Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Reauthorized by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December 2004, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-04) guides all special education practices in the United States. IDEA-04 mandates that each student identified as eligible for special education services receive a "free and appropriate public education" in the "least restrictive environment" and be afforded "due process rights" as delineated in the legislation.
The Goddard Special Education Cooperative uses compliant practices as described in the Kansas Special Education Process Handbook that is published by the Kansas State Department of Education, which is available online.
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
The Individualized Education Program, or IEP, describes the special education services a student will receive from the Goddard Special Education Cooperative. Written by an IEP team, including the parents and the student, if appropriate, the IEP includes information designed to communicate to the school and the Legal Education Decision Maker(s) a plan for delivering services and measuring student growth toward IEP goals.
The IEP is reviewed with the Legal Education Decision Maker(s) at least annually.
Child Find: Eligibility and Screening
A variety of tools and strategies are used to gather information to determine whether or not a student is eligible for special education. The evaluation process establishes whether or not a child has an exceptionality (disability or giftedness) and has a need for special education and related services. Students must meet two criteria to be enrolled in special education:
Does the student have a disability?
Does the student need specially designed instruction to benefit from the general education curriculum?