(IDEA)HOW IT CHANGED EDUCATION

(IDEA) How It Changed Education

Following the American Psychological Association Guidelines
Ian P. Barker
Dakota State University

(IDEA)HOW IT CHANGED EDUCATION

Abstract
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) was constructed in 1975. The
EAHCA incorporates many qualities of equal opportunity in education for handicapped children,
ranging from individualized education programs, assessments, curriculum, evaluations,
resources, placement, learning environment and available technology. Throughout this paper the
history of this act will be discussed, and how the EAHCA became known as the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). Along with exploring amendments to the
EAHCA, and the changes that occur to IDEA over the decades. Finally, the implications of the act
will be detailed as it pertains to classroom instruction, management and influence on students
and teachers.
Keywords:
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA or EHA) - 1975
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act - 2004.
Zero Reject, Non Discriminatory Identification and evaluation, Free Appropriate Public
Education, Least Restrictive Environment
Individualized Education Program (IEP)

(IDEA)HOW IT CHANGED EDUCATION

What is Special Education? Special Education is individually planned, specialized,

intensive, goal directed instruction. Special education has not always been seen that way and has
seen several adjustments during the last few decades. During this time there have been a lot of
critiques on the way students with disabilities should be educated. Children with special needs or
disabilities had been deemed outcast and excluded for most of our nation's history. Despite many
equality laws that were in place for students of race and gender, many students with disabilities
or needs were denied education. These children were forced to learn at home or be
institutionalized. There were few cases were students with mild or moderate disabilities were
allowed to enroll in special programs in public school. Yet, these special programs isolated these
students from the general population, and were not actually educated, but more or less just
tolerated and handled; throughout time the amendments were put in place to insure that every
individual with any disability on any spectrum was allow a fair and appropriate public
education.
The 1970s was a turning point for special education with the construction of The
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975. The EAHCA required that all
schools receiving federal funding to provide handicapped children equal access to education and
mandated that they be placed in the least restrictive educational environment possible. This act
all became possible though the civil right movement. Which everyone remembered for the rights
created for minorities and females. Little did many know, that the civil rights movement also
brought with it demanding rights for those with disabilities. The act was brought on not just by
public support, but also by Supreme Court decisions from cases like Pennsylvania Association

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for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as Mills v. Board of Education
of the District of Columbia.
The next big adjustment to the EAHCH occurred in 1990, when the EAHCH was
renamed "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.". IDEA: states that children with
disabilities are entitled to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and that each child's
education will be planned and monitored with an individualized education program or an
individualized family service plan.
The IDEA Amendments of 1997 shifted the focus of IDEA to improve teaching and
learning through emphasizing the IEP as a primary tool for educational planning. IEPs were
constructed with the major focus on providing support and resources for developmental learning.
This allowed for the parents to have a greater access to help with their childs goal and
educational needs.
In 2004, on December 3rd, the President George W. Bush signed the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. This law secures special education services for
children with disabilities and needs from the time they are born until they graduate from high
school even if this must take the child a few extra years (21 years old). The act was re-instated by
Congress in 2004. The re-instatement of this act has produced several changes in the way special
education services are performed. Certain things the amendment contained were, highly qualified
teachers meaning all teachers must be certified to work with students with disabilities or needs.
IEPs must consist of annual goals that are measurable through a description of how these goals
will be met. The amendment also contained Specific learning disabilities. A new arrangement
released the school system from the current requirements to show a severe discrepancy between

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achievement and intellectual ability to determine if a child has a specific learning disability
which had currently come from standardized testing such as state and IQ tests. While these are
just the some of the major amendments to the EAHCA that became known as IDEA there were
improvement and court cases ever couple years in-between each major change. All these
adjustments to the law were all for a common goal of trying to make sure that a student with a
disorder, or disability is taken care of just as if they were a part of the general population.
These laws have made such an adjustment to the education system for students, parents,
and teachers alike. Like previously stated in this essay students with disabilities, or disorders
were shunned and put out until the government put IDEA in place: they were now allowed to be
a part of every regular classroom. These laws allowed for teachers to specifically plan (IEP) for
each students needs whether they are exceptional or part of the general population. IDEA has led
to many advances in achieving and ability when many just believed the students were never
going to be able to grasp the information be taught.
IDEA has several purposed behind the law. One, is to ensure that all children with
disabilities have a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The child with the disorder, or
disabilities, education should be designed to meet their unique needs and should also prepare
them for further education, employment and independent living. Two, all schools must educate a
child whether they have a disability or not (Zero Reject). The school must have the available
needs for each student or must obtain the personnel to do such (Least restrictive environment).
Yet, one of the most important part is the parents must be included in the decision making
process, the parents of the child usually know things that help keep the child motivated (Shared
Decision making). As a member of the future education system knowing about the changes that

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directly influence special needs can lead to a lot of success towards building a greater and more
efficient way to achieve goals for students with learning disabilities.

Work Citied

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (2010, July 20). Retrieved November 24,
2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/individuals-disabilities-education-act/

Moody, A. (2012, May 3). The Education for All Handicapped Children Act: A Faltering Step
Towards Integration. Retrieved November 19, 2014, from
http://commons.trincoll.edu/edreform/2012/05/the-education-for-all-handicapped-children-act-afaltering-step-towards-integration/