDENCY.—During the pendency of

2 any actions or proceedings to resolve a dis3 agreement by the parents, the child shall con4 tinue to receive educational services, consistent

5 with the provision of a free appropriate public

6 education to the child.

7 ‘‘(c) CONDITIONS THAT APPLY WHEN DANGEROUS

8 WEAPONS, DRUGS, OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY ARE

9 INVOLVED.—

10 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) SETTING.—If a child with a disabil12 ity, on school premises or at a school-sponsored

13 event under the jurisdiction of a local edu14 cational agency—

15 ‘‘(i) has a dangerous weapon in the

16 child’s possession;

17 ‘‘(ii) engages in the illegal use, posses18 sion, or distribution of drugs; or

19 ‘‘(iii) engages in behavior that results

20 in serious bodily injury, or is substantially

21 likely to result in such injury,

22 the child may be placed in an interim alter23 native educational setting, regardless of whether

24 or not the behavior is a manifestation of the
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1 disability of the child, if the conditions in sub2 paragraph (B) are met.

3 ‘‘(B) ROLE OF PRINCIPAL AND IEP

4 TEAM.—The child described in subparagraph

5 (A) may be removed to an interim alternative

6 educational setting, if—

7 ‘‘(i) the principal, after consultation

8 with individuals who witnessed the child

9 exhibit any of the behaviors described in

10 subparagraph (A) and individuals who

11 have knowledge of the disability of the

12 child (including the chairperson of the

13 child’s IEP team and the agency’s director

14 of special education or the designees of the

15 chairperson and director), determines, in

16 writing, that the child engaged in a behav17 ior described in subparagraph (A) and that

18 the disciplinary code of the local edu19 cational agency is to be applied; and

20 ‘‘(ii) the child’s IEP team assesses the

21 child, and identifies modifications in the

22 IEP of the child that are consistent with

23 the provision of a free appropriate public

24 education to the child, which may include
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1 placement of the child in an interim alter2 native educational setting.

3 ‘‘(C) TIME LINES.—

4 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION BY PRIN5 CIPAL.—The determination by the prin6 cipal described in subparagraph (B)(i)

7 shall be made as soon as possible, but not

8 later than 10 school days after the date on

9 which the behavior described in subpara10 graph (A) became known to the principal.

11 ‘‘(ii) PLACEMENT DECISION.—

12 ‘‘(I) PRELIMINARY DECISION.—

13 Within the 10-day period described in

14 clause (i), the child’s IEP team shall

15 make a preliminary decision regarding

16 placement of the child, which may in17 clude placement of the child in an in18 terim alternative educational setting.

19 ‘‘(II) FINAL DECISION.—A final

20 placement decision by the child’s IEP

21 team, which may include placement of

22 the child in an interim alternative

23 educational setting, shall, to the maxi24 mum extent feasible, be made within
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1 the 10-day period described in clause

2 (i).

3 ‘‘(iii) PLACEMENT LIMITATION.—In

4 no case shall placement of the child in an

5 interim alternative educational setting pur6 suant to this subsection be made more

7 than 20 school days after the date on

8 which the behavior described in subpara9 graph (A) became known to the principal.

10 ‘‘(D) STATUS OF CHILD IF TIME LINES

11 ARE NOT MET.—If the determination of the

12 principal (described in subparagraph (B)(i))

13 and the actions of the child’s IEP team (de14 scribed in subparagraph (B)(ii)) do not occur

15 within the time period referred to in subpara16 graph (C), the educational placement of the

17 child shall be the educational placement de18 scribed in the child’s current IEP, unless the

19 parents of the child and the agency agree

20 otherwise.

21 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION TO BE CONSIDERED BY IEP

22 TEAM IN DETERMINING CHILD’S PLACEMENT.—In

23 determining an appropriate placement for a child

24 who engaged in any behavior described in paragraph

25 (1)(A), the child’s IEP team shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) include an individual (who may be an

2 existing member of the child’s IEP team) who

3 is qualified to assess the relationship between

4 the disability of the child, the behavior of the

5 child, and the context in which the behavior

6 occurred;

7 ‘‘(B) at a minimum, consider—

8 ‘‘(i) the information described in sub9 section (b)(5);

10 ‘‘(ii) information based on observation

11 by a person knowledgeable about the child

12 and the disability of the child, including, to

13 the extent possible, observation in the envi14 ronment in which the behavior occurred;

15 and

16 ‘‘(iii) if available, voluntary state17 ments from the parents of the child, and

18 from any individual who was injured (and

19 if the individual injured is a child, the indi20 vidual’s parents); and

21 ‘‘(C) make necessary modifications in the

22 child’s IEP related to the provision of special

23 education and related services, the use of sup24 plementary aids and services, and strategies

25 and interventions (including the use of behavior
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1 management plans) that are likely to contribute

2 to the elimination of the recurrence of the be3 havior at issue by the child.

4 ‘‘(3) DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN AGENCY AND

5 PARENTS REGARDING DANGEROUS WEAPONS,

6 DRUGS, OR SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.—

7 ‘‘(A) DUE PROCESS HEARING.—If the par8 ents of a child disagree with a determination

9 made by the principal under paragraph

10 (1)(B)(i) or the action of the IEP team under

11 paragraph (1)(B)(ii) to place the child in an in12 terim alternative educational setting or the rec13 ommendations of the child’s IEP team regard14 ing the provision of a free appropriate public

15 education pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii) the

16 parents may request that a due process hearing

17 under section 615(b)(2) be conducted on an ex18 pedited basis.

19 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a de20 termination regarding such a disagreement, the

21 hearing officer shall consider, at a minimum—

22 ‘‘(i) the determination of the principal

23 described in paragraph (1)(B)(i);
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1 ‘‘(ii) information considered by the

2 child’s IEP team under paragraphs

3 (1)(B)(ii) and (2); and

4 ‘‘(iii) whether the child’s IEP team

5 met its responsibilities under paragraph

6 (4), if appropriate.

7 ‘‘(C) PLACEMENT DURING DISPUTE.—Dur8 ing the pendency of any actions or proceedings

9 to resolve a disagreement described in subpara10 graph (A), the child shall remain in the interim

11 alternative educational setting, unless the par12 ents and the State or local educational agency

13 agree otherwise.

14 ‘‘(4) REVIEW OF CHILD’S PLACEMENT IN IN15 TERIM ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL SETTING.—Not

16 later than 35 school days after the placement in an

17 interim alternative educational setting of a child who

18 engaged in any behavior described in paragraph

19 (1)(A) (or earlier, if specified in the child’s IEP),

20 the child’s IEP team shall—

21 ‘‘(A) review the progress of the child in the

22 interim alternative educational setting;

23 ‘‘(B) determine an appropriate educational

24 placement based on a revised IEP, if appro25 priate; and
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•S 216 IS

1 ‘‘(C) secure the placement of the child in

2 the appropriate educational placement, consist3 ent with the provisions of this part, for the re4 mainder of the school year or for the beginning

5 of the next school year, whichever is

6 appropriate.

7 ‘‘(d) CONDITIONS THAT APPLY WHEN SERIOUS DIS8 RUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IS INVOLVED.—

9 ‘‘(1) PLACEMENT IN INTERIM ALTERNATIVE

10 EDUCATIONAL SETTING.—

11 ‘‘(A) REMOVAL OF A CHILD TO AN IN12 TERIM ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL SETTING.—

13 If a child with a disability, on school premises,

14 engages in ongoing serious disruptive behavior

15 that significantly impairs the education of the

16 child or the education of other children and the

17 ability of the teacher of the child to teach, the

18 child may be placed in an interim alternative

19 educational setting, if the conditions in sub20 paragraph (B) are met.

21 ‘‘(B) ROLE OF PRINCIPAL AND IEP

22 TEAM.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A child described

24 in subparagraph (A) may be removed to an

25 interim alternative educational setting if,
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1 consistent with the requirements of para2 graph (2)(B)(i) and subparagraphs (A)

3 and (B) of paragraph (3)—

4 ‘‘(I) the principal, after consulta5 tion with individuals who have knowl6 edge of the disability of the child (in7 cluding the chairperson of the child’s

8 IEP team, the agency’s director of

9 special education or the designees of

10 the chairperson and director, and the

11 teacher most knowledgeable about the

12 child), determines in writing that the

13 continued presence of the child in the

14 child’s current educational placement

15 would significantly impair the edu16 cation of the child or the classmates

17 of the child and the ability of the

18 teacher of the child to teach; and

19 ‘‘(II) the child’s IEP team devel20 ops a placement in an interim alter21 native educational setting, consistent

22 with the provision of a free appro23 priate public education to the child.
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1 ‘‘(ii) CONSTRUCTION CLAUSE.—A

2 child shall not be determined to be seri3 ously disruptive on the basis of unreason4 able considerations, such as—

5 ‘‘(I) myths or stereotypes about

6 disability;

7 ‘‘(II) a lack of understanding of

8 the nature of the disability or the ef9 fect of the disability on behavior;

10 ‘‘(III) a disruption caused by de11 vices, accommodations, auxiliary aids

12 or services used by a child with a dis13 ability; or

14 ‘‘(IV) behavior that has not been

15 addressed by special education and re16 lated services as provided by para17 graph (3)(B).

18 ‘‘(C) TIMELINE FOR ACTION.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If a child de20 scribed in subparagraph (A) was subjected

21 to short-term disciplinary measures lasting

22 for any period up to 10 school days as de23 scribed in subsection (a), the determination

24 of the principal under subparagraph

25 (B)(i)(I) and the actions of the IEP team
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1 under subparagraph (B)(i)(II) shall occur

2 within that 10-day period.

3 ‘‘(ii) STATUS OF CHILD IF TIME LINE

4 IS NOT MET.—If the determination of the

5 principal under subparagraph (B)(i)(I) and

6 the actions of the IEP team described in

7 subparagraph (B)(i)(II) do not occur with8 in the 10-school-day time period described

9 in clause (i), the educational placement of

10 the child shall be the placement described

11 in the child’s current IEP, unless the par12 ents of the child and the agency agree oth13 erwise.

14 ‘‘(2) DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN AGENCY AND

15 PARENTS WHEN SERIOUS DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IS

16 INVOLVED.—

17 ‘‘(A) HEARING OFFICER DETERMINA18 TION.—If the parents of the child disagree with

19 the determination made by the principal under

20 paragraph (1)(B)(i)(I) or the action of the IEP

21 team described under paragraph (1)(B)(i)(II), a

22 hearing officer shall make a determination

23 whether the removal of the child to an interim

24 alternative educational setting was justified by

25 the serious disruptive behavior of the child. The
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•S 216 IS

1 determination of the hearing officer shall be

2 made not later than 10 school days after the

3 child’s parents communicate to the principal the

4 parent’s disagreement with the determination of

5 the principal or the action of the IEP team. If

6 exceptional circumstances exist, such as the un7 availability of a hearing officer, the determina8 tion of the hearing officer shall be made not

9 later than 20 school days after the child’s par10 ents communicate to the principal such dis11 agreement. A hearing officer may grant addi12 tional extensions of time for a hearing deter13 mination if the school district and parents agree

14 otherwise.

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(i) CONSIDERATION OF RECORD ON

17 THE CHILD.—In making a determination

18 on whether removal of a child with a dis19 ability to an interim alternative educational

20 setting is justified, the principal and the

21 IEP team (and, in situations involving a

22 disagreement, the hearing officer) shall

23 consider the record described in paragraph

24 (3).
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1 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO MAKE A DETER2 MINATION.—If the determination of the

3 hearing officer is not made within the time

4 period described in subparagraph (A), the

5 educational placement of the child shall be

6 the placement described in the prior IEP

7 of the child, unless the parents of the child

8 and the agency agree otherwise.

9 ‘‘(C) DUE PROCESS HEARING; PEND10 ENCY.—If either the parents of the child or the

11 local educational agency disagrees with the de12 termination of the hearing officer and requests

13 a due process hearing pursuant to section

14 615(b)(2), then the educational placement of

15 the child shall be the placement determined by

16 the hearing officer during the pendency of any

17 actions or proceedings, unless the parents and

18 the agency agree otherwise.

19 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RECORD FOR A CHILD WITH A

20 DISABILITY WHO IS SERIOUSLY DISRUPTIVE.—In

21 order for the principal and the IEP team or a hear22 ing officer to determine under this subsection that a

23 child with a disability is engaging in ongoing serious

24 disruptive behavior that significantly impairs the
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1 education of the child or the education of other chil2 dren and the ability of the teacher of the child to

3 teach, the following information must have been

4 documented:

5 ‘‘(A) CUMULATIVE RECORD OF BEHAV6 IOR.—A cumulative record over an extended pe7 riod of time describing frequent behaviors ex8 hibited by the child that prevent the child, the

9 classmates of the child, or the teacher of the

10 child from engaging in the activities that would

11 have occurred in the absence of serious disrup12 tive behavior of the child.

13 ‘‘(B) DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE OF EF14 FORTS TO ADDRESS THE BEHAVIOR.—Docu15 mented evidence of efforts to address the behav16 ior of the child, including—

17 ‘‘(i) the reconvening of the child’s

18 IEP team to consider the appropriateness

19 of the child’s IEP;

20 ‘‘(ii) the provision of special education

21 and related services;

22 ‘‘(iii) the use of supplemental services

23 and strategies (including the use of behav24 ior management plans) that have been im25 plemented over a reasonable period of time
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1 and have failed to address the needs of the

2 child in a manner that would enable the

3 child to remain in the current educational

4 placement of the child without significantly

5 impairing the education of the child or the

6 classmates of the child and the ability of

7 the teacher of the child to teach; and

8 ‘‘(iv) the training made available to

9 the child’s classroom teachers.

10 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION TO BE CONSIDERED BY IEP

11 TEAM WHEN SERIOUS DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IS IN12 VOLVED.—In determining an appropriate placement

13 for a child with a disability who engaged in a serious

14 disruptive behavior described in paragraph (1)(A),

15 the child’s IEP team shall consider the information

16 about the child required in subsection (c)(2)(B), and

17 make necessary modifications in the child’s IEP, as

18 described in subsection (c)(2)(C).

19 ‘‘(5) REVIEW OF PROGRESS OF THE CHILD.—

20 The child’s IEP team shall review the progress of

21 the child, in accordance with the procedures and

22 time lines in subsection (c)(4).

23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS; CONSTRUCTION.—

24 ‘‘(1) DANGEROUS WEAPON.—For the purpose

25 of this section, the term ‘dangerous weapon’ means
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1 a weapon, device, instrument, material or substance,

2 animate or inanimate, that is used for or is readily

3 capable of causing death or serious bodily injury.

4 ‘‘(2) DRUG.—For the purpose of this section,

5 the term ‘drug’ means a drug or other substance

6 identified under schedules I, II, III, IV, and V in

7 section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21

8 U.S.C. 812(c)).

9 ‘‘(3) ILLEGAL USE OF DRUGS.—For the pur10 pose of this section, the term ‘illegal use of drugs’

11 shall not be construed to include the use of a drug

12 taken under the supervision of a licensed health care

13 professional, or other uses authorized by the Con14 trolled Substances Act or other provisions of Federal

15 law.

