1995 U.S. Code
Title 20 - EDUCATION
CHAPTER 33 - EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
SUBCHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 1409 - Administrative provisions applicable to subchapters III through VII and section 1418

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§1409. Administrative provisions applicable to subchapters III through VII and section 1418 (a) Plan for implementation of authorized programs

The Secretary shall maintain a process for developing a program plan for the implementation of each of the programs authorized under section 1418 of this title and subchapters III through VII of this chapter. The plan shall include program goals, objectives, strategies, and priorities. In conducting the process, the Secretary shall involve individuals with disabilities, parents, professionals, and representatives of State and local educational agencies, private schools, institutions of higher education, and national organizations who have interest and expertise in the program.

(b) Needs of minority children and youth

In awarding grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under subchapters III through VII of this chapter, the Secretary, where appropriate, shall require applicants to demonstrate how they will address, in whole or in part, the needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities from minority backgrounds.

(c) Transitions facing children with disabilities during years in school

In awarding grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under subchapters III through VII of this chapter the Secretary, where appropriate, may require applicants to address the various transitions that a child with a disability may face throughout such child's years in school, including—

(1) the transition from medical care to special education for those children with disabilities, including chronic health impairments, who may require individualized health-related services to enable such children to participate in, or benefit from, special education;

(2) the transition between residential placement and community-based special education services; and

(3) the transition between a separate educational placement and the regular classroom setting.

(d) Program evaluations

The Secretary shall conduct directly, or by contract or cooperative agreement with appropriate entities, independent evaluations of the programs authorized under section 1418 of this title and under subchapters III through VII of this chapter, and may for such purpose use funds appropriated to carry out such provisions. The findings of the evaluators shall be utilized in the planning process under subsection (a) of this section for the purpose of improving the programs. The evaluations shall determine the degree to which the program is being conducted consistent with the program plan and meeting its goals and objectives. The Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress the results of the evaluations required by this subsection.

(e) Report on program plans and evaluations

The Secretary shall report on the program plans required in subsection (a) of this section and findings from the evaluations under subsection (d) of this section in the annual report to the Congress required under section 1418 of this title.

(f) Acquisition and dissemination of information

The Secretary shall develop effective procedures for acquiring and disseminating information derived from programs and projects funded under subchapters III through VII of this chapter, as well as information generated from studies conducted and data collected under section 1418 of this title.

(g) Dissemination of reports to appropriate networks

The Secretary shall, where appropriate, require recipients of all grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under subchapters III through VII of this chapter to prepare reports describing their procedures, findings, and other relevant information in a form that will maximize the dissemination and use of such procedures, findings, and information. The Secretary shall require their delivery, as appropriate, to the Regional and Federal Resource Centers, the Clearinghouses, and the Technical Assistance to Parents Programs (TAPP) assisted under subchapters III and IV of this chapter, as well as the National Diffusion Network, the ERIC Clearinghouse on the Handicapped and Gifted, and the Child and Adolescent Service Systems Program (CASSP) under the National Institute of Mental Health, appropriate parent and professional organizations, organizations representing individuals with disabilities, and such other networks as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate.

(h) Evaluation panels

(1) The Secretary shall convene, in accordance with paragraph (2), panels of experts who are competent, by virtue of their training or experience, to evaluate proposals under section 1418 of this title and subchapters III through VII of this chapter.

(2) Panels under paragraph (1) shall be composed of individuals with disabilities, parents of such individuals, individuals from the fields of special education, related services, and other relevant disciplines.

(3) The Secretary shall convene panels under paragraph (1) for any application that includes a total funding request exceeding ,000 and may convene or otherwise appoint panels for applications that include funding requests that are less than such amount.

(4) Panels under paragraph (1) shall include a majority of non-Federal members. Such non-Federal members shall be provided travel and per diem not to exceed the rate provided to other educational consultants used by the Department of Education and shall be provided consultant fees at such a rate.

(5) The Secretary may use funds available under section 1418 of this title and subchapters III through VII of this chapter to pay expenses and fees of non-Federal members of the panels.

(i) Site visits

The Secretary shall conduct at least 1 site visit for each grant, contract, and cooperative agreement receiving 0,000 or more annually under subchapters III through VII of this chapter.

(j) Discretionary program findings

(1) With respect to the discretionary programs authorized by subchapters III through VII of this chapter, the Congress finds as follows:

(A)(i) The Federal Government must be responsive to the growing needs of an increasingly more diverse society. A more equitable allocation of resources is essential for the Federal Government to meet its responsibility to provide an equal educational opportunity for all individuals.

(ii) America's racial profile is rapidly changing. While the rate of increase for white Americans is 3.2 percent, the rate of increase for racial and ethnic minorities is much higher: 38.6 percent for Hispanics, 14.6 percent for African-Americans, and 40.1 percent for Asians and other ethnic groups.

(iii) By the year 2000, this Nation will have 260,000,000 people, one of every three of whom will be either African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American.

