School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 5 Individuals with Disabilities

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-2 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA) Mandatory Requirements IDEA succeeded Public Law , to the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-3 The IDEA essentially guarantees a disabled child, ages 3 to 21, the right to a free, appropriate education in public schools. This act also establishes substantive and procedural due process rights.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-4 Interpretation and Identification of Children with Disabilities The term children with disabilities is defined by the IDEA as those who meet the following conditions: Mental retardation, hearing impairments which include deafness, speech or language impairment. visual impairment including blindness,

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-5 learning disabilities, brain injury, emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, specific learning disabilities, and other impairments who by reason of such conditions need special education and related services.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-6 Individualized Educational Program Requirement At a minimum, each individual educational program should include the following: 1. A statement detailing the child’s present level of educational performance

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved A statement of annual goals, as well as short- term instructional objectives 3. A description of specific educational services to be provided and a determination as to whether the child is able to participate in regular educational programs

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved A description of transitional services to be rendered if the child is a junior or senior in high school, to ensure that necessary services are provided when the child leaves the regular school environment

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved A description of services to be provided and a timetable for providing these services 6. An explanation of relevant criteria and procedures to be employed annually to determine if instructional objectives are or have been achieved.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Response To Intervention Response to Intervention (RTI) involves a combination of assessment and intervention used to provide early, effective assistance, and support to children who are experiencing difficulty learning. It is a data based process of diagnosing learning disabilities with some degree of specificity.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved RTI minimizes academic failure based on early intervention, regular progress reports and intensive research based instructional interventions for children who continue to experience learning difficulty.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Equal Access to Assistive Technology for Disabled Students The Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act Amendments of 1994 provides financial assistance to states to support systems changes which assist in the development and implementation of technology- related support for individuals with disabilities.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Program Review and Changes Each IEP must be reviewed and revised annually, if necessary, to ensure that the continuing needs of the child are met. If changes are contemplated, the child’s parent or legal guardian must be notified.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved If either objects to the proposed changes, an impartial hearing must be held to resolve the conflict. If this process proves unsuccessful, the parent or guardian may appeal to the state agency and subsequently to the courts if a resolution is not reached at the state level.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Education-Related Service Requirement A related service is viewed as one that must be provided to allow the disabled child to benefit from special education. A related services may be a single service or an entire range of services or programs needed to benefit the child.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Examples of such services include, but are not limited to the following: transportation, medical services, counseling services, psychological services, physical therapy, speech pathology, audiology, and occupational therapy

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Least Restrictive Environment The IDEA embraces the notion that children with disabilities be placed in educational settings which offer the least amount of restrictions, when appropriate.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved The primary objective is to provide the disabled child an opportunity to interact, socialize and “learn” with regular students, thus minimizing the tendency to become stigmatized and isolated from the school’s regular program.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Inclusion of Children with Disabilities Inclusion is an extension of the traditional concept of mainstreaming. Its intent is to ensure as much as possible, and when appropriate, that disabled children be placed in regular classrooms.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Residential Placement Residential facilities are typically expensive and in most cases more restrictive for the disabled child. However, IDEA requires such placements where there is sufficient evidence that residential placement is necessary to provide special education and related services to the disabled child.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Isolation and Restraint Laws for Students with Disabilities A number of states have passed legislation governing isolation and restraint practices for students with disabilities. These laws were enacted to protect the safety and welfare of students with disabilities.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Isolation and restraint laws govern circumstances under which certain measures may be taken, maximum time periods involved, and particular types of isolation or restraint that may be used.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved These laws also cover conditions of isolation rooms, supervision that must be provided, and approval that must be granted by school officials prior to initiating isolation and restraint practices.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved Disciplining Students with Disabilities It has long been held that disabled children may not be punished for conduct that is a manifestation of their disability.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved However, disabled students may be disciplined by school authorities for any behavior which is not associated with their disability using regular disciplinary procedures, as reflected in school policies.

School Law and the Public Schools: A Practical Guide for Educational Leaders, 5e Essex © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved In situations where certain types of discipline are warranted, an effort must be made to ensure that the punishment does not materially and substantially interrupt the child’s education.