1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Melissa Kim EDUC 660 5/7/15

2. Topics O A History of IDEA O Free and Appropriate Education O Least Restrictive Environment O Identification O Disability Categories of Special Education O Individualized Education Program (IEP) O IEP Team O General Educator Role

3. A History of IDEA O Before the 1970s, educational policy for children with disabilities was decided at the state or local level O In 1975, U.S. Congress passed the Education of All Handicapped Children Act requiring that all states establish special education programs for children with disabilities O In 1997, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was amended after years of congressional debate (O’Dell, 2005, p.5)

4. A History of IDEA (cont’d) O 1997 IDEA Amendments include: O Expanded Procedures for the Discipline of Disabled Students O No Cessation of Educational Services O Increased Reliance on Mediation O Emphasis on Educational Results O Revamped and Streamlined Special Programs (Special Education Law, 2005) (O’Dell, 2005, p.5)

5. A History of IDEA (cont’d) O In 2004, the IDEA was reauthorized and now officially and federally requires that “to receive funds, every school system in the nation must provide a free, appropriate public education for every child between the ages of three and twenty-one, regardless of how or how seriously he or she may be disabled” (Hallahan, Kauffmann, & Pullen, 2009, p.28)

6. Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) O “The education of all children with disabilities will in all cases be free of cost to parents and appropriate for the particular student” O FAPE must meet student’s educational needs by addressing: O Functional and self-help skills O Social, health, emotional, physical, and vocational needs O Mastery of academic subjects & basic skills (Hallahan, Kauffmann, & Pullen, 2009)

7. Least Restrictive Environment O Federal special education law mandates that schools place students with disabilities in as normal an environment as possible O Children in public or private institutions or other care facilities should be educated with children who are not disabled O Only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child inhibits the satisfactory education in regular classes, should special classes, separate schooling, or removal of children with disabilities occur ( U.S. Department of Education)

8. Identification O As a result of the reauthorization of the IDEA in 2004, identifying learning disabilities in students is a process that requires observation of the students in question, appropriate assessments, and knowledge of the different types of learning disabilities; it is no simple task O In 1977, to be identified as “learning disabled” one must have had “severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual disability” O Present-day identification methods are much more complex (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009, p.189)

9. Identification (cont’d) O Discrepancy Model O “A comparison between scores on standardized intelligence and achievement tests” O Left up to individual states, the decision of whether a child was learning disabled traditionally relied on the IQ-achievement discrepancy O Has various formulas which leave much room for error and imprecise assessments O IQ scores are not a strong predictor of reading ability O This model is useless in earliest elementary school grades because children do not have much knowledge about reading and math, which makes discrepancy harder to identify (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009, p.189)

10. Identification (cont’d) O Response to Intervention (RTI) O A way of identifying learning disability based on multi-tiered model of prevention O Models vary in regard to number of tiers, types of intervention, criteria used to advance from tier to tier, and the roles of special education versus general education O A typical model includes three tiers (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009, p.189)

11. Identification (cont’d) O Response to Intervention (RTI) O Tier 1-Primary Prevention O Students are screened at beginning of school year using curriculum based measurement O Teachers monitor student progress of those who are classified “at risk” O Tier 2-Secondary Prevention O Teachers continue to monitor student progress O Involves small-group tutoring by teacher or highly trained teacher’s assistant O Students who fall one standard deviation below their classmates on two criteria are referred for multidisciplinary evaluation; this evaluation determines whether student is learning disabled or has some other disability O Tier 3-Teritary Prevention O Students are identified as needing special education O Students are given intensive, individualized programming, and progress monitoring by special education teachers (Hallahan, Kauffman, & Pullen, 2009, p.189)

12. Disability Categories of Special Education O Autism—developmental disability affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction O Deaf-Blindness—hearing and visual impairments resulting in severe communication and other developmental and educational needs O Deafness—hearing impairment that causes impaired processing of linguistic information (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)

13. Disability Categories of Special Education (cont’d) O Emotional Disturbance –an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; inability to build/maintain satisfactory relationships; inappropriate social behavior; pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression O Hearing Impairment—impaired hearing that affects a child’s performance O Intellectual Disability—below average intellectual functioning (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)

14. Disability Categories of Special Education (cont’d) O Multiple Disabilities O Orthopedic Impairment O Other Health Impairment O Specific Learning Disability O Speech or Language Impairment O Traumatic Brain Injury O Visual Impairment including Blindness (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)

15. Individualized Education Program (IEP) O How a school plans to meet an exceptional student’s unique needs, approved by the student’s parents or guardian O Essential Components of IEP: O Statements of student’s present levels of educational performance O Statements of measurable annual goals/how progress is monitored O Description of special education services relevant to the student O How the student will participate in the regular education program O What testing adaptations and modifications student will need O length and duration of services – services must be explained O Preparations for adult life and independence ( Center for Parent Information and Resources)

16. IEP Team O IEP Team: O Individuals who work together to design the IEP in order that the student progresses in the general education curriculum O Comprised of: O parents/guardians of student O regular and special education teachers O representative of public agency (who is qualified to provide or supervise specially designed instruction) O an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results O other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student O the student (if appropriate) (Center for Parent Information and Resources)

17. General Educator Role O The number of students with disabilities in general classrooms is increasing O All educators must make every effort to accommodate individual students’ needs but the General Educator is called upon to observe and share: O How the student performs in a general education context O How the student interacts with peers O The pace and dynamic of the class O Approaches for teaching the class as a whole O The general education context (Special Education Law, 2005)

18. Looking toward the future O IDEA 2004 was reauthorized over a decade ago O New research and developments in the special education field have expanded our knowledge about learning disabilities and individuals who live with them O Issues still arise on how learning disabilities should be identified, classified, and addressed O The issue of funding special education programs grows more complex by the day O Educators of all kinds should learn as much as they can about their students who have disabilities so that they may ensure the success of all of their students

19. Works Cited O Center for Parent Information and Resources. The IEP Team. Retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/iep-team/ O Hallahan, D. P., Kauffman, J. M., & Pullen, P. C. (2009). Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education (11 th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. O National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. (March 2012).Categories of Disability Under IDEA [Brochure]. Ideas that Work. O O'Dell, R., & Schaefer, M. (2005). IDEA compliance: A view from rural America. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 24(4), 9-17. O Special Education Law Overview. (2005). Congressional Digest, 84(1), 6-32. O U.S. Department of Education. Least restrictive environment. Retrieved from http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,statute,I,B,612,a,5,