Reflection #1

Reflection #1

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

For a child with disabilities, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), which has evolved to be legislated as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 (P.L. 108-446), has provided safeguards for appropriate education for students receiving the services of special education. Education for learners with special needs has significantly improved due to the components of these education laws while providing many benefits for these children and young adolescents. Because of this law, children who have disabilities can be evaluated to determine their eligibility for special education services and related services. Upon placement into the special education program, IDEA directs the considerations which an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team regards in relation to the special education services to meet the law's requirement of serving the students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Measures that need to be implemented by educators to adequately accommodate the children with disabilities to have a free appropriate public educationi fulfill the promise of IDEA for meaningful educational value. Finally, IDEA guides administrators when differences between school staff and parents arise to help with resolution of conflicts through mediation and due process of the law.

IDEA's General Components and Significance

Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act of 1975 legislated that a free, appropriate public education be provided for any disabled child anywhere in the United States. The components included that these children had special education and related services tailored to meet their special circumstances, that protection was afforded relative to the children and parents, that all children with disabilities within all states and municipalities had the provision of education, and that the education efforts for these students were evaluated and assured to be effective. With the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004, the components continued to guarantee that all students with disabilities have a free, approrpiate education, but it evolved to include the guiding force of an education in the least restrictive enfironment. Another new component was the expectation that all decisions made regarding special education would include parent participation. The provision that related services for the children with disabilities was allowed if needed. Plans for the transition of students upon the exit of school were included in this amendment, as well as the expectation that unbiased procedures for identification, placement, and evaluation occur along with the guideline of following due process procedures (Bateman, Bright, et.al 2007).

According to the Department of Education's archived article, "A 25 Year History of the IDEA," (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.pdf), the significance and benefit for children with disabilities since the enactment of Public Law 94-142 is that special education "services are provided to almost 200,000 eligible infants and toddlers and their families, while nearly six million children and youth receive special education and related services to meet their individual needs." Further significance is credited to IDEA with the provision for children to attend their neighborhood schools. In addition, the rate of high school graduation has improved for students with disabilities as well as the enrollment in higher education and a higher percentage of employment for these students upon exiting school. Of extreme importance is the right of disabled children to be educated as imbedded in the equal protection clause of the U.S. 14th Consitutional Amendment (Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, 1972).

Eligibility for Special Education Services

The national Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) outlines the basic process for determining how a child having some type of difficulty is identified as actually having a disability and whether there is a need for special education and related services (http://www.nichcy.org). First, a child is identified with possibly being in the category of needing services offered by special education and related services through a system known as "Child Find" that operates in every state or by a parent or school referral. Upon such a referral, a request for the evaluation of the child is made. After the parent has given consent for this evaluation, sixty days are provided for the evaluation's completion. The actual evaluation of the child must be an assessment of all areas associated with the child's suspicioned disability. Parents have the right to seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) if they disagree with the school's evaluation, and they can even ask that the school district cover the cost of the additional testing. After all assessments are complete, special education professionals and the parents analyze the test results and together determine if the child is considered as IDEA's definition of a child with a disability which could include learning disabilities, speech/language issues, mental retardation, behavorial or emotional disorders, autism, other health impairments such as attention deficit disorder, multiple disabilities, hearing impariment, orthopedic impairment, visual impairment, traumatic brain injury, deaf-blindness, or deafness (Fish, 2010). Parents may challenge the eligibility decision if they disagree with the committee and may ask for a hearing. When a disability is determined to exist, the child is then eligible to receive special education and related services.

Least Restrictive Environment Placement Decisions

To formulate the specific expectations for the most appropriate education for the child with disabilities, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) team must meet within thirty days after the identification of the child to write the IEP for that child. This meeting must first be scheduled by the school district having contacted needed participants and the parents and informing the parents about information relative to the upcoming meeting. Then at the designated meeting time and place agreeable to the parents and the school, the meeting is held with the writing of the IEP for the child. At this meeting the parents are considered full participating members along with the professional staff. If the parents do not agree and consent to the IEP, they can ask for mediation or have it provided by the school. The other option is for the parents to file a formal consent of the plan to meet their child's needs, services for the child will begin with all educators working with the student and other service providers implementing the IEP specifications including any required accommodations, modifications, and supports. Once in the porgram, the child with disabilities is monitored and assessed on an ongoing basis that is regularly reported to the parents concerning the student's annual goals delineated in the IEP. For the child to remain eligible, the IEP team, including the parents, must review that child's IEP at least once a year with revisions made as needed and a complete reeevaluation of the child must be conducted at least every three years to determine the continued need for special education and related services.

IDEA 2004 directs that the children identified with disabilities requiring services must be served "to the maximum extent appropriate [for] children with disabilities, including those in public or private institutions or other care facilities, [and] are expected to be educated with children without disabilities" (Bateman, 2007). Referred to as the least restrictive environment, states are required to have in place a continuum of alternative placements to provide for the diverse disabilities unique to each child in a manner such that they are educated to the maximum extent possible with children who do not have disabilities. As consideration for appropriate placement is evaluated by the IEP team, it must be determined which setting is best for the child with special needs. The least restrictive environment (LRE) on the far end of the continuum would be the regular classroom, then the resource room, the self-contained classroom, a special day school, a residential school, a hospital school, and the most restrictive as home instruction.

