INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATON ACT

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Its Impact on the Educating System,

Educators and Students with Disabilities

Lyndsay Pruss

Dakota State University

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Abstract
Every student has the right to a proper education. With the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act, all students with a disability have a right to a free, appropriate, public education

without having to worry about being turned away. This act was created after many students were

denied an education and left to stay in their homes or be institutionalized. This act was to make

sure all students had an education that prepared them for their future, including education,

employment, and independent living. The Education system was impacted by this act, as well as

the educators and students who have a mental or physical disability.

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its Impact on the Educating System,

Educators and Students with Disabilities

Education is a human right with immense power to transform. Every student has the right

to a proper education in order to have the ability to succeed. Educators prepare young students

for the future and help build new skills within students. It wasnt until 1975 that the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created. This act states all children with disabilities

are entitled to a free appropriate public education to meet their unique needs and prepare them

for further education, employment, and independent living (Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act, n.d). Before IDEA was created, over 4 million students with disabilities were

turned away and were refused a proper education. Many of these individuals were denied public

education and couldnt even enter a public school. Prior to IDEA, many schools in 1970, would

only educate one in five children who had a disability and many their schools would exclude

students who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed or mentally retarded (History of the

IDEA: Thirty years of progress in educating children with disabilities through IDEA, 2003).

IDEA has been very influential and is very important to the American education system,

educator, and the lives of individuals with disabilities.

IDEA has six principles to ensure the protection of every childs rights. The first one is a

free appropriate public education and this means any child who needs special education should

have something designed to help their unique needs. Their education should help them with their

current and future education, as well as employment and independent living. The second

principle is Appropriate Evaluation. This is when there is a suspicion that a student might have a

disability and then an evaluation is done. There needs to be a lot of observation done and it needs

to be done by a team of knowledgeable and trained evaluators. The student should not go
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through any unnecessary testing and anything that will not help with their future education. Then

there is the third principle which is the Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The IEP was created

to insure that every student is receiving their free appropriate public education (Saleh, 2014).

After all of the evaluation has been done, a team creates a written document that is going to help

with a students educational future. This form must include levels of educational performance,

annual goals, benchmarks, services and aids the student might need, and detailed explanations

explaining where the student will be and what they can and cannot do (Saleh, 2014). The fourth

principle is Least Restrictive Environment. IDEA works really hard to keep all students in the

general education classroom, even if it means students need aids or services to help them out.

Every student has the right to be in the general education classroom. Then there is Parent

Participation and this principle states that parents should always be involved with any changes

made or the placement of their child. Parent have the right to know everything that goes on with

their child in the school as well as being informed of evaluations and any evaluation materials.

Students and parents must attend IEP meetings and parents have an equal role in decision

making for the student. The last principle is Procedural Safeguards. This is basically protecting

parents and informing them of their rights under federal law. Under these IDES safeguards,

parents have a right to look over any records or information that involves their child. They

should be informed of all meetings that relate to their childs placement, evaluation, and

identification.

IDEA has impacted the American education system in a variety of ways. It has helped

improve education for students with disabilities but it has also brought more funding to schools

in order to help these students. Preceding the creation of IDEA, schools would turn away

students with disabilities, but they are now all able to receive an appropriate education. Since the
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amount of children with disabilities is growing, the spending has increased a large amount, even

more than general elementary and secondary education spending has been able to receive

(Friedman, n.d.). Between the years 1990-2000, the United States spent $50 billion on special

education during the school year (Friedman, n.d.). Under IDEA, students and parents are

protected and this law gives them specific rights. Parents have the right to know and be a part of

what decisions are made for their child. The schools are working hard to make every student

become successful in their education. School districts have designated teachers who are trained

to help with each student and the schools are required to provide whatever is needed to help the

student.

The educators were also impacted when IDEA came along and teachers had to make

some changes. The school does everything they can to give a student an appropriate education

and that also means the teachers are trained very well to help with the students education.

Special education teachers see these children on a daily basis and have a pretty good idea for

what the student might need to succeed. These students require a variety of different services,

modifications and accommodation in their educational experience (Roles and Responsibilities

of the Special Education Teacher, 2015). It is very important that these teachers have the

knowledge to deal with students with disabilities. Special education teachers are very involved

and have to be able to do basic classroom work such as work with curriculum development,

parent conferences, and pre-and post-testing using group standardized test. Additionally, they

have to be involved with the annual meeting held by the IEP Committee, be involved with the

triennial evaluation process which takes place every three years, and finally they must monitor

the IEP, making sure everything is being followed and accomplished on the form. The schools

also provide an educational evaluator on the Child Study Team (CST). This is based on a support
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team the will help out teachers and make recommendations on what is appropriate for high-risk

students (Roles and Responsibilities of the Special Education Teacher, 2015). An educational

evaluator is required to know and understand all the testing and evaluation procedures, and

diagnose based off of the test results. Under IDEA, IEPs are very important behind a student

education. Members of the IEP Committee are mandated by Federal Law and they have

responsibilities that include classification, placement, and evaluation of all children with a

disability (Roles and Responsibilities of the Special Education Teacher, 2015). Member of this

committee also have to be able to interpret test results and make recommendations for the

student.

IDEA has not only impacted the school and the educators but most importantly the

students who have the disability. Before IDEA, not many of these students could even receive an

education because school refused to help or teach them. Schools were not required to educate

these students and some states even had laws that gave schools the right to deny education to

students with disabilities (Sprayberry, 2014). These students were either kept at home or some

were even institutionalized. Now these students have rights and are protected under federal law

to receive a free, appropriate, public education. Because of this act, students are given more

opportunities to learn and have a greater access to education. This law is to make sure all

students with mental or physical disabilities are protected from harassment and any

discrimination. The intentions IDEA is to provide all student of an ability an equal opportunity to

learn (Sprayberry, 2014).

IDEA has given many students and opportunity to receive an education. Students who

used to be unable to receive and education because they had a metal or physical disability, are

now able receive a free, appropriate, public education without being turned away. Students and
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parents are protected under law and have rights in making decisions for what is right for each

student. Their education is supposed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further

education, employment, and independent living. IDEA has affected and is very important to the

American education system, educators, and the lives of individuals with disabilities.
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References
Friedman, A. IDEA cost impact on local school districts. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from

ED Central, http://www.edcentral.org/edcyclopedia/individuals-with-disabilities-

education-act-cost-impact-on-local-school-districts/

History of the IDEA: Thirty years of progress in educating children with disabilities through

IDEA. (2003, November 29). Retrieved November 18, 2016, from U.S. Department of

Education, http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history30.html

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved November 18, 2016, from American

Psychological Association, http://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/disability/idea.aspx

Roles and Responsibilities of the Special Education Teacher. (2015). Retrieved November 18,

2016, from State Development in Special Education,

http://www.naset.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Pro_Development/Roles_Responsibilities_S

PED_Teacher.pdf

Saleh, M. (2014, September 8). Your childs rights: 6 principles of IDEA | smart kids. Retrieved

November 18, 2016, from Know Your Childs Rights,

http://www.smartkidswithld.org/getting-help/know-your-childs-rights/your-childs-rights-

6-principles-of-idea/

Sprayberry, T. L. (2014, December 30). The impact of I.D.E.A. For students with disabilities and

education equality: 40 years later. Huffington Post. Retrieved from

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trisha-lynn-sprayberry/idea-for-students-with-

disabilities_b_6312830.html