16 ‘‘(4) SERIOUS BODILY INJURY.—For the pur17 pose of this section, the term ‘serious bodily injury’

18 means injury that involves a substantial risk of

19 death, extreme physical pain, an obvious or pro20 tracted disfigurement, or a protracted loss or im21 pairment of a bodily member, organ, or mental fac22 ulty that is the result of a physical or sexual assault

23 that also may have significantly endangered emo24 tional health or safety.
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1 ‘‘(f) TIMING AND EFFECT OF ASSERTION OF A

2 CHILD’S DISABILITY.—

3 ‘‘(1) PROTECTION STATUS OF A CHILD NOT

4 YET FOUND ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND

5 RELATED SERVICES.—A child who has not been de6 termined to be eligible for special education and re7 lated services under this part and who engages in

8 behavior that is a violation of the rules or code of

9 conduct of the local educational agency, including a

10 child who engages in any of the behaviors described

11 in subsections (c) and (d), may assert the protec12 tions authorized under this part, if the local edu13 cational agency had knowledge that the child was a

14 child with a disability before the behavior that

15 precipitated the disciplinary action occurred.

16 ‘‘(2) BASIS OF AN AGENCY’S KNOWLEDGE OF A

17 CHILD’S DISABILITY.—If the parents of a child de18 scribed in paragraph (1) expressed concern, in writ19 ing, if practicable, to appropriate educational agency

20 personnel about the need of the child for special edu21 cation and related services or the behavior of the

22 child which would demonstrate the need for such

23 services, or the teacher of the child or other person24 nel expressed concern about the behavior of the child

25 which would demonstrate the need for such services
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1 or the needs of the child to the agency’s director of

2 special education or other agency staff or the par3 ents, then such agency shall be deemed to have

4 knowledge of a disability of a child. A request by the

5 parents under this paragraph may include but not

6 be limited to a parental request for an evaluation

7 of their child to determine the eligibility of the child

8 for special education and related services.

9 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONS THAT APPLY WHEN AN AGEN10 CY HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF A DISABILITY OF A

11 CHILD.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the re13 quirement of subparagraph (B), if a local edu14 cational agency does not have knowledge of a

15 disability of a child as described in paragraph

16 (2) prior to taking disciplinary measures

17 against the child, the child may be subjected to

18 the same disciplinary measures as children

19 without disabilities, who engaged in comparable

20 behaviors.

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—If a request is made

22 for evaluation of a child during the time period

23 in which the child is subjected to disciplinary

24 measures under subparagraph (A), the evalua25 tion shall be conducted in an expedited manner.
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1 If the child is determined to be a child with a

2 disability, taking into consideration information

3 from the evaluation conducted by the agency

4 and information provided by the parents, such

5 agency shall provide special education and relat6 ed services in accordance with the provisions of

7 this part. Pending the results of the evaluation,

8 the placement of the child shall be the place9 ment determined by the school authorities.

10 ‘‘(g) REFERRAL TO AND ACTIONS BY LAW ENFORCE11 MENT AND JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES.—Nothing in this part

12 shall be construed to prohibit an agency from reporting

13 a crime committed by a child with a disability to appro14 priate authorities or to prevent State law enforcement and

15 judicial authorities from exercising their responsibilities

16 with regard to the application of Federal and State law

17 to crimes committed by a child with a disability.

18 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the definitions used in section 602 (as in

21 effect on the day before the date of enactment of the

22 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amend23 ments of 1997) shall apply to this section.

24 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The terms ‘behavior man25 agement plan’, ‘child with a disability’, ‘educational
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1 service agency’, ‘local educational agency’, ‘parent’,

2 and ‘supplementary aids and services’ shall have the

3 meanings given such terms in section 602 (as

4 amended by section 102 of the Individuals with Dis5 abilities Education Act Amendments of 1997).’’.

6 (2) REPEAL.—Section 615A(h), as added by

7 paragraph (1), shall be repealed effective January 1,

8 1998.

9 SEC. 207. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

10 Section 616 (20 U.S.C. 1416) is amended to read as

11 follows:

12 ‘‘SEC. 616. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

13 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Secretary,

15 after reasonable notice and an opportunity for a

16 hearing is provided to the State educational agency

17 involved (and to any local educational agency or

18 State agency affected by any failure described in

19 subparagraph (B)), finds—

20 ‘‘(A) that there has been a failure by the

21 State to comply substantially with any provision

22 of this part; or
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1 ‘‘(B) that there is a failure to comply with

2 any condition of a local educational agency’s eli3 gibility or State agency’s eligibility under this

4 part,

5 the Secretary shall, after notifying the State edu6 cational agency, withhold any further payments to

7 the State under this part.

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.—If the Secretary withholds

9 further payments under paragraph (1), the Sec10 retary may determine that such withholding will be

11 limited to programs or projects, or portions thereof,

12 affected by the failure, or that the State educational

13 agency shall not make further payments under this

14 part to specified local educational agencies or State

15 agencies affected by the failure. Until the Secretary

16 is satisfied that there is no longer any failure to

17 comply with the provisions of this part, as specified

18 in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), no

19 further payments shall be made to the State under

20 this part or payments by the State educational agen21 cy under this part shall be limited to local edu22 cational agencies or State agencies whose actions did

23 not cause or were not involved in the failure, as the

24 case may be. Any State educational agency, local

25 educational agency, or State agency in receipt of a
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1 notice pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, by means of

2 a public notice, take such measures as may be nec3 essary to bring the pendency of an action pursuant

4 to this subsection to the attention of the public with5 in the jurisdiction of such agency.

6 ‘‘(b) APPEALS OF ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(1) PETITION.—If any State is dissatisfied

8 with the Secretary’s final action with respect to the

9 eligibility of such State under section 612, such

10 State may, within 60 days after notice of such ac11 tion, file with the United States court of appeals for

12 the circuit in which such State is located a petition

13 for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall

14 be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to

15 the Secretary. The Secretary thereupon shall file in

16 the court the record of the proceedings upon which

17 the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in sec18 tion 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

19 ‘‘(2) FINDINGS.—The findings of fact by the

20 Secretary, if supported by substantial evidence, shall

21 be conclusive, but the court, for good cause shown,

22 may remand the case to the Secretary to take fur23 ther evidence. The Secretary on remand of the case

24 may make new or modified findings of fact, may

25 modify the previous action of the Secretary, and
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1 shall file in the court the record of the further pro2 ceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall

3 be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence.

4 ‘‘(3) COURT’S JUDGMENT.—Upon the filing of

5 the petition under paragraph (1), the court shall

6 have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Sec7 retary or to set such action aside, in whole or in

8 part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to

9 review by the Supreme Court of the United States

10 upon certiorari or certification as provided in section

11 1254 of title 28, United States Code.’’.

12 SEC. 208. ADMINISTRATION.

13 Section 617 (20 U.S.C. 1417) is amended to read as

14 follows:

15 ‘‘SEC. 617. ADMINISTRATION.

16 ‘‘(a) SECRETARY’S RESPONSIBILITIES.—In carrying

17 out this part, the Secretary shall—

18 ‘‘(1) cooperate with, and (directly or through

19 grant or contract) provide the technical assistance

20 necessary to, the State in matters relating to—

21 ‘‘(A) the education of children with disabil22 ities; and

23 ‘‘(B) carrying out the requirements of this

24 part;
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1 ‘‘(2) provide short-term training programs and

2 institutes; and

3 ‘‘(3) disseminate information about, and other4 wise promote, the education of all children with dis5 abilities within the States.

6 ‘‘(b) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—Not later than

7 January 1, 1977, the Secretary in carrying out the provi8 sions of this part shall issue, amend, and revoke such rules

9 and regulations as may be necessary. No other less formal

10 method of implementing such provisions is authorized.

11 ‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary shall take

12 appropriate action, in accordance with the provisions of

13 section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20

14 U.S.C. 1232g), to ensure the protection of the confiden15 tiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and

16 records collected or maintained by the Secretary and by

17 State and local educational agencies pursuant to the provi18 sions of this part.

19 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary is authorized to

20 hire qualified personnel necessary to conduct data collec21 tion and evaluation activities authorized by section 618,

22 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States

23 Code, relating to appointments in the competitive service

24 and without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of
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1 chapter 53 of such title relating to classification and gen2 eral schedule pay rates except that no more than 20 such

3 personnel shall be employed at any one time.

4 ‘‘(e) POLICY LETTERS AND STATEMENTS.—The Sec5 retary may not, through policy letters or other statements,

6 establish a rule that is required for compliance with and

7 eligibility under this part without following the require8 ments of section 553 of title 5, United States Code.

9 ‘‘(f) INTERPRETATIONS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF

10 EDUCATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on a

12 quarterly basis, publish in the Federal Register, and

13 widely disseminate to interested entities through var14 ious additional forms of communication, a list of

15 correspondence from the Department of Education

16 received by persons during the previous quarter that

17 describes the interpretations of the Department of

18 Education of this part or the regulations imple19 mented pursuant to this part.

20 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—For each

21 item of correspondence published in a list under

22 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall identify the topic

23 addressed by the correspondence and shall include

24 such other summary information as the Secretary

25 determines appropriate.’’.
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1 SEC. 209. EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.

2 Section 618 (20 U.S.C. 1418) is amended to read as

3 follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 618. EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.

5 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM INFORMATION.—Each State that re6 ceives assistance under this part, and the Secretary of the

7 Interior, shall provide data each year to the Secretary—

8 ‘‘(1)(A) on—

9 ‘‘(i) the number of children with disabil10 ities who are receiving a free appropriate public

11 education;

12 ‘‘(ii) the number of children with disabil13 ities who are receiving early intervention serv14 ices;

15 ‘‘(iii) the number of children with disabil16 ities who are participating in regular education;

17 ‘‘(iv) the number of children with disabil18 ities who are in separate classes, separate

19 schools or facilities, or public or private residen20 tial facilities;

21 ‘‘(v) the number of children with disabil22 ities who, for each year of age from 14 through

23 21, stopped receiving special education and re24 lated services because of program completion or

25 for other reasons; and
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1 ‘‘(vi) the number of children with disabil2 ities who, from birth through age 2, stopped re3 ceiving early intervention services because of

4 program completion or for other reasons; and

5 ‘‘(B) on the number of infants and toddlers who

6 are at risk of having substantial developmental

7 delays (as described in section 672) and who are re8 ceiving early intervention services under part H; and

9 ‘‘(2) on any other information as may be re10 quired by the Secretary.

11 ‘‘(b) STUDIES AND EVALUATIONS, AND NATIONAL

12 ASSESSMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assess

14 the progress in the implementation of this Act

15 through the studies, evaluations, and assessments

16 described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

17 ‘‘(2) STUDIES AND EVALUATIONS.—In carrying

18 out the requirement of paragraph (1), the Secretary

19 shall, directly or through grants, contracts, or coop20 erative agreements, conduct studies and evaluations

21 necessary to—

22 ‘‘(A) assess, through quantitative and

23 qualitative data and reporting modes, the effec24 tiveness of State and local efforts to—
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1 ‘‘(i) provide a free appropriate public

2 education to children with disabilities; and

3 ‘‘(ii) provide early intervention serv4 ices to infants and toddlers with disabil5 ities and infants and toddlers at risk for

6 developmental delay;

7 ‘‘(B) analyze measurable impact, outcomes,

8 and results achieved by the State educational

9 agencies and local educational agencies through

10 the systems change activities of such agencies

11 to reform policies, procedures, and practices de12 signed to improve the educational and transi13 tional services and results for children with

14 disabilities;

15 ‘‘(C) analyze the State and local needs for

16 professional development, parent training, and

17 other appropriate activities regarding discipli18 nary actions involving children with disabilities;

19 and

20 ‘‘(D) assess the educational and transi21 tional services and results for children with dis22 abilities from unserved and underserved popu23 lations, including—

24 ‘‘(i) data on—
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1 ‘‘(I) the number of children from

2 unserved and underserved populations

3 who are referred for special education

4 evaluation;

5 ‘‘(II) the number of children

6 from unserved and underserved popu7 lations who are receiving special edu8 cation and related services; and

9 ‘‘(III) the number of children

10 from unserved and underserved popu11 lations who graduated from secondary

12 and postsecondary education pro13 grams; and

14 ‘‘(ii) the performance of children with

15 disabilities from unserved and underserved

16 populations on State assessments and

17 other performance indicators established

18 for all students.

19 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL STUDIES, ASSESSMENTS, AND

20 EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall, directly or

21 through grants, contracts, or cooperative agree22 ments, conduct studies, assessments, and evaluations

23 (using nationally representative samples) that shall

24 measure the educational and transitional services

25 and results of children with disabilities under this
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1 Act. Such studies, assessments, and evaluations shall

2 include—

3 ‘‘(A) the conduct of a 5-year longitudinal

4 study or studies (utilizing both quantitative and

5 qualitative data and reporting modes)—

6 ‘‘(i) that examine the educational and

7 transitional services and results for chil8 dren with disabilities aged 3 through 17,

9 who are receiving special education and re10 lated services under this Act, using a na11 tional, representative sample of distinct

12 age cohorts and disability categories;

13 ‘‘(ii) that identify and reports on the

14 placement of children with disabilities by

15 disability category; and

16 ‘‘(iii) that examine the educational re17 sults, postsecondary placement, and em18 ployment status of individuals with disabil19 ities, aged 18 through 21, who are receiv20 ing or have received special education and

21 related services under this Act; and

22 ‘‘(B) the annual collection of data (begin23 ning on October 1, 1998 and every fiscal year

24 thereafter) on the number of children with dis25 abilities suspended, expelled, and subject to
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1 other disciplinary actions (such as change in

2 placement), including data disaggregated by

3 age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, disability

4 category, and category of behavior subject to

5 disciplinary action.

6 The Secretary shall ensure that the activities de7 scribed in clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph

8 (A) are not duplicated by any entity selected

9 through a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement

10 under paragraph (2).

11 ‘‘(c) TRACKING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(1) POST-SCHOOL OUTCOME TRACKING.—The

13 Secretary shall, directly or through contracts, con14 duct a study on the post-school outcomes for chil15 dren with disabilities who have been expelled from

16 school, and shall develop a procedure for State edu17 cational agencies to monitor the status of the chil18 dren, based on categories developed by the Sec19 retary, including the monitoring of the status of

20 such children through followup information regard21 ing the employment status of the children, the re22 turn of the children to school, the graduation of the

23 children, high school equivalency examinations taken

24 by the children, and residential incarceration of the

25 children.
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1 ‘‘(2) COLLECTION AND TRACKING.—Each State

2 educational agency shall bear the costs of collecting

3 and reporting any information requested by the Sec4 retary regarding the students described in paragraph

5 (1) including, information on—

6 ‘‘(A) the number and nature of disciplinary

7 actions against children expelled under section

8 615A; and

9 ‘‘(B) post-school outcomes collected under

10 the procedure developed under paragraph (1).

11 ‘‘(3) REPORTS BY THE SECRETARY.—The Sec12 retary shall collect the information described in

13 paragraph (2) and shall—

14 ‘‘(A) not later than 2 years after the date

15 of enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities

16 Education Act Amendments of 1997, prepare

17 and submit an interim report concerning the in18 formation to the Committee on Labor and

19 Human Resources of the Senate and the Com20 mittee on Economic and Educational Opportu21 nities of the House of Representatives; and

22 ‘‘(B) not later than 4 years after the date

23 of enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities

24 Education Act Amendments of 1997, prepare
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1 and submit a final report concerning the infor2 mation to the Committee on Labor and Human

3 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on

4 Economic and Educational Opportunities of the

5 House of Representatives.

6 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 120 days

7 after the expiration of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall

8 prepare and submit to Congress a report that includes—

9 ‘‘(1) an analysis and summary of the data re10 ported by the States and the Secretary of the Inte11 rior under subsection (a);

12 ‘‘(2) the results of activities conducted under

13 subsection (b);

14 ‘‘(3) the findings and determinations resulting

15 from reviews of States with respect to the implemen16 tation of this Act; and

17 ‘‘(4) recommendations with respect to the im18 plementation of this Act to improve the educational

19 and transitional services and results for children

20 with disabilities and their families.

