FYI - FEDERAL REGS FOR IDEA ARE OUT. STATE REGS NEXT

November 2006

WHY STATE REGULATIONS MATTER

As of October 13, IDEA 2004 and the new federal regulations supersede any current state regulations which are not in compliance with the federal requirements. Any current state regulations which were not affected by the recent changes in federal law and regulations remain in effect pending enactment of new state regulations. Although the compliance requirements of state regulations may not be less than those of the federal regulations, they may differ in those instances where the federal regulations specifically allow them. In addition, state requirements may be more stringent than the federal regulations.

EXAMPLES

1. Exemption to federal regulations
Federal regulation 300.301© requires that an evaluation must be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent OR A TIMELINE ESTABLISHED BY THE STATE. The state timelines may be shorter or longer than 60 days.

2. The possible impact of expansion of state regulations on students with specific learning disabilities can be seen from the following analysis of federal regulation 300.307: Specific Learning Disabilities:

Federal regulation 300.307 says that states must adopt criteria for determining if a child has a specific learning disability and that each local school district within the state must follow those criteria. The intent is to assure uniformity of criteria across the state. It also encourages states to have more restrictive eligibility requirements. A state

a) Must Not Require the Use of a Severe Discrepancy Between Intellectual Ability and Achievement (However, OSEP has made it clear that state regulations may PROHIBIT the use of a severe discrepancy).

b) Must Permit the Use of a Process Based on the Child's Response to Scientific, Research Based Intervention (In this case the federal regulations go beyond the law, which says "a local Education agency MAY USE a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation procedure". In the special education research literature, the process mentioned in this language is generally considered as referring to Response to Intervention (RTI) models." [See OSEP handout] Although the federal regulations use the term "must permit", state regulations could REQUIRE the use of a process based on response to intervention.

c) May Permit the Use of Other Alternative Research-Based Procedures

WHY PARTICIPATE IN THE STATE REGULATIONS REVIEW PROCESS

State regulations can be good or bad for students with disabilities. It is vital to recognize that although many advocates rely solely on federal law and regulations, school administrators must be conversant with and implement the requirements of IDEA based on federal AND state regulations. The preceding examples cover only a small part of the changes made by the new law and regulations. Detailed analyses of the final regulations are posted on the websites of many national organizations.

Because the process for issuing regulations varies from state to state, it is essential to work with other state groups committed to improving the education for students with disabilities to

1) compare the current state regulations with the federal ones;
2) track the state's regulatory process; and
3) provide input on decisions which will be made.

Federally funded parent training and information in each state should have information on these topics.

WHERE TO GET INFORMATION ON THE PROCESS

Each state's regulatory process should be posted on the state department of education web site. Another useful source of information is the National State Policy Database (NSPD) from which federal and state special education laws and regulations can be downloaded. http://nspd.rrfcnetwork.org/search/searcher.php

Learning Disabilities Association of America
4156 Library Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15234-1349
Phone (412) 341-1515 Fax (412) 344-0224
www.LDAAmerica.org