Mainstreaming was the term used to describe the integration of learners with disabilities into the regular classroom in the past, but this term is not used in the law nor is it an accurate description for LRE. Inclusion is the term that best describes the law's intent and refers to the understanding that a child with disabilities will be placed in varying degrees in the general education classroom supported by special educaton and related services until it is determined that the inclusion type is not appropriate for the child's educational benefit. The inclusion must provide the opportunity for the child with disabilities to relate to other children without disabilities as much as is appropriate with regard to the nature and severity of his or her disability (Walsh, Kemerer, & Maniotis, 2005).

Accommodations for Special Education Students

Measures taken by educators to effectively accommodate students who receive special education services are designed to meet the unique needs of these students to help them have success at an appropriate level of education. Instruction is specialized depending on the abilities and functionality of these learners. Adapting the content, methodology, or instructional delivery of instruction through differentiation of the curriculum as outlined in the IEP guides how the special needs of the child with disabilites are accommodated. The accommodations address the different needs of the children's different disabilities. As well, the general education curriculum is made available to the child with disabilties so that he or she can be successful in meeting the educational standards to which all children in the school district are exposed.

When the special educaiton students are provided with appropriate classroom instructional modifications, accommodations, and support, they are likely to have success in the classroom which results in the meeting of IEP student goals and overall student achievement. The accommodations can be in the classroom setting in which the child is placed, the differentiated curriculum in the way lessons are presented, the way the student expectations are adapted, or how student progress is assessed. While the terms modification and accommodation are used interchangeably, a modification generally is a change in instructional delivery or student expectation. An accommodation helps a learner overcome the challenge of his or her disability as in having the opportunity to give oral rather than written answers. By providing accommodations and modifications, the child with disabiliteis is afforded the opportunity to learn.

Mediation and Due Process for Conflict Resolution

The need to resolve possible conflicts regarding parental approval in connection with what is believed to be the most beneficial free, appropriate public educaiton for their child with disabilties was included when the law was written. Incorporated into the legislation were the procedural safeguards and dispute resolution options of IDEA. For less formal attempts at resolution, parents and educators can call an IEP meeting for reviewing and revising goals and guidelines for the child's IEP. Another way to informally resolve a dispute can be attempted with a facilitated IEP meeting which includes an impartial facilitator who is not a member of the IEP team to provide focus for everyone and help insure effective communication while promoting the resolution of differences.

Formal approaches included within IDEA for reaching an agreement between educators and the parents include mediation, filing a complaint, and due process. An impartial third party is specified as a mediator when the mediation process is used to resolve areas of disagreement regarding a child's IEP or placement with special education services. The mediator provides assistance with open and respectful communication guided by the specific guidelines under IDEA that all parties involved in the mediation are there voluntarily, that the mediation does not put off or forfeit the right of due process, that the mediator must be properly trained and qualified and chosen impartially, that the state covers the mediation cost, that the mediation agreement must be recorded in a written document, and that the proceedings must be confidential and cannot be used in due process or civil hearings at a later date.

If mediation is not chosen to resolve conflicts or if mediation results are not satisfactory, parents may choose to file a state complaint with the State Education Agency (SEA) describing the violation related to IDEA and must be signed. The school district will be allowed to resond to the complaint, and then the SEA must resolve the complaint usually within sixty days and explain reasoning behind the final decision.Due Process is another formal means of resolving disputes which gives educators and parents the right to present evidence before a hearing officer who will decide how the dispute should be resolved based on IDEA requirements. A due process complaint which is confidential must be filed first with specific details and information given as defined within IDEA. If the SEA finds that the school system has failed to provide appropriate services, the SEA must address the failure, including corrective action (such as compensatory services or monetary reimbursement), if appropriate to address the needs of the child. All parties must receive a copy of the complaint including the SEA. Within fifteen days, the local education agency (LEA) must conduct a resolution meeting giving the opportunity to resolve the complaint without an actual due process hearing. If the resolution meeting is unsuccessful, a legal due process hearing is convened with a hearing officer presiding ot hear all evidence regarding the dispute and provide a hearing decision. Attorneys may be present to represent involved parties. A final decision must be reached within forty-five days with copies of the decision provided to everyone involved. The LEA is requried to act upon the hearing officer's decision as soon as possible after the final decision unless an appeal is filed (www.nichy.org).

Due to Public Law 94-142 and subsequent IDEA amendments, over one million students with disabilities have been allowed access to a free, approrpiate public education who formerly were denied that right or only provided limited educatonal opportunities. No matter what an individual's capability, the right to play an active role in society should never be denied. "With continued federal-state-local partnerships, the nation will similarly demonstrate that improving educational results for children with disabilities and their families is critical to empowering all citizens to maximize their employment, self-sufficiency, and independence in every state and locality across the country" (http://www.2ed.gov).