As pressure continues to build on school districts to comply with the
ever-increasing requirements for the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB),
much attention has been focused on NCLB compliance issues.
However, less attention has been directed to the impact NCLB compliance
has on compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). Below, we review a number of NCLB operational
requirements, and discuss how these requirements affect IDEA compliance. Curriculum
I. Requires state-adopted “challenging academic content standards” that
apply to “all schools and children” - determinants of the IDEA “general
curriculum”?
II. Requirements state-adopted “challenging student academic
achievements standards” that are aligned with the state's challenging
academic content standards – determinants of FAPE?
State Accountability
I. AYP:
A. Results in “continuous and
substantial academic improvement” - new standard for FAPE?
B. Separate goals/objectives for 4 disaggregated groups, including
“students with disabilities” - IDEA, but not for those under §504 only.
II. Requires that no later than 12 years after the end of the 2001-02
AY each of the four disaggregated groups will “meet or exceed the
State's proficient level of academic achievement” on the state's tests
– an impossibility for severely impaired IDEA students (beyond those
within the proposed 1% cap)?
School Funding
I. Authorizes use of NCLB funds for:
A. “School wide programs” if the
school's enrollment or attendance area is least 40% from low-income
families, or
B. “Targeted assistance” to school-aged and preschool children
“identified by the school as failing, or most at risk of failing, to
meet the State's challenging student academic achievement standards” -
with express caveat that “children with disabilities … are eligible …
on the same basis as other children selected to receive services under
[target assistance]” - effect on IEPs?
II. Widespread complaints of insufficient funding for implementation,
especially given the high costs of AYP testing – potential incentive to
dip into special education budgets?
School Accountability
I. Requires, in first year of school improvement status, the district
to provide the students in said school the option to transfer to
another district school, including a public charter school, not in one
of these three failing categories, or if entire district is in these
categories, to a non-failing school in another district (by agreement
“to the extent practicable”), with transportation – does the receiving
school have to offer the same program options specified in the child's
IEP? What is the role of the IEP team?
Staffing
I. Requires recipient LEAs to ensure that “all [new] teachers of core
academic subjects teaching in a program supported with [NCLB] funds …
are highly qualified” - short range requirement that includes special
education teachers.
II. Highly qualified = full certification + bachelor's degree +
demonstrated competence in both content knowledge and teaching skill.
III. Duties of paraprofessionals working in NCLB-supported programs are
specifically circumscribed – compare succinct authority under IDEA
(“assist in the provision of special education and related services”).
Similarities Between NCLB and IDEA
A. Both are funding statues, with strings attached.
B. Both contain a focus on students with disabilities.
C. Both are outcomes-oriented, with an empirical emphasis.
D. Measurable goals/objectives.
E. Annual progress.
F. Both emphasize parental participation and choice.
G. Both are channeled through the states, with some latitude for
variation.
H. Both have requirements for personnel and assessments.
Differences Between NCLB and IDEA
A. NCLB is collective, whereas IDEA is individual.
B. NCLB: district-and school based, with emphasis on all children.
C. IDEA: individual orientation, with emphasis on eligible children.
D. NCLB addresses all children, along with students with disabilities
as one of four disaggregated groups, whereas IDEA exclusively addresses
this single group.
E. NCLB has only collective enforcement, whereas IDEA creates an
individual entitlement, with individual enforcement.
F. NCLB: funding termination + school sanctions (e.g., restructuring).
G. IDEA: impartial administrative adjudication + judicial review.