The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that each State establish and maintain an advisory panel for the purpose of advising the State special education staff regarding the education of eligible children with disabilities. This includes advising the State on the education of students with disabilities who have been convicted as adults and are incarcerated in adult prisons, even if a State assigns general supervision responsibility for those children to a public agency other than a State Education Agency (SEA). Nevada's State Special Education Advisory Panel is called the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC).

The functions of the SEAC are to:

• Advise the State of unmet needs in the education of children with disabilities.
• Comment publicly on any rules or regulations proposed by the State regarding the education of children with disabilities.
• Provide advice to the State staff in developing evaluations and reporting on data to the Secretary of Education.
• Advise the State in developing corrective action plans to address findings identified in Federal monitoring.
• Advise the State in developing and implementing policies relating to the coordination of services for children with disabilities.
• Make available all final due process officer findings and decisions.

Per federal regulation (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(21)(D), the Advisory Committee must:

1. Advise the State Education Agency (SEA) of unmet needs within the State in the education of children with disabilities;
2. Comment publicly on any rules or regulations proposed by the State regarding the education of children with disabilities;
3. Advise the SEA in developing evaluations and reporting on data to the Secretary under section 618 of the Act;
4. Advise the SEA in developing corrective action plans to address findings identified in Federal monitoring reports under Part B of the Act;
5. Advise the SEA in developing and implementing policies relating to the coordination of services for children with disabilities

Senate Bill 203 passed during the 2019 Legislative session, this bill requires, among other things, the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a committee of 13 members on Language Development for Children who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind or Visually Impaired. The Nevada Department of Education had to appoint members representing the following areas:

• Parents of students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including students who are both deaf and blind
• Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired
• Individuals who specialize in teaching or providing services to students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired
• Individuals who perform research in a field relating to students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired

This committee shall:

• Make recommendations to the State Board of Education concerning certain other matters, including criteria for use by school employees and providers of services to assess the development of language and literacy skills by children who are less than 6 years of age and are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired
• Make recommendations to the State Board of Education criteria for use by parents or guardians to evaluate the development of language and literacy skills by children who are less than 6 years of age and are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including, without limitation, children who are both deaf and blind