21 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION.—The

22 Secretary may collect and use information collected from

23 various sources for reporting to Congress, including the

24 collection and use of State evaluations and available re25 search studies, in carrying out this section.
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1 ‘‘(f) RESERVATION FOR STUDIES AND EVALUA2 TIONS.—Notwithstanding any provision of this Act, the

3 Secretary may reserve, in addition to any funds appro4 priated under this section, up to one-half of one percent

5 of the amount appropriated under this part and part H

6 for each fiscal year to carry out the purposes of this

7 section.

8 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

9 purposes of carrying out this section, there are authorized

10 to be appropriated $4,100,000 for fiscal year 1998 and

11 such sums as may be necessary for succeeding fiscal

12 years.’’.

13 SEC. 210. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

14 Section 619 (20 U.S.C. 1419) is amended to read as

15 follows:

16 ‘‘SEC. 619. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

17 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall

18 make grants to States and the outlying areas to assist in

19 the provision of special education and related services, in

20 accordance with this part—

21 ‘‘(1) to children with disabilities aged 3 through

22 5; and

23 ‘‘(2) at the discretion of the State, to 2-year-old

24 children with disabilities who will turn age 3 during

25 the school year.
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1 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State or outlying area is eligi2 ble for a grant under this section if the State or outlying

3 area—

4 ‘‘(1) has established its eligibility under section

5 612; and

6 ‘‘(2) makes a free appropriate public education

7 available to all children with disabilities, aged 3

8 through 5, residing in the jurisdiction of the State

9 or the outlying area.

10 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATIONS.—Of the funds made available

11 under this section, the Secretary shall allocate to each eli12 gible State and each outlying area, the State’s or outlying

13 area’s pro rata share of the available funds based upon

14 the count of the State on the number of children with dis15 abilities, aged 3 through 5, consistent with section

16 611(a)(3). The amount of any grant to any State or outly17 ing area under this section for any fiscal year may not

18 exceed $1,500 for each child with a disability in such State

19 or outlying area, aged 3 through 5.

20 ‘‘(d) STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may retain not

22 more than 25 percent of the amount of the grant

23 that the State receives under this section for admin24 istration and other State-level activities in accord25 ance with subsections (e) and (f).
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1 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN REQUIRE2 MENTS.—A State may use the funds that the State

3 retains under paragraph (1) without regard to—

4 ‘‘(A) the prohibition on commingling of

5 funds under section 612(a)(18)(A)(ii); and

6 ‘‘(B) the prohibition on supplanting other

7 funds under section 612(a)(18)(A)(iii).

8 ‘‘(e) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State and outlying

10 area may use not more than 5 percent of the

11 amount of the grant that the State and outlying

12 area receive under this section for any fiscal year for

13 the purpose of administering this part, including the

14 coordination of activities under this part with, and

15 providing technical assistance to, other programs

16 that provide services to children with disabilities.

17 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION OF PART H.—Funds de18 scribed in paragraph (1) may also be used for the

19 administration of part H, if the State educational

20 agency is the lead agency for the State under that

21 part.

22 ‘‘(f) OTHER STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—A State

23 shall use any funds that the State retains under subsection

24 (d) and does not use for administration under subsection

25 (e)—
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1 ‘‘(1) for support services (including establishing

2 and implementing the mediation process required by

3 section 615(e)), which may benefit children with dis4 abilities younger than age 3 and older than age 5 as

5 long as such services also benefit children with dis6 abilities aged 3 through 5;

7 ‘‘(2) for direct services for children eligible for

8 services under this section;

9 ‘‘(3) for activities at the State and local levels

10 to meet the performance goals established by the

11 State under section 612(a)(16);

12 ‘‘(4) to supplement other funds used to develop

13 and implement a fully integrated and coordinated

14 statewide system that links education, health, social

15 welfare services, support systems, and other commu16 nity entities, in a manner designed to improve the

17 educational and transitional results for all children

18 and their families (including children with disabil19 ities and their families), but not to exceed 1 percent

20 of the amount received by the State under this sec21 tion; or

22 ‘‘(5) for other activities at the discretion of the

23 State educational agency that are consistent with

24 the purpose of this part.
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1 ‘‘(g) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CIES AND STATE AGENCIES.—

3 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.—A

4 State that receives a grant under this section for

5 any fiscal year shall distribute at least 75 percent of

6 the grant funds to local educational agencies in the

7 State that have established eligibility under section

8 613, and to State agencies that received funds for

9 fiscal year 1994 under subpart 2 of part D of chap10 ter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

11 Education Act of 1965 (as such subpart was in ef12 fect on the day preceding the date of enactment of

13 the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994) and

14 that have established their eligibility under section

15 613.

16 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—From the

17 amount of funds available to local educational agen18 cies or State agencies in any State under this sec19 tion, each local educational agency shall be entitled

20 to the pro rata share of the available funds based on

21 the aggregate number of children with disabilities

22 aged 3 through 5 who received special education and

23 related services as determined under section 611.
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1 ‘‘(h) PART H INAPPLICABILITY.—Part H does not

2 apply to any child with a disability receiving a free appro3 priate public education, in accordance with this part, with

4 funds received under this section.

5 ‘‘(i) OUTLYING AREAS.—The provisions of section

6 501 of Public Law 95–134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a), permitting

7 the consolidation of grants to outlying areas, shall not

8 apply to funds received by such areas under this section.

9 ‘‘(j) DEFINITION OF STATE.—For the purpose of this

10 section, the term ‘State’ means each of the 50 States, the

11 District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto

12 Rico.

13 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

14 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

15 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary.’’.

16 SEC. 211. PAYMENTS.

17 Section 620 (20 U.S.C. 1420) is amended to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘SEC. 620. PAYMENTS.

20 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—The Secretary shall

21 make payments to each State that has demonstrated the

22 eligibility of the State under section 612, in amounts that

23 the Secretary determines under sections 611 and 619.
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1 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES

2 AND STATE AGENCIES.—Any State educational agency re3 ceiving payments under this section shall distribute pay4 ments to local educational agencies (and to State agencies

5 that received funds for fiscal year 1994 under subpart 2

6 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (as such subpart was

8 in effect on the day preceding the date of enactment of

9 the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994)) in the

10 State that the State educational agency has determined

11 are eligible under section 613, in amounts determined

12 under sections 611 and 619.’’.

13 SEC. 212. APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS.

14 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part B (20 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.)

15 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

16 section:

17 ‘‘SEC. 620A. APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS.

18 ‘‘The definitions used in section 602 (as in effect on

19 the day before the date of enactment of the Individuals

20 with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997)

21 shall apply to this part, except as provided in section 615A

22 and section 618.

23 (b) REPEAL.—Section 620A, as added by subsection

24 (a), shall be repealed effective January 1, 1998.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

3 SEC. 213. CONFORMING AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

4 (a) SETTLEMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.—Section 611

5 (20 U.S.C. 1411) is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 611. (a)’’ and all that fol7 lows through ‘‘(1) Except as’’ and inserting the

8 following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 611. (a)(1) Except as’’; and

10 (2) in subsection (a) (amended by paragraph

11 (1))—

12 (A) in paragraph (1)—

13 (i) by realigning the margins of sub14 paragraphs (A) and (B) so as to align with

15 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection

16 (b)(1); and

17 (ii) by realigning the margins of

18 clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) so

19 as to align with subclauses (I) and (II) of

20 subsection (d)(2)(A)(i); and

21 (B) by realigning the margins of para22 graph (2) so as to align with paragraph (3).

23 (b) ADVISORY PANELS.—Section 615(h) (20 U.S.C.

24 1415(h)), as so redesignated by section 206(c)(5), is
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1 amended by striking ‘‘section 613(a)(12)’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘section 612(a)(20)’’.

3 (c) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—Section 615A, as

4 added by section 206(d)(1), is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (b)(6), by striking

6 ‘‘615(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘615(f)’’;

7 (2) in subsection (c)(3)(A), by striking

8 ‘‘615(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘615(f)’’; and

9 (3) in subsection (d)(2)(C), by striking

10 ‘‘615(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘615(f)’’.

11 (d) REFERENCES TO EVALUATION AND PROGRAM IN12 FORMATION.—

13 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 610

14 (20 U.S.C. 1409) is amended—

15 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘section

16 618 and’’;

17 (B) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘under

18 section 618 and’’;

19 (C) by striking subsection (e); and

20 (D) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘, as well

21 as’’ and all that follows through ‘‘under section

22 618’’.

23 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—Section 617(d) (20

24 U.S.C. 1417(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsections

25 (b), (c) and (d) of’’.
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1 (3) REGIONAL RESOURCE AND FEDERAL CEN2 TERS.—Section 621(c) (20 U.S.C. 1421(c)) is

3 amended by striking ‘‘Each regional’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘Except as otherwise required by the Secretary,

5 each regional’’.

6 (4) SECONDARY EDUCATION AND TRANSI7 TIONAL SERVICES FOR YOUTH WITH DISABIL8 ITIES.—Section 626(f)(3)(D) (20 U.S.C.

9 1425(f)(3)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘section

10 618(g)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 618’’.

11 (5) GRANTS FOR PERSONNEL TRAINING.—Sec12 tion 631(e)(11) (20 U.S.C. 1431(e)(11)) is amended

13 in the second sentence by striking ‘‘section 618(g)’’

14 and inserting ‘‘section 618’’.

15 SEC. 214. EFFECTIVE DATES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided in

17 this title and in subsections (b) and (c), the amendments

18 made by this title shall take effect on January 1, 1998.

19 (b) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—

20 (1) SECTION 615.—The amendments made by

21 subsection (c)(3)(D) (i) and (ii) of section 206 shall

22 take effect on July 1, 1997.

23 (2) SECTION 615A.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made

2 by section 206(d)(1) shall take effect on July 1,

3 1997.

4 (B) CHANGING SECTION 615(b)(2) REF5 ERENCES.—The amendment made by section

6 213(c) shall take effect on January 1, 1998.

7 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 314(a) of the

9 Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (20

10 U.S.C. 1415 note) is amended by striking para11 graph (2).

12 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment

13 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on

14 July 1, 1997.

15 (c) EVALUATION AND PROGRAM INFORMATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by

17 section 209 shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

18 (2) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR’S COMPLI19 ANCE.—The amendment made by section

20 201(d)(2)(C) shall take effect on the date of enact21 ment of this Act.

22 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The amend23 ment made by section 213(d) shall take effect on the

24 date of enactment of this Act.

25 (d) TRANSITION RULE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a

2 State that is eligible for assistance under part B (as

3 such part was in effect on the day before the date

4 of enactment of this Act) may begin carrying out the

5 provisions of part B (as amended by this title) prior

6 to January 1, 1998.

7 (2) NOTIFICATION AND APPROVAL.—A State

8 that desires to carry out any provision of part B (as

9 amended by this title) under paragraph (1) shall no10 tify the Secretary of Education of which provision of

11 such part the State desires to carry out. In accord12 ance with the procedure established by the Secretary

13 of Education, the Secretary of Education shall notify

14 the State—

15 (A) of whether the State may carry out a

16 provision of such part; and

17 (B) of any applicable procedure that the

18 State shall comply with for the purposes of car19 rying out such provision.

20 TITLE III—SYSTEMS CHANGE

21 SEC. 301. SYSTEMS CHANGE.

22 Part C (20 U.S.C. 1421 et seq.) is amended to read

23 as follows:
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1 ‘‘PART C—PROMOTING SYSTEMS CHANGE TO IM2 PROVE EDUCATIONAL AND TRANSITIONAL

3 SERVICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN

4 WITH DISABILITIES

5 ‘‘SEC. 621. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

6 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

7 ‘‘(1) States are responding with some success to

8 multiple pressures to improve educational and tran9 sitional services and results for children with disabil10 ities in response to growing demands imposed by

11 ever-changing factors, such as demographics, social

12 policies, and labor and economic markets.

13 ‘‘(2) In order for States to address such de14 mands and to facilitate lasting systems change that

15 is of benefit to all students, including children with

16 disabilities, States must involve local educational

17 agencies, individuals with disabilities and their fami18 lies, and other interested individuals and organiza19 tions in planning and implementation activities that

20 affect education.

21 ‘‘(3) Targeted Federal financial resources are

22 needed to support planning, needs assessment, im23 plementation, and evaluation of better ways to ad24 dress the needs of children with disabilities into the

25 next century.
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1 ‘‘(4) State educational agencies, in partnership

2 with local educational agencies and other individuals

3 and organizations, are in the best position to iden4 tify and design ways to meet emerging and expand5 ing demands to improve education for children with

6 disabilities and to address their special needs.

7 ‘‘(5) Research, demonstration, and practice over

8 the past 20 years in special education and related

9 disciplines have built a foundation of knowledge on

10 which State and local systems change activities can

11 now be based.

12 ‘‘(6) Such research, demonstration, and practice

13 in special education and related disciplines have

14 demonstrated that an effective educational system

15 now and in the future must—

16 ‘‘(A) maintain high academic standards

17 and clear performance goals for children with

18 disabilities, consistent with the standards and

19 expectations for all students in the educational

20 system, and provide for appropriate and effec21 tive strategies and methods to ensure that stu22 dents who are children with disabilities have

23 maximum opportunities to achieve such stand24 ards and goals;
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1 ‘‘(B) create a system that fully addresses

2 the needs of all students, including students

3 who are children with disabilities, by linking

4 and coordinating the requirements of parts B

5 and H with other systemic reform initiatives;

6 ‘‘(C) clearly define, in measurable terms,

7 the school and postschool results that children

8 with disabilities will achieve through their par9 ticipation in general and special education

10 programs;

11 ‘‘(D) promote service integration, and the

12 coordination of State and local education, so13 cial, health, and mental health supports, and

14 other interagency supports, in addressing the

15 full range of student needs, particularly the

16 needs of students who are children with disabil17 ities and have significant and multiple disabil18 ities;

19 ‘‘(E) ensure that children with disabilities

20 are provided assistance and support in making

21 transitions as described in clauses (i) through

22 (iii) of section 614(a)(2)(B);

23 ‘‘(F) promote comprehensive programs of

24 professional development to ensure that the per25 sons responsible for the education or such a
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1 transition of children with disabilities possess

2 the skills and knowledge necessary to address

3 the educational and related needs of the chil4 dren;

5 ‘‘(G) create school-based disciplinary strat6 egies that will be used to reduce or eliminate

7 the need to use suspension and expulsion as

8 disciplinary options for children with disabil9 ities;

10 ‘‘(H) establish placement-neutral funding

11 formulas and cost-effective strategies for serv12 ing children with disabilities in special edu13 cation and general education; and

14 ‘‘(I) involve individuals with disabilities

15 and parents of children with disabilities in plan16 ning, implementing, and evaluating educational

17 system innovations and reforms.

18 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to assist

19 and provide incentives to State educational agencies,

20 working in partnership with local educational agencies,

21 and other interested individuals, agencies, and organiza22 tions, described in section 623(a), to carry out systems

23 change activities that will improve policies, procedures,

24 and practices, and training, and the use of personnel, par25 ents, and school-age peers of children with disabilities that
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1 will contribute to improved early intervention, educational

2 and transitional services and results for children with dis3 abilities in demonstrable and measurable ways.

