Running head: IDEA ESSAY 1

IDEA Essay Title Page

IDEA Essay
Kathy Jensen
Dakota State University
IDEA ESSAY 2

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) is the current law

regarding special education in the United States. It evolved from Education for All Handicapped

Children Act, passed by Congress in 1975. IDEIA operates by six principles: Zero Reject,

Nondiscriminatory Evaluation, Free Appropriate Public Education, Least Restrictive

Environment, Procedural Safeguards, and Parent Participation and Shared Decision Making.

This law has had and continues to have a major impact on education and on the lives of

individuals with disabilities.

IDEA ESSAY 3

In 1970, U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities.

Today nearly 6 million children and youth receive special education and related services to

meet their individual needs. (U.S., 2007) This positive change is due to legislation regarding the

education of individuals with disabilities that began in 1975 with the All Handicapped Childrens

Act. This law has evolved, the newest version is called the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), it was last revised in 2004 (Heward, 2013).

IDEIA is the only federally mandated law in education. It consists of six major

principles: Zero Reject, Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), Least Restrictive

Environment (LRE), Non-Discriminatory Evaluation, Due Process Safeguards, and Parental

Participation and Shared Decision Making. These principles all influence the education system in

the United States and a profound effect on individuals with disabilities (Heward, 2013).

The Zero Reject principle requires schools to educate all children with a disability,

regardless of the circumstances of the disability. No child can be refused an education. Students

with disabilities must be provided with special education from age six to age seventeen. Also, if

a state provides education to students from age three to five or eighteen to twenty-one, it must

provide special education for those with disabilities that fall into that age range. This principle

also states that finding, identifying, and evaluating all children from birth to twenty-one who

reside in the state is the responsibility of the State Education Agency (Heward, 2013).

A free appropriate public education must be provided for all children with disabilities. If

a childs disability requires special services or equipment, they must be provided at the publics

expense. FAPE also requires that an individualized education program (IEP) is developed for

each student with a disability. An IEP must include the childs specific levels of performance

along with measurable annual goals. To help the child benefit from the special education and
IDEA ESSAY 4

reach the annual goals, the IEP needs to specifically describe the special education and related

services that will be provided. (Heward, 2013) In 1998 the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second

Circuit issued a decision in a New York tuition reimbursement case, Walczak v. Florida Union

Free School District. The parents of B. W., a child with severe learning disabilities and serious

social problems, believes B. W. could best be served at Maplebrook School in Amenia, New

York. An IEP for B. W. had been developed and she was making progress on her goals. The

Parents wanted the school to pay for the tuition to Maplebrook. The Court found that the

program proposed by the public school provided B. W. with a free appropriate education. The

court ruled this way because the law requires appropriate education (education the student

benefits from), the law does not require the best education available (Write, 2008).

The least restrictive environment (LRE) portion of IDEIA requires students with a

disability to be educated with students without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate.

Students should only be removed from the general classroom if the severity of the disability

hinders the childs ability to learn in the classroom. The IEP must include a justification of the

students placement. The LRE placement is based on a students needs not on a students

disability (Heward, 2013).

For a student to receive special education services, the student must first be evaluated to

determine if he/she truly needs help. Under IDEIA this evaluation must be non-biased and

multifactored. Evaluations cannot discriminate based on the childs race, culture or native

language, all tests must be given in the childs native language. If the child does have a disability

the school determines if special instruction is necessary for the student to gain and appropriate

education. These evaluations must be multifactored (qualification cannot be based on one test)

(Heward, 2013).
IDEA ESSAY 5

Another major principle of IDEIA protects the parents and the children. Due Process

Safeguards require parental consent be given for all evaluations, before a child can be tested the

first time and for any subsequent evaluations parental consent is required. These safeguards also

require the school to provide all records regarding the child to the parents and to keep all records

confidential. If the parents disagree with the results of the schools evaluation they may seek a

second evaluation at the expense of the public. The parents may request a Due Process hearing if

they disagree with the identification evaluation, placement or a provision of FAPE and related

services. The state must reimburse the parents if they win the hearing (Heward, 2013).

The final major principle of IDEIA requires parental participation and shared decision

making among educators. Parents - and students when appropriate - must be involved in all

decisions regarding the student and the IEP. Input from parents must be considered when writing

IEP goals, related services and placement (Heward, 2013).

This law has greatly influenced the school system in the United States. IDEIAs six major

principles allow students with disabilities to be treated like those without. IDEIA has brought

education to the previously uneducated, it has brought success the previously unsuccessful, it has

brought a future to the previously futureless.

IDEA ESSAY 6

Resources

Heward, W. L. (2013). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (10th ed.,

pp. PG. 16 21). Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson Education.

U.S. Department of Education. (2007, July 19). 25 Year History of the IDEA. Retrieved

November 16, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.html

Write, P., & Write, P. (2008, September 8). FAPE - Loving Parents Want What's Best, But

Schools Only to Provide an Appropriate Program. Retrieved November 17, 2016, from

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/fape.notbest.htm