An Individualized Education Plan is something every student who is considered disabled by the state is entitled to, here in Massachusetts these individuals are entitled to it from age 3 to age 22. However these age restraints are different for each state. Some states the plans start at age five, and other states they end as soon as the student is 18 years old. Families who have a student who has a disability have found that Massachusetts realized that while MA has a high test scores, they also have an amazing IEP programs and they are eager to move their entire family, sometimes across the country. While there has been amazing progress in the American with Disabilities Act, there is still room to grow. This legislation only ensures that people who have disabilities are entitled to a free education that helps them reach their full potential, however it does not say how long the state must provide them with such services.
So the question remains, should these time lines be determined by the state or determined by the entire nation? If a family who has a child with a disability is forced to move across the country to ensure that their child will receive the best education, for the fairest amount of time, it is going to put an additional strain on a family that has already faced their fare share of challenge.
Age 3 to 22 gives the child roughly six extra years to complete their education. Anything longer than that is saying that that individual no longer has room to grow in such an environment, which is untrue, if you do not present the child with a mountain, how will they ever be able to challenge it? It is extremely important for students to be able to reach their full potential.
If the rules reguarding Individualized Education Plans were nationwide, the students would be able to reach their full potential, reguardless of where they were born.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/iep/
http://texasprojectfirst.org/ARDIEP.html
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