IDEA Eligibility

IDEA Eligibility: WISEdata

IDEA Eligibility is an indicator that the student is eligible to receive special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

IDEA Eligibility: An "IDEA-Eligible" student must meet ALL of the following requirements:

• Be a child age 3-21 years of age who has not graduated with a diploma from high school,
• Be a child with an impairment(s), who because of that impairment(s) needs special education and related services as determined by a current evaluation and a current individualized education program (IEP) or a services plan for parentally-placed private school children,
• The student is attending and receiving all of the services specified in the IEP/service plan, and
• The student is receiving a free appropriate public education (FAPE) or is a parentally-placed private school student receiving special education or related services that meet state standards under a service plan (34 CFR 300.452--300.462).

Not IDEA-Eligible: A non-IDEA-eligible student would include:

• A student between the ages of birth and three or age 22 and older who is receiving services from the school district
• A student without a current evaluation or IEP
• A student who is not receiving special education and related services, as specified in the IEP
• A student who is not attending school, except for an excused absence or illness, e.g., a student whose whereabouts is unknown but who has not exited
• A student who is in the process of expulsion and is not being served
• A student who has received a high school diploma but is still receiving services

This value should always be ‘Y’ for 2017-18 or the special education record will not be accepted. Note, sSEPA is not expected for students with a disability who are not IDEA eligible or for students without disabilities.

USES: Special education and IDEA eligibility info are used for disaggregated reporting and accountability purposes, including WISEdash, ESSA Report Card, Adequate Yearly Progress, Wisconsin School Performance Report, and the Wisconsin Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System. 

FAQs, Details, and Points to Note

1. Primary Disability: As defined by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), primary disability is the disability condition that best describes an IDEA-eligible student's impairment; the impairment that is most disabling. Students who are not IDEA-eligible or have no disability should be assigned a primary disability code of N. Primary Disability=No if one of the following applies:
   • Student is 21 or older prior to the school term begin date.
   • Student is not yet three on the count date.
   • Student is not yet three on the exit date or school term end date, whichever occurs first.
2. IDEA Eligibility for Choice Students: Students must have been IDEA eligible prior to attending a choice school to be reported by choice schools. Even if the students have a 504, if they have never had IDEA eligibility, they cannot be reported. If the student was covered, enter the appropriate information regarding the disability. If the student was not, remove the disability submission. No choice school students are IDEA eligible unless previously considered so in a public school, so choice schools cannot take accountability for Oct. 1 counts. If PPP choice students receive special education services in a public school, then the public school claims them for Oct. 1 and receives credit for that child count. If the student is not actively receiving services from a public school in the current year and  no evidence has been submitted in prior years of having been IDEA eligible, these students cannot be reported as having a disability at the Choice school. 
3. Criteria Dates: The above criteria are applied as of a specific date based on the most current data available. For WISEdata count date records, the count dates are the Third Friday of September and October 1. WISEdata records should reflect the appropriate disability status as of these specific dates.
4. FAPE: According to Sec. 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, the term `free appropriate public education' means special education and related services that (A) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge; (B) meet the standards of the State educational agency; (C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved; and (D) are provided in conformity with the individualized education program required under section 614(d).

See also:

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

Title 34, Part 300 (IDEA regulations)
 

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