February 4, 1998 Contact: Jean Moore, (615) 322-2706 jean.moore@vanderbilt.edu or Jan Rosemergy (615) 322-8240 jan.rosemergy@vanderbilt.edu

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Community Roundtable discusses Tennessee

implementation of I.D.E.A.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --"Improving special education --Tennessee's plans for implementing the new I.D.E.A." will be the topic of a Community Roundtable, sponsored by Vanderbilt University's John F. Kennedy Center and the Tennessee Disability Coalition. The free program will be Thursday, Feb. 12, from 4 to 5 p.m., in Room 241 of the Kennedy Center MRL Building on the Peabody campus of Vanderbilt University.

Since its initial authorization in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has guaranteed students with disabilities access to a free appropriate public education. Amended and reauthorized by Congress in May 1997 and signed by President Clinton in June, it is now up to states to implement the new I.D.E.A. (Public Law 105-17).

At the Roundtable, members of Tennessee's State Implementation Team and others will discuss plans for full implementation of I.D.E.A. in Tennessee. Topics under review by the Implementation Team include Individual Education Plans (IEPs), evaluations and re-evaluations, alternative assessment, functional behavior assessment, discipline and the State improvement plan/school-based improvement plan.

Reauthorization of IDEA will be discussed from four perspectives represented by Joseph Fisher, director of the Division of Special Education, Tennessee Department of Education; Elaine Hewitt, director of special education, Houston County; Holly Lu Conant-Rees, family advocate; and Carol Westlake, executive director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition. Moderating the panel will be Ann Kaiser, professor and chair of the Department of Special Education, professor of psychology and director of the Kennedy center's Institute on Prevention, Early Intervention and Families

The Community Roundtable series provides multiple perspectives on crucial disability issues. "Ideas about how students with disabilities are best educated are changing rapidly, knowledge is expanding, and educational systems are changing," said Elise McMillan, Kennedy Center director of development and the parent of a second-grader with Down syndrome. "The Kennedy Center and the Tennessee Disability Coalition want to provide a public forum so that diverse perspectives and knowledge bases can help inform families, researchers, educators and public policy makers."

For information call 322-8240.

-VU-

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

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