Six Principles of IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a • include related services and supports and provide
federal law that created rules and guidelines for special for participation in extracurricular and other school
education. The law gives eligible children with disabilities activities;
rights to the specially designed instruction and • include extended year services when necessary to
individualized services and supports they need to benefit provide FAPE.
from public education. The IDEA has six foundational
A Supreme Court Case in 2017 (Endrew F. vs. Douglas
principles, which are outlined below.
County School District) set a new standard for the
definition of “appropriate” under IDEA. The court
Principle 1: Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) decided that an IEP must be “reasonably calculated to
The IDEA gives each eligible child with disabilities the enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of
right to a free appropriate public education. FAPE means the child’s circumstances.” This means that parents can
educational services: expect that their child’s IEP should provide services that
are designed for the child to make meaningful progress.
• are provided at public expense under public
supervision;
• are provided at no cost to the parents (other than Principle 2: Appropriate Evaluation
ordinary costs charged to all students); The IDEA requires that a student must receive an
• meet the standards established by the state evaluation before providing special education services to
department of education; determine: (1) whether the student qualifies as “child
with a disability” according to the IDEA definition, and if
• are designed to meet the unique needs of each
so, (2) to determine the educational needs of the
eligible student; student.
• are provided according to a written Individualized
To meet the definition of an appropriate evaluation:
Education Program (IEP);
• parents must give permission for evaluation and
• are provided to students from preschool through
for services;
high school, ages 3 to 21;
• a student must be evaluated in all areas of
• continue to be provided to students who have
suspected disability;
been suspended or expelled.
• the evaluation should include a variety of tools and
Special education programs must: strategies to gather functional, developmental, and
• be designed for the student to make progress in academic information;
the general education curriculum (there is only one • an evaluation should never be based on a single
curriculum for all students); measure or assessment;
• provide a chance for students to meet challenging
• the instruments and methods used for the
goals; evaluation must be technically sound, not culturally
• provide more than a minimal benefit but with no discriminatory, and provided in the language the
requirement to maximize potential (a serviceable child uses;
Chevy vs. a brand new fully-loaded Cadillac); • evaluations must be administered by trained and

This publication was developed with funds under grants from the U.S. Dept. of Education and
the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. The contents do not necessarily represent the
policy of those Departments, and the reader should not assume endorsement by the Federal
Government. ASK Resource Center is a member of the Parent to Parent USA Alliance, and also
serves as Iowa's Family Voices State Affiliate Organization.

© ASK Resource Center, 2024 | Phone (515) 243-1713 | Toll-free (800) 450-8667 | askresource.org
 knowledgeable personnel; placement or educational setting is determined
• a new or updated evaluation should be conducted second.
if there is reason to suspect a need or if the parent • Parents are involved in both program and
requests one; placement decisions.
• an evaluation must be conducted within 60 • Parents and the student need to be meaningfully
calendar days of the parent giving permission. involved in the development of the program and
Re-evaluations may occur when: any periodic revisions.
• conditions warrant new information;
• the parent requests re-evaluation; Principle 4: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
• a comprehensive re-evaluation must be completed The IDEA requires that “...To the maximum extent
every three years unless both the parent and appropriate, children with disabilities, including children
educators agree it is not necessary; in public or private institutions or other care facilities,
are educated with children who are not disabled.”
• every three years is the minimum requirement for
a re-evaluation; it can be conducted more often if Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means that:
needed, but not more than once a year. • any placement outside the general education
Independent educational evaluations (IEE): classroom must be justified by the child’s individual
disability-related needs;
• parents have a right to request an independent
evaluation at the AEA’s expense if they disagree • students must have meaningful access to same age
with the results of the school’s evaluation; peers without disabilities, when appropriate;
• parents may seek an independent evaluation at • special education is not a place. Schools must
their own expense at any time. The IEP team consider providing any needed services in the
“must consider” any recommendations from general education classroom and other integrated
outside sources but don’t necessarily have to settings;
follow them. • involvement in music, art, physical education,
school trips, clubs, extracurricular and other
activities must be accommodated;
Principle 3: Individualized Education Program (IEP)
• funding is never an appropriate reason for a more
An IEP is an individualized written plan for each child
restrictive placement; and
with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised
at least once a year by a team. The team includes • states must maintain a full range of placement
educators, parents, the student whenever appropriate, options to meet the needs of children who require
and others who have knowledge or expertise needed for specialized treatment programs.
the development of the student’s special education
program. Principle 5: Parent and student participation in
• The IEP must contain measurable goals written for decision making
where the team wants a student’s skills to be in a The IDEA is very specific about what schools must do to
year. ensure that parents have the opportunity to be active
• It must be designed to offer meaningful progress in participants in each step of the special education
the general education curriculum and functional process. Parents, and the student (whenever
performance. appropriate), must be meaningfully involved in:
• The goals and services should be designed without • the development, review, and revision of the IEP;
preset expectations for where the services will be • educational placement decisions;
provided.
• determining what data needs to be collected
• The educational program is determined first; the during evaluation;

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 • reviewing evaluation data; • A Formal Written Complaint,
• transition planning and services starting by age 14. • A Due Process Hearing.
The school team has an obligation to help the family Related Resources
understand the services and supports that are being Look for the following information sheets on our
discussed so that they can have meaningful input. website:
Families should never feel bad about asking questions. If
• Prior Written Notice
a parent has a question about their rights in the process,
they should not hesitate to talk to the Special Education • Parent Participation in IEP Decision Making
Teacher, AEA staff or other IEP team members, or call • IEP FAQ
ASK Resource Center.
And view the Endrew F. Advocacy Toolkit from
Parents can also invite anyone they’d like to an IEP www.understood.org.
meeting. Since IEP meetings can be overwhelming,
emotional, and full of information and educational terms
that might be confusing, it can be helpful for a parent to
bring someone with them that they can reflect back ASK Essential Questions
about the meeting with. It is courteous for parents to let • Is my child being provided access to FAPE,
the school know if they have invited others to attend.
including meaningful and challenging IEP goals?
• Has my input been considered by the IEP team?
Principle 6: Procedural Safeguards
The IDEA includes important procedural safeguards to • Is my child learning in his/ her least restrictive
ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and environment?
their parents are protected and that they have access to
the information needed to effectively participate in the
process.
Parents are entitled to notice in writing including:
• a parental rights notice with information about
special education, procedural safeguards, and
student and parent rights;
• notice in writing of IEP meetings;
• prior written notice (PWN) whenever the school
proposes to change or refuses to change the
educational programming or educational
placement of their child.
Parents are entitled to access student records:
• they may review educational records for their child;
• they may obtain copies of educational records for
their child;
• they may place a statement of correction or
explanation in the student’s record if it contains
something they disagree with.
Parents have a variety of procedural protections they can
invoke when they disagree with educators:
• The Resolution Facilitator Process,
• A Mediation Conference,

© ASK Resource Center, 2024

Phone (515) 243-1713 | Toll-free (800) 450-8667
askresource.org