Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Components of IDEA
Emma M. McInerney
SPED 100
Sandi Steinhoff-Mueller
15 April 2015
Author Note
Contact: emma.mcinerney@jacks.sdstate.edu
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 2
Abstract
Individual Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has affected students, parents, and
educators ever since Congress passed IDEA in 1975. IDEA has six principals zero rejection, free
evaluation, parent participation and shared decision making, and procedural safeguards. Zero
rejection allows all students with disabilities to attend public schools. While FAPE provides
students with disabilities the opportunity to attend school and have access to tools that help them
become academically successful for free. LRE is the requirement that students with disabilities
attend general education classrooms with accommodations in place. LRE allows students with
disabilities to interact with other students. Nondiscriminatory evaluation states that no evaluation
or decision should be made due to a child’s ethnicity, religion, or language. Parent participation
and shared decision making explains that parents and the student on an Individualized Evaluation
Program (IEP) will know, and be a part of the decision making process for a student’s IEP.
Finally, procedural safeguards protects is the legal portion of IDEA. It clarifies procedures that
The individual disabilities education act (IDEA), previously known as Public Law 94-
142, was passed in 1975. IDEA consists of six principles: principals zero rejection, free
evaluation, parent participation and shared decision making, and procedural safeguards. “IDEA
has empowered a generation of teachers, parents and students to reach for endless opportunities
of learning,” acknowledges Marcus Walton (U.S. Department of Education). This act has
changed the education system for students, parents, and educators for the better.
The first principle, zero rejection, is explained by Exceptional Children as “no child with
disabilities may be excluded from a free public education” (16). In summary, this principal
states that all children, no matter what disability they may have, cannot be legally turned away
The next principal, FAPE, can relate to the zero rejection principal. FAPE is granted to
“all children with disabilities, regardless of the type or severity of their disability” (Exceptional
Students 16). To explain a little, more any student with a disability must be provided free
education even if that means it will be an expense for the school. Each student that is in special
educators called an IEP team. This team typically consists of the student’s special education
teacher, classroom teacher, and any other educator in the school that will benefit the student’s
success. IEPs are created to decide what educational path is best for the student and any other
accommodation that the student may need to make them successful. Once the IEP team has
decided on the education path the school must provide any accommodations and equipment or
personnel for the student to become most successful. This may even mean re locating schools for
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 4
a child to become academically successful. This then connects zero rejection, FAPE, and LRE all
together.
students with disabilities with children without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate”
(Exceptional Students 16). Principally, a child with disabilities cannot remain in the special
education classroom all day unless that is educationally appropriate. William L. Heward carries
on explaining the IDEA requirement, “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
(16). This quote states that if a child is able to obtain an appropriate education in a general
classroom with accommodations, then the student should be in the general classroom with the
accommodations. However, if the student does not receive the proper education the IEP team
reserves the right to either place the student in the special education classroom for more
assistance, or relocate to a school with more assistance than the original school can provide. A
school may not always be the best fit for a student’s educational needs, and in that case the child
can be relocated to a more appropriate school. Like stated earlier once a student is relocated the
home school district must pay for this child’s transportation and tuition for the new school. The
LRE principal allows students to interact with peers while still in a general classroom setting ,
These principles have affected educators, parents, and students positively. The author
references two schools as an example to show the positive effects for all three participants. South
Sioux City, Nebraska has six elementary schools; however there are two schools that offer more
advance special education programs. Harney Elementary School offers a behavior disorder
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 5
program. Cardinal Elementary School offers Autism Spectrum Disorder program and Self-
contained Severe and Profound program. In all of these programs students come from the tri-
state area because they provide a LRE for the students. This has a positive effect on the students
because they are receiving the education created specifically to the student’s educational needs.
In each of these classrooms they have highly trained educators that have spent hours working
with the previous school’s educators to gain full knowledge of the student. The students also are
surrounded by other students that face similar experiences daily. The students bond with these
other students. The parents are positively affected because their child can attend a school that
offers a program that’s adjusted specifically for the child with no out of pocket cost, thanks to
FAPE. The parents also see a new school placement as a fresh start for the child. As for
educators from the outside this may seem like extra work because students that do not live in the
school district are being added to the teacher’s case load. However, the students that are
relocated have tried working within their home school, but the students need the extra help that
the other school’s program offers. As for the positive outlook that teacher can work with students
with disabilities that he or she is specifically trained in rather than working with students with
disabilities that he or she is not fully qualified for. The zero rejection, FAPE, and LRE principles
The next principle, nondiscriminatory evaluation states that “schools must use nonbiased
multi-factored 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” (Exceptional
Children 16). In essence if parents agree to an evaluation on their child, the administers of the
evaluation cannot declare that a student has a specific disability because of racially bias
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 6
assumptions or questions. The student cannot receive an evaluation if it is not in the student’s
native language for the simple reason of the student may not fully understand the questions if it
is presented in a foreign language; this gives an unreliable test result. After the student has been
declared a student with a disability, the school must take every possible nonbiased action to
allow the student to be successful. The parents of a child with disabilities can make sure that the
school is abiding by this principal with the parent participation and shared decision making
principal .
One of the final principals is called parent participation and shared decision making. This
with parents and students with disabilities in the planning and implementing of special education
and related services” (20). This principal is specifically concerned with any changes that may
occur in a student’s IEP. A parent should not be excluded from their child’s education, and if a
student is old enough, to understand they are granted permission to be included in their IEP
information. Parent participation and shared decision making is a principal that legally makes a
school and IEP team include the parents and students in education decisions. If parents are not
included or feel their child has been provided with a biased evaluation, the final principal
The final principal is procedural safeguards. The procedural safeguard principal is stated
as “schools must follow an extensive set of procedures to safeguard and protect the rights and
interest of children with disabilities and their parents” (Exceptional Students 19). This principal
is basic. Like any career, there is a step-by-step procedure that you must follow to remain legally
correct in decision making for a student’s academic success. In accordance with this principal,
you must have parental consent before evaluating or placement decisions are made on a student.
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 7
Along with that, the principal provides the options for parents to get second evaluation for the
student at the school’s expense. Procedural safeguard also includes that if parents do take a
school district to court and triumph, then the school is required by law to reimburse the parents’
attorney fees. In response to that, the court is allowed to require the parents to reimburse the
school’s attorney fees if the court finds that the court case is unreasonable. Essentially, this
principal is based on more of the legal aspects with the school and the parents, yet it still
These principles mainly focus on the parent effects. However, it does affect the student
because receiving a biased evaluation will lead to invalid results the student’s education has then
become limited. Occasionally educators think that they are doing what is right for the student,
but sometimes it affects the student’s education. That is why parents and students need to be
included in a student’s IEP decisions. With a limited education, the student will fall behind in the
curriculum if no one recognizes and are proactive about it. However, if these situations were to
ever happen, procedural safeguard offers the legal process for parents to get their child’s
Schools with programs geared towards disabled children are effective because they give
students the ability to succeed academically with accommodations. LRE, FAPE, zero rejection
help support the student while attending school. Nondiscriminatory evaluation, parent
participation and shared participation, and procedural safeguard focuses around the legal aspect
of special education along with making sure all procedures are being completed correctly.
Overall, IDEA has had a huge impact on the education system for parents, students, and
educators.
COMPONENTS OF IDEA 8
Reference
Department of Education. (2012). What IDEA Has Meant to Me. Washington, DC: U.S.