WHY WE REALLY NEED (AN)

IDEA

NOVEMBER 17, 2016

ASHLEY GRAMBIHLER
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Abstract

The purpose of Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) is to ensure

students with disabilities get the services and education they deserve. Long before IDEA was

enacted, parental advocacy groups and countless court cases were enforcing all backgrounds of

children were accepted into public schools. To further reinforce IDEA, teachers must hold their

duty to serve each student to the most appropriate educational goals.

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Ashley Grambihler

Dr. Muller-Steinhoff

SPED 100

17 November, 2016

Why We Really Need (an) IDEA

Nearly forty years ago, public schools would have turned away children with

disabilities. Now, students with disabilities are being put into the general classroom to

learn along with their peers. In the 2009-2010 school year, there were nearly six million

children receiving special education services (Heward, 8). Without the help of several

court cases and activist groups, these students would have never been admitted and

progressed to where they are now in schools. Without the law Individuals with

Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and the duties of educators, school

would be nearly impossible for students with disabilities without landmark cases,

supportive parent groups, and the federal IDEA law.

The landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka took the Separate is not

Equal statement to a new level in the 1960s. A young African American girl wished to

attend the school that was closer to her home, but was told she was not allowed to enroll

there. Rather, she had to go to a segregated school that was further away. After the case

had been argued to Supreme Court, the judges unanimously decided that segregation of

schools was unconstitutional. While Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was being

argued, parent groups began advocating for their children who were not allowed to enroll

to schools because they had a disability. The Brown decision began a period of intense

questioning among parents of children with disabilities, who asked why the same
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principles of equal access to education should not apply to their children (Heward, 15).

If Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka did not make it to the Supreme Court to favor

Brown, education for all backgrounds of students would be limited. Teachers would not

have a diverse student population and not benefit from assisting their students achieve

goals. Every individual student should feel welcome in their classroom. As educators, it

is our role to ensure that each student feels safe entering a school building and that the

student is motivated to learn.

As time progressed, educators found incredible new ways to help educate their

students that needed extra assistance in the classroom. The first law regarding educating

children with disabilities was enacted in 1975, known as Education for All Handicapped

Children (EAHCA). The overall goal of EAHCA was to ensure that students with

disabilities received a free education and were educated with nondisabled peers. EAHCA

was improved upon in 2001 when President George Bush presented No Child Left

Behind (NCLB) to Congress and signed into law in January 2002 (PBS). NCLB held

teachers accountable for what they taught their students during the school year. Many

educators were dissatisfied with NCLB because it forced educators to teach to the test in

order to receive federal funding. NCLB was later changed into IDEA. The purpose of

NCLB and IDEA was to ensure every single student was getting the education they

deserved. Shortly after IDEA was introduced, the word Improvement was added in

2004, changing it to be Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act and

leaving the acronym IDEA. The purpose of IDEA was to provide assistant services that

guided all children with disabilities in the right direction. The six principles of IDEA are

Zero Reject, Nondiscriminatory Identification and Evaluation, Free Appropriate Public

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Education (FAPE), Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Due Process Safe Guards, and

Shared Decision Making. These individual pieces of IDEA help shape the overall picture

into successfully and appropriately educating students that learn differently.

Since 1975, all children have the right to attend school. The purpose of Zero Reject

principle is to provide an appropriate education to students with disabilities between the

ages of six and seventeen (Heward, 16). Approximately forty years ago, children with

disabilities were typically turned away from public education, leaving the parents to hire

someone to teach the child or the child to be placed in care of an institution. Children

who are different because of race, culture, language, gender, socioeconomic status, or

exceptionality have often been denied full and fair access to educational opportunities

(Banks & Banks, 2013). Today, students are fully accepted into public schools. If

students with disabilities need more supports and a school district cannot meet those

needs, the school district will pay for the student to attend a school that is fully equipped

to support the student. It is the duty of the Individualized Educational Program (IEP)

team and parents to agree and determine what education plan fits the students needs.

