What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal special education law in the United States. It gives rights and protections to kids with disabilities. Parents and legal guardians also have rights under this law. 

IDEA requires schools to provide special education services to eligible kids with disabilities. The law covers kids from birth through high school graduation or age 21, whichever comes first. (Some states provide special education services beyond that.) 

States and schools must follow the rules and processes laid out in IDEA. States also have their own special education laws that build on the federal law. 

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) come out of IDEA. These are the legal plans that schools, along with parents, create to describe the special education services and supports a child receives. 

IDEA and the Department of Education

Before IDEA, most kids with disabilities didn’t get to learn with their peers. States often placed them in separate schools or classrooms, or in institutions. Their education was poor and underfunded, and sometimes nonexistent.

Kids with learning disabilities didn’t get the help they needed to thrive in school. Expectations for their achievement were low.

Congress made IDEA a federal law in 1975. (The law was originally called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.) 

In 1979, Congress created the U.S. Department of Education and put it in charge of the law. The department has gone through major changes under the Trump administration. But it still oversees and enforces IDEA.

What states and districts do with IDEA

State departments of education oversee local school districts. They’re ultimately responsible for enforcing IDEA and making sure schools follow the law. 

States use different strategies to track school districts. They review data on how well students with disabilities are doing compared to other students. States may also examine parent complaints and due process hearings, a formal way to resolve disputes between parents and schools. And they may conduct in-person visits at local schools.

On top of IDEA, each state also has its own special education law that builds on the federal law. State laws can add more protections for kids and parents. But they can’t provide less than what IDEA requires or include something that contradicts the federal law. 

In the same way that states oversee school districts, the districts and local school boards should supervise what’s happening within their schools. It’s their job to see that the people responsible for providing special education services follow through with the requirements of the law.

IDEA goes beyond traditional public schools. It applies to public magnet and charter schools, too. The law also provides early intervention services for kids up to age 3. And it can cover some students in private schools, as long as parents haven’t given up their rights to IDEA’s protection. 

Here are some key responsibilities IDEA places on states and their public schools.

Free appropriate public education (FAPE)

School districts must provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) to kids with disabilities. Schools have to provide special education that meets a child’s unique needs and that allows the child to make progress. They also have to make sure that kids learn with their peers as much as possible. (This is called the least restrictive environment.)

Procedural safeguards 

Schools have to give parents a voice in their child’s education. IDEA gives parents specific rights and protections at every point in the process. These are called procedural safeguards. One example of a safeguard is that a school must get consent from parents before providing services. In some cases, parents may refuse for their child to get special education services.

Child Find responsibilities

Public schools don’t only have to provide special education. They must also identify, locate, and evaluate kids who need services, at no cost to families. 

When schools know or think a child has a disability, they must do a full evaluation. These requirements are known as Child Find. (Schools must also request permission from parents to do the evaluation.)

Who is eligible for special education under IDEA

The special education process starts with an evaluation. Under IDEA, parents can request one at any time. And if a school thinks a child might have a disability, it must do an evaluation. 

If the school denies an evaluation, there are steps parents can take. IDEA also gives parents the right to ask for an independent educational evaluation (IEE) if they’re not happy with the school’s evaluation.

The evaluation determines if a student has a disability. It also sheds light on what services and support that student might need.

To qualify for special education, kids must have a disability that falls under one of the 13 categories IDEA covers. The most common are:

• Specific learning disability (includes dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and other learning differences)

• Other health impairment (includes ADHD)

• Speech or language impairment

• Autism

But having one of these disabilities doesn’t automatically qualify a child under IDEA. To be eligible, a student must:

• Have a disability and, as a result of that disability…

• Need special education services to make progress in school

Sometimes schools and parents disagree over whether a child is covered. When that happens, IDEA provides options for resolving the dispute. 

The difference between IDEA and Section 504

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 isn’t an education law like IDEA is. It’s a civil rights law that protects kids with disabilities from discrimination at school. The purpose is to remove barriers so kids can learn along with their peers.

504 plans come from this law. These plans list the supports and accommodations a student will get at school. If a student needs special education services, it happens through an IEP, not a 504 plan.

While the two laws are very different, they share a common goal. Both work to provide FAPE and to ensure that kids with disabilities are able to learn alongside their peers as much as possible.

Download: IDEA fact sheet

IDEA ensures that kids with disabilities get the special education services they need. It covers the entire process, from evaluations to IEPs. This fact sheet gives basic information on what the law does for kids and their families. 

Summary 

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the nation’s special education law. It applies to all types of public schools. IDEA lays out the procedures that schools must follow so kids with disabilities get the services they need. 

The law gives kids specific rights and protections in the special education process. Parents and legal guardians also have rights under the law.

IDEA guarantees kids a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Schools must make sure that kids learn alongside their peers as much as possible. The law also requires schools to identify, find, and evaluate kids they know or suspect have disabilities. Evaluations happen at no cost to families.

To qualify for special education, kids must have a disability in one of 13 categories that IDEA covers. The most common are specific learning disability, other health impairment (includes ADHD), speech or language impairment, and autism.