4 ‘‘SEC. 622. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

5 ‘‘(a) GRANT AWARD.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award

7 grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational

8 agencies, working in partnership with local edu9 cational agencies and other individuals and organiza10 tions described in section 623(a), to support systems

11 change activities that benefit, in demonstrable and

12 measurable ways, children with disabilities.

13 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES BENEFITING MULTIPLE

14 STATES.—To pursue systems change activities that

15 benefit children with disabilities and their families in

16 more than 1 State, recipients of such grants may

17 collaborate in carrying out projects under this part

18 through such activities as joint arrangements with 1

19 or more institutions of higher education, sharing of

20 project staff, and joint use of consultants.

21 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF GRANTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under

23 subsection (a), the Secretary may award either a

24 planning grant or an implementation grant to a

25 State educational agency applying for funds under
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1 this part that forms a partnership described in sec2 tion 623(a) that applies for funds under this part.

3 ‘‘(2) PLANNING GRANTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—An applicant may

5 apply under section 623(b) for a planning grant

6 to develop systems change activities.

7 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—A planning grant re8 ferred to in paragraph (1) shall be awarded for

9 a period of 1 year.

10 ‘‘(C) RENEWAL OF 1-YEAR GRANTS.—A

11 grant that has been awarded for a 1-year period

12 in accordance with subparagraph (B) may be

13 renewed for an additional 1-year period.

14 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—

15 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—An applicant may

16 apply under section 623(c) for an implementa17 tion grant to carry out systems change activi18 ties.

19 ‘‘(B) DURATION.—An implementation

20 grant referred to in paragraph (1) shall be

21 awarded for a period of not to exceed 5 years.

22 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF AWARDS.—

23 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining the

24 amount of any award under this part for a State

25 educational agency, the Secretary may consider such
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1 factors as the Secretary finds appropriate, which

2 may include the size of the school-age population of

3 the State in which the State educational agency is

4 located.

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding

6 paragraph (1) and except as provided in subsection

7 (d)(2) and section 624—

8 ‘‘(A) the annual amount of each planning

9 grant referred to in subsection (b)(1) shall not

10 exceed—

11 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for any State edu12 cational agency in a State; or

13 ‘‘(ii) $10,000 for any State edu14 cational agency in an outlying area; and

15 ‘‘(B) the annual amount of each implemen16 tation grant referred to in subsection (b)(1)

17 shall be not less than—

18 ‘‘(i) $450,000 for any State edu19 cational agency in a State; or

20 ‘‘(ii) $40,000 for any State edu21 cational agency in an outlying area.

22 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), no State educational agency may receive
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1 more than 1 award under this part for any fiscal

2 year.

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—In addition to applying for

4 an individual implementation grant, State edu5 cational agencies may submit a joint application

6 under section 623 for an implementation grant re7 ferred to in subsection (b)(1) with other State edu8 cational agencies to address systemic problems on a

9 regional or national basis. Any State educational

10 agency that is involved in the joint submission of

11 an application under this paragraph shall, prior to

12 making an application under section 623, form with13 in the State in which the State educational agency

14 is located a partnership as described in section

15 623(a). In determining the amount of any award for

16 such a grant, the Secretary may set aside the mone17 tary limitations described in subsection (c).

18 ‘‘SEC. 623. APPLICATION.

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be considered for a

20 planning grant or an implementation grant under this

21 part, a State educational agency shall establish a partner22 ship among members (referred to in this part as the ‘part23 nership’) consisting of local educational agencies, and
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1 other individuals and organizations involved in, or con2 cerned with, the education of children with disabilities,

3 including—

4 ‘‘(1) parents of children with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(2) individuals with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(3) teachers and related services providers;

7 ‘‘(4) representatives of institutions of higher

8 education;

9 ‘‘(5) representatives of other State agencies in10 volved in the financing or delivery of special edu11 cation and related services to children with disabil12 ities and early intervention services to infants and

13 toddlers with disabilities;

14 ‘‘(6) representatives of vocational, community,

15 postsecondary, and business organizations concerned

16 with the provision of transitional services to children

17 with disabilities; and

18 ‘‘(7) other individuals as deemed appropriate by

19 the State educational agency.

20 ‘‘(b) PLANNING GRANTS.—In order to be considered

21 for a planning grant under this part, a State educational

22 agency, in partnership with the local educational agencies,

23 and other individuals, and organizations described in sub24 section (a), shall prepare and submit an application to the

25 Secretary that—
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1 ‘‘(1) describes the planning activities for which

2 assistance is sought;

3 ‘‘(2) describes proposed changes in practices,

4 procedures, policies, training, or uses of personnel;

5 ‘‘(3) describes a partnership agreement that—

6 ‘‘(A) specifies the nature and extent of the

7 partnership, and the respective roles of each

8 member of the partnership; and

9 ‘‘(B) shall be in effect for the period of the

10 grant; and

11 ‘‘(4) includes such other information and assur12 ances as the Secretary may reasonably require.

13 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—In order to be con14 sidered for an implementation grant under this part, a

15 State educational agency, in partnership with local edu16 cational agencies, and other individuals and organizations

17 described in subsection (a), shall prepare and submit an

18 application to the Secretary that—

19 ‘‘(1) describes the critical aspects of practices,

20 procedures, policies, and organizational structures

21 that will be changed in order to improve educational

22 and transitional results for children with disabilities,

23 based on syntheses and analysis of available infor24 mation, such as—
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1 ‘‘(A) information on the performance of

2 children with disabilities on State assessments

3 and other performance indicators established

4 for all children, such as dropout rates and grad5 uation rates;

6 ‘‘(B) information on State and local needs

7 for professional development for personnel to

8 serve children with disabilities; and

9 ‘‘(C) information provided to the State

10 educational agency by the Secretary;

11 ‘‘(2) identifies the goals and objectives for the

12 systems change activities to be carried out under the

13 grant and how the goals and objectives relate to the

14 goals established by the State under section

15 612(a)(16) (as amended by section 202 of the Indi16 viduals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments

17 of 1997);

18 ‘‘(3) describes how grant funds will be used in

19 undertaking the systems change activities, and the

20 amount and nature of funds from other sources that

21 will be committed to the systems change activities;

22 ‘‘(4) describes the performance indicators that

23 will be adopted or used to measure progress made

24 toward the goals of the systems change activities
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1 and toward improved educational and transitional

2 results for children with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(5) describes the approach that will be taken,

4 on an annual basis, to disseminate information on

5 the progress measured under paragraph (4) to inter6 ested members of the State partnership and to the

7 Secretary;

8 ‘‘(6) describes a partnership agreement speci9 fied in subsection (b)(3); and

10 ‘‘(7) includes such other information and assur11 ances as the Secretary may reasonably require.

12 ‘‘(d) ADEQUATE PROGRESS.—The Secretary may ter13 minate a grant to a State educational agency under this

14 part, or require amendments to an approved application

15 of a State educational agency, if the Secretary determines

16 that the State educational agency is not making adequate

17 progress toward the goals of the systems change activities

18 of the State educational agency under this part.

19 ‘‘SEC. 624. INCENTIVES.

20 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 622(c)(2), the Secretary

21 may provide additional funds for systems change activi22 ties, if the Secretary approved an application under this

23 part relating to the activities and—

24 ‘‘(1) the application, in addition to meeting the

25 minimal application requirements, includes evidence
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1 of a significant and substantial level of collaboration

2 among agencies, organizations, and individuals who

3 have an interest in the quality of educational serv4 ices and opportunities for children with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(2) the activities described in the application

6 are connected with prereferral programs and other

7 programs designed to prevent the educational failure

8 of children (particularly children who are members

9 of unserved, underserved, or inappropriately identi10 fied populations and who are from minority back11 grounds and from geographic areas with significant

12 need) so that the children experience a high level of

13 success in their educational experience; and

14 ‘‘(3) the application demonstrates, in addition

15 to meeting the minimal application requirements, an

16 ongoing effort to assess and address the needs of

17 children with disabilities and ensure the full partici18 pation of such children in statewide or districtwide

19 general education systems change activities.

20 ‘‘SEC. 625. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are

22 authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal year

23 1998 and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal

24 years 1999 through 2002.’’.
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1 SEC. 302. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The amendments made by this title shall take effect

3 on October 1, 1997.

4 TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND

5 PERSONNEL PREPARATION

6 SEC. 401. IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION, EDU7 CATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES

8 AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL9 ITIES THROUGH COORDINATED RESEARCH

10 AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION.

11 Part D (20 U.S.C. 1431 et seq.) is amended to read

12 as follows:

13 ‘‘PART D—IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION,

14 EDUCATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERV15 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

16 DISABILITIES THROUGH COORDINATED RE17 SEARCH AND PERSONNEL PREPARATION

18 ‘‘SEC. 631. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

19 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following:

20 ‘‘(1) The Federal Government has an ongoing

21 obligation to support programs, projects, and activi22 ties that contribute to positive results for children

23 with disabilities, enabling the children—
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1 ‘‘(A) to meet their early intervention, edu2 cational, and transitional goals and, to the max3 imum extent possible, educational standards

4 that have been established for all children; and

5 ‘‘(B) to acquire the skills that will em6 power the children with disabilities to lead pro7 ductive and independent adult lives.

8 ‘‘(2)(A) As a result of more than 20 years of

9 Federal support for research, demonstration

10 projects, and personnel preparation, there is an im11 portant knowledge base for improving results for

12 children with disabilities.

13 ‘‘(B) Such knowledge should be used by States

14 and local educational agencies to design and imple15 ment state-of-the-art educational systems that con16 sider the needs of, and include, children with disabil17 ities, especially in environments in which the chil18 dren can learn along with their peers and achieve re19 sults measured by the same standards as the results

20 of their peers.

21 ‘‘(3)(A) Continued Federal support is essential

22 for the development and maintenance of a coordi23 nated and high-quality program of research, dem24 onstration projects, dissemination of information,

25 and personnel preparation.
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1 ‘‘(B) Such support—

2 ‘‘(i) enables State educational agen3 cies and local educational agencies to im4 prove their educational systems and results

5 for children with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(ii) enables State and local agencies

7 to improve early intervention services and

8 results for infants and toddlers with dis9 abilities and their families; and

10 ‘‘(iii) enhances the opportunities for

11 general and special education personnel,

12 related services personnel, parents, and

13 paraprofessionals to participate in

14 preservice and inservice training, to col15 laborate, and to improve results for chil16 dren with disabilities and their families.

17 ‘‘(4) The Federal Government plays a critical

18 role in facilitating the availability of an adequate

19 number of highly qualified personnel—

20 ‘‘(A) to serve effectively the over 5,000,000

21 children with disabilities;

22 ‘‘(B) to assume leadership positions in ad23 ministrative and direct service capacities related

24 to teacher training and research concerning the
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1 provision of early intervention services, special

2 education, and related services; and

3 ‘‘(C) to work with children with low-inci4 dence disabilities and their families.

5 ‘‘(5) The Federal Government performs the role

6 described in paragraph (4)—

7 ‘‘(A) by supporting models of personnel de8 velopment that reflect successful practice, in9 cluding strategies for recruiting, preparing, and

10 retaining personnel;

11 ‘‘(B) by promoting the coordination and

12 integration of—

13 ‘‘(i) personnel development activities

14 for teachers of children with disabilities;

15 and

16 ‘‘(ii) other personnel development ac17 tivities supported under Federal law, in18 cluding this part;

19 ‘‘(C) by supporting the development and

20 dissemination of information about teaching

21 standards; and

22 ‘‘(D) by promoting the coordination and

23 integration of personnel development activities

24 through linkage with systems change activities

25 within States and nationally.
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1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro2 vide Federal funding for coordinated research, demonstra3 tion projects, outreach, and personnel preparation activi4 ties that—

5 ‘‘(1) are described in section 633 or 634;

6 ‘‘(2) are linked with, and positively affect, sys7 tems change outcomes; and

8 ‘‘(3) improve early intervention, educational,

9 and transitional results for children with disabilities.

10 ‘‘SEC. 632. DEFINITION.

11 ‘‘As used in this part:

12 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY.—The term ‘de13 velopmental delay’ has the meaning given such term

14 by a State under section 676(b)(1).

15 ‘‘(2) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—The

16 term ‘early intervention services’ has the meaning

17 given the term in section 672.

18 ‘‘SEC. 633. RESEARCH AND INNOVATION TO IMPROVE SERV19 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DIS20 ABILITIES.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may competitively

22 make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative

23 agreements with, eligible entities to produce and advance

24 the use of knowledge to—
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1 ‘‘(1)(A) improve services provided under this

2 Act, including the practices of professionals and oth3 ers involved in providing such services to children

4 with disabilities; and

5 ‘‘(B) improve early intervention, educational,

6 and transitional services and results, for children

7 with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(2) address the special needs of infants and

9 toddlers with disabilities, including such infants and

10 toddlers who are at risk of having substantial devel11 opmental delays if early intervention services are not

12 provided;

13 ‘‘(3) address the specific problems of overidenti14 fication and underidentification of children with dis15 abilities to the same extent as other problems facing

16 children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(4) prevent children with emotional and behav18 ioral problems from developing emotional disturb19 ances that require the provision of special education

20 and related services; and

21 ‘‘(5) improve secondary and postsecondary edu22 cation and educational results for children with dis23 abilities.

24 ‘‘(b) NEW KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION; AUTHORIZED

25 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary
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1 may support any activities that are consistent with the ob2 jectives described in subsection (a), including activities

3 that—

4 ‘‘(1) expand understanding of the relationships

5 between learning characteristics of children with dis6 abilities and the diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic,

7 social, and economic backgrounds of children with

8 disabilities and their families;

9 ‘‘(2) develop or identify innovative, effective,

10 and efficient curricula designs, instructional ap11 proaches, and strategies, and develop or identify

12 positive academic and social learning opportunities,

13 that—

14 ‘‘(A) enable children with disabilities to

15 make effective transitions described in section

16 643(d)(2)(E) or transitions between educational

17 settings; and

18 ‘‘(B) improve educational and transitional

19 results for children with disabilities at all levels

20 of the educational system in which the activities

21 are carried out and, in particular, that improve

22 the progress of the children, as measured by

23 performance expectations within the general

24 education curriculum involved;
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1 ‘‘(3) advance the design of assessment tools and

2 procedures that will accurately and efficiently deter3 mine the special instructional, learning, and behav4 ioral needs of children with disabilities, especially

5 within the context of general education;

6 ‘‘(4) study and promote improved alignment

7 and compatibility of general and special education

8 reforms concerned with curricular and instructional

9 reform, evaluation and accountability of such re10 forms, and administrative procedures;

11 ‘‘(5) advance the design, development, and inte12 gration of technology, assistive technology devices,

13 media, and materials, to improve early intervention,

14 educational, and transitional services and results, for

15 children with disabilities; and

16 ‘‘(6) improve designs, processes, and results, of

17 personnel preparation for personnel who provide

18 services to children with disabilities through the ac19 quisition of information on, and implementation of,

20 research-based practices.

