Lee Daniels Daniels 1
Miss Coffman/Mrs. Drury
Research Paper
13 April 2000
Individuals with Disabilities Act
Historically, disabled children were segregated from regular education students in the
public schools. They did not have the opportunity to interact with their non-disabled
peers. They were often placed in separate settings with all children who also had
disabilities. The treatment and discrimination of disabled children and their parents were
the main purposes for the formation of IDEA, which was created to protect their civil
liberties.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted in 1975. There have
been numerous amendments up to 1995. It was created because prior to 1975, children
with disabilities were being segregated in schools because they were disabled and were
getting an inadequate education. IDEA was passed to assure that all disabled children
would get a free and appropriate public education. ( Individuals 1) This means that
the children would get special education and related services that were free and under
public supervision. Before it was passed, one million children were shut out of public
schools and 90 percent of them were in state institutions. Today, there are no more state
institutions, and many disabled children attend public schools. Over five million students,
today, with disibilities, are receiving appropriate and free special education and other
related services. ( Individuals 1)
Under IDEA only a certain number of disabled children are eligible. Some of the
disabilities that fall under eligibility are mental retardation, physical and emotional
retardation, autism, dyslexia, orthopedic disabilities, sensory disabilities, and emotional
disturbances. These are most of the disabilities that fall under the eligibility guidelines
under IDEA. ( An Educator s 48)
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Under IDEA the state and school districts have to collect important data on the
disabled children that are at their school, so that the government can ensure that they are
following the law. They need data on suspension and expulsion rates of the disabled
students, the number of children by race, ethnicity, and disability who are placed in
interim alternative educational settings, and why this has occured. The last piece of data
that the school has to collect is if disproportionality based on race or by catagories of
diability is occuring, which is a violation of IDEA. ( Implementation 6)
Under IDEA the school district decides how a child will be placed within a school
system. First, the district gathers information from many sources which will help them
make their decision on how the disabled child will be placed in school so that he will
learn to his maximum potential. The final decision ensures that the student is educated
with his non-disabled peers to the maximum extent possible. If the school wants to make
any changes, it requires a notice to the parents and an evaluation of the student prior to
changing the student s placement. ( Implementation 3)
Some disabled children s disabilities are in the area of social, emotional, and/or
behavioral needs. There are temporary things that the school can do in order to discipline
a disabled child if he needs to cool off rather than changing the educational placement.
One rule is for school personnel to change the student s placement for up to ten days in a
setting that will continue to meet the student s needs for disciplinary reasons only. If the
student requires a change in placement, the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) TEAM
must meet and conduct a behavioral assessment. The parents of the disabled child may
request an expedited hearing if they disagree with the school system s ruling.
( Implementation 4). For example, if the parents think their child s behavior was due to
his disability, they may request the hearing to prevent a change in their child s
educational placement.
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A full, comprehensive evaluation assessing all areas related to the suspected disability
is required for the disabled student. The evaluation starts once the parents or school
personnel suspect that the child has a disability and may require special education
services. A consent signed by the parents is required before the evaluation can begin.
IDEA requires that the child be reevaluated at least every three years, but schools often do
academic assessments yearly. The only time a reevaluation is not needed on a yearly basis
is when there is no significant change in the student s placement. ( Individuals 1)
Infants and toddlers are also affected by IDEA. The United States policy is to provide
financial assistance to the states to develop and implement a statewide system that
provides intervention in the early years of children with disabilities and their families.
The United States also encourages states to have more opportunities for children, three
years old and younger, with disabilities to prevent long term developmental delays. The
United States wants to look out for the good of infants and toddlers. ( An Overview 1)
IDEA has many program objectives that need to be fulfilled by school systems. One
objective is to give access to a free and appropriate public education for all children with
disabilities. Each student requires his own individualized plan to ensure that the student
will be taught to his highest potential. Another objective of IDEA is the enforcement of
least restrictive environment. This objective requires school systems to provide the
necessary services to disabled children to keep them in a program that will meet their
needs, hopefully while keeping them in the public school. IDEA would also like to make
appropriate funds available to assist states and local school districts in providing
education to disabled children. IDEA encourages early childhood intervention which
provides appropriate education to disabled children at a very early age so they will not fall
behind as much. ( Individuals 1-2)
There have been many court cases using IDEA. One example is the case of Matthew
vs. A School System in Massachusetts. In this case Matthew was a child diagnosed with
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Down Syndrome. Since he was five years old, Matthew had been taught by a qualified
teacher in his school. When he turned nine, the school decided not to give him a
qualified teacher, but rather an aide who would help him, but not teach him. Matthew s
parents refused to accept this plan. His parents said that Matthew needed a qualified
teacher because he had Down Syndrome and that neither an aide nor a regular education
teacher could meet his needs. They felt that he needed a special education teacher to
work one on one with him within the regular classroom. The case was brought to court,
and the parents won the case. Matthew remained in his school setting and had a qualified
special education teacher assigned to work with him one on one to fulfill his needs.
( Making 93-133)
Since 1975, IDEA has had many accomplishments. Over one million children who
were in separate schools and institutions are now being educated in neighborhood
schools. Between 1984 and 1992, 9 percent more children with disabilities have
graduated from high school. Nearly half of all adults with disabilities took some course in
college and completed it. Lastly, younger men and women, under IDEA, are employed
twice as often than their older counterparts who were educated before the formation of
IDEA. ( Overview 1-2)
There are many ways that IDEA can be improved. One way is to have high
expectations of disabled children by enrolling them in the general curriculum of the
school. Strengthening the role of parents and fostering their partnership with the school
can also improve the delivery of educational services to disabled children. Incentives
should be provided to schools not to label the child as being disabled while still
addressing their special learning needs. Schools should also focus their resources on
teaching and learning, rather than on paperwork, for the disabled child in order to further
benefit the child s education. ( Overview 1)
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IDEA also has some unfulfilled promises. Although IDEA is very beneficial and has
made significant progress, much still needs to be done. Twice as many children with
disabilities drop out of school. Improvements need to be made in this area. Drop-outs do
not usually return to school, have trouble finding jobs and often end up in jail. The
biggest unfulfilled purpose of IDEA is the fact that many disabled children are still
excluded from the regular curriculum of the classroom. This limits the disabled child s
possibilities of reaching his highest potential. ( Individuals 1)
Before the enactment of IDEA, many disabled were segregated from the regular
classrooms in public schools. This was a form of oppression on disabled children and
their families. This did not provide the opportunity for disabled children to be included in
the same environment with non-disabled children. This made them stand out as being
different from other children, and many parents did not like this. Separating disabled
children, before IDEA, also did not allow them to reach their highest academic potential.
Parents of disabled children showed resilience by fighting school systems and getting the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed by working with their local
governments. The Federal Government also showed resilience by supporting the parents
and enacting IDEA in 1975. Disabled children now have a greater opportunity to be
better educated in their neighborhood schools. This gives them the chance to go to school
with other children who are not disabled, thus normalizing their lives.
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Works Cited
An Overview of the Major Provisions of the Act .
The Implementation of IDEA. (26 January 2000).
Cottle, Thomas J. Barred from School. Washington, D.C.:
The New Rupublic Book Company Incorporated, 1976.
GPR Overview . OSERS IDEA 97 3/11/99.
(28 January 2000).
Henderson, John. Making Regular Schools Special.
New York: Schocken Books, 1986.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act . (28 January 2000).
Law offices of Herbert Manheit. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act .
1996. (28 January 2000).
Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center. An Educator s Primer. Utah:
Utah State University, 1999.
Proposed Regulations for IDEA Summary. Oct. 1997
. (27 January 2000).