Revisions to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, were signed into law on December 3rd, 2004. A piece of civil rights legislation, the IDEA guarantees students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment and authorizes appropriations of billions of dollars in funding to states and school districts to assist them in providing special education and related services.
The revisions of IDEA contained in the new law, Public Law 108-446, build on and more closely align IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). They also modify important requirements around individualized student planning, transition, litigation, and due process protections, monitoring and enforcement, and federal funding. This Info Brief provides a summary of some of the major provisions in the new law.