21 ‘‘(c) INTEGRATION OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE;

22 AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section,

23 the Secretary may support any activities that are consist24 ent with the objectives described in subsection (a), includ25 ing activities that—
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1 ‘‘(1) demonstrate and apply research-based

2 findings to facilitate systemic changes in policy, pro3 cedure, practice, and the training and use of person4 nel, related to the provision of services to children

5 with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(2) promote and demonstrate the coordination

7 of early intervention and educational services for

8 children with disabilities with services provided by

9 health, rehabilitation, and social service agencies;

10 ‘‘(3) identify solutions that overcome systemic

11 barriers to the effective and efficient delivery of

12 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv13 ices to children with disabilities;

14 ‘‘(4) enable professionals, parents of children

15 with disabilities, and other persons to learn about

16 and implement the findings of research, and success17 ful practices developed in model demonstration

18 projects, relating to the provision of services to chil19 dren with disabilities; and

20 ‘‘(5) conduct outreach, and disseminate infor21 mation, relating to successful approaches to over22 coming systemic barriers to the effective and effi23 cient delivery of early intervention, educational, and

24 transitional services to personnel who provide serv25 ices to children with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘(d) IMPROVING THE USE OF PROFESSIONAL

2 KNOWLEDGE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out

3 this section, the Secretary may support any activities that

4 are consistent with the objectives described in subsection

5 (a), including activities that—

6 ‘‘(1) synthesize professional knowledge bases

7 that utilize rigorous methodologies and that relate to

8 the provision of services to children with disabilities;

9 ‘‘(2) analyze such professional knowledge bases

10 to advance an understanding of the relationships,

11 and the effectiveness of practices, relating to the

12 provision of services to children with disabilities; and

13 ‘‘(3) present such professional knowledge bases

14 in a clear and meaningful manner to affected per15 sons at all levels of the service systems that serve

16 children with disabilities and their families.

17 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

18 to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative

19 agreement, under this section shall submit an application

20 to the Secretary at such time, in such a manner, and con21 taining such information as the Secretary may require.

22 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

24 $63,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

25 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 634. PERSONNEL PREPARATION TO IMPROVE SERV2 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DIS3 ABILITIES.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

5 ‘‘(1) SUPPORT.—The Secretary may competi6 tively make grants to, or enter into contracts or co7 operative agreements with, eligible entities and con8 sortia of eligible entities, to help address State-iden9 tified needs for qualified personnel and to ensure

10 that the personnel have the skills and knowledge re11 flecting successful practices determined through re12 search and practice that are needed to serve children

13 with disabilities.

14 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.—In carrying out this section,

15 the Secretary may support—

16 ‘‘(A) projects that address the need for

17 personnel to serve children with high-incidence

18 disabilities or children with low-incidence dis19 abilities;

20 ‘‘(B) projects that address the need for

21 leadership personnel;

22 ‘‘(C) special projects that have broad appli23 cability in addressing the personnel needs de24 scribed in paragraph (1); and

25 ‘‘(D) projects that improve the skills of

26 personnel who serve children with disabilities
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1 who engage in or are likely to engage in behav2 ior subject to disciplinary action.

3 ‘‘(b) HIGH-INCIDENCE DISABILITIES; AUTHORIZED

4 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

5 may support any activities for children with high-incidence

6 disabilities that are consistent with the objectives de7 scribed in subsection (a), including activities that—

8 ‘‘(1) provide teachers, and related services per9 sonnel, from various disciplines with interdisciplinary

10 training and training regarding innovative instruc11 tional methods for children with disabilities, espe12 cially methods that meet the diverse needs of indi13 vidual children with disabilities and enable the chil14 dren to be successful, as measured by performance

15 expectations within the general education curriculum

16 involved;

17 ‘‘(2) prepare personnel in the use of strategies,

18 techniques, methods, and practices that meet the

19 needs, for early intervention, educational, and transi20 tional services, of children with disabilities who are

21 members of unserved, underserved, or inappropri22 ately identified populations;
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1 ‘‘(3) develop career-ladder opportunities for

2 paraprofessionals to receive training as special edu3 cation teachers and related services personnel, in4 cluding interdisciplinary training to enable the

5 teachers and personnel to improve early intervention,

6 educational, and transitional results for children

7 with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(4) enhance the ability of trainees, teachers,

9 and others to acquire and use strategies, including

10 behavior management plans, to address the conduct

11 of children with disabilities that impedes learning by

12 such children and learning by other students in the

13 classroom involved;

14 ‘‘(5) recruit and retain new, highly qualified

15 teachers and related services personnel, especially

16 from groups that are unserved and underserved pop17 ulations in the teaching profession and from individ18 uals from rural or urban settings, to provide services

19 to children with disabilities;

20 ‘‘(6) enhance the preparation of individuals who

21 are teachers, early intervention services personnel,

22 related services personnel, or paraprofessionals, by

23 providing such individuals with interdisciplinary

24 training to develop the collaborative skills needed to
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1 appropriately teach children with disabilities, par2 ticularly in accordance with a general education cur3 riculum; and

4 ‘‘(7) support universities, and institutions of

5 higher education, with minority enrollments of at

6 least 25 percent for the purpose of preparing per7 sonnel to work with children with disabilities who

8 are members of unserved, underserved, or inappro9 priately identified populations.

10 ‘‘(c) LEADERSHIP PREPARATION; AUTHORIZED AC11 TIVITIES.—In carrying out this section the Secretary may

12 support any leadership preparation activities that are con13 sistent with the objectives described in subsection (a), in14 cluding activities that—

15 ‘‘(1) prepare personnel at the advanced grad16 uate, doctoral, and postdoctoral levels of training to

17 administer, enhance, or provide services for children

18 with disabilities, with emphasis on preparation of

19 personnel who are involved with, or will be involved

20 with, efforts to address the needs of children with

21 disabilities who are members of unserved, under22 served, or inappropriately identified populations,

23 children with low-incidence disabilities, and children

24 from rural or urban areas;
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1 ‘‘(2) provide interdisciplinary training for per2 sonnel from various disciplines, including teacher

3 preparation faculty, administrators, researchers, su4 pervisors, and other persons, affecting the early

5 intervention, educational, and transitional services of

6 children with disabilities;

7 ‘‘(3) prepare professionals at the doctoral and

8 postdoctoral levels at institutions of higher education

9 that are working toward integrating professional de10 velopment of general education, special education,

11 and other disciplines; and

12 ‘‘(4) prepare professionals at the doctoral and

13 postdoctoral levels at institutions of higher education

14 that are successfully recruiting and preparing—

15 ‘‘(A) individuals with disabilities; and

16 ‘‘(B) individuals from groups that are

17 underrepresented in education leadership posi18 tions.

19 ‘‘(d) LOW-INCIDENCE DISABILITIES; AUTHORIZED

20 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

21 may support any activities for children with low-incidence

22 disabilities that are consistent with the objectives de23 scribed in subsection (a), including—

24 ‘‘(1) preparing persons who—
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1 ‘‘(A) have prior training in educational and

2 other related service fields; and

3 ‘‘(B) are studying to obtain certificates or

4 licensure that will enable the persons to assist

5 children with disabilities to achieve the objec6 tives set out in their individualized education

7 programs described in section 614 or to assist

8 infants and toddlers with disabilities to achieve

9 the outcomes described in their individualized

10 family service plans described in section 677;

11 ‘‘(2) providing personnel from various dis12 ciplines with interdisciplinary training that will con13 tribute to improvement in early intervention, edu14 cational, and transitional results for children with

15 disabilities;

16 ‘‘(3) preparing personnel in the innovative uses

17 and application of technology to enhance through

18 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv19 ices, learning by children with disabilities;

20 ‘‘(4) preparing personnel to provide early inter21 vention services or special education services to chil22 dren with disabilities, including preparation through

23 the provision of scholarships with necessary stipends

24 and allowances; and
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1 ‘‘(5) ensuring that all entities and consortia

2 who receive assistance under this section to prepare

3 personnel to provide services to visually impaired or

4 blind children, will prepare the personnel to teach

5 and use braille in the provision of services to such

6 children.

7 ‘‘(e) PROJECTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE; AU8 THORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the

9 Secretary may support any activities that are consistent

10 with the objectives described in subsection (a), including

11 activities that—

12 ‘‘(1) develop and demonstrate effective and effi13 cient practices for preparing personnel to provide

14 services to children with disabilities, including prac15 tices that address needs identified through systems

16 change activities funded under part C;

17 ‘‘(2) demonstrate the application of significant

18 knowledge derived from research and other sources

19 in the development of programs to prepare personnel

20 to provide services to children with disabilities;

21 ‘‘(3) demonstrate models for the preparation of

22 special education and general education personnel,

23 to enable the personnel—

24 ‘‘(A) to acquire the collaboration skills nec25 essary to assist children with disabilities; and
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1 ‘‘(B) to achieve results that meet challeng2 ing standards of performance expectations, par3 ticularly performance expectations within the

4 general education curriculum involved;

5 ‘‘(4) demonstrate models that—

6 ‘‘(A) provide interdisciplinary training to

7 individuals within collaborative teams of special

8 education and general education personnel, re9 lated services personnel, and family members of

10 children with disabilities; and

11 ‘‘(B) enhance the educational experience of

12 children with disabilities;

13 ‘‘(5) demonstrate models that reduce shortages

14 of teachers, and personnel from other relevant dis15 ciplines, who serve children with disabilities through

16 reciprocity arrangements, between States, that are

17 related to licensure and certification;

18 ‘‘(6) develop, evaluate, and disseminate model

19 teaching standards for persons working with chil20 dren with disabilities; and

21 ‘‘(7) promote the transferability, across State

22 and local jurisdictions, of licensure and certification

23 of teachers and administrators working with such

24 children.

25 ‘‘(f) APPLICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible entity or con2 sortium that wishes to receive a grant, or enter into

3 a contract or cooperative agreement, under this sec4 tion shall submit an application to the Secretary at

5 such time, in such manner, and containing such in6 formation as the Secretary may require.

7 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFIED STATE NEEDS.—Any such ap8 plication shall include information demonstrating to

9 the satisfaction of the Secretary that the activities

10 described in the application will address needs iden11 tified by the State the applicant proposes to serve.

12 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated $81,000,000 to carry

14 out this section for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as

15 may be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through

16 2002.’’.

17 SEC. 402. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

18 (a) HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.—

19 (1) Section 409A(2) of the Higher Education

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–51(2)) is amended by

21 striking ‘‘refer students with disabilities and their

22 families to the postsecondary clearinghouse that is

23 authorized under section 633(c) of the Individuals

24 with Disabilities Education Act’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘refer students with disabilities and their families to
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1 the activities addressing information preparation and

2 dissemination needs relating to postsecondary serv3 ices that are authorized under section 644(e)(4) of

4 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’’.

5 (2) The third sentence of section 483(d) of the

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090(d))

7 is amended by striking ‘‘refer such students to the

8 national clearinghouse on postsecondary education

9 that is authorized under section 633(c) of the Indi10 viduals with Disabilities Education Act’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘refer such students to the activities addressing

12 information preparation and dissemination needs re13 lating to postsecondary services that are authorized

14 under section 644(e)(4) of the Individuals with Dis15 abilities Education Act’’.

16 (b) GOALS 2000: EDUCATE AMERICA ACT.—Section

17 402(a)(2)(H) of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act (20

18 U.S.C. 5912(a)(2)(H)) is amended by striking clause (ii)

19 and inserting the following:

20 ‘‘(ii) parent training and information

21 centers and community parent training

22 and information programs authorized

23 under subsections (b) and (c), respectively,

24 of section 643 of the Individuals with Dis25 abilities Education Act;’’.
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1 (c) REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.—

2 (1) Section 105(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Rehabilita3 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 725(b)(1)(A)(ii)) is

4 amended by striking ‘‘a parent training and infor5 mation center established pursuant to section

6 631(e)(1) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu7 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1431(e)(1))’’ and inserting ‘‘a

8 parent training and information center or commu9 nity parent training and information program au10 thorized under subsection (b) or (c), respectively, of

11 section 643 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu12 cation Act’’.

13 (2) Paragraphs (4)(A)(i) and (6) of section

14 803(c) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C.

15 797b(c)) are amended by striking ‘‘parent training

16 and information centers established under section

17 631 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education

18 Act (20 U.S.C. 1431)’’ and inserting ‘‘parent train19 ing and information centers and community parent

20 training and information programs authorized under

21 subsections (b) and (c), respectively, of section 643

22 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’’.

23 SEC. 403. EFFECTIVE DATE.

24 The amendments made by this title shall take effect

25 on October 1, 1997.
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1 TITLE V—TECHNICAL ASSIST2 ANCE, SUPPORT, AND DIS3 SEMINATION OF INFORMA4 TION

5 SEC. 501. IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION, EDU6 CATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERVICES

7 AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL8 ITIES THROUGH COORDINATED TECHNICAL

9 ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND DISSEMINATION

10 OF INFORMATION.

11 The Act (29 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) is amended—

12 (1) by striking parts E, F, and G; and

13 (2) by inserting the following:

14 ‘‘PART E—IMPROVING EARLY INTERVENTION,

15 EDUCATIONAL, AND TRANSITIONAL SERV16 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

17 DISABILITIES THROUGH COORDINATED

18 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT, AND

19 DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

20 ‘‘SEC. 641. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that—

22 ‘‘(1) national technical assistance, support, and

23 dissemination activities are necessary to ensure that

24 the provisions of parts B and H are fully imple25 mented and achieve early intervention, educational,
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1 and transitional results for children with disabilities

2 and their families;

3 ‘‘(2) parents, teachers, administrators, and re4 lated services personnel need technical assistance

5 and information in a timely, coordinated, and acces6 sible manner in order to improve early intervention,

7 educational, and transitional services and results, at

8 the State and local levels for children with disabil9 ities and their families;

10 ‘‘(3) parent training and information activities

11 have taken on increased importance in efforts to as12 sist parents of a child with a disability in dealing

13 with the multiple pressures of rearing such a child

14 and are of particular importance in—

15 ‘‘(A)(i) ensuring the involvement of such

16 parents in planning and decisionmaking with

17 respect to early intervention, educational, and

18 transitional services; and

19 ‘‘(ii) achieving early intervention, edu20 cational, and transitional results for children

21 with disabilities;

22 ‘‘(B) providing such parents information

23 on their rights and protections under this Act
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1 to ensure improved early intervention, edu2 cational, and transitional results for children

3 with disabilities;

4 ‘‘(C) assisting such parents in the develop5 ment of skills to participate effectively in the

6 education and development of their children and

7 in the transitions described in section

8 643(d)(2)(E); and

9 ‘‘(D) supporting the roles of such parents

10 as participants within partnerships seeking to

11 improve early intervention, educational, and

12 transitional services and results, for children

13 with disabilities and their families;

14 ‘‘(4) providers of parent training and informa15 tion activities need to ensure that such parents who

16 have limited access to services and supports, due to

17 economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers, are pro18 vided with access to appropriate parent training and

19 information activities;

20 ‘‘(5) parents of children with disabilities need

21 information that helps the parents to understand the

22 rights and responsibilities of their children under

23 part B;

24 ‘‘(6) the provision of coordinated technical as25 sistance and dissemination of information to State
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1 and local agencies, institutions of higher education,

2 and other providers of services to children with dis3 abilities are essential in—

4 ‘‘(A) supporting the process of achieving

5 systems change outcomes;

6 ‘‘(B) supporting actions in areas of priority

7 specific to the improvement of early interven8 tion, educational, and transitional results for

9 children with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(C) conveying information and assistance

11 that are—

12 ‘‘(i) based on current research (as of

13 the date the information and assistance

14 are conveyed);

15 ‘‘(ii) accessible and meaningful for use

16 in supporting systems change activities of

17 State and local partnerships; and

18 ‘‘(iii) linked directly to improving

19 early intervention, educational, and transi20 tional services and results, for children

