IDEA Essay

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IDEA Essay
Charles Stai
Dakota State University

IDEA Essay

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Abstract:

IDEA has given millions of children with disabilities an opportunity to further themselves in
the mainstream classroom along with their peers. Thirty-five years ago, many children with
disabilities were placed into state institutions, far away from their peers. The number of
students with disabilities is on the rise. The number of special educators will also be on the
rise. IDEA forces schools to give students with disabilities, and their families, protected
rights and interests. The future is looking bright for our special education system. Students
with disabilities can now be among their peers, and given the same opportunities.

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Access to education is the civil rights issue of our time...(Thirty-five years 9). In
1975 a major law was passed that would change our education system; congress passed
public law 94-142, otherwise known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
Since then, Congress has reauthorized and amended Public Law 94-142 five times (Heward
16). In 1990, the law was changed to what we know it as today: the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Finally, in 2004, the law was changed to: The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. IDEA has set the bar for
schools across the country, changing the roles and responsibilities of teachers, parents,
administrators and students with disabilities in our education system (Heward 16). IDEA
gives students with disabilities the same opportunities that their peers receive in the
classroom.
There are six key principles to the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Free Appropriate
Public Education or known as (FAPE) gives all students and education, regardless of
disabilities at no cost to the parents. Non-Discriminatory Evaluation gives students an
opportunity for a nonbiased, multifactored evaluation to determine whether a child has a
disability and whether the child needs instruction that is specially designed to benefit them in
their education. It is mandatory that parents give consent to the evaluation and services.
Factors such as race, culture or native language must not be discriminated against (Six
Principles 1-6). Individualized Education Program, also known as, IEP, is a written
statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised at least
annually by a team including educators, parents of the student whenever appropriate, and
others who have knowledge or expertise needed for the development of the childs special
education program (Six Principles 1-6). The fourth principle is: the Least Restrictive

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Environment, (LRE). LRE gives the students with disabilities an opportunity to be educated
with children who are not disabled. The fifth principle states that parents and students are
involved in: The development, review, and revision of the IEP, education placement
decision, reviewing evaluation data, determining what data needs to be collected during
evaluation, and transition planning and services starting by age 14 (Six Principles 1-6).
Finally, procedural Safeguards states that the rights and interests of the students must be
protected by the schools along with their parents rights and interests (Six Principles 1-6).
In order for evaluations and placement decisions to be set in place, consent must be given
directly from the parents of the students with disabilities (Heward 19). Confidentiality is
taken very seriously in this stage. If the parents were to disagree with the anything they can
request a due process hearing (Heward 19).
One of the great aspects about IDEA is that it gives the parents a say in their childs
education process. The parents know their kids best, so why not have them totally involved in
their education process. Procedural Safeguards offers the parents and the students specific
rights and protection at each point of the process (Lee 3).
Not every child with special needs is covered by IDEA. IDEA covers thirteen
different disabilities. According to an article written by, Andrew M.I. Lee, As of 2012, about
5.8 million school-age children in the United States receive special education services as a
result of IDEA (Lee 5). Of those disabilities, over 40 percent consist of learning disabilities
(lee 5). Lee writes that students arent automatically qualified for IDEA just because they
have the disability. A student could have ADHD but could be doing very well in school;
therefore they wouldnt need an IEP. If they arent eligible for IDEA then, they might be
eligible for a similar law called: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Lee 7).

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The number of disabilities that our American youth experience has skyrocketed in the
recent past. According to Exceptional Children, written by, William L. Heward, The
number of school-age students with autism in 2009-2010 was 10 times the number of
students classified with autism just 10 years earlier (Heward 9). Could that number be
multiplied by ten ten years from now? Many children are affected by more than one
disability. Heward writes, In a nationwide study of more than 11,000 elementary school
students in special education, school staff reported that 40% of the students were affected by
an additional or secondary disability (Marder, 2009). With the recent upsurge of students
with disabilities, this also means a need of more special educators. Resource rooms are
starting to fill up. In the Brookings school system, more and more teachers and
paraprofessionals are needed. The special needs classrooms are double or even triple the size
they were ten years ago.
IDEA has given children with Disabilities an opportunity to be in a mainstream
classroom. Before IDEA was intact many children with mental retardation and mental
illnesses were put into state institutions and were never given a chance to be in a mainstream
classroom. According to the U.S Department of Education, almost 200,000 persons with
significant disabilities were put in state Institutions (Thirty-five years 1). The United States
Department of Education reports that In 1970, 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
(Thirty-five years 1).

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IDEA has changed the way students with disabilities and their families view the
education system. Before IDEA many students with disabilities were denied access to a Free
Appropriate Public Education. Parents did not have much of a say in their childs planning
or placement decisions and children with severe disabilities were not offered a chance to stay
at home and receive an education nearby their neighborhood (Thirty-five years 1). These
factors made it very expensive and difficult to educate the child with a severe disability.
Through IDEA the Federal government has funded millions of dollars to schools making it
easier for families with a child that has a disability.
IDEA has offered children from age birth to five many opportunities. IDEA offers
effective instructional materials and assessment teaching practices to young children under
the age of five and their families (Thirty-five years 6). IDEA supports the widespread use
of Individualized Family Service Plans to identify and meet the unique needs of each infant
and toddler with a disability and his or her family (Thirty-five years 6). These
opportunities and programs were non-existent before IDEA.
In 2004 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was modified once again.
The law increased accountability for students with disabilities, both on the local and state
level. This law ensured that special education and early intervention personnel were
absolutely qualified (Thirty-five years 9). The USDE states that, The accountability
provisions in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA called for states to establish targets for the
participation rate and proficiency rate for students with disabilities in assessments (Thirtyfive years 9).

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IDEA has increased the inclusiveness in our classrooms over that past thirty-five
years, which has made educators and students with disabilities excited for the future.
Significant progress has been made toward protecting the rights of, meeting the individual
needs of, and improving educational results for infants, toddlers, children, and youths with
disabilities (Thirty-five years 11). Thirty-five years ago educators and families of
children with disabilities would be flabbergasted to hear that almost sixty percent of students
with disabilities are in the mainstream classrooms for more than three quarters of their day.
6.6 million youth are receiving resources for disabilities designed to meet their needs giving
them an equal opportunity with their peers (Thirty-five years 11). The progress that IDEA
has made has drastically improved the educational opportunities for students with disabilities.
The future for children with disabilities, their families, and educators is very bright.

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Works Cited

Heward, William L. Exceptional Children. 10thth ed. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.,
2013. Print.
Lee, Andrew M. How IDEA Protects You and Your Child. Ed. Myrna Mandlawitz.
Understood.org, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
Marder, C. (2009) Facts from the special elementary Longitudinal Study: Perspective on
students disabilities classifications. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Six Principles of IDEA. (n.d.). In www.askresource.org. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
Thirty-five Years of Progress in Educating Children With Disabilities Through IDEA; U.S.
Department of Education, Alexandria, Virginia. Nov. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.