IDEA was originally enacted by Congress in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education, just like other children. The law has been revised many times over the years. The most recent amendments were passed by Congress in December 2004, with final regulations published in August 2006. So, in one sense, the law is very new, even as it has a long, detailed, and powerful history.
IDEA is divided into four parts, as follows:
- Part A - General Provisions
- Part B - Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities
- Part C - Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
- Part D - National Activities to Improve Education of Children with Disabilities
NICHCY's Web site is full of information about each of these parts, both what IDEA actually says and how its requirements shape what people do. In this area, we've focused on the actual language of the legislation and its requirements. There's really no substitute for reading the law itself, because it is the foundation upon which services to children with disabilities reside. States use IDEA's precise language as the starting point for how they design and provide early intervention services to babies and toddlers with disabilities (Part C) and special education and related services to school-aged children, including preschoolers (Part B).
To read IDEA's verbatim language, then, is to understand much better why local practices in schools and early childhood settings are as they are. Here is the place to connect with that language. Use the links below to explore our nation's special education law.