Before an IEP meeting, it is important to identify if a student has a disability by

implementing many evaluation tests. First, if a teacher suspects a student that is

struggling in the class, the teacher will begin collecting data on the student. It is the duty

of the teacher to be documenting if any student is struggling in the classroom and school

environment. The teacher will move the student around in the classroom, try adjusting

problems, and so forth. If none of the implementations work, the teacher will begin

working with the parents and and IEP group. The student will take multiple tests in their

native language with a specialist or psychologist. These multiple tests will help determine
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what subjects need an extra boost to improve the students learning abilities. Schools

must use nonbiased, multifactored methods of evaluation to determine whether a child

has a disability and, if so, whether the child needs specially designed instruction to

benefit from education (Heward, 17). In every case, a student who is being evaluated for

special education services will undergo many tests. The downfall of pulling a student out

of the classroom for testing will put them further behind in the classroom. To prevent a

student from falling behind, testing should be avoided during class time and recess. The

author believes the most appropriate option for testing would be decided on between the

parents, the student, and the teacher.

In addition to multifactored tests, the guarantee of a Free, Appropriate Public

Education (FAPE) is an incredible benefit and opportunity for all students. All children

with disabilities, regardless of the type or severity of their disability, shall receive a free

appropriate public education (FAPE). This education must be provided at public expense

that is, without cost to the childs parents (Heward, 17). Without FAPE, parents and

their children would have greater concerns on how to educate their child and afford to

send their children to a specialized school that will benefit their childs education. No

child with disabilities may be excluded from a free public education, regardless of the

nature or severity of the disability. The requirement to provide special education to all

students with disabilities is absolute between the ages 6 and 17 (Heward, 16).

With FAPE allowing all students to attend public school for free, the environment the

students are placed in is another matter.

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IDEA requires schools to educate students with disabilities with children without

disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate and that students with disabilities

be removed to separate classes or schools only when the nature or severity of their

disabilities is such that they cannot receive an appreciate education in a general

classroom with supplementary aids and services (Heward, 17-19).

The purpose of LRE is to benefit each student and ensure that they are included. LRE has

a continuum of alternative placements, meaning multiple levels of options that would

most appropriately benefit the student. Students would be placed in ranging areas starting

at the general classroom, general classroom with special education directors guidance,

supplementary special education services, resource room, separate classroom, separate

school, residential school, and homebound or hospital. More than ever, educators and

parents wish to keep the students in the general classroom. However, that is not always

what is right for the student. The IEP group and parents will determine what instruction

and services are necessary for the student to achieve in school.

When parents do not agree with the IEP team, laws protect parental rights. Due Process

Safe Guards protect the student and the parents against the school. Parents must be notified if

there is any change in their childs evaluations or IEP, as they must be a part of the overall

decision. When parents of a child with disabilities disagree with the results of an evaluation

performed by the school, they can obtain an independent evaluation at public expense (Heward,

19). Essentially, if the parents disagree with the results of their students evaluation, the parents

can have an outside professional evaluate their student. In one landmark case, the Supreme Court

took the rights of the parents over what the school thought was appropriate for the child.
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Pennsylvania Association for Retarted Children (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

(1972) fought for the education of students with disabilities. The school failed to allow public

education for a group of students because they were ineducable. The Court favored in the

parents direction because all students were entitled to FAPE. In addition to the ruling, the Court

included that the school must notify the parents of any changes in the education their child

receives. Parents also have the right to say no to their child being evaluated for an IEP. As

educators, it is our role to accept the decision and wishes of the parents and do our best in

providing the education to the student.

Furthermore, parents have the say in their childs education. Parents decide to go forward

in the decision of testing their child or having IEP meeting for their child. If the parents do

accept either choices, they were a part of the Shared Decision Making process under IDEA. The

importance of including parents into the decision making is to allow them to have a say in what

is appropriate for their childs education program and services. Teachers, the IEP team, and the

parents must work effectively together in order to create a program that the student can succeed

and continue to progress. If there were to be an IEP meeting and the parents are not present, the

team will not go forth in discussing the students IEP. Instead, the IEP team must reschedule and

meet with the parents whenever is most convenient.

Ultimately, without IDEA, parental groups, and landmark cases, students with disabilities

would more than likely be left behind. Approximately six million children today would be

without the assistance and services they need in order to get the most out of their education. The

education of children all rests upon the role of the educators. It is our duty to motivate each and

every single student and push them to greater limits.

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Work Cited

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

pp. 8-28). New Jersey, NJ: Pearson.

(n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2016, from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/nochild/nclb.html