21 with disabilities and their families; and

22 ‘‘(D) organizing systems and information

23 networks for such information, based on mod24 ern technology related to—
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1 ‘‘(i) storing and gaining access to in2 formation; and

3 ‘‘(ii) distributing information in a sys4 tematic manner to parents, students, pro5 fessionals, and policymakers;

6 ‘‘(7) Federal support for carrying out tech7 nology research, technology development, and edu8 cational media services and activities has resulted in

9 major innovations that have significantly improved

10 early intervention, educational, and transitional serv11 ices and results, for children with disabilities and

12 their families; and

13 ‘‘(8) such Federal support is needed to—

14 ‘‘(A) stimulate the development of soft15 ware, interactive learning tools, and devices to

16 address early intervention, educational, and

17 transitional results for children with disabilities

18 who have certain disabilities;

19 ‘‘(B) make information available on tech20 nology research, technology development, and

21 educational media services and activities to in22 dividuals involved in the provision of early

23 intervention, educational, and transitional serv24 ices to children with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(C) promote the integration of technology

2 into curricula to improve early intervention,

3 educational, and transitional results for children

4 with disabilities;

5 ‘‘(D) provide incentives for the develop6 ment of technology and media devices and tools

7 that are not readily found or available because

8 of the small size of potential markets;

9 ‘‘(E) make resources available to pay for

10 such devices and tools and educational media

11 services and activities;

12 ‘‘(F) promote the training of personnel

13 to—

14 ‘‘(i) provide such devices, tools, serv15 ices, and activities in a competent manner;

16 and

17 ‘‘(ii) assist children with disabilities

18 and their families in using such devices,

19 tools, services, and activities; and

20 ‘‘(G) coordinate the provision of such de21 vices, tools, services, and activities—

22 ‘‘(i) among State human services pro23 grams; and

24 ‘‘(ii) between such programs and pri25 vate agencies.
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1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this part are to

2 provide funding to ensure that—

3 ‘‘(1) children with disabilities, and their par4 ents, receive training and information on their rights

5 and protections under this Act, in order to develop

6 the skills necessary to effectively participate in plan7 ning and decisionmaking relating to early interven8 tion, educational, and transitional services and in

9 systems change activities;

10 ‘‘(2) parents, teachers, administrators, early

11 intervention personnel, related services personnel,

12 and transition personnel receive coordinated and ac13 cessible technical assistance and information to as14 sist such persons through systems change activities

15 and other efforts, to improve early intervention, edu16 cational, and transitional services and results, for

17 children with disabilities and their families;

18 ‘‘(3) appropriate technology and media are re19 searched, developed, demonstrated, and made avail20 able in timely and accessible formats to parents,

21 teachers, and all types of personnel providing serv22 ices to children with disabilities to support their
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1 roles as partners in the improvement and implemen2 tation of early intervention, educational, and transi3 tional services and results, for children with disabil4 ities and their families;

5 ‘‘(4) children with disabilities understand (on

6 reaching the age of majority specified under appro7 priate State law) their rights and responsibilities

8 under part B, if the State provides for the transfer

9 of parental rights under section 615(j) (as amended

10 by section 206(c)(8) of the Individuals with Disabil11 ities Education Act Amendments of 1997); and

12 ‘‘(5) the general welfare of deaf and hard-of13 hearing individuals is promoted by—

14 ‘‘(A) bringing to such individuals under15 standing and appreciation of the films and tele16 vision programs that play an important part in

17 the general and cultural advancement of hear18 ing individuals;

19 ‘‘(B) providing, through the films and tele20 vision programs, enriched educational and cul21 tural experiences through which deaf and hard22 of-hearing individuals can better understand the

23 realities of their environment; and
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1 ‘‘(C) providing wholesome and rewarding

2 experiences that deaf and hard-of-hearing indi3 viduals may share.

4 ‘‘SEC. 642. DEFINITIONS.

5 ‘‘As used in this part:

6 ‘‘(1) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—The

7 term ‘early intervention services’ has the meaning

8 given the term in section 632.

9 ‘‘(2) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY; INDIVID10 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—The terms ‘individual

11 with a disability’ and ‘individuals with disabilities’

12 have the meanings given the terms in section 3 of

13 the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals

14 With Disabilities Act of 1988 (29 U.S.C. 2202).

15 ‘‘(3) PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘partnership’

16 means a partnership described in section 623(a).

17 ‘‘SEC. 643. PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION.

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

19 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—

20 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may

21 competitively make grants to, or enter into con22 tracts or cooperative agreements with, private,

23 nonprofit organizations for the purpose of pro24 viding parent training and information activities

25 for parents of children with disabilities, and
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1 persons who work with such parents, to enable

2 the parents and persons to participate in, and

3 conduct advocacy for, effective ways, including

4 mediation, to meet the needs of and improve

5 early intervention, educational, and transitional

6 results for children with disabilities.

7 ‘‘(B) CENTERS AND PROGRAMS.—Such ac8 tivities may be provided—

9 ‘‘(i) by an organization that operates

10 or intends, if funded, to operate a parent

11 training and information center described

12 in subsection (b); and

13 ‘‘(ii) by a parent organization that op14 erates or intends, if funded, to operate a

15 community parent training and informa16 tion program described in subsection (c)

17 that is designed specifically to build the ca18 pacity of persons who work with parents of

19 children with disabilities who are members

20 of unserved, underserved, or inappropri21 ately identified populations, to demonstrate

22 and assist in the replication of models for

23 such activities, and to provide such activi24 ties to address the needs of such parents.
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1 ‘‘(C) PROPOSAL.—The Secretary shall

2 make such a grant to, or enter into such a con3 tract or cooperative agreement with, an organi4 zation that proposes activities that are designed

5 to meet the unique training and information

6 needs, as determined by needs assessment data,

7 of parents of children with disabilities who are

8 living in the area to be served under the grant,

9 contract, or cooperative agreement, particularly

10 parents of children with disabilities who are

11 members of unserved or underserved popu12 lations.

13 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS; MEMBERSHIP

14 AND GOVERNANCE.—To be eligible to apply to re15 ceive a grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative

16 agreement, under this section, an organization—

17 ‘‘(A) shall be governed by a board of direc18 tors that—

19 ‘‘(i) represents a coalition, of which a

20 majority of the members are parents of

21 children with disabilities, particularly par22 ents of children with disabilities who are

23 members of unserved, underserved, or in24 appropriately identified populations; and

25 ‘‘(ii) includes—
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1 ‘‘(I) professionals in fields related

2 to the provision of early intervention

3 services, special education, and related

4 services; and

5 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

6 or

7 ‘‘(B) shall have a membership that rep8 resents the interests of individuals with disabil9 ities, and shall establish a special governing

10 committee—

11 ‘‘(i) of which a majority of the mem12 bers are parents of infants and toddlers

13 with disabilities or of children with disabil14 ities;

15 ‘‘(ii) that includes—

16 ‘‘(I) professionals in fields related

17 to the provision of early intervention

18 services, special education, and related

19 services; and

20 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

21 and

22 ‘‘(iii) of which the parent and profes23 sional members are broadly representative

24 of the population to be served by the orga25 nization.
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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS; CAPACITY AND

2 EXPERTISE.—To be eligible to receive a grant, or

3 enter into a contract or cooperative agreement,

4 under this section, an organization shall demonstrate

5 the capacity and expertise necessary—

6 ‘‘(A) to conduct the parent training and

7 information activities described in paragraph

8 (1); and

9 ‘‘(B) to work with partnerships carrying

10 out State systems change activities under part

11 C, seeking to improve early intervention, edu12 cational, and transitional services and results,

13 for children with disabilities.

14 ‘‘(b) PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION CEN15 TERS; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Each organization that

16 receives a grant, or enters into a contract or cooperative

17 agreement, under subsection (a) to operate a parent train18 ing and information center shall—

19 ‘‘(1) provide parent training and information

20 activities that meet the training and information

21 needs of all parents of children with disabilities liv22 ing in the area to be served under the grant, con23 tract, or cooperative agreement, particularly parents

24 of children with disabilities who are members of

25 unserved or underserved populations;
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1 ‘‘(2) serve the parents of children with disabil2 ities who, collectively, have the full range of disabil3 ities;

4 ‘‘(3) assist the parents of children with disabil5 ities in better understanding the nature of the dis6 abilities of their children and the needs of their chil7 dren to obtain improved early intervention, edu8 cational, and transitional services and results;

9 ‘‘(4) assist such parents in communicating ef10 fectively with early intervention services personnel,

11 general and special education personnel, administra12 tors, and other relevant persons;

13 ‘‘(5) assist such parents in participating in deci14 sionmaking processes, including the development of

15 individualized education programs under part B and

16 individualized family service plans under part H, for

17 children with disabilities;

18 ‘‘(6) assist such parents in obtaining appro19 priate information about the range of options, pro20 grams, supports, and resources available at national,

21 State, and local levels to assist children with disabil22 ities and their families;

23 ‘‘(7) assist such parents in understanding the

24 provisions of this Act relating to the education of,
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1 and provision of early intervention services for, chil2 dren with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(8) assist such parents in participating as in4 formed participants in State systems change activi5 ties, especially systems change activities funded

6 under part C;

7 ‘‘(9) ensure that parents of children who are

8 members of inappropriately identified populations,

9 and who are being referred for or are receiving spe10 cial education services, are informed about problems

11 connected with inappropriately identifying such chil12 dren as described in section 602(a)(13);

13 ‘‘(10) assist children with disabilities, particu14 larly such children who are members of unserved or

15 underserved populations, in understanding their

16 rights and responsibilities under this Act on reach17 ing the age of majority for the State in which such

18 a child resides, if the State provides for the transfer

19 of parental rights under section 615(j) (as amended

20 by section 206(c)(8) of the Individuals with Disabil21 ities Education Act Amendments of 1997) to the

22 children;

23 ‘‘(11) report to the Secretary on—
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1 ‘‘(A) the number of such parents for whom

2 the organization provided parent training and

3 information activities; and

4 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of strategies used to

5 reach and serve such parents, including low-in6 come parents from urban areas, low-income

7 parents from rural areas, parents with limited8 English proficiency who have children with dis9 abilities, and parents with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(12) establish cooperative relationships with

11 all other entities operating parent training and infor12 mation centers, including community parent training

13 and information programs described in subsection

14 (c), in the State in which the organization is operat15 ing a parent training and information center; and

16 ‘‘(13) consult and establish networks with ap17 propriate national, regional, and local agencies and

18 organizations, such as protection and advocacy agen19 cies, within the geographic area served by the orga20 nization, that serve or assist children with disabil21 ities and their families.

22 ‘‘(c) COMMUNITY PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMA23 TION PROGRAMS; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each parent organization

2 that receives a grant, or enters into a contract or co3 operative agreement, under subsection (a) to carry

4 out a community parent training and information

5 program shall build the capacity, demonstrate and

6 assist in the replication of the models, and provide

7 the activities described in subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii).

8 ‘‘(2) PARENTS ASSISTED.—Each such parent

9 organization shall build such capacity, demonstrate

10 and assist in the replication of such models, and

11 provide such activities, in a manner that will help

12 ensure that parents of children with disabilities who

13 are members of unserved or underserved populations

14 participate in parent training and information activi15 ties.

16 ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVES.—The services described in

17 paragraph (1) shall result in new capacity, dem18 onstrated and replicated models, and training and

19 information activities, needed to enable the parents

20 described in paragraph (2) to participate effectively

21 in helping their children with disabilities and to

22 serve as informed participants in partnerships within

23 their State, leading to improved early intervention,

24 educational, and transitional services and results, for

25 all children with disabilities and their families.
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1 ‘‘(4) COMMUNITY TRAINING AND INFORMATION

2 ACTIVITIES.—Such services shall—

3 ‘‘(A) include capacity building, demonstra4 tion and replication of models, and the provi5 sion of training and information activities, that

6 meet the needs of parents of children with dis7 abilities who are members of unserved or under8 served populations;

9 ‘‘(B) include activities carried out through

10 cooperative relationships with the parent train11 ing and information centers;

12 ‘‘(C) include accommodations and strate13 gies to meet the specific needs of families who

14 experience significant isolation from available

15 sources of information and support;

16 ‘‘(D) demonstrate, utilize, and document

17 the use and effectiveness of, model approaches

18 to address the multiple needs of children with

19 disabilities who are members of unserved or un20 derserved populations; and

21 ‘‘(E) ensure that parents of children who

22 are members of inappropriately identified popu23 lations, and who are being referred for or are
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1 receiving special education services, are in2 formed about problems connected with inappro3 priately identifying such children as described

4 in section 602(a)(13).

5 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Each parent organization that

6 receives a grant, or enters into a contract or cooper7 ative agreement, under subsection (a) to operate a

8 community parent training and information program

9 shall report to the Secretary on—

10 ‘‘(A) the number of parents of children

11 with disabilities who are members of unserved

12 or underserved populations for whom the orga13 nization provided parent training and informa14 tion activities;

15 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness and impact of strat16 egies used to reach and serve such parents; and

17 ‘‘(C) the impact of the increased capacity

18 described in subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) on the pro19 vision of parent training and information activi20 ties and on improved early intervention, edu21 cational, and transitional results for such chil22 dren.

23 ‘‘(d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVI24 TIES.—The Secretary may provide technical assistance to

25 organizations to—
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1 ‘‘(1) carry out parent training and information

2 activities by—

3 ‘‘(A) coordinating parent training efforts;

4 and

5 ‘‘(B) providing or helping to disseminate

6 information to centers funded under this part;

7 and

8 ‘‘(2) develop, coordinate, and disseminate infor9 mation on the following parent training and infor10 mation activities:

11 ‘‘(A) Assisting the centers in evaluating

12 their activities under this part.

13 ‘‘(B) Promoting the use of technology by

14 the centers to make information available.

15 ‘‘(C) Reaching parents of children with

16 disabilities who are members of unserved or un17 derserved populations.

18 ‘‘(D) Including children with disabilities in

19 general education programs.

20 ‘‘(E)(i) Supporting the transition of chil21 dren with disabilities from—

22 ‘‘(I) early intervention services to pre23 school;

24 ‘‘(II) preschool to elementary school;

25 and
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1 ‘‘(III) secondary school to postsecond2 ary school and employment.

3 ‘‘(ii) Promoting mediation and alternative

4 methods of dispute resolution for children with

5 disabilities.

6 ‘‘(F) Assisting parent training and infor7 mation centers in becoming effective partners in

8 State systems change activities, leading to im9 proved early intervention, educational, and

10 transitional results for children with disabilities.

11 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

12 to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative

13 agreement, under this section shall submit an application

14 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con15 taining such information as the Secretary may require.

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

17 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

18 $13,600,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

19 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

20 ‘‘SEC. 644. COORDINATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND

21 DISSEMINATION.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, directly or

23 by competitively making grants and entering into con24 tracts and cooperative agreements with eligible entities,
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1 provide technical assistance and information through insti2 tutes, resource centers, clearinghouses, and programs that

3 support States and local entities in building capacity to

4 improve early intervention, educational, and transitional

5 services and results, for children with disabilities and their

6 families, and address systems change goals and priorities.

