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The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), U.S. Department of Education (ED), has released an unofficial copy of the long-awaited final Part B regulations to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (commonly known as IDEA 2004). The final regulations can be found at OSERS' Web site at www.ed.gov/idea. The official copy of the final regulations is scheduled to be published in the August 14, 2006 Federal Register, and the regulations become effective 60 days after it is published.
The U.S. Department of Education's overarching goal continues to be to provide flexibility to state and local agencies as they implement IDEA 2004. In that vein and so as not to overreach statute, overall there were not many changes to the IDEA Part B proposed regulations. Therefore, since the federal government has not regulated on many of the issues of concern to the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology, particularly those on personnel qualifications, we will continue to support our members in advocacy efforts at the state and local levels on implementation of the regulations.
Regulations comprised 1,700 pages as follows: 70% is the preamble, summarizing the major changes, the analysis of the comments received, and the cost and benefit analysis; 25% is the regulations themselves; and 5% is appendices. The top 3 issues of the 5,500 comments received by ED in response to its June 12, 2005 notice of proposed rulemaking were: highly qualified personnel; specific learning disabilities; and private school placements. On August 14, ED will release model forms pursuant to IDEA 2004, which will include the model IEPs, procedural safeguards, and written notices.
ASHA made the following recommendations in 2005 that were included in the final 2006 IDEA Part B regulations:
- Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) - (Sec. 300.308, Group Members) Has been changed to require the eligibility group for children suspected of having SLD to include the child's parents and a team of qualified professionals, including speech-language pathologists. The 2005 NPRM omitted SLPs from the list and we lobbied for them to be listed in the final regulations, as was the case in the 1999 final Part B regulations. ED accepted that recommendation and reverted to the requirements that were in Sec. 300.540 of the 1999 regulations.
- Individualized Education Program - (Sec. 300.322, Parent Participation) A new provision (Sec 300.322(e)) was added in the final Part B regulations, that ASHA lobbied for, that requires the public agency to do whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the IEP meetings, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English.
- (Sec. 300.324, Development, review, and revision of the IEP) A new provision Sec. 300.324(b)(2) was added in the final Part B regulations, that ASHA lobbied for, regarding the review and revision of IEPs to clarify that in conducting a review of a child's IEP, the IEP team must consider the same special factors it considered when developing the child's IEP.
Part C regulations are now in departmental clearance, and will go to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The 2% rule will be incorporated to the regulations at a later date, hopefully this year.
ASHA has mobilized a Member Advisory Group and a National Office staff team, which are in the process of conducting a thorough analysis of the final regulations, including the impact on the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology. Continue to check ASHA's IDEA Information Center for further updates and analysis of the final regulations on such key issues as personnel qualifications, early intervening, cochlear implants, assistive technology, individualized education programs, English language learners/limited English proficient students, and specific learning disabilities. We will also draw from ED's discussion of the 5,500 plus comments, received in response to the 2005 NPRM, in the Summary of Comments and Analysis section of the regulations to produce materials to be used by ASHA members in future advocacy efforts at the state and local levels.
For more information, please contact Catherine D. Clarke, ASHA's Director of Education and Regulatory Advocacy, via e-mail at cclarke@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4159.
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