Running Head: INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 1

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Rebecca A. Kayser

South Dakota State University

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 2

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 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

(U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Only three years prior, in 1967, an estimated 200,000

individuals with disabilities received minute care in food, clothing, and shelter from socially

separated state institutions, many of which lacked proper education and rehabilitation methods.

Forty years ago, however, one piece of legislation revolutionized the American education system

and the lives of individuals with disabilities. In 1975, Congress passed Public Law 94-142, the

Education for All Handicapped Children Act, guaranteeing free appropriate public education to

each child with a disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). Since that time, Congress

has revised PL 94-142 five times to create the current law, The Individuals with Disabilities

Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA). The implementation of IDEA marked significant

change in public policy and impacted the American education system, the roles of educators, and

the lives of individuals with disabilities in lasting ways.

IDEA contains six major principles: zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, free

appropriate public education, least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, and parent

participation and shared decision making. Zero reject mandates that no child, regardless of

disability and its extremity, may be denied public education. Nondiscriminatory evaluation

requires that schools utilize several different kinds of nonbiased, multi-factored evaluations to

identify if a child has a disability and implement best education methods. Free appropriate public

education provides all children with disabilities a public education at no cost. The least

restrictive environment insists that children with disabilities be taught in a setting with children
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 3

without disabilities to the utmost appropriateness. Procedural safeguards provide protection of

right and privacy to both the child with disabilities and that childs parents. Lastly, parent

participation and shared decision making requires that schools work together in planning the

special education program and services of the student with disabilities (Heward, 2013, p. 16-20).

Throughout the history of the American education system, dramatic change has occurred

both in student demographics, and in education practice. While only one in five individuals with

disabilities was educated through a U.S. public school in 1970, 8.3 percent of the student

population (based on total student enrollment) in the United States included children with

disabilities during the 1976-1977 academic year. By the 2010-2011 academic year, 13 percent of

the student population consisted of children with disabilities (National Center of Education

Statistics, 2013). The other change which overtook the educational system was the mentality of

education and human rights. IDEAs first Congressional pass followed close to, and was helped

by, the civil rights movement. Government officials, educators, and society began to understand

the importance of equality and citizenship and the role education can play in both. William L.

Heward sums up the mindset of IDEA: The law reflects societys concern about treating people

with disabilities as full citizens with the same rights and privileges all other citizens enjoy

(Heward, 2013).

Just as the American educational system changed, so did the roles of educators within

those systems. First and foremost, the need for different instruction methods for students with

disabilities surfaced. Educators realized general education and special education involved

different teaching approaches. Naomi Zigmond, in the essay General Education and Special

Education Are (and Should Be) Different, states, General education is oriented to the

groupThe right to a special education is based on individualized decision making and involves
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 4

individualized educational programming (Zigmond, 2013). In the general classroom, a student

with disabilities may not benefit from how a teacher presents a lesson to the whole class because

of the disability. A more intensive instruction may be needed. Therefore, more specialized

branches of instruction and teaching developed. Today, roles for teachers working with students

with autism or dyslexia or emotional/behavioral disabilities exist.

However, general classroom teachers also had to broaden their job descriptions. Instead

of simply teaching, these educators had to adopt the roles of monitor and collaborator. In the

classroom, teachers suspecting a possible disability must monitor that student and respond with

intervention. A popular method is assessed through response to intervention (RTI). The educator

monitors, assess, and collects observations and data about the student. With students switching

between individualized education plans and the general classroom, general teachers, special

education teachers, and parents must collaborate to design the most fitting educational practices

and assessments.

IDEA has clearly made an impact on the lives of individuals with disabilities. Those with

disabilities used to receive the bare minimum care just to get by in life, with little or no

educational or rehabilitative services offered. In the 21st century, students enjoy better

recognition of their equal rights, more social interaction, and educational/rehabilitative services.

The social interaction fostered by IDEA proves to be an important aspect of personal

growth and esteem. In a handout about social interactions, Tom Changnon states, Opportunities

for social interaction not only enhance development in the early years, but also may be important

for the future of the young child who is disabled. The ability to interact competently is a skill that

is required throughout life and may affect future educational and vocational opportunities.

Assisting young children who are disabled to learn through positive social interaction with
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 5

nondisabled children may help them acquire skills from which they will benefit throughout their

life (Changnon, n.d.).

In addition to personal development, the social interaction provided by a school setting

allows both children with and without disabilities to form a positive mindset that will carry into

society at large. The student with disabilities can feel more part of a society with an education

and needed rehabilitation. The advancements brought about through IDEA provide the ability to

pursue higher levels of university and vocational education. The rehabilitation allows disabilities

to be managed or lessened. Those rehabilitation services may only be available in the school

setting. Schooling provides development, rehabilitation, and societal acceptance.

The rights of individuals with disabilities have seen significant progress since 1970. No

longer are students with disabilities turned away from school. Through IDEA and the shifts in

public policy it represents, the American system of education adopted a mindset of equal rights

and acceptance, allowing education and rehabilitation for students with disabilities and a

broadening of opportunities and responsibilities for educators.

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Reference List

Changnon, T. (n.d.) Importance of social interactions. Retrieved from

http://www.stancoe.org/cfs/handouts/specialnds/pdf/importanceofsocialinteractions.pdf

Heward, W. (2013). Exceptional Children: An introduction to special education. New Jersey:

Pearson

National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). Students with disabilities [Data file]. Retrieved

from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=64

U.S. Department of Education. (2014). 36th annual report to congress on the implementation of

individuals with disabilities education act, 2014 [Data file]. Retrieved from

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/

U.S. Department of Education. (2010) Thirty-five years of progress educating children with

disabilites through IDEA. Retreived from

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/index_pg8.html

U.S. Department of Education. (2010) Thirty-five years of progress educating children with

disabilites through IDEA. Retreived from

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/index_pg10.html

Zigmond, N. (2013). General education and special education are (and should be) different.

Davis, A. & Johnston, J. (Eds), Exceptional children: An introduction to special

education (36-37). New Jersey: Pearson.