Reflect on how key aspects of this law such as FAPE, LRE, IEP, and due process will specifically impact you as a teacher or caregiver.

Students who Receive Special Education Services in Schools

Just as the language used to describe people with disabilities has changed over the years, so have the key principles that guide the education of students with disabilities. In today’s classroom, key ideas include a free appropriate public education (FAPE), an Individualized Education Program (IEP), and the least restrictive environment (LRE). These principles are introduced here, and you will learn about their evolution as you continue through Chapter 1.

 

Federal law requires schools to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for all students with disabilities aged 3 through 21. The definition of FAPE is unique for each student and includes educational services that are in compliance with state instructional standards and the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010).

An IEP describes the special education placement of a student and the services the student receives. An IEP team, comprised of the student’s general education teacher, parents or guardians, a special education teacher, and other essential school staff, collaborates on the IEP. Students with disabilities are guaranteed public funding to complete their public school education. Determining what an “appropriate” education is for each child, though, has a controversial history and is subjective for each child.

 

Part of FAPE for students with disabilities involves determining where students will receive instruction in the school environment. To provide the most appropriate education, schools often seek to instruct students with disabilities in the general education setting whenever possible. However, not all students will benefit from full inclusion in the general education classroom because the nature of their disability may prevent them from being successful (Rozalski, Stewart, & Miller, 2010).

 

The setting in which students receive instruction is determined by the IEP team and is known as the least restrictive environment (LRE). The LRE can range from the student’s spending 100% of the school day in a special education class to receiving all of his or her instruction in the general education classroom (McLeskey, Landers, Hoppey, & Williamson, 2011). Depending on the setting, students with disabilities may be taught primarily by a special education teacher or by both a general and special educator in the general education classroom. Students who receive the majority of their instruction in a special education classroom may be integrated into the general population through nonacademic electives or school meals.

Public Law 94-142

In 1975, the U.S. Congress passed the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA or EHA). This federal law, often referred to as PL 94-142, was the first to mandate that schools provide education to students with disabilities. The law provided billions of dollars to schools to provide special education services.

 

Several important components of EAHCA were introduced earlier in this chapter. First, public schools, if they wanted to continue to receive federal funds, had to guarantee FAPE to all students between the ages of 3 and 21, regardless of the student’s disability. The concept of zero reject was born, which means that no students with disabilities can be denied a FAPE unless the student (or the parent or guardian) opts for a non-public school placement.

 

Second, students with disabilities should receive their education in the LRE. The education of a student with a disability should be as similar to the education of a student without a disability as possible. The initial term used for providing an education for students with disabilities in the general classroom was mainstreaming. With mainstreaming, students with disabilities were placed in general classrooms with slight accommodations to help these students succeed. Many people now refer to this practice as inclusion, although some people still use both terms (Connor & Ferri, 2007; Odom, Buysse, & Soukakou, 2011).

 

Inclusion aims to educate students with disabilities along with students without disabilities in the LRE to the maximum extent appropriate (Rozalski et al., 2010). With inclusion, special education services are often provided to the student in the general classroom (Ross-Hill, 2009). The LRE is based on the individual student’s needs and should benefit the student to the greatest extent possible (Obiakor, 2011). Students may spend all their time in the general classroom. Students may have no additional support, accommodations, assistance from special education teachers or aides, assistance from general education teachers or aides, or assistance from an interpreter.

Alternatively, students may spend some of their school day or school week receiving specialized services in a special education classroom or program. They may go to offices or classrooms to receive specialized instruction from a therapist or specialist. A minority of students will spend all of their school day in a special education classroom, and a few students may exclusively attend special education schools or programs (e.g., day schools, residential schools, hospitals).

A third important component of the EAHCA is that students with disabilities must have a team of school personnel who work with the parent or guardian to conduct an extensive evaluation of the student and determine whether the student has a disability. Written parent or guardian consent must be obtained before the evaluation can take place. During the evaluation, nondiscriminatory assessments must be used.

