03+GENERAL+INFORMATION

IDEA 97 General Information  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has a long history. Prior to its implementation in 1975, approximately 1 million children with disabilities were shut out of schools and hundreds of thousands more were denied appropriate service. Since then, the legislation changed the lives of these children. Many are learning and achieving at levels previously thought impossible. As a result, they are graduating from high school, going to college and entering the workforce as productive citizens in unprecedented numbers. Ninety percent of children with developmental disabilities were previously housed in state institutions. Today, they are no longer in those settings. As compared to their predecessors, three times the number of young people with disabilities are enrolled in college or universities, and twice as many of today’s twenty-one year olds with disabilities are working.

While this is significant progress, we can and must do better. The status of children with disabilities still falls short of our expectations for them.  ¨ Twice as many children with disabilities drop out of high school.  ¨ Dropouts do not return to school, have difficulty finding jobs and often end up in the criminal justice system.  ¨ Girls who drop out often become young unwed mothers at a much higher rate than their non-disabled peers do.  ¨ Many children with disabilities are excluded from the curriculum and assessments used with their non-disabled classmates, limiting their possibilities of performing to higher standards of performance.

The new IDEA legislation is an attempt to remedy these and other problems that contribute to the barriers children with disabilities face. IDEA will make these changes by: <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Raising expectations for children with disabilities. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Increasing parental involvement in the education of their children. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ensuring that regular education teachers are involved in planning and assessing children’s progress. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Including children with disabilities in assessments, performance goals, and reports to the public. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> ¨ <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Supporting quality professional development for all personnel who are involved in educating children with disabilities. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .25in; text-indent: -0.25in;">  Transition is a passage from school to adult life. It is a process whereby students with the assistance of families, school and community agencies participate in building skills and developing plans for adult life. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 2.5in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: widow-orphan lines-together; tab-stops: 0in 2.5in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">For some students with special needs, this process is fairly simple. For others, it requires significant planning, trial phases and then more planning. Thinking about the student’s future __now__ will help determine what skills need to be developed. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 2.5in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"> <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">The student, family, school and community agencies all work together to plan for a successful transition. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 2.5in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 2.5in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Benefits include an early start on identifying strengths and interests in the following areas: <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 0in .5in list .75in left 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> q <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Jobs and Job Training <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: 0in .5in list .75in left 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> q <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Community Participation <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: 0in .5in list .75in left 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> q <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Home Living <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo4; tab-stops: 0in .5in list .75in left 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> q <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Recreation and Leisure <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; tab-stops: 0in .5in list .75in left 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> q <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Post Secondary Training and Education <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.75in; mso-hyphenate: none; tab-stops: 0in 1.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in 6.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The following pages will help you begin thinking about transition. Please add yearly Individual Education Plans and other data to this handbook.