7 ‘‘(b) SYSTEMIC TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AUTHOR8 IZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Sec9 retary may carry out or support any technical assistance

10 activities that are consistent with the objectives described

11 in subsection (a), including activities that—

12 ‘‘(1) assist States, local educational agencies,

13 and other members of partnerships with the process

14 of planning systemic changes that will promote im15 proved early intervention, educational, and transi16 tional results for children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(2) promote change through a multistate or

18 regional framework that benefits States, local edu19 cational agencies, and other members of partner20 ships, that are in the process of achieving systems

21 change outcomes;

22 ‘‘(3) increase the depth and utility of informa23 tion in ongoing and emerging areas of priority need

24 identified by States, local educational agencies, and
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1 other members of partnerships, that are in the proc2 ess of achieving systems change outcomes; and

3 ‘‘(4) develop long-term working relationships

4 with States, local educational agencies, and other

5 members of partnerships, by—

6 ‘‘(A) developing familiarity with the prac7 tices, procedures, and policies of the States,

8 agencies, and other members;

9 ‘‘(B) providing services that are based on

10 the needs and concerns identified by the mem11 bers of the partnerships, rather than on exter12 nally imposed criteria or topics;

13 ‘‘(C) focusing on accountability of the

14 States, agencies, and other members for im15 proved early intervention, educational, and

16 transitional results for children with disabilities;

17 and

18 ‘‘(D) coordinating activities with clearing19 houses to disseminate information and data on

20 needs and results of children with disabilities.

21 ‘‘(c) INTERORGANIZATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSIST22 ANCE; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this

23 section, the Secretary may carry out or support any activi24 ties that are consistent with the objectives described in
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1 subsection (a), including activities for States, local edu2 cational agencies, and other members of partnerships,

3 that—

4 ‘‘(1) focus on major requirements of this Act as

5 determined by the Secretary, in which interorganiza6 tional issues are present and are perceived to be bar7 riers to systemic change and to improved early inter8 vention, educational, and transitional results for

9 children with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(2) facilitate interorganizational collaboration

11 at Federal, State, and local levels in order to achieve

12 such change and such improved results; and

13 ‘‘(3) consist of extensive collaboration with non14 education entities (such as entities that provide serv15 ices for infants and toddlers with disabilities, early

16 intervention services, mental health services, health

17 services, and vocational rehabilitation services) in

18 order to facilitate systems change outcomes and the

19 improvement of early intervention, educational, and

20 transitional results for children with disabilities.

21 ‘‘(d) SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AU22 THORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the

23 Secretary may carry out or support any activities that are

24 consistent with the objectives described in subsection (a),

25 including activities that—
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1 ‘‘(1) focus on specific areas of high priority

2 need that—

3 ‘‘(A) are identified by States, local edu4 cational agencies, and other members of part5 nerships;

6 ‘‘(B) require the development of new

7 knowledge, or the analysis and synthesis of sub8 stantial bodies of information not readily avail9 able to the States, agencies, and other mem10 bers; and

11 ‘‘(C) will contribute significantly to the im12 provement of early intervention, educational,

13 and transitional services and results, for chil14 dren with disabilities and their families;

15 ‘‘(2) focus on needs and issues that are specific

16 to a population of children with disabilities, such as

17 the provision of single State and multi-State tech18 nical assistance and inservice training to—

19 ‘‘(A) schools and agencies serving deaf20 blind children and their families; and

21 ‘‘(B) programs and agencies serving other

22 groups of children with low-incidence disabilities

23 and their families; and

24 ‘‘(3) address the postsecondary education needs

25 of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing
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1 through the operation of 4 model regional center

2 programs.

3 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND

4 REFERRAL; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out

5 this section, the Secretary may carry out or support infor6 mation dissemination and referral activities that are con7 sistent with the objectives described in subsection (a), in8 cluding activities that address national needs for the prep9 aration and dissemination of information relating to elimi10 nating barriers to systems change outcomes and improving

11 early intervention, educational, and transitional results for

12 children with disabilities, including information relating

13 to—

14 ‘‘(1) infants and toddlers with disabilities and

15 their families, and children with disabilities (includ16 ing youth with disabilities) and their families;

17 ‘‘(2) the provision of services and supports to

18 deaf-blind children;

19 ‘‘(3) the provision of services to blind and print20 disabled children;

21 ‘‘(4) the provision of postsecondary services to

22 individuals with disabilities; and

23 ‘‘(5) the need for and use of personnel to pro24 vide services to children with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘(f) NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND DIS2 SEMINATION COORDINATION ACTIVITIES; AUTHORIZED

3 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

4 may carry out or support any activities that are consistent

5 with the objectives described in subsection (a), including

6 activities that—

7 ‘‘(1) link and coordinate activities of—

8 ‘‘(A) all information and technical assist9 ance programs funded under this Act; and

10 ‘‘(B) other programs that support systems

11 change outcomes, including programs that in12 volve early intervention, educational, or transi13 tional services;

14 ‘‘(2) coordinate national information on issues

15 that—

16 ‘‘(A) are of critical interest to State edu17 cational agencies and local educational agencies,

18 other agency personnel, parents of children with

19 disabilities, and individuals with disabilities;

20 and

21 ‘‘(B) include issues relating to—

22 ‘‘(i) educational reform and systemic

23 change within States;

24 ‘‘(ii) interorganizational collaboration

25 and service provision;
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1 ‘‘(iii) personnel recruitment, retention,

2 and preparation;

3 ‘‘(iv) services for populations of chil4 dren with low-incidence disabilities, includ5 ing deaf-blind children, and targeted age

6 groupings;

7 ‘‘(v) promoting schools that are safe

8 and conducive to learning; and

9 ‘‘(vi) early intervention services and

10 results;

11 ‘‘(3) provide information on organizing systems

12 and information networks, concerning information

13 retrieval and dissemination; and

14 ‘‘(4) provide information concerning the value

15 and effectiveness of technical assistance and dissemi16 nation activities and their impact on improved early

17 intervention, educational, and transitional services

18 and results, for children with disabilities and their

19 families.

20 ‘‘(g) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity that wishes

21 to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative

22 agreement, under this section shall submit an application

23 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con24 taining such information as the Secretary may require.
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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

3 $36,434,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

4 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.

5 ‘‘SEC. 645. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION,

6 AND UTILIZATION, AND MEDIA SERVICES.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may competitively

8 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative

9 agreements with, eligible entities and consortia of eligible

10 entities, to support activities described in subsections (b)

11 and (c).

12 ‘‘(b) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRA13 TION AND UTILIZATION; AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In

14 carrying out this section, the Secretary may support ac15 tivities that consist of—

16 ‘‘(1) conducting research and development ac17 tivities on the use of innovative and emerging tech18 nologies for children with disabilities;

19 ‘‘(2) promoting the demonstration and use of

20 innovative and emerging technologies for children

21 with disabilities by improving and expanding the

22 transfer of technology from research and develop23 ment to practice;

24 ‘‘(3) providing technical assistance, to recipients

25 of other assistance under this section, concerning the
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1 development of accessible, effective, and usable prod2 ucts;

3 ‘‘(4) communicating information on available

4 technology and the uses of such technology to assist

5 children with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(5) supporting the implementation of research

7 programs on captioning or video description;

8 ‘‘(6) supporting research, development, and dis9 semination of technology with universal design fea10 tures, so that the technology is accessible to individ11 uals with disabilities without further modification or

12 adaptation; and

13 ‘‘(7) demonstrating the use of publicly funded

14 telecommunications systems to provide parents and

15 teachers with information and training concerning

16 early diagnosis of, intervention for, and effective

17 teaching strategies for young children with reading

18 disabilities.

19 ‘‘(c) EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICES; AUTHORIZED

20 ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary

21 may support activities that consist of—

22 ‘‘(1) carrying out educational media activities

23 that are designed to be of educational value to chil24 dren with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(2) providing video description, open caption2 ing, or closed captioning of television programs, vid3 eos, or educational materials;

4 ‘‘(3) distributing captioned and described videos

5 or educational materials;

6 ‘‘(4) providing, through the national education

7 library for the blind and print-disabled, recorded

8 free educational materials, including textbooks, for

9 visually impaired and print-disabled students in ele10 mentary, secondary, postsecondary, and graduate

11 schools;

12 ‘‘(5) providing, through the National Theater of

13 the Deaf and other appropriate nonprofit organiza14 tions, cultural experiences—

15 ‘‘(A) enriching the lives of deaf and hard16 of-hearing children and adults;

17 ‘‘(B) increasing public awareness and un18 derstanding of deafness and of the autistic and

19 intellectual achievements of deaf and hard-of20 hearing persons; and

21 ‘‘(C) promoting the integration of hearing,

22 deaf, and hard-of-hearing persons through

23 shared cultural, educational, and social experi24 ences; and
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1 ‘‘(6) compiling and evaluating appropriate data

2 relating to the activities described in paragraphs (1)

3 through (5).

4 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Any eligible entity that wishes

5 to receive a grant, or enter into a contract or cooperative

6 agreement, under this section shall submit an application

7 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con8 taining such information as the Secretary may require.

9 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

11 $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1998, and such sums as may

12 be necessary for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2002.’’.

13 SEC. 502. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

14 (a) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION

15 ACT.—Section 715 (20 U.S.C. 1491n) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘nothing in parts A through H of this title’’ and

17 inserting ‘‘no provision of this title, other than a provision

18 of this part,’’.

19 (b) DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ASSISTANCE

20 AND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT.—Section 124(c)(4)(F)(ii) of

21 the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of

22 Rights Act (42 U.S.C. 6024(c)(4)(F)(ii)) is amended by

23 striking ‘‘parent training and information centers under

24 part D’’ and inserting ‘‘parent training and information
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1 centers, and community parent training and information

2 programs, assisted under part E’’.

3 SEC. 503. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 The amendments made by this title shall take effect

5 on October 1, 1997.

6 TITLE VI—INFANTS AND

7 TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

8 SEC. 601. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

9 Section 671(b) (20 U.S.C. 1471(b)) is amended—

10 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘program of’’

11 and inserting ‘‘system that provides’’;

12 (2) at the end of paragraph (2), by striking

13 ‘‘and’’;

14 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and

15 inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

16 (4) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(4) to encourage States to expand opportuni18 ties for children from birth through age 2 who are

19 at risk of having substantial developmental delays if

20 early intervention services are not provided to the

21 children.’’.

22 SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

23 (a) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABILITY.—Sec24 tion 672(1) (20 U.S.C. 1472(1)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(4) IN2 FANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABILITY.—’’;

3 (2) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘The term ‘infants and

5 toddlers with disabilities’ means individuals’’

6 and inserting ‘‘The term ‘infant or toddler with

7 a disability’ means a child’’; and

8 (B) by striking ‘‘birth to age 2, inclusive,

9 who need early intervention services because

10 they’’ and inserting ‘‘birth through age 2 who

11 needs early intervention services because the

12 child’’;

13 (3) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘are expe14 riencing developmental delays’’ and inserting ‘‘is ex15 periencing a developmental delay’’;

16 (4) in subparagraph (B)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘have’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘has’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘which’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘that’’; and

21 (5) by striking the second sentence and insert22 ing the following: ‘‘Such term may also include, at

23 the discretion of a State, a child from birth through

24 age 2 who is at risk of having a substantial devel25 opmental delay if early intervention services are not
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1 provided (referred to individually in this part as an

2 ‘at risk infant or toddler’ and collectively in this part

3 as ‘at risk infants and toddlers’).’’.

4 (b) HEADINGS.—Section 672 (20 U.S.C. 1472) is

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking all that precedes paragraph (4)

7 (as redesignated in subsection (a)(1)) and inserting

8 the following:

9 ‘‘SEC. 672. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘As used in this part:’’;

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(2)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘(3) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—’’;

13 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and in14 serting ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY.—’’;

15 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(4)’’ and in16 serting ‘‘(1) COUNCIL.—’’;

17 (5) by moving paragraph (2) (as redesignated

18 in paragraph (3)) to the end of the section;

19 (6) by moving paragraph (3) (as redesignated

20 in paragraph (2)) to the end of the section; and

21 (7) by moving paragraph (4) (as redesignated

22 in subsection (a)(1)) to the end of the section.

23 (c) INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES.—

24 Section 672 (20 U.S.C. 1472) is amended by adding at

25 the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(5) INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABIL2 ITIES.—The term ‘infants and toddlers with disabil3 ities’ means more than 1 infant or toddler with a

4 disability.’’.

5 SEC. 603. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

6 Section 673 (20 U.S.C. 1473) is amended by striking

7 ‘‘develop’’ and inserting ‘‘implement’’.

8 SEC. 604. ELIGIBILITY.

9 Section 674 (20 U.S.C. 1474) is amended—

10 (1) by striking the heading and inserting the

11 following:

12 ‘‘ELIGIBILITY’’;

13 and

14 (2) by striking ‘‘State has established’’ and all

15 that follows and inserting ‘‘State has in effect the

16 statewide system that is required by section 676.’’.

17 SEC. 605. CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.

18 Section 675 (20 U.S.C. 1475) is repealed.

19 SEC. 606. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEWIDE SYSTEM.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 676(a) (20 U.S.C.

21 1476(a)) is amended—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘statewide system of’’ and in23 serting ‘‘statewide,’’; and

24 (2) by striking ‘‘programs providing’’ and in25 serting ‘‘system that provides’’.
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1 (b) MINIMUM COMPONENTS.—Section 676(b) (20

2 U.S.C. 1476(b) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘developmen4 tally delayed’’ and inserting ‘‘developmental delay’’;

5 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(2) a State policy that is in effect and that en8 sures that appropriate early intervention services are

9 available to all infants and toddlers with disabilities

10 (including Indian infants and toddlers with disabil11 ities on reservations) in the State and their fami12 lies,’’;

13 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘infants with’’

14 and inserting ‘‘infants and toddlers with’’;

15 (4) in paragraph (8)—

16 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

17 (A), by striking ‘‘613(a)(3)’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘612(a)(14) (as amended by section 202 of the

19 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

20 Amendments of 1997)’’;

21 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting after

22 ‘‘rural areas’’ the following: ‘‘and inner-city

23 areas’’; and

24 (C) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘a

25 preschool program under section 619 of part
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1 B.’’ and inserting ‘‘preschool or other appro2 priate services,’’;

3 (5) at the end of paragraph (13), by striking

4 ‘‘and’’;

5 (6) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘on the num6 bers of infants’’ and all that follows and inserting

7 ‘‘that is requested by the Secretary under section

8 618 and that relates to this part, and’’; and

9 (7) by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(15) a Council that meets the requirements of

11 section 682.’’.

12 (c) USE OF PARAPROFESSIONALS.—Section 676 (20

13 U.S.C. 1476) is amended by adding at the end the follow14 ing:

15 ‘‘(c) USE OF PARAPROFESSIONALS.—Nothing in this

16 Act, including subsection (b), prohibits the use of para17 professionals who are appropriately trained and supervised

18 by qualified personnel (in accordance with State law, regu19 lations, or written policy), in meeting the requirements of

20 this part.’’.

21 SEC. 607. INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN.

22 Section 677 (20 U.S.C. 1477) is amended—

23 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘parent or

24 guardian’’ and inserting ‘‘parents of the infant or

25 toddler’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (d)(8)—

2 (A) by striking ‘‘supporting’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘to support’’; and

4 (B) by striking ‘‘services provided’’ and all

5 that follows and inserting ‘‘preschool or other

6 appropriate services.’’; and

7 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

8 each place it appears.

9 SEC. 608. STATE APPLICATION AND ASSURANCES.

10 (a) APPLICATION.—Section 678(a) (20 U.S.C.