 

Fourth, once it is determined that a student has a disability, a team of school personnel and the parent or guardian develop an IEP that helps guide the student’s education. Long-term (i.e., year-long) goals and a plan to assess and meet those goals are necessary parts of an IEP. With the original version of EACHA, short-term (i.e., monthly or semester) objectives to track progress towards meeting long-term goals were mandated. Short-term objectives, however, are not a necessary IEP component even though many school districts still include short-term goals on the IEP.

 

A fifth EAHCA component is procedural safeguards (i.e., due process) that must be instituted by schools to protect parents or guardians and students with disabilities. Under due process, parents must give consent for a special education evaluation and for placement into special education. Parents also have the right to review their student’s records at any time. If parents or the school disagree about a student’s evaluation or placement, parents have the right to an independent evaluation paid for by the school district. Parents also have the right to a hearing and the right to appeal any decision from a hearing.

 

Reauthorizations of PL 94-142

Since 1975, when the enactment of PL 94-142 laid the groundwork for the education of students with disabilities in the United States, the law has undergone five important revisions. Another reauthorization will take place in the next few years.

 

1983 Amendments: Funding Changes

In 1983, PL 98-199 amended the EAHCA by adding provisions that affected funding. First, parent information centers (PICs) received funding by the federal government so parents could learn about their rights and the rights of students with disabilities. Funding was also appropriated to include students with disabilities from birth to age 3 and to provide transition services for adults with disabilities from school to work or to living arrangements.

 

1986 Amendments: Extension of FAPE and Child Find

With PL 99-457, the EAHCA was amended again in 1986. Changes included extending FAPE to students with disabilities who were aged 3 to 5. Also, programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities received increased attention in a program called Child Find. Child Find requires states to find and evaluate all students with disabilities from birth to age 21 (Bateman, 2009). This program is based on the idea that identifying students with disabilities as early as possible allows intervention as early as possible (Jackson & Needelman, 2007). Any infant or toddler receiving special education services receives an early intervention IEP called the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

The IFSP is written for the child and the family. Similar to an IEP, the IFSP states the child’s strengths, the outcomes for the child, which special education services the child will receive, when the child will receive the services, and who will deliver the services. Most children with an IFSP will receive services in their home or in a setting that is as naturalistic as possible (Wolery & Hemmeter, 2011).

 

A service coordinator helps with ensuring that provisions in the IFSP are met. Many students with an IFSP may receive physical therapy or occupational therapy services. Children might also learn to use assistive devices, such as a hearing aid or a communication board.

 

1990 Amendments: IDEA

A major reauthorization of the EAHCA occurred in 1990 with PL 101-476. First and foremost, the EAHCA was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This name change reflected an emphasis on person-first language and more respectful terminology in general. IDEA reaffirms FAPE and LRE, along with IEPs. It places special emphasis on the use of assistive technologies, including devices or services (evaluation, therapy, or training) to educate students with disabilities.

 

IDEA also included students from ages 3 to 21, made more funding available for programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities, and mandated formal transition plans in IEPs for students starting at age 16. IDEA also added two new disability categories—autism and traumatic brain injury—bringing the number of disability categories to 13.

 

1997 Amendments: Assessments and Discipline Procedures

In 1997, IDEA was reauthorized again to mandate that students with disabilities participate in state and district assessments. A student could undergo such assessments with accommodations or modifications as outlined in the student’s IEP. IDEA 1997 also required states to develop and administer modified assessments for students with disabilities severe enough to exclude them from taking the regular assessments.

 

The 1997 amendments also added discipline procedures for students with disabilities; the regulations required schools to implement functional behavioral assessments and behavioral intervention plans for students with disabilities whose behaviors were disruptive (Aron & Loprest, 2012).

 

2004 Amendments: Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act

In 2004, IDEA was reauthorized again as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA). Many people refer to the law as IDEA 2004—the term used in this book. IDEA 2004 included substantial changes from previous versions of the law and restated the mandates from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) specific to students with disabilities.

 

Key points of IDEA 2004, which are discussed later in this chapter, include hiring highly qualified teachers who use evidence-based teaching practices, providing an alternative method for identifying specific learning disabilities (SLD), changing mandatory components of the IEP, and outlining plans for students with behavioral challenges.

