In 1986, The Education Of The Handicapped Act Amendments

It was revised and renamed in the 90’s. It was now named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA in 1997. This act afforded many more rights and regulations to those with special needs and those that provided these services. While the basic premise of the original act was included, IDEA expanded, improved and outlined more specifically the duties of the service providers. Parents gained many new rights as well. They now were to attend all meetings pertaining to their child’s education and were allowed any and all documentation rather than only the relevant documents (ERIC, 1998). Students were to have measurable goals and participate in standardized testing. Not only are the needs of the student through to the age of twenty one within the educational system considered, but now, there are transition plans required to help students move from school to their adult life or college and beyond. Schools now have a specific plan for each student called the Individual Education Plan or IEP. And IEP often takes the talents of many service providers and thus a team is assembled (ERIC, 1998). Another really amazing part of IDEA is in the area of discipline. Students are not to be denied ongoing services due to behavior (ERIC, 1998). However, if the behavior was not determined to be related to their disability, the school is allowed to discipline the student in the same manner as a student without a disability. IDEA

IEP’s which are individualized educational plan are very important documents, they are used to meet a student’s educational needs. There are certain criteria a student must meet to be eligible for special education services. A team of people work together to create

IEP stands for an Individualized Education Program, it is a document, that was developed in conjunction with the parent/guardian, is an individually tailored statement describing an educational plan for each learner with exceptionalities There are five major points that are to address the present level of academic functioning personnel as present level of performance, annual goals and accompanying instructional objectives, educational services to be proved, the degree to which the pupil will be able to participate in general education programs, and plans for initiating services and length of services and length

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that guarantees educational services to eligible students with disabilities. It establishes “people first” language for referring to people with disabilities. IDEA requires states to educate students with disabilities for transition to employment, and to provide transition services. IDEA also provides the students with a free and appropriate education If a student with a disability is expelled from school, IDEA says that he or she must still receive educational services. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act mandates that all students with disabilities take state and district testing. This law also requires a general education teacher to be a member of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) team.

There have also been landmark court cases like Brown v Board of Education and Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Pennsylvania (PARC) which as a result set the wheels in motion for special education reform. The Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975 was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA) in 1990, has had the greatest impact on special education in public schools. When the law was originally passed in 1975 it required all school districts that accepted federal funds to provide disabled students, ages 5-21, equal access to an education in the least restrictive (LRE) setting possible. Schools were to also disperse funds equally among all students and provide free of charge, the necessary

All of these noted above play an important role in the formation of the current special education foundation, policies, principles, laws and practices. Including the roles and importance of assessments. Some of the key facts to point out are the following remember included the following. The 1986 reauthorization of IDEA incorporated early intervention services for infants. It authorized services for preschoolers. The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 broadened Section 504 to include public accommodations, employment and services. The reauthorization of IDEA on August 5, 1990 key point: added Autism and TBI. It also officially changed its name to Individuals with Disabilities Act. The reauthorization of IDEA in 1997 key

The special education teacher is in charge of informing the family on when and where the Individualized Education Program will take place. The family of the student will discuss the necessary content of the individual’s program, how reports will be received to express the child’s progress, and who will be included within the Individualized Education Program team. There will also be considerations in the development of the program, the specific role of the regular education teacher, and the requests of review and revision of the Individualized Education Program. Overall, the family plays a huge role in developing the Individualized Education Program and the parent’s consent must be obtained in order for the IEP to go forward or even be altered.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 was amended and reauthorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA ’97) by President Clinton on June 4, 1997 (Drasgow, Bradley, & Shriner, 1999). The next reauthorization of this act was in 2004, still known as IDEA. Zirkel (2011) states that the 2004 amendments strengthened the 1997 amendments by removing “when appropriate,” from context making the language more straightforward by requiring the IEP team to consider using positive intervention. The 2004 reauthorization also emphasized ensuring access for students with disabilities to the general education curriculum to the maximum extent to meet their development goals (Fallon, Zhang, & Kim, 2011).

There are eight components of an IEP. First, an IEP must include the present levels of academic achievement and functional performance of the student. Second, the IEP must state measurable annual goals. Third, the IEP must include the methods for collecting and reporting student progress. Fourth, the IEP team must include special education and related services the student will receive in the IEP. Fifth, the IEP team must determine to what extent to which the student will not participate in the general education classroom. Sixth, the IEP must state to what extent the student will participate in statewide/district-wide assessments. Seventh, the IEP team must identify the projected date for beginning services, frequency, location, and duration of services. Finally, the IEP must include transition

…“Children with disabilities should be educated in the most open and normal environment possible (the least restrictive environment); when needed, evaluations, diagnose, and treatments should be done without stigmatization and discrimination.”… (Pg. 176)

The provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will help me know how to properly incorporate students with disabilities into my general education classroom in multiple ways. In 2013, “more than 60 percent of students ages 6 through 21 served under IDEA were educated inside the regular class 80% or more of the day;” therefore it is essential that I understand how to positively and effectively include students with disabilities in my classroom (US Department of Education, 2015). IDEA helps me to understand how and why all children need to be included in the classroom. It helps me understand that all children are entitled to a free appropriate public education and that instruction should be delivered in the best way possible

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 required all schools receiving federal funding to provide handicapped students with equal access to a public education and at least one free meal per school day. This act was designed to protect state and local personnel’s rights, when attempting to meet the individual needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and their families. It became known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. It allows parents of children with mental and/or physical disabilities to have a say so in their child(ren)’s education process.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which originally began as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EHA), was created to ensure a free and appropriate public education to children with disabilities. This policy was implemented in an effort to provide equal access to education for all. Prior to 1975, the needs of children with disabilities were highly overlooked. According to the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (2010), “U.S. schools educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states had laws excluding certain students from school, including children who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or mentally retarded.” The discrimination and lack of educational rights of children with disabilities was a vast social problem and detrimental to the lives and worth of children with disabilities and their families. The EHA’s name was officially changed to IDEA in 1990, and throughout the years, there have been many more improvements and amendments made to the policy, the latest amendment being in 2004. Some of the main requirements of the IDEA are for schools to focus on specialized individual educational needs of children, through the use of Individualized Education Programs (IEP), and placing children in a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) when possible where they can be included with non-disabled classmates. The IDEA also requires transition assistance from high school to

Parents and supporters of students with disabilities were able to use this case to improve educational opportunities for their children, and “established the right of all children to an equal opportunity for an education” (Heward., 2009, p. 26). Individuals With Disabilities Education ActIn 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), which is also known as Public Law 94-142, was passed by Congress and has been reauthorized and amended by Congress five times since it passed. In 1900, congress changed the name from Education of All Handicapped Children Act, and enacted The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act instead. This law was later reauthorized in 1997 and named Public Law 105-17, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments (IDEA), was passed into a federal special education law, with final federal regulations being published in March 1999, and retained all of the earlier versions of Public Law 94-142. In 2004 this act was again reauthorized and became The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA), also known as IDEA 2004.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, requires that public schools serve all students and “ensures that children with learning disabilities have the ability to receive a free appropriate public education that

The Education for all Handicapped Children Act (EHA) had an overall goal of desegregating disabled children in schools, as well as work on integrating them in classrooms with their non-disabled peers. Until the Civil Rights Movement, not much attention was brought to the fact that children with disabilities had very little rights and were kept isolated and not given a proper education, if any at all. Because of the attention brought to the poor and unjust treatment of children with disabilities and the significant court cases dealing with the fourteenth amendment such as Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, The EHA was passed in 1975. There were high hopes for this act, including keeping disabled students integrated