11 1478(a)) is amended—

12 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking the comma at

13 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, including—

14 ‘‘(A) information demonstrating to the sat15 isfaction of the Secretary that the State has in

16 effect a statewide system required by section

17 676, and

18 ‘‘(B) a description of services to be pro19 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities

20 and their families under this part,’’;

21 (2) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the

22 following:

23 ‘‘(4) a statement regarding whether the State

24 will serve at risk infants and toddlers as infants and

25 toddlers with disabilities,’’;
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1 (3) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘part’’ and all

2 that follows and inserting ‘‘part,’’; and

3 (4) by striking paragraph (8) and inserting the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(8) a description of the policies and procedures

6 to be used—

7 ‘‘(A) to ensure a smooth transition for

8 children who are infants and toddlers with dis9 abilities receiving early intervention services

10 under this part to preschool or other appro11 priate services, including a description of—

12 ‘‘(i) how the family of such a child

13 will be included in the transition plans re14 quired by subparagraph (C), and

15 ‘‘(ii) how the lead agency designated

16 or established under section 676(b)(9)

17 will—

18 ‘‘(I) notify the local educational

19 agency for the area in which such a

20 child resides that the child will shortly

21 reach the age for eligibility for pre22 school services under part B, as deter23 mined in accordance with State law,

24 ‘‘(II) in the case of such a child

25 who may be eligible for such preschool
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1 services, with the approval of the fam2 ily of the child, convene a conference

3 among the lead agency, the family,

4 and the local educational agency not

5 later than 90 days (and at the discre6 tion of all such parties, earlier, but

7 not earlier than 6 months) before the

8 child is eligible for the preschool serv9 ices, to discuss any such services that

10 the child may receive, and

11 ‘‘(III) in the case of such a child

12 who may not be eligible for such pre13 school services, with the approval of

14 the family, make reasonable efforts to

15 convene a conference among the lead

16 agency, the family, and providers of

17 other appropriate services for children

18 who are not eligible for preschool serv19 ices under part B, to discuss the ap20 propriate services that the child may

21 receive,

22 ‘‘(B) to review the program options for the

23 child for the period beginning on the third

24 birthday of the child and ending on the last day
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1 of the school year in which such birthday oc2 curs, and

3 ‘‘(C) to establish a transition plan for the

4 child, and’’.

5 (b) STATEMENT OF ASSURANCES.—Section

6 678(b)(7) (20 U.S.C. 1478(b)(7)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘beginning in fiscal year 1992,’’;

8 and

9 (2) by striking ‘‘and rural’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘rural, and inner-city’’.

11 SEC. 609. USES OF FUNDS.

12 Section 679 (20 U.S.C. 1479) is amended—

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

14 striking ‘‘plan, develop, and’’;

15 (2) at the end of paragraph (2), by striking

16 ‘‘and’’;

17 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and

18 inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

19 (4) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(4) in any State that does not provide services

21 for at risk infants and toddlers under section

22 676(a), to strengthen the statewide system by initi23 ating, expanding, or improving collaborative efforts
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1 related to at risk infants and toddlers, including es2 tablishing linkages with appropriate public, and pri3 vate, community-based organizations, services, and

4 personnel, for the purposes of—

5 ‘‘(A) identifying and evaluating at risk in6 fants and toddlers,

7 ‘‘(B) making referrals of the infants and

8 toddlers identified and evaluated under sub9 paragraph (A), and

10 ‘‘(C) conducting periodic followup on each

11 such referral to determine if the status of the

12 infant or toddler involved has changed with re13 spect to the eligibility of the infant or toddler

14 under this part.’’.

15 SEC. 610. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

16 (a) SECTION HEADING.—Section 680 (20 U.S.C.

17 1480) is amended by striking the matter preceding ‘‘The

18 procedural’’ and inserting the following:

19 ‘‘SEC. 680. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

20 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM PROCEDURES.—’’.

21 (b) PROCEDURES.—Section 680(a) (20 U.S.C.

22 1480(a)) (as designated in subsection (a)) is amended—
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1 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by

2 striking ‘‘The’’ and all that follows through ‘‘follow3 ing:’’ and inserting ‘‘To meet the requirement of sec4 tion 676(b)(12), each State, in providing a statewide

5 system under this part, shall, through State statute,

6 regulation, or other written policy, provide at a mini7 mum for the following:’’;

8 (2) in the second sentence of paragraph (1), by

9 striking ‘‘, which action may be brought’’;

10 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or guard11 ians’’;

12 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

13 (5) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘or a guard14 ian’’;

15 (6) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’

16 each place it appears;

17 (7) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘or guardian’’;

18 (8) in paragraph (7)—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’; and

20 (B) by striking ‘‘or guardian’s’’;

21 (9) in paragraph (8)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘or guardian’’; and

23 (B) by striking the following:

24 ‘‘(8) During’’ and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) SERVICES DURING PENDENCY OF PROCEED2 INGS.—The procedural safeguards required to be included

3 in a statewide system under section 676(b)(12) shall also

4 include a measure to ensure that during’’; and

5 (10) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol6 lowing:

7 ‘‘(8) The right to use mediation in accordance

8 with section 615(e) (as amended by section

9 206(c)(7) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu10 cation Act Amendments of 1997), except that—

11 ‘‘(A) a reference in such section to the

12 State educational agency shall be considered to

13 refer to the lead agency of the State designated

14 or established under section 676(b)(9), and

15 ‘‘(B) a reference in such section to a public

16 agency shall be considered to refer to a local

17 services provider or the lead agency, as the case

18 may be.’’.

19 SEC. 611. STATE INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

20 (a) COMPOSITION.—Section 682(b)(1) (20 U.S.C.

21 1482(b)(1)) is amended—

22 (1) in subparagraph (E)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘At least one member shall

24 be’’ and inserting ‘‘There shall be at least one

25 member’’;
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘families and’’ and insert2 ing the following: ‘‘families, and from any other

3 State agency involved in the provision of serv4 ices to at risk infants and toddlers, and each

5 such member’’; and

6 (C) by striking ‘‘such agencies’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘the appropriate agency’’; and

8 (2) by adding after subparagraph (G) the fol9 lowing:

10 ‘‘(H) At least one member shall be a represent11 ative from a Head Start agency or Head Start pro12 gram in the State.

13 ‘‘(I) At least one member shall be a representa14 tive from the State agency responsible for child

15 care.’’.

16 (b) FUNCTIONS OF COUNCIL.—Section 682(e) (20

17 U.S.C. 1482(e)) is amended—

18 (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘services

19 provided’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘pre20 school or other appropriate services, and’’;

21 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘children’’

22 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘children from

23 birth through age 5.’’; and

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow25 ing:
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1 ‘‘(3) The Council may advise appropriate agencies in

2 the State with respect to the integration of services for

3 infants and toddlers with disabilities (including at risk in4 fants and toddlers) and their families, regardless of wheth5 er at risk infants and toddlers are eligible for early inter6 vention services in the State.’’.

7 (c) EXISTING COUNCILS.—Section 682 (20 U.S.C.

8 1482) is amended by striking subsection (g).

9 SEC. 612. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

10 Section 683(3) (20 U.S.C. 1483(3)) is amended by

11 striking ‘‘intermediate educational agencies’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘educational service agencies’’.

13 SEC. 613. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

14 (a) RESERVATION.—Section 684(a) (20 U.S.C.

15 1484(a)) is amended—

16 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)’’;

17 (2) by inserting after ‘‘reserve’’ the following:

18 ‘‘not more than’’; and

19 (3) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(2) The provisions of section 501 of Public Law 95–

21 134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a) (relating to permitting the consoli22 dation of grants to insular areas referred to in such sec23 tion) shall not apply to funds the areas receive under this

24 part.’’.
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1 (b) TRIBES.—Section 684(b) (20 U.S.C. 1484(b)) is

2 amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (2)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and all

5 that follows through ‘‘tribal organization shall

6 receive an amount based’’ and inserting ‘‘For

7 each fiscal year, the Secretary of the Interior

8 shall distribute the entire amount of a payment

9 received under paragraph (1) by providing to

10 each such tribe or tribal organization an

11 amount based’’;

12 (B) by striking ‘‘the reservation’’ and in13 serting ‘‘the reservation involved’’; and

14 (C) by striking ‘‘all tribes’’ and inserting

15 ‘‘all such tribes’’; and

16 (2) in paragraph (4)—

17 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘chil18 dren aged 0–2, inclusive,’’ and inserting ‘‘chil19 dren from birth through age 2’’; and

20 (B) in the third sentence, by striking

21 ‘‘public or private nonprofit organizations’’ and

22 inserting ‘‘public or private nonprofit agencies

23 or organizations’’.
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1 (c) FEDERAL INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUN2 CIL AND PANEL OF EXPERTS.—Section 684 (20 U.S.C.

3 1484) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as

5 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow7 ing:

8 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall reserve not more than

9 0.0005 of the amount appropriated under section 687 for

10 any fiscal year for the operation of the Federal Inter11 agency Coordinating Council established under section

12 685, other than activities of the panel of experts carried

13 out under section 686.

14 ‘‘(d) The Secretary may reserve up to $100,000 for

15 the expenses of the panel of experts established under sec16 tion 686.’’.

17 (d) REMAINDER.—Section 684 (20 U.S.C. 1484) is

18 amended in subsection (e) (as redesignated in subsection

19 (c)(1))—

20 (1) in paragraph (1)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘(3), (4), and (5)’’ and in22 serting ‘‘(2), (3), and (4)’’; and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘(a) and (b)’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘(a) through (d) and section 618(f) (as amend3 ed by section 209 of the Individuals with Dis4 abilities Education Act Amendments of 1997)’’;

5 (2) by striking paragraph (2);

6 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through

7 (6) as paragraphs (2) through (5), respectively;

8 (4) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated in para9 graph (3))—

10 (A) in the text preceding subparagraph

11 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3) and (4)’’; and

13 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘, ex14 cluding’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘;

15 or’’;

16 (5) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated in para17 graph (3)), in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(5)’’

18 and inserting ‘‘(4)’’; and

19 (6) in paragraph (5) (as redesignated in para20 graph (3))—

21 (A) in the text preceding subparagraph

22 (A), by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘this subsection’’;
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1 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘chil2 dren from birth to age 2, inclusive,’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘children from birth through age 2;’’; and

4 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘does

5 not include’’ and all that follows and inserting

6 ‘‘means each of the several States, the District

7 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto

8 Rico.’’.

9 (e) REALLOTMENT.—Section 684 (20 U.S.C. 1484)

10 is amended in subsection (f) (as redesignated in subsection

11 (c)(1)) by striking ‘‘(c)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘(e)(1)’’.

12 SEC. 614. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUN13 CIL.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—Section

15 685(a)(1)(A) (20 U.S.C. 1484a(a)(1)(A)) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘relating to early intervention’’ and all that fol17 lows and inserting ‘‘across Federal, State, and local agen18 cies, relating to—

19 ‘‘(i) early intervention services for in20 fants and toddlers with disabilities (includ21 ing at risk infants and toddlers) and their

22 families; and

23 ‘‘(ii) preschool or other appropriate

24 services for children with disabilities;’’.
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1 (b) COMPOSITION.—Section 685(b) (20 U.S.C.

2 1484a(b)) is amended—

3 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the

4 semicolon the following: ‘‘and a representative of the

5 Office of Educational Research and Improvement’’;

6 (2) in paragraph (15), by inserting after ‘‘a

7 representative of’’ the following: ‘‘the Children’s Bu8 reau, and a representative of the Head Start Bu9 reau, of’’;

10 (3) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘Alcohol,

11 Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘Substance Abuse and Mental Health

13 Services Administration’’;

14 (4) in paragraph (17), by striking ‘‘Aids’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘AIDS’’; and

16 (5) in paragraph (18)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘at least 3’’; and

18 (B) by inserting after ‘‘12 or under’’ the

19 following: ‘‘(which parents shall constitute at

20 least 20 percent of the members of the Coun21 cil)’’.

22 (c) FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.—Section

23 685(d)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1484a(d)(1)) is amended by striking

24 ‘‘Secretary in the performance’’ and all that follows and

25 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Education, Secretary of Health
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1 and Human Services, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of

2 the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, and Commissioner

3 of Social Security in the performance of their responsibil4 ities related to serving children from birth through age

5 5 who are eligible for services under this part or under

6 part B;’’.

7 (d) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT INAP8 PLICABLE.—Section 685 (20 U.S.C. 1484a) is amended

9 by adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(f) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

11 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not

12 apply to the establishment or operation of the Council.’’.

13 SEC. 615. STUDY OF DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL

14 DELAY.

15 Part H (20 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is amended—

16 (1) by striking section 686; and

17 (2) by adding at the end the following:

18 ‘‘SEC. 686. STUDY OF DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENTAL

19 DELAY.

20 ‘‘(a) PANEL OF EXPERTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months

22 after the date of enactment of the Individuals with

23 Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, the
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1 Federal Interagency Coordinating Council estab2 lished under section 685 shall convene a panel of ex3 perts to develop recommendations to the Secretary

4 for a model definition of the term ‘developmental

5 delay’, to assist States in implementing section

6 676(b)(1).

7 ‘‘(2) MEMBERS.—The panel shall include recog8 nized experts in—

9 ‘‘(A) health and child development, whose

10 work includes—

11 ‘‘(i) the evaluation and assessment of

12 infants and toddlers with disabilities;

13 ‘‘(ii) the study of congenital or

14 perinatal disorders in children; or

15 ‘‘(iii) the measurement of developmen16 tal milestones in infants and toddlers;

17 ‘‘(B) the administration of disability pro18 grams for young children; and

19 ‘‘(C) other fields that the Secretary finds

20 to be appropriate.

21 ‘‘(3) OTHER MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS.—

22 The panel shall—

23 ‘‘(A) have no more than 12 members; and

24 ‘‘(B) include at least 1 parent of a child

25 with a disability who is younger than age 6.
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1 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In developing the recommendations

2 referred to in subsection (a)(1), the panel shall—

3 ‘‘(1) review the definition of infants and tod4 dlers with disabilities specified in section 672(4);

5 ‘‘(2) conduct an analysis of the criteria that are

6 used by States under this part to determine whether

7 an individual has a developmental delay or a diag8 nosed physical or mental condition, for purposes of

9 ascertaining whether the individual is an infant or

10 toddler with a disability; and

11 ‘‘(3) consider the appropriateness of defining

12 the term ‘developmental delay’ to include the com13 bination of a multiplicity of factors that, when taken

14 together, have a high probability of resulting in de15 velopmental delay (as specified in the remainder of

16 the definition) if early intervention services are not

17 provided.

18 ‘‘(c) PANEL RECOMMENDATIONS.—The panel shall

19 prepare and submit to the Secretary a report containing

20 the recommendations developed under subsection (a) not

21 later than 9 months after the date of enactment of the

22 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments

23 of 1997.

24 ‘‘(d) MODEL DEFINITION.—After receiving the rec25 ommendations, the Secretary shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) publish the recommendations in the Fed2 eral Register;

3 ‘‘(2) give interested parties an opportunity to

4 submit written comments on the recommendations;

5 and

6 ‘‘(3) disseminate a model definition based on

7 the recommendations, along with a summary of com8 ments received.

9 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT INAP10 PLICABLE.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

11 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the establishment or oper12 ation of the panel.’’.

13 SEC. 616. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 Part H (20 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) (as amended in sec15 tion 615) is further amended by adding at the end the

16 following:

17 ‘‘SEC. 687. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

19 this part such sums as may be necessary for each of the

20 fiscal years 1998 through 2002.’’.

21 SEC. 617. EFFECTIVE DATE.

22 This title, and the amendments made by this title,

23 shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

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