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IDEA Essay

Shelby L. Thompson

SPED 100 Introduction to Persons with Exceptionalities

12 April 2017

Dakota State University

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Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Act exercises a substantial influence on what

happens in schools throughout the country and has changed the roles of general and

special educators, administrations, families, and students in the educational process. It

consists of six different major principles that touch every aspect that could impact a

child’s education. Least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards and, parent

participation and shared decision making give each party a chance to incorporate their

own input. All together each principle ensures that all children with disabilities will

receive an education and the assistive technology to accommodate these children

(Heward, 2013).
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IDEA Essay

The Individuals with Disabilities Act exercises a substantial influence on what

happens in schools throughout the country and has changed the roles of general and

special educators, administrations, families, and students in the educational process. The

purposes of IDEA are: to ensure services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare

them for future education, to guarantee their rights are protected, to assist in the provision

of education to all children with disabilities, to aid the States in the implementation of

services for infants, toddlers, and their families, to ensure all parties involved have the

right tools to enhance educational results, and to assess the effectiveness of efforts made.

The majority of the rules and regulations that explain how IDEA works fall into the six

major principles. The six principles are: Zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, free

appropriate public education, least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, and

parent participation and shared decision making (Heward, 2013, p. 16).

In the text Zero Reject principle is described as, “The requirement to provide

special education to all students with disabilities” (Heward, 2013, p. 16) or in other

words, no children with disabilities will be excluded from an education. Educators and

others that play a role in this system are responsible for ensuring these children are

receiving the education that they are promised. Each state is also responsible for locating,

identifying, and evaluating all children. This is known as the child find system. By

enforcing this it instills a confidence in the Zero Reject principle and reassures all parties

included in the principle (Heward, 2013, p. 16-17).

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The Nondiscriminatory evaluation protects children by using nonbiased methods

of evaluation to mandate if a child has a disability. If a child does have a disability it is

established as to whether or not that child needs a specially designed instruction to gain

from education. These evaluations make sure that placements and decisions cannot be

made by a single test; also know as protection in evaluation procedures (Heward, 2013,

p. 17).

Occasionally assets that impede participation prevent children with disabilities

from attending schools. Free appropriate public education must be provided at public

expense. In other words, the technology for these children is provided because of the

funds collected from the public, which excludes the parents of the children. FAPE and

IDEA requires that schools must be able to provide the necessary technology that a child

may need (Heward, 2013, p. 17).

Least Restrictive Environment within the IDEA has allowed for children with

disabilities to be educated along side children without disabilities to the maximum extent.

LRE also places those with disabilities in separate classrooms, but only when the severity

of the disability dampens the effects of the education being received. This principle helps

families by allowing their children to learn along side other children in a non-exceptional

environment and it also makes educators jobs better by placing these exceptional children

into the area they will benefit from the most (Heward, 2013, p. 17-19).

Procedural safeguards protect the rights and interests of children with disabilities

and their parents. This principle provides security and privacy for children with

disabilities and their parents. Parental consent is essential for all evaluations pertaining to

special education. Confidentiality between the school system and the children’s parents
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must be maintained, and at anytime the parents disagree with evaluation results they can

obtain an independent evaluation. When parents do this they will typically request a due

process hearing, but most of these cases are resolved without resorting to these hearings.

This is beneficial for parents and has impacted the system by allowing for the parents of

the child to have a say and be involved in the decision making process (Heward, 2013, p.

19-20).

It has always been important for school systems and parents to work together.

When you add a child that has a disability to the school system the relationship between

the school system and the parents becomes even more critical. Parent participation and

shared decision making allows for the collaboration between both parties to operate more

fluently when it comes to planning and implicating special education. The parents’

wishes must be considered when it comes to IEP goals and decisions. (Heward, 2013, p.

20)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has impacted the education

system, individuals who play major roles, and all others involved in a plethora of positive

ways. The six major principles offer different components that suit each child, their

parents, and the school systems. They give the parents a say in their children’s lives,

which can make many situations easier for all parties included. These principles give

children with disabilities an education that accommodates them in the best way possible.

Principles such as LRE give children with disabilities, along with their families, the

chance for a very normal educational environment that helps both parties have the most

normal experience even though the children are exceptional. IDEA has improved the
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educational system for those with disabilities along with their families and it continues to

do so today.
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Works Cited

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

ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.