Readying IDEA children for preschool

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the primary federal education law for children with disabilities. Part C of IDEA covers children from birth to age 3 and requires states to provide certain early intervention services. Part C is administered by the U.S. Dept. of Education's (Education) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report yesterday on how well states are implementing Part C and transitioning children from Part C to Part B, which covers children from age 3 who then become eligible for preschool programs. To help states provide a more seamless transition, GAO recommends that Education give states more guidance on transition planning and services. Hawaii was one of seven states where GAO conducted site visits for this study.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: Education Should Provide Additional Guidance to Help States Smoothly Transition Children to Preschool, GAO-06-26
     Full report (PDF, 4.37MB, 41p.)
     Highlights (PDF, 88KB, 1p.)
     Abstract (HTML)

IDEA '97 Law & Regs ((available in various formats, including PDF for the law (368KB, 143p.), from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) via a link from the OSEP site))