Our Positions

NEA Recommends New Assessment Strategy

The National Assessment Governing Board -- the board that sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) -- is considering changes to its policies on how students with disabilities and English language learners participate in the national assessment, often called the Nation’s Report Card.  Senior policy analyst Patti Ralabate of NEA’s Education Policy and Practice Department offered testimony suggesting six key recommendations focused on using an inclusive and reasonable approach to increase the participation of students with disabilities and to improve the validity of cross-state comparisons .

NEA Policy Supports Inclusion

By official policy, NEA supports "appropriate" inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms. The policy, which was adopted by the NEA Representative Assembly in 1994, defines "appropriate" by spelling out specific characteristics such programs must have. The full policy statement is available here.

NEA Analysis: IDEA Final Regulations

NEA's preliminary analysis offers a mixed review for the Department of Education's final regulations for implementing the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. The regulations became effective October 13, 2006. More»

NEA Priorities for IDEA Reauthorizaton

NEA worked closely with U.S. Representative, Senators, their staffs, and other advocacy groups to improve this landmark legislation. More»

Our Actions

• NEA Wins Key Changes on IDEA Reauthorization Bill
• NEA Offers Support for IDEA Reauthorization
• NEA/ IDEA Coalition Offers Proposal for IDEA Funding