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IDEIA Essay
Intro Persons Exceptionalities
Spring 2014
Steinhoff-Muller

Heather Dearing

April 2, 2014

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In 1975 on November 29th, President Gerald Ford signed the All Handicapped Childrens
Act. This act was created to raise awareness of the demand to educate children with disabilities,
and the requirement of states to deliver an education for all children with disabilities. In 2004
this act was revised for the final time. It is now labeled as Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act or commonly known as IDEIA.
IDEIA, the special education law, is defined as; provides billions of dollars in federal
funding to help states and local communities provide special education opportunities for
approximately six million students with varying degrees of disability (What is IDEIA? 1). This
law provides an opportunity for children with disabilities to receive the most appropriate
education possible. IDEIA requires each state to provide each student with a free appropriate
education, also known as FAPE. It also entails each and every state to supply the least restrictive
environment for the student, known as LRE. LRE is defined as; All individuals can participate
in physical activities that enable them to be motorically, cognitively, and affectively successful
within a community that embraces diversity (Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) 1). The least
restrictive environment helps promote inclusion. Inclusion is a philosophy that states all
individuals, regardless of ability, should participate within the same environment with necessary
support and individualized attention (Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)). This law also
demands public schools to establish Individualized Education Programs for every student that is
eligible for them. Individualized Education Programs are generally called IEPs for short. IEPs
are specifically designed to the student that necessitates one individually. It will include
information such as; the variety of services the student is entitled to, how often those services are

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needed, it also shows how their disability affects their academic performance, and lastly it shows
the modifications that student needs.
All of these aspects of IDEIA were created to arrange an opportunity for children with
disabilities to receive an education. This has transformed the education system, the educators,
and the schools. The education system has been altered to fit the needs of these children, but at
the same time it has been enhanced. Many children with learning or minor disabilities were not
receiving the proper help they needed to further their education. With IDEIA these students are
now presented with the most appropriate support to this day. FAPE has changed the education
system by ensuring that every child regardless of their state is given a chance. This chance gives
the student an opportunity to excel and to improve their wellbeing and most importantly their
education. Schools now perform evaluations on children that are suspected to have a disability.
These evaluations take place after teachers have gained a substantial amount of information
regarding the childs struggles and most notably their strengths. Parental consent is also
mandatory in order to execute this evaluations. These procedures determine where the student
needs to be located in order to provide a suitable aid. The purpose of these evaluations is to
investigate whether the child needs to be on an IEP or not. IEPs have drastically changed the
education system. Instead of teaching every student the exact same way and teaching similar
content, students now have their own individualized education plans. No two children are alike,
everyone is unique, and has their own approaches to learning. IEPs genuinely make certain these
children are able to take those approaches. These characteristics of IDEIA incorporate the childs
parents as much as possible. IDEIA has safeguards which make sure that parents are receiving
accurate information from the educators and the school. These are only a small amount of the
components IDEIA has had an impact on in the education system.

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This law has also taken a toll on the educators and their roles within the education
system. Public schools now have a demand for highly qualified special education teachers.
Before IDEIA there was an insignificant amount of special education teachers capable of
working with children with more severe disabilities. With the concept of LRE numerous students
with disabilities or behavioral issues spend most of their time in general education classrooms.
Teachers in these classrooms now have to understand how to regulate those types of students and
the various behaviors they display. With the notion of IEPs teachers have to observe at risk
students behavior, and document in great detail. Quality documentation is key when evaluating
a student for a possible IEP. Educators today have to be further prepared to work with students
with disabilities than they did in the past.
IDEIA has had the largest impact on those who have disabilities. It has provided them
with the possibilities of furthering their education, likelihood of getting a job, and improving
their overall wellbeing. Students with disabilities can be some of the most intelligent people, but
they do not know how to interact with the general education classroom. IDEIA proves that these
children are knowledgeable if they are given the opportunity. IDEIA gives them the chance to be
great, and impacts their lives in an exceptionally beneficial way that would never be possible
without it.

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Abstract

This essay was written to show the components of IDEIA that have impacted the education system, the
educators, and those with disabilities. Listed in the essay are the ideas of FAPE, LRE, IEPS, and other
aspects of IDEIA. I talked about the ways it has benefited education today and has given those with
disabilities a chance to further their education.