TO: Chief State School Officers, Directors of Special Education 

FROM: Judith E. Heumann, Thomas Hehir 

SUBJECT: Effective Date of the New IEP Requirements 

DATE: April 28, 1998 

The purpose of this Memorandum is to provide informal guidance, announcing that the Department intends to regulate to permit a phased-in implementation of new requirements regarding Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) by specifying that IEPs developed on or after July 1, 1998 must meet the new IEP provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA 97). This position will be reflected in the final regulations implementing IDEA 97. 

Not long after the enactment of the 1997 Amendment last June, we began to encourage State officials to begin to take steps to implement the new law, including the IEP requirements, and most of you have been proceeding on the basis that all IEPs must comply with the new IEP requirements by July 1, 1998, (the position taken in the October 22, 1997 NPRM).  

Each of you is commended for the efforts you have made to implement the new IEP provisions, and we encourage you to continue your efforts. However, upon further review of the statute and consideration of the comments, we are proposing to adjust the Department’s position as announced in the NRPM on the IEP effective date to accommodate a phased-in implementation period. 

Because of the importance of appropriate implementation of these critical IEP provisions to achieve the purpose of IDEA 97 — that is, to ensure better results for children with disabilities — we intend to regulate to require that IEPs developed on or after July 1, 1998 meet the new requirements. This position will be reflected in the final rule.  

At the same time, we continue to encourage States and LEAs to conform to the new requirements as soon as possible.  

Particular attention should be given to conducting IEP meetings under the new requirements in advance of scheduled annual review dates in those situations in which IEPs were developed this spring using the old requirements, to the extent it is possible to do so.  

In this regard, we would strongly encourage all of you to grant any reasonable request from parents for an IEP meeting to address the new statutory IEP provisions. As always, we encourage you to do everything feasible to inform parents of the important changes resulting from IDEA 97 so they may be effective partners in the education of their children. 

In addition, it is important to note that this delay in implementation applies only to those IEP provisions that were not required prior to IDEA 97; for example, the requirement regarding the regular teacher being a member of the IEP team, and the requirement that the IEP contain an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children.  

On the other hand, public agencies must implement other requirements under IDEA 97 that are already in effect, such as the participation of children with disabilities in State and district-wide assessments (but not the alternate assessments, which are required as of July 1, 2000).  

Public agencies must also comply with the requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and/or those in effect under the IDEA even before the enactment of IDEA 97 such as providing children with disabilities with access to the general curriculum and the obligation to provide the services identified by the IEP team as necessary for the child to receive FAPE, which, depending on the individual education needs of the child, could include instruction in Braille and its use, assistive technology and the provision of technology services and devices, services addressing language and communication need, and positive behavioral strategies. 

As it is with you, the effective implementation of IDEA 97 is a major Departmental goal. We hope that this change will assist you in effectively implementing IDEA 97 and ensuring better results for children with disabilities. After final regulations are published this spring, we are planning to hold additional training sessions. We look forward to seeing you then.