(iv) Taken together as a group, it is a more frequent phenomenon for minorities to comprise the majority of public school students. Large city school populations are overwhelmingly minority, e.g., Miami, 71 percent; Philadelphia, 73 percent; Baltimore, 80 percent.

(v) Recruitment efforts within special education at the level of preservice, continuing education, and practice must focus on bringing larger numbers of minorities into the profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address the clearly changing demography of special education.

(vi) The limited English proficient population is the fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth is occurring in many parts of our Nation. In the Nation's 2 largest school districts, limited-English students make up almost half of all students initially entering school at the kindergarten level. Studies have documented apparent discrepancies in the levels of referral and placement of limited-English proficient children in special education. The Department of Education has found that services provided to limited-English proficient students often do not respond primarily to the pupil's academic needs. These trends pose special challenges for special education in the referral, assessment, and services for our Nation's students from non-English language backgrounds.

(B)(i) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities.

(ii) More minority children continue to be served in special education than would be expected from the percentage of minority students in the general school population.

(iii) Poor African-American children are 3.5 times more likely to be identified by their teacher as mentally retarded than their white counterpart.

(iv) Although African-Americans represent 12 percent of elementary and secondary enrollments, they constitute 28 percent of total enrollments in special education.

(v) The drop out rate is 68 percent higher for minorities than for whites.

(vi) More than 50 percent of minority students in large cities drop out of school.

(C)(i) The opportunity for full participation in awards for grants and contracts; boards of organizations receiving funds under this chapter; and peer review panels; and training of professionals in the area of special education by minority individuals, organizations, and historically Black colleges and universities is essential if we are to obtain greater success in the education of minority children with disabilities.

(ii) In 1989, of the 661,000 college and university professors, 4.6 percent were African-American and 3.1 percent were Hispanic. Of the 3,600,000 teachers, prekindergarten through high school, 9.4 percent were African-American and 3.9 percent were Hispanic.

(iii) Students from minority groups comprise more than 50 percent of K–12 public school enrollment in seven States yet minority enrollment in teacher training programs is less than 15 percent in all but six States.

(iv) As the number of African-American and Hispanic students in special education increases, the number of minority teachers and related service personnel produced in our colleges and universities continues to decrease.

(v) Ten years ago, 12.5 percent of the United States teaching force in public elementary and secondary schools were members of a minority group. Minorities comprised 21.3 percent of the national population at that time and were clearly underrepresented then among employed teachers. Today, the elementary and secondary teaching force is 3 to 5 percent minority, while one-third of the students in public schools are minority children.

(vi) As recently as 1984–85, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) supplied nearly half of the African-American teachers in the Nation. However, in 1988, HBCUs received only 2 percent of the discretionary funds for special education and related services personnel training.

(vii) While African-American students constitute 28 percent of total enrollment in special education, only 11.2 percent of individuals enrolled in preservice training programs for special education are African-American.

(viii) In 1986–87, of the degrees conferred in education at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only 6, 8, and 8 percent, respectively, were awarded to African-American or Hispanic students.

(D) Minorities and underserved persons are socially disadvantaged because of the lack of opportunities in training and educational programs, undergirded by the practices in the private sector that impede their full participation in the mainstream of society.

(2) The Congress further finds that these conditions can be greatly improved by providing opportunities for the full participation of minorities through the implementation of the following recommendations:

(A) Implementation of a policy to mobilize the Nation's resources to prepare minorities for careers in special education and related services.

(B) This policy should focus on—

(i) the recruitment of minorities into teaching; and

(ii) financially assisting HBCUs and other institutions of higher education (whose minority student enrollment is at least 25 percent) to prepare students for special education and related service careers.

(C)(i) The Secretary shall develop a plan for providing outreach services to the entities described in clause (ii) in order to increase the participation of such entities in competitions for grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under any of subchapters III through VII of this chapter.

(ii) The entities referred to in clause (i) are—

(I) Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other institutions of higher education whose minority student enrollment is at least 25 percent;

(II) eligible institutions as defined in section 1058 of this title;

(III) nonprofit and for-profit agencies at least 51 percent owned or controlled by one or more minority individuals; and

(IV) underrepresented populations.

(iii) For the purpose of implementing the plan required in clause (i), the Secretary shall, for each of the fiscal years 1991 through 1994, expend 1 percent of the funds appropriated for the fiscal year involved for carrying out subchapters III through VII of this chapter.

(3) The Secretary shall exercise his/her utmost authority, resourcefulness, and diligence to meet the requirements of this subsection.

(4) Not later than January 31 of each year, starting with fiscal year 1991, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a final report on the progress toward meeting the goals of this subsection during the preceding fiscal year. The report shall include—

(i) a full explanation of any progress toward meeting the goals of this subsection; and

(ii) a plan to meet the goals, if necessary.

(Pub. L. 91–230, title VI, §610, as added Pub. L. 101–476, title I, §104, Oct. 30, 1990, 104 Stat. 1106.)

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 1990, see section 1001 of Pub. L. 101–476, set out as an Effective Date of 1990 Amendment note under section 1087ee of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1421, 1423, 1424, 1425, 1426, 1431, 1461 of this title.