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The topic areas page includes information and resources related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the U.S. Department of Education (Department), Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and other Federal agencies.

This page also includes resources developed by technical assistance centers funded by the Department and other Federal agencies.

Please note that the resources included on this site do not represent an exhaustive list of resources. Additional resources may be available from organizations unaffiliated with the Department.

When States and localities experience natural, man-made and health related disasters, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) coordinates interagency initiatives and provides guidance on the type of flexibilities available under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the supports and materials available that may assist in addressing the disaster and the related trauma event.

In addition, OSEP collaborates with the Disaster Recovery Unit (DRU), established within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). The DRU supports all school community stakeholders affected by Federally declared natural disasters across the K–12 and higher education spectrum.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

Other U.S. Department of Education/Federal Partner Resources

OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers

Other Federally Funded Organizations

Charter Schools

Charter schools are established according to individual state charter school laws.

The term “charter school,” as used in the current IDEA Part B regulations, has the meaning of “charter school” in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

Children with disabilities who attend public charter schools and their parents retain all rights and protections under Part B of IDEA just as they would if the children were enrolled in other public schools.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

  • Dear Colleague Letter with the Office for Civil Rights on Charter Schools (Dec. 28, 2016)
  • Frequently Asked Questions about the rights of students with disabilities in public charter schools under IDEA (Dec. 27, 2016)
  • Fact Sheet on Know Your Rights: Students with Disabilities in Charter Schools (Aug. 1, 2016)

Other U.S. Department of Education/Federal Partner Resources

Parentally Placed Private School Children

The IDEA is designed to improve educational results for all children with disabilities.

Therefore, it provides benefits and services to children with disabilities in public schools and requires school districts to make services and benefits available to children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in nonpublic (private) schools.

The law includes language requiring state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) to ensure the equitable participation of parentally placed children with disabilities in programs assisted by or carried out under the equitable participation requirements that apply to them.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers and Resources

Other U.S. Department of Education/Federal Partner Resources

Virtual Schools

During the last decade, there has been a proliferation of educational models involving varying degrees of in-person and online instruction and practice.

Many state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools that operate as LEAs, provide a variety of Internet-based or online instruction to children, including children with disabilities under the IDEA.

In addition, some LEAs have begun, or are considering, offering children the opportunity to attend virtual schools.

The educational rights and protections afforded to children with disabilities and their parents under IDEA must not be diminished or compromised when children with disabilities attend virtual schools that are constituted as LEAs or are public schools of an LEA.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

For those students who may need additional academic and behavioral supports to succeed in a general education environment, schools may choose to implement a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), such as response to intervention (RTI) or positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS).

MTSS is a school-wide approach that addresses the needs of all students, including struggling learners and students with disabilities, and integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level instructional and behavioral system to maximize student achievement and reduce problem behaviors.

MTSS, which includes scientific, research-based interventions, also may be used to identify children suspected of having a specific learning disability.

With a multi-tiered instructional framework, schools identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes; monitor their progress; provide evidence-based interventions; and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness.

Children who do not, or minimally, respond to interventions must be referred for an evaluation to determine if they are eligible for special education and related services; and those children who simply need intense short-term interventions may continue to receive those interventions.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

  • OSEP Memo 11-07 on Response to Intervention (Jan. 21, 2011) MS Word | PDF
  • OSEP Memo 16-07 on Response to Intervention (RTI) and Preschool Services (April 29, 2016)
  • Dear Colleague Letter on Dyslexia (Oct. 23, 2015)

IDEA 2004 Reauthorization Resources

  • Question-and-Answer Documents
    • Response to Intervention (RTI) and Early Intervening Services (EIS): MS Word | PDF

The IDEA requires states monitor the implementation of IDEA Part B requirements and to make determinations annually about the performance of each local educational agency using the categories:

  • meets requirements and purposes of Part B
  • needs assistance in meeting the requirements of Part B
  • needs intervention in meeting the requirements of Part B
  • needs substantial intervention in meeting the requirements of Part B

For Part C, the state must monitor implementation of the IDEA Part C requirements and make determinations annually about the performance of each early intervention service program using the following categories:

  • meets requirements and purposes of Part C
  • needs assistance in meeting the requirements of Part C
  • needs intervention in meeting the requirements of Part C
  • needs substantial intervention in meeting the requirements of Part C

States must use appropriate enforcement mechanisms, if applicable, which must include actions such as:

