IDEA Compliance Report Card 2023

How well are we educating our disabled children in the US?

It is a hard question to answer, but we can use US Department of Education data to make a start. This is the first part of the Disability Almanac report on the state of Special Education in the US for 2023.

IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, was passed in 1975 – 48 years ago. Yet, this year, in 2023, only 23 US states and territories are actually in full compliance with the law (see IDEA History).

We come a long way since it wasn’t even required to educate “Disabled Learners” before IDEA passed, but we still have a long way to go. IDEA compliance, and strengthening IDEA itself, is a key foundation for progress.

What is IDEA Compliance?

IDEA Compliance is not a measure of whether a state is doing a good job of educating its disabled children, but it measures how well the state complies with data reporting and VERY minimal performance requirements.

IDEA Compliance is like passing the written test for your driver’s license – it doesn’t mean you are a good driver, but at least you know the rules of the road.

This is not a high bar.

Every year, the US Department of Education reviews data from each US state and territory and responds with a letter to address the 2 major parts of IDEA:

Part B – for students 3 to 21 – through high school. IDEA doesn’t yet address college, vocational, or technical schools
Part C – for children under 3 – early intervention programs

The states receive a letter along with one of 5 “grades”:

Meets the requirements and purposes of IDEA;
Needs assistance in implementing the requirements of IDEA (first year);
Needs assistance in implementing the requirements of IDEA for more than 2 years in a row;
Needs intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA;
Needs substantial intervention in implementing the requirements of IDEA.

This year, the report came out from the Department of Education on 26 June 2023 – 2023 DETERMINATION LETTERS ON STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF IDEA.

In the summer when no one is thinking about school.

Didn’t you hear about it?

It didn’t get much press.

The number of states and territories that are “in compliance” was pretty abysmal. So, I went back through the data available online and pulled together a cumulative “report card” for the US and each state. I hope this spurs some discussion and, more importantly, meaningful change.

2023 US IDEA Compliance Summary Report Card

US Special Education Report Card 2023 - IDEA Compliance by State Listed by year 2023 back to 2017 For School Age Children (3-21) IDEA Compliant - 23,30,23,22,21,22,25 Needs Assistance 1 year - 6,9,9,7,8,7,6 Needs Assistance 2+ years - 29,17,20,26,28,26,28 Needs Intervention - 2,0,0,5,3,5,1 For Infants and Toddlers (age — US Special Education Report Card 2023 – IDEA Compliance by State 2017 to 2023

2023 State and Territory Status Summary

IDEA Part B – School Age Children Ages 3 to 21:

Meets requirements:

Alabama
Arkansas
Connecticut
Florida
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Needs Assistance – 1 year:

Georgia
Maine
New Hampshire
Oklahoma
Oregon
Virginia

Needs Assistance – 2+ years:

Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
California
Colorado
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Delaware
District Of Columbia
Guam
Hawaii
Iowa
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Puerto Rico
Republic of Palau
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands

Needs intervention:

Bureau of Indian Education

Federated States of Micronesia

IDEA Part C – Infants and Toddlers under Age 3:

Meets requirements:

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Georgia
Kansas
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Needs assistance 1 year:

Alaska
Colorado
District of Columbia
Idaho
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Maryland
Maine
Minnesota
North Carolina
Nevada
Pennsylvania

Needs assistance 2+ years:

American Samoa
California
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Delaware
Florida
Guam
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Louisiana
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
Rhode Island
Utah
Vermont
Virgin Islands

Needs intervention:

Indiana
Mississippi

Sigh, this probably needs a chart.

Top US States and Territories for IDEA Compliance 2017 to 2023

US Special Education Report Card -2023 - IDEA Compliance - Bottom States The following 9 states have been fully compliant with IDEA for the past 7 years (2017 to 2023) - Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming — US Special Education Report Card -2023 – IDEA Compliance – Top States

Bottom US States and Territories for IDEA Compliance 2017 to 2023

US Special Education Report Card -2023 - IDEA Compliance - Bottom States 15 US states and 4 territories haven't been in full compliance with IDEA ever during at least the last 7 years (2017 to 2023) Alaska, American Samoa, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Calfironia, Colorado, Commonwealth fo the Norther Mariana Islands, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Lousiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexixo, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virgin Islands — US Special Education Report Card -2023 – IDEA Compliance – Bottom States

Why Red for Needs Assistance 2+ years?

I tagged the states that need assistance for more than 1 year as this is a good indicator of an ongoing problem. States that are in full compliance with IDEA tend to stay there and those that “need assistance” for 2 or more years also tend to stay there.

The existing reporting loses the important information that states that need assistance for any length of time tend NOT to get better.

Again, IDEA Compliance is not a high standard. It is fulfilling the basic bureaucratic mandates of IDEA.

(On a personal note, it is particularly distressing as a Californian to see my state not ever being in full compliance with IDEA during the period of available online reports.)

It should be disheartening to all of us that 48 years after this law – which provides minimum protections and support for educating our disabled learners – passed; we have so few states and territories actually complying with its basics.