 

Thirteen Disability Categories of IDEA 2004

To qualify for special education services under IDEA 2004, students must meet criteria in at least one of 13 categories. Each of these categories, which will be described more fully in subsequent chapters, is introduced here using the terminology as stated in the Regulations of IDEA 2004:

 

Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance (see the definition below).

Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, and that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.

Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.

A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Schizophrenia. This term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.

Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness.

Mental retardation (now called intellectual disability) means significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness or mental retardation-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that the student cannot be accommodated in special education programs designed solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.

Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).

Other health impairment means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that (a) is due to chronic or acute health problems, such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and (b) adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. This term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. This term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.

Visual impairment includes blindness and involves an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. (U.S. Department of Education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Regulations, Part 300/A/300.8/c.)

ADHD is not a separate IDEA 2004 category. Students with ADHD are often categorized under other health impairment if these students are to receive special education services. Giftedness is not a disability category, although many schools house gifted programs in their special education departments.

 

There is an additional category under IDEA 2004 called developmental delay. This category is used to identify students on a temporary basis. A developmental delay occurs when a child is not meeting developmental milestones at typical times. Delays can be seen in motor, social, language, or thinking skills.

 

The category of developmental delay can be used under Part C for children from birth to 3 years and Part B for children ages 3–9. This category cannot be used for students over 9 years of age. Developmental delay is a temporary category that allows students to receive appropriate services until an official diagnosis (e.g., learning disability, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance) is made.

 

No Child Left Behind Act

The 2001 reauthorization of the ESEA was titled the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB forced major changes in educational practices for all students, including students with disabilities. One of the hallmarks of NCLB was the provision of mandatory testing for students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 through 12, with schools working toward 100% proficiency in reading and mathematics (Yell, Katsiyannis, & Shiner, 2006). The law stipulates that schools must demonstrate adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting the 100% proficiency by 2014. Ninety-five percent of students in a school and within each subgroup in a school (e.g., special education) must participate in the AYP assessments.

 

Thus, NCLB stipulates that 95% of special education students must meet AYP benchmarks; it also mandates that only 1% of students in a school can participate in an alternate assessment, and students eligible for the alternate assessment must demonstrate significant cognitive disabilities (Elliott & Roach, 2007). Many schools are not making AYP and feel this expectation is unreasonable (Purcell, East, & Rude, 2005).

 

NCLB also expects students with disabilities to participate more in the general education curriculum, as most students with disabilities will be taking the same standardized assessments as their peers without disabilities. The NCLB explains that a student’s IEP or 504 Plan should include information on whether the student will participate in an alternate assessment and how the student will participate in the general curriculum.

 

NCLB also demands that all students be taught by highly qualified teachers, and that teachers use evidence-based practices in the classroom (Collins & Salzberg, 2005). Evidence-based practices are teaching practices that have been tested and determined to be effective. It takes a lot of time and money to identify evidence-based practices, and the list of known evidence-based practices is sparse. Many of the NCLB aims laid out in 2001 were restated in IDEA 2004 so schools understand the specifics regarding students with disabilities.

 

Components of IDEA 2004

Some of the major components of IDEA 2004 that have already been discussed in detail include FAPE, LRE, IFSP or IEP, Child Find, and transition planning. Similar to NCLB, IDEA 2004 mandates all students with disabilities be taught by a highly qualified teacher (HQT). The law requires that all teachers of students with disabilities receive appropriate preparation and ongoing professional development to meet the academic and functional needs of the students. In addition, and similar to NCLB, all special education teachers should be certified to teach special education (Russo, Osborne, & Borreca, 2005). The law also placed a major emphasis on using evidence-based practices for instruction.

Another major change revolved around the identification of students with learning disabilities (LDs). Until 2004, most schools used a discrepancy model to identify students with LDs. A discrepancy model looks at a student’s present academic performance in comparison with that student’s possible performance (as generally measured with an intelligence test) to determine whether a discrepancy exists between where the student is expected to perform and where the student actually performs.