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The Office of Special Education Program (OSEP) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) sponsored a 3-day Leadership Conference on August 28-30 in Washington, DC, to begin discussions about the final IDEA Part B regulations. The opening presentation by OSEP Director Alexa Posny, entitled "Building the Legacy", focused on accountability for results, flexibility in funding and paperwork, and accountability for children with disabilities as essential elements of IDEA 2004. She noted that the roll-out of the regulations was relatively "quiet" with "few changes but much clarification." She stressed several themes, such as preparing students for employment; realizing that special education is not a separate place or system; aligning IDEA and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB); empowering parents as partners; and reducing paperwork.
ED announced a newly released Web site offering comprehensive information on IDEA 2004 and its implementation regulations, which can be found at http://idea.ed.gov. This site was described as "one-stop shopping for all things IDEA 2004 related" and will be regularly updated. The site includes Topic Briefs on the areas covered in the concurrent sessions at the conference.
This conference was the first in a series of events being planned around the release of the regulations. Other events include community-based public meetings, beginning at the end of September, for parents, teachers, advocates, and others interested in hearing about the major themes of the regulations in Charlotte (NC), Tampa, Philadelphia, Dallas, Minneapolis, Denver, Sacramento, and Seattle. Three regional implementation meetings for state education staff involved in the implementation of IDEA are scheduled for January 30-31 in Washington, DC; February 12-13 in Los Angeles; and February 14-15 in Kansas City, MO. Additional information about these meetings is available at http://idea.ed.gov. For further information, please contact Catherine Clarke, via e-mail at cclarke@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4159, or Kathleen Whitmire at kwhitmire@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4137.
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