Dakota State University

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act By Geoff J. Smith

Geoff Smith December 4, 2014

Smith Every individual child is unique and each has its own special needs. But what happens to the children who needs is greater than that of their peers? The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), according to the American Psychological Association states that it ensures that all children with disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education to meet their needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living. Prior to IDEA, over 4 million children all over the Nation were denied appropriate access to public education. 1 Most of these children were denied public school and sent to classroom without the necessary support needed to teach these kids with special needs. This example demonstrates how IDEA provides a positive influence on the education system in America, educators responsibility within the system, and education for individuals with disabilities. IDEA delivers positive influences on Americas education with six main principles. The six main principles IDEA are: free appropriate public education (FAPE), nondiscriminatory identification and evaluation, zero reject, least restrictive environment (LRE), parent and student participation in decision making, and procedural safeguards. 2The first concept that directly effects educations for disabled students is FAPE. It is the job of the educator to ensure the most appropriate public education possible for each child. Understanding that every child is going to have its own unique needs, IDEAs free appropriate public education guarantees an appropriate public education. The Learning Disabilities Association of American, states that FAPE is broken """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" #""Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)." http://www.apa.org. http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/disability/idea.aspx (accessed November 8, 2013)." !""Principles of IDEA - Learning Disabilities Association of America." Principles of IDEA - Learning Disabilities Association of America. http://www.ldaamerica.org/aboutld/parents/special_ed/principles.asp (accessed November 8, 2013)." !"

Smith down to 4 parts that delivers positive education for individuals with disabilities.3 Free, first word in FAPE, requires that the education of a child with a disability is to be covered by public expense, not by the parents. Secondly, appropriate means that the school must evaluate each childs disability and decide they most appropriate means of education. This may include certain modifications and/or accommodations in order to coordinate an acceptable educational setting. Next, public refers to the public school inability to deny any child with a disability the right of a public education. The public school must responds to the individual needs of each student to help prepare them for the future and prepare. The last part of FAPE is education. The education act of IDEA guarantees that eligible children with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of their disabilities, have the same right to attend public schools as their non-disabled peers. 4FAPE ensures that every child with a disability will receive a free appropriate public education. The next part of IDEA is the individualized education program (IEP) that allows each student an individualized education program written up by a team of educators, the child, and the parents. The IEP is a customized education plan for a child with a disability. The IEP presents a chance for the teachers, parents, school administration, and the students to work together on maintain and improving the education for the child. The National Center for Learning Disabilities editorial team declares the IEP as the cornerstone of the education for each child with a disability.5 When designing the IEP together teachers, """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" $"%&'()'*+,-" ."%&'()'*+,-" /""What Is an IEP?." National Center for Learning Disabilities. http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/what-is-iep (accessed November 8, 2013)." $"

Smith parents, the child, and other school staff examines closely the unique needs of the child. With all of these individuals working together, a group that is involved with the education of the child, designs the IEP. There are many steps taken by the IEP committee to write the document such as0 identifying and evaluating the child, schedule and hold the meeting, and provide progress reports to the parents. In order to provide a positive influence in the American education system, it is the responsibility of the educators to know which children are on the IEPs and what each IEP entails. By knowing this information, teachers will be able to attend IEP meetings and design an individualized program that will maintain and improve the education of the child. After the IEP in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the fourth component is LRE. The LRE reflects IDEAs strong preference of having children with disabilities, educated in general education classes with the access to general education curriculum.6 According to IDEA, schools must educate children with their peers as much as possible, leaving them in their general education classroom for the maximum extent appropriate. Unless the students disability prevents them or other children to achieve progress, the child shall not be removed from the general education classroom. If the disability does impede on other students, the child may be put into a learning environment but it must not be permanent. These adjustments to the individual with a disability education must be based on the development of the student. As the student progresses, the child must be given the chance to return to the general education classroom. While in the regular classroom, the disabled child has the ability to benefit social skills and develop relationships with their peers. One technique the IEP team may """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1"%&'()'*+,-" ."

Smith decide in order to give the child the least restrictive environment, is hiring a paraprofessional to work specifically with the child. This paraprofessional will accompany the student in the regular classroom to aid in one of one attention with the curriculum. In the article, Meeting Needs: Effective Programs for Students with Disabilities, the authors Ruth Small and Jessica Stewart, confront the daily challenge of meeting the learning needs of the students who have a wide range of disabilities in order to keep them in the least restrictive environment. Small and Stewart state they are having problems with sharing electronics in the schools library is students with disabilities should have at least an equal opportunity to participate in library programs as their nondisabled peers. As a result the library developed project ENABLE that provided free and accessible professional education to students with disabilities.7 This article is an example of educators pushing for children with disabilities to receive the least restrictive environment in the school in order to achieve a higher lever of education. Following the LRE, parent and student participation in decision-making allows positive influence on the education system in America, educators responsibility within the system, and education for the individuals with disabilities. The principle of parent and student participation in decision-making strengthens the belief that a strong bond between parents, students, and educators within the special education process is more effective. IDEA gives the right of the parents to participate """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 2"SMALL, RUTH V., and JESSICA STEWART. 2013. "Meeting Needs: Effective Programs for Students with Disabilities." School Library Monthly 29, no. 8: 11-13. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 8, 2013) " /"

Smith within the IEP for the student and certain activities. For example, the parents have the right to participate in all meetings concerning their childs special education, give consent to evaluations, changes in placement, and to review notice of any changes to their childs IEP.8 The parents also have the right to contest the childs treatment under IDEA, if they believe that the IEP is inappropriate for the child; this is called due process safeguards. The dues process allows the school and the parents of the child to hold one another accountable. Some safeguard rights that parents have are: inspecting and reviews their childs educational records, given written notice of any issues regarding their child, and request at anytime a due process hearing. Parents in any case of dues process are given the last say in any issues regarding their child. (5) The shared decision making component within the IDEA, helps parents and the school to work together to find the most appropriate method of educating a specific child. IDEA is a significant government act regarding the education of children with disabilities. With many aspects of IDEA: schools, teacher, parents, and children with disabilities, are able to achieve an education that is individualized and custom plan. This plan is constantly changing and improving by the IEP group and keeps the child progressing through their education years. Being inside the general education classroom, children with disabilities are given the chance to elevate their relationships with their peers. FAPE allows students to attend public schools under the financial responsibility of the public, not by the parents of the child with disabilities. The parents of children with an IEP have important roles, which help students strive for higher achievement in their education. With the added roles come specific rights that are given to the parents from """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 3""IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home (accessed November 8, 2013)." 1"

Smith IDEA. If at any time the parents believe that their rights are being mishandled, due process safeguards are put into effect, and the parents have the last say in any issue. The entire components of IDEA demonstrate how IDEA provides a positive influence on the education system in America, educators responsibility within the system, and education for individuals with disabilities.

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Smith Works Cited "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)." http://www.apa.org. http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/disability/idea.aspx (accessed November 8, 2013). "Principles of IDEA - Learning Disabilities Association of America." Principles of IDEA - Learning Disabilities Association of America. http://www.ldaamerica.org/aboutld/parents/special_ed/principles.asp (accessed November 8, 2013). "What Is an IEP?." National Center for Learning Disabilities. http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/what-is-iep (accessed November 8, 2013). SMALL, RUTH V., and JESSICA STEWART. 2013. "Meeting Needs: Effective Programs for Students with Disabilities." School Library Monthly 29, no. 8: 11-13. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 8, 2013) "IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004." IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. http://idea.ed.gov/explore/home (accessed November 8, 2013).

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