Running

head: STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LAW 1

Students with Exceptionalities and the Implications of the Law

Lindsay J. Wipf

South Dakota State Univeristy

STUDENTS WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LAW 2


Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Act has greatly changed the face of education. Through the

implications of this law the American Education system, educators, and students with disabilities

are able to create a more successful and appropriate special education system. The details of this

law make a responsibility to educate all students through the free appropriate public education

component and the zero rejection policy. It also sets up measurable and meaningful practices

through the non-discriminatory identification and the least restrictive environment sections. And

lastly, it constantly expects progression through its due process and parent participation aspects.

This had overall improved education systems, made educators more aware and individualized,

and helped to meet the needs of many children with disabilities.

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Students with Exceptionalities and the Implications of the Law

In 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed by Congress

and according to Heward( 2013), it completely changed the face of education in this country

(p. 16). Heward (2013), in the Exceptional Children textbook, also stated that this act has four

main purposes, and those are to offer free appropriate public education (FAPE) to meet the

individual needs of each child, assist States in early intervention, ensure that the tools to improve

the education of students with disabilities are available to educators and parents, and finally, to

make sure this policy is effective in educating students with disabilities. To say the least, the

components of IDEA have had a great impact on the American education system, educators

roles within that system, and the lives of individuals with disabilities by creating a responsibility

to educate, to set up measurable and meaningful practices, and to expect progression.

Before IDEA was put into place, the responsibility for the education of students with

disabilities was not unclear. Many students were denied education because they were believed to

be unteachable. To be more specific, research by Katsiyannis, Yell, & Bradley (2001) state that,

more than 1.75 million students with disabilities did not receive educational services," (p. 324)

and more than 3 million students with disabilities who were admitted to school did not receive

an education that was appropriate to their needs (p. 325). Once IDEA was put into place, a

responsibility to educate all students was established by requiring special education and related

services to be, as stated by Turnbull, Huerta, Stowe, Weldon, & Schrandt, (2009), provided at

public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge (p. 8). This change

supported a more welcoming and adaptable environment in the American education system,

increased the roles of educators to not only be advocates but also partners in appropriately

educating each student, and allowed students with disabilities to get what they need or know who
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to contact to get what they need in order to learn. Two components of IDEA that stress this

responsibility are Zero Rejection and Free Appropriate Public Education. With these components

written into IDEA, there is an assurance that, as Turnbull et al (2009) say, every child with a

disability receives enrollment and provides that every child with a disability is entitled to a free

appropriate public education (p. 3). Without these parts of IDEA, there would not be such a

clear and emphatic point that all children, whether or not they have a disability, get an education

that is free and created to appropriately help them learn. The American Education system then

took on the responsibility to find a place for every student. Educators roles not only added the

component of educating children with disabilities but also the awareness of what is appropriate

for the students in the classroom and adapting that when necessary. With the responsibility to

educate comes challenges and difficulties, but it is completely necessary and worthwhile. As

Weber (2006) put it, Children with disabilities will indeed not be left behind. In other words,

they will be performing at grade level or better with the aid of specialized services, technology

and accommodations, in the ordinary classrooms of the nation (p. 52). In addition, the

responsibility of schools and educators is to see that children with disabilities can be educated in

the way most appropriate and beneficial for them.

By creating the expectation to educate, IDEA set the foundation, but it did not stop there.

IDEA has also had an impact on the American Educational system, educators roles and the lives

of individuals with disabilities through setting up measurable and meaningful practices within

these systems. For a program to be meaningful, Rowley (2007), says that, the standard is

whether the IEP is reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits( as

cited in Zirkel (2013) p. 251). On top of that, a measurable program is when, Katsiyannis et al.

(2001) states,
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we must be able to evaluate students progress toward their goals and objectives during

the course of instructional programs and inform parents of students in special education

of their childs progress toward his or her annual goals and the extent to which this

progress is sufficient to enable the child to achieve these goals (p. 332).

Both measurable and meaningful are not simple objectives to set up or carry out, but they are

essential to proper programing and learning for children with disabilities. These standards

created not only the responsibility for the American school system to educate, but also the

responsibility to educate well with the intention of growth and the ability to show that progress.

Yell, Shriner & Katsiyannis (2006) say that meaningful and measurable also means that the

educators take on the roles of answering, Was a students special education programming based

on his or her unique educational needs as determined in the assessment? Were a students

measurable annual goals calculated to provide meaningful educational benefit? (p. 4). Most

importantly, meaningful and measurable means that students with disabilities have the right to be

appropriately taught, treated and assessed. Two additional components of IDEA that help ensure

this measurable and meaningful program are the non-discriminatory identification and the least

restrictive environment sections. Non-discriminatory identification, according to Heward (2013),

states that, Schools must use nonbiased, multi-factored methods of evaluation to determine

where a child has a disability and, if so, whereto the child needs specially designed instruction

(p. 17). Heward (2013) also states that least restrictive environment requires schools to educate

students with disabilities with children without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate

(p.17). These are just two types of meaningful and measurable practices that are set in place in

IDEA to enrich the special education program. Both put children with disabilities on the same

level as children without disabilities at the beginning of an assessment and adjust as needed
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instead of in reverse. All of this does not just sound good on paper, it is really working.