  • providing technical assistance
  • imposing conditions on funding of an LEA (Part B) or early intervention service provider’s program (Part C)
  • requiring corrective action or improvement plans when necessary of an LEA (Part B) or early intervention service provider’s program (Part C)

The primary focus of the state’s monitoring activities must be on improving educational results and functional outcomes for all children with disabilities and ensuring that:

  • public agencies meet Part B requirements, with a particular emphasis on the requirements most closely related to improving educational results for children with disabilities.
  • early intervention services programs meet the program requirements under Part C, with a particular emphasis on those requirements that are most closely related to improving early intervention results for infants and toddlers with disabilities.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

Other U.S. Department of Education/Federal Partner Resources

OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers and Resources

IDEA 2004 Reauthorization Resources

  • Monitoring, Technical Assistance, and Enforcement (2009): MS Word | PDF

The IDEA and its implementing regulations addresses transition services for children with disabilities.

The term “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that:

  • is designed to be within a results-oriented process that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, and community participation
  • is based on the individual child’s needs, taking into account the child’s strengths, preferences, and interests
  • includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation

Transition services may be special education, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a related service, if required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.

OSERS Guidance and Resources

Other U.S. Department of Education/Federal Partner Resources

OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers and Resources

IDEA 2004 Reauthorization Resources

  • Question-and-Answer Documents

IDEA requires states to collect and examine data to determine if significant disproportionality based on race and ethnicity is occurring in the state and the local educational agencies (LEAs) of the state with respect to:

  1. the identification of children as children with disabilities, including the identification of children as children with disabilities in accordance with a particular impairment;
  2. the placement in particular educational settings of such children; and
  3. the incidence, duration, and type of disciplinary actions, including suspensions and expulsions.

The IDEA does not, however, define “significant disproportionality.”

The regulations do not explicitly define the term either. Instead, regulations require states to use a standard methodology for analysis of disproportionality, which includes states setting a threshold above which disproportionality in the identification, placement, or discipline of children with disabilities within an LEA is significant.

OSEP Guidance and Resources

  • Significant Disproportionality Reporting Under IDEA Part B
  • Question and Answers and Model State Timeline on Significant Disproportionality (Equity in IDEA) (March 31, 2017)
    • These resources are a follow-up to the Equity in IDEA final regulation, which was published in the Federal Register Dec. 19, 2016 and became effective on Jan. 18, 2017.
      • On May 6, 2019, the Department of Justice filed a Notice of Appeal in COPAA v. DeVos. The filing of this Notice of Appeal does not stay the district court order or alter the fact that the December 19, 2016 Equity in IDEA regulation on significant disproportionality is currently in effect.
      • The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services posted the following to the department’s site May 20, 2019: “Pursuant to the plain language of the December 19, 2016 Equity in IDEA regulation on significant disproportionality, and in conjunction with the March 7, 2019 decision in COPAA v. Devos, the department expects states to calculate significant disproportionality for the 2018–2019 school year using the 2016 rule’s standard methodology, or to recalculate using the 2016 rule’s standard methodology if a different methodology has already been used for this school year.”
      • NOTE: The department postponed the compliance date of this regulation from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2020 through 83 FR 31306 published July 3, 2018. The regulation also postpones the compliance date for including children ages three through five in significant disproportionality analysis from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022.
    • The Q&A guidance document includes questions and answers on the rule, including the standard methodology; remedies; effective and compliance dates; and a glossary of terms. It is intended to be used as a resource for states as they begin engaging with stakeholders around the implementation of the final rule.
    • The Model State Timeline outlines the different streams of work and the timelines that states should consider as they implement the new rule.
  • Webinar on Equity in IDEA 101: Contents of the Final Rule (Feb. 7, 2017)
  • Webinar on Equity in IDEA 201: Implementing the Final Rule (March 30, 2017)

IDEA 2004 Reauthorization Resources

Teaching is one of the most important and challenging careers, and of all the school-related factors that impact student academic performance, great teachers matter most and that is especially true for children with disabilities.

Great teachers, related services providers and principals matter enormously to the learning and the lives of all children, especially children with disabilities.

States must establish and maintain qualifications to ensure the personnel necessary to implement the IDEA Part B requirements are appropriately and adequately prepared and trained. This includes making sure those personnel have the content knowledge and skills to serve children with disabilities.

IDEA authorizes and OSEP invests in personnel development for those who serve and support children with disabilities (birth through 21) and their families.

OSEP Policy and Guidance

OSEP Funded Technical Assistance Centers and Resources

Severe Discrepancy, Severe Discrepancy, Severe Discrepancy, Screening
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