1. In Brown v.

Board of Education, it states that it is unlawful to discriminate against a

student for reasons that are not justified. (Hammel, location 788). This not only

resonated with the African American community but also with the special needs

community and their family members. It focused on having things equal in education

for all students. Next, the Elementary and Secondary Act was geared toward students

who were economically at a disadvantage but it again resonated with the advocates

for students with disabilities. This resulted in funds for students at educational and

economical disadvantages.

2. The first thing P.L 94-142 expanded was the age range of children who could receive

its benefits from age 3-21. It also changed its name and it changed the word

handicapped to persons with disabilities. It also set up the idea of preparing kids

with disabilities for the work force. P.L. 105-17 also reorganized IDEA into 4 parts.

3. The 6 principles of IDEA:

a. Zero Project- a student cannot be excluded from a classroom or educational

setting merely because he or she has a disability. This means that music teachers

need to include the child with disabilities as best as he or she can. Its the

teachers job to find something the student can do with music within their

classroom.

b. Nondiscriminatory Evaluation- The first thing music educators need to do if theyre

not sure if the child has disabilities is to discuss your thoughts with someone who

works for the special education part of their school. Music educators are not

qualified to label someone as a person with disabilities.

 c. Free and Appropriate Education- Music educators need to consider the goals in

the students IEP they can get the best education possible.

d. Least Restrictive Environment- where the student learns best. The best way is to

have the student participate in the traditional classroom setting, then assess if

they need to be put somewhere else or if they should stay in the choir room or

band room or music room

e. Procedural Due Process and Parental Involvement- parents may request to place

their child elsewhere or request different services.

4. LRE: One example of LRE would to have a high student with disabilities who loves to

sing, sing in the least advanced concert choir and lets say they get frustrated with

sight reading. Go over slowly how to sight read so they feel more confident. Another

example would be to have a big choir split up into groups and do a small performance

project and have the child with disabilities in a group with his/her friends. A third

example would be just to have the child with disabilities special education helper stay

in the classroom to observe and help him/her out during choir or band if they are

having behavioral issues.

5. I could tell her about the Least Restrictive Environment part of the IDEA, and say that

it might be a good idea for him/her to join my music class if he/she likes music.

6. To implement aspects RTI, I could give my students a sight reading test in the

beginning of the year and then maybe every quarter after that to see their progress.
 References

Hammel & Hourigan's (2017) Teaching Students to Music With Special Needs: A Label-Free
Approach. Retrieved from Amazon.com