According to research done by National Center for Educational Restructuring and Inclusion

(1995), study on inclusion suggested that placement in inclusion programs led to academic

gains for students with disabilities, including improved performance on standardized tests,

mastery of IEP goals, grades, aunts behavior and motivation to learn (as cited in Salend and

Duhaney (1999) p. 115). The reason they work is because these systems start with the individual

student in mind (meaningful) and can be traced over time (measurable). Because of these

meaningful and measurable programs, children with disabilities are now able to learn and

develop to a greater capacity than ever before.

This greater capacity of development, thanks to IDEA, is also continuing to grow. Many

aspects of this law have shaped the education system so that there is no cap on how much

progress can be made and nothing stopping more progress from being made. IDEA is set up in a

way so the American education system and educators are constantly progressing in the way they

teach and work with students with disabilities. For the students with disabilities, this means they

can expect to be moving forward in the most current terms of the world and educational research.

This first and foremost has been seen through the number of times IDEA has been amended with

the most recent reauthorization in 2004. Not only does the law itself evolve with the times and

keep up-to-date on the most recent legislation, but it also has components in it that ensure

progression on the individual level similar to a system of checks and balances. Two components

like this are the due process safeguards with student participation and shared decision-making.

Due process is when a parent questions the process or decisions of the school and the school is

able to examine and explain itself. Basically, as Turnbull et al. (2009) says, it is a way for

parents to hold schools accountable for the education and for schools to hold parents accountable
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for their child (p. 3). This system not only allows for concerns to be raised reasonably, but it

holds both parties accountable for knowing current practices and progressing forward with the

child appropriately. The other component that ensures progression is the part of IDEA that states

that parents and students can be involved in the decisions the school makes. Yell et al., (2006)

says this type of system, ensures that parents and the student can be partners with educators in

having a say about the students education (p. 3). When the parent and child get to be involved

and participate in what goes on with the discussion and decision-making, an extra safeguard is

put in place that will help the system and child to progress appropriately. All of these

components of IDEA that fall under progression have a huge impact in how the American

education system stays up-to-date with legislation and appropriate practices. Yell et al. (2006)

says this means for educators, they have a role to spend more of their time attending to the

quality of their special education programs and the results attained by their students with

disabilities rather than worrying exclusively about the procedural requirements of the law (p.

23) due to the focus on progression and meaningful practices and the assistance of other

administrators and parents. Children with disabilities are greatly impacted because they get to

benefit from trying the most current researched practices in their classrooms and not given a

limit of how much they can achieve or how far they can develop.

Over many years and amendments, the Individuals with Disabilities Act has greatly shaped

the American Education System, the roles of educators and the lives of children with disabilities.

Through its six components of zero rejection, least restrictive environment, non-discriminatory

evaluation, parent participation, due process and free appropriate public education, IDEA has put

in place a responsibility to educate, to set up meaningful and measurable practices and to expect

continual progression for special education programs around the nation. With just over 35 years
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of existence, IDEA has established positive outcomes in nearly every school district and

impacted the lives of numerous students and their families. As the field of special education

continues to grow and expand, it is essential to have such a law in place to keep the momentum

going.
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References

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

New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Katsiyannis, A., Yell, M. L., & Bradley, R. (2001). Reflections on the 25th anniversary of the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Remedial and Special Education, 22(6), 324-

334.

Salend, S. J., & Duhaney, L. M. G. (1999). The impact of inclusion on students with and without

disabilities and their educators. Remedial and special education, 20(2), 114-126.

Turnbull, H. R., Huerta, N., Stowe, M., Weldon, L., & Schrandt, S. (2009). The individuals with

disabilities education act as amended in 2004. Pearson.

Weber, M. C. (2006). Reflections on the New Individuals with Disabilities Education

Improvement Act. Fla. L. Rev., 58, 7.

Yell, M. L., Shriner, J. G., & Katsiyannis, A. (2006). Individuals with disabilities education

improvement act of 2004 and IDEA regulations of 2006: Implications for educators,

administrators, and teacher trainers. Focus on exceptional children, 39(1), 1-24.

Zirkel, P. A. (2013). Appropriate Decisions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act. J. Nat'l Ass'n Admin. L. Judiciary, 33, 242.