The Education of Students with Disabilities: Alignment Between the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Ann Lordeman
Specialist in Social Policy

Rebecca R. Skinner
Specialist in Education Policy

The largest sources of federal funding for elementary and secondary education are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; P.L. 107-110), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; P.L. 108-446). The ESEA provides funding and services for a broad population of students, including disadvantaged students, migrant students, neglected and delinquent students, and students with limited English proficiency. Approximately 6 million students with disabilities ages 6 through 21 attend elementary and secondary schools; however, they are not afforded special services under the ESEA due to their disability status. The IDEA provides funding and services specifically for those students with disabilities. Both the ESEA and IDEA aim to improve the educational outcomes for students with disabilities. The ways in which they do this sometimes differ, and when the laws are not fully or clearly aligned it can be difficult for educators to plan and execute an appropriate education for students with disabilities.

In the 113th Congress, legislators may consider the reauthorization of the ESEA. This report focuses on four broad policy issues within both the ESEA and IDEA, which potentially create differing expectations or requirements for schools and teachers educating students with disabilities:

• Standards. Under the ESEA, students with disabilities are taught to state academic content standards that apply to all children in the state. Under the IDEA, academic goals are established for each child in an individualized education program (IEP). 
• Assessments. Under the ESEA, students with disabilities participate in annual assessments that determine adequate yearly progress toward meeting expectations associated with state academic content and achievement standards. Under the IDEA, students with disabilities are assessed for identification purposes and for monitoring progress toward meeting goals articulated in their IEPs. 
• Accountability. The ESEA accountability system primarily measures whether schools and local education agencies are making adequate yearly progress in reading and mathematics achievement. The “students with disabilities” subgroup is expected to make adequate yearly progress. The IDEA monitoring system measures whether states are meeting certain compliance and performance indicators to determine whether the law is being implemented as intended. 
• Teachers. Both the ESEA and IDEA have requirements regarding “highly qualified” teachers. The ESEA includes a definition of “highly qualified” teacher as the term relates to teachers of elementary and secondary education. The IDEA also includes a definition of “highly qualified” teacher as the term relates to special education teachers of elementary and secondary education. Because students with disabilities spend the majority of time in the general education classroom, they are affected by both definitions. 

This report highlights issues pertaining to alignment and misalignment among ESEA and IDEA provisions within these areas, describes how statutory and regulatory language has sought to clarify these issues, and addresses specific issues that Congress may want to clarify as it considers the reauthorization of ESEA.


Date of Report: January 10, 2013
Number of Pages: 37
Order Number: R42070
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Federal Indian Elementary-Secondary Education Programs: Background and Issues

Cassandria Dortch
Analyst in Education Policy

The federal government provides elementary and secondary education and educational assistance to Indian children, either directly through federally funded schools or indirectly through educational assistance to public schools. Direct education is provided by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) in the U.S. Department of the Interior, through elementary and secondary schools funded by the BIE. Educational assistance to public schools is provided chiefly through programs of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The student population served by federal Indian education programs consists of members (or descendants of members) of Indian tribes, not American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), as identified by race/ethnicity. Most of this Indian education population attends public schools. Most federal data on Indian students are based on race/ethnicity, however, which complicates analysis of results for the population served by federal Indian education programs.

The BIE was originally part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in the Interior Department. The BIA began the current system of direct Indian education in the decades following the Civil War, with congressional approval and funding. The system developed gradually to its current structure. In the late 19th century, the BIA began placing a few students in public schools, a trend that accelerated after about 1910. At present, 90% or more of the Indian student population attends public schools.

The BIE-funded education system for Indian students includes 169 schools (and 14 “peripheral dormitories” for students attending public schools nearby). Schools and dorms may be operated by the BIE itself or by tribes and tribal organizations. A number of BIE programs provide funding and services, supplemented by set-asides for BIE schools from ED programs. Federal funding for Indian students in public schools flows to school districts chiefly through ED programs, with a small addition from a single BIE program. BIE and public schools are subject to the standards and accountability provisions in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, P.L. 107-110), although not all such provisions apply to BIE schools.

Authorization for most ESEA programs ended in FY2007. The 113th Congress is likely to consider reauthorization of the ESEA and may amend BIE and BIA educational provisions in Title 25 U.S. Code. Among the issues that may be raised are the academic outcomes of Indian students in public and BIE schools, the incorporation of native language instruction, the development of academic standards and assessments by Indian tribes, the conditions of BIE school facilities, and appropriate participation of Indian tribes in public school education.


Date of Report: February 11, 2013
Number of Pages: 48
Order Number: RL34205
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The District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) Program

Alexandra Hegji
Analyst in Social Policy

The District of Columbia College Access Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-98) was enacted on November 12, 1999, creating the District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) program. The program provides grants to District of Columbia residents for undergraduate education. Grants for study at public institutions of higher education (IHEs) nationwide offset the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition and fees, up to $10,000 per year and a cumulative maximum of $50,000. Students may also receive grants of up to $2,500 per year and a cumulative maximum of $12,500 for undergraduate study at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) nationwide and private IHEs in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.


Date of Report: February 7, 2013
Number of Pages: 21
Order Number: R41313
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Department of Education Final Rules for Postsecondary Education Programs That Prepare Students for Gainful Employment in a Recognized Occupation

David P. Smole
Specialist in Education Policy

Some types of postsecondary education programs at institutions of higher education that are eligible for participation in the federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), face additional conditions for Title IV aid eligibility. These programs, which are offered by public and private not-for-profit institutions of higher education and postsecondary vocational institutions, and by for-profit proprietary institutions of higher education, must prepare students for gainful employment in recognized occupations.

For many years, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) had not promulgated regulations that explicitly defined what it means for a program to be preparing students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. To address concerns about the quality of programs that prepare students for gainful employment and concerns about the level of student loan debt assumed by students who attend these programs, ED issued new rules on gainful employment in late 2010 and early 2011.

The final rules established a series of reporting and disclosure requirements for institutions of higher education that offer gainful employment programs and additional requirements for institutions that add new gainful employment programs. The rules also established a series of three performance metrics designed to measure how effectively completers of gainful employment programs repay the student loans they borrow to attend these programs, and the relationship between their student loan debt and their earnings. One metric, a loan repayment rate, was designed to measure how effectively students who are borrowers of federal student loans and who attended a gainful employment program repay the loans they borrowed to attend the program. Two additional metrics—an earnings rate and a discretionary income rate—are debt-toearnings measures and were designed to measure the proportion of students who complete a gainful employment program whose combined federal and non-federal student loan debt exceeds certain percentage thresholds of their earnings. A program failing to pass at least one of the three performance metrics for any three out of the most recently completed four fiscal years would lose eligibility to participate in HEA, Title IV programs.

The Department of Education’s efforts to establish new rules on gainful employment were very contentious. When ED published proposed rules in the summer of 2010, it received an unprecedented volume of comments. Overall, ED received more than 90,000 comments, with approximately three-quarters opposed to the rules and one-quarter in support. Many were concerned that the new rules would increase regulatory burden and potential adverse effects from programs losing eligibility to participate in HEA, Title IV federal student aid programs. Others supported the regulation of gainful employment programs, particularly with regard to the student loan debt of students who attend them.

Prior to the effective date of the gainful employment regulations, they were challenged in court by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities. On June 30, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision that vacated most aspects of the regulations and remanded them to ED for further action. At present, only the disclosure requirements remain in effect.

This report provides an overview of the Department of Education’s rules on gainful employment and their current status.


Date of Report: January 23, 2013
Number of Pages: 31
Order Number: R42011
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Federal Pell Grant Program of the Higher Education Act: How the Program Works, Recent Legislative Changes, and Current Issues

Shannon M. Mahan
Specialist in Education Policy

The federal Pell Grant program, authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA; P.L. 89-329), is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting postsecondary education students. The program provided over $33.5 billion to approximately 9.7 million undergraduate students in FY2011. For FY2012, the total maximum Pell Grant was funded at $5,550. The program is funded primarily through annual discretionary appropriations, although in recent years mandatory appropriations have played a smaller yet increasing role in the program. The statutory authority for the Pell Grant program was most recently reauthorized by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA; P.L. 110-315).

Pell Grants are need-based aid that is intended to be the foundation for all federal student aid awarded to undergraduates. There is no absolute income threshold that determines who is eligible or ineligible for Pell Grants. Nevertheless, Pell Grant recipients are primarily low-income. In FY2010, an estimated 74% of all Pell Grant recipients had a total family income at or below $30,000.

The Pell Grant program has garnered considerable attention over the past several years in Congress, primarily due to the ongoing need for additional program funding from FY2009 to FY2011. The need for additional funding during this time period was driven by both anticipated and unanticipated cost increases in the program. Some of the factors contributing to these increased costs included (1) legislative changes enacted in FY2009 and prior years that led to increased benefits for more students; (2) increases in the number of students enrolling in college and applying for Pell Grant aid; and (3) a weakened economy. Congress responded to these funding needs through numerous legislative efforts in FY2010 through FY2011 by providing additional mandatory funding to augment discretionary funding for current and future years. This additional mandatory funding was offset by reductions in spending on the federal student loan programs and changes to the Pell Grant program’s eligibility and award rules.

Most recently, the FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-74) provided $22.8 billion in discretionary funding for the program in FY2012 and an additional $3.1 billion in mandatory funds for general use in the program from FY2012 to FY2021, of which $612 million is available beginning in FY2012. These mandatory funds were offset by changes also included in the FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act to federal student aid programs in the HEA that took effect on July 1, 2012.

Some of the issues concerning the Pell Grant program that may confront this session of Congress center on appropriate satisfactory academic progress measures for students who receive Pell Grant aid and outcome measures for both students and institutions that receive Pell Grant aid. While the funding needs of the program appear to be met for FY2013 due to advance mandatory appropriations and other changes, Congress may begin to consider the implications of additional funding needs in FY2014, when advance mandatory appropriations to augment discretionary appropriations are substantially less than in FY2013. Finally, Congress may also continue to consider ways to decrease future program costs by changing the distribution of overall benefits by targeting aid to the most needy students or by revising the program’s award rules and eligibility parameters.


Date of Report: January 15, 2013
Number of Pages: 51
Order Number: R42446
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