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The Impact of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

on Public Education, Educators, and on Children with

Disabilities

Nina Maloney

SPED 100

June 6, 2017
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) has made a major impact on American public

schools, the educators that work in those schools, and on children with disabilities. Public

schools must educate all children with disabilities, because of the principles of IDEA, making

them more inclusive than ever before. Teachers must be highly qualified and have increased

responsibilities because of the least restrictive environment principle of IDEA. The most

profound impact falls on the children with disabilities. Since the passage of IDEA, all children

with disabilities may attend public schools with their nondisabled peers. They are no longer

excluded and can become independent adults that can contribute to society.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that had its beginnings in

1975 when Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Since its original

passing, the law has had five revisions and was renamed in 1990 to IDEA which Congress

reauthorized in 2004 to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.

(Heward, 2013). The six principles of IDEA have made the American education system more

inclusive, have changed the roles of educators, and have made a positive impact on the lives of

millions of children with disabilities. A look at the history of the American public education

system is essential in understanding the extent of the impact of the principles of IDEA.

Historically, the American public education system was exclusionary. According to the U.S.

Department of Educations report:

Before any legislation was passed to educate children with disabilities, the public schools

did very little to educate these children. In 1970 only 1 in 5 children with disabilities

was educated in the American public schools. In fact, most were excluded and would

spend their lives in institutions with minimal amounts of food, clothing and shelter.

(Thirty- Five Years of Progress, 2010, p.9).

Several court cases began to change the treatment of children with disabilities. Parents of

children with disabilities began questioning the equal access to education after Brown v. Board

of Education of Topeka ruled that education must be made available to all children on equal

terms (Heward, 2013, p.15). Parent advocacy groups and the federal government started

programs to help children with disabilities in the 1950s and 1960s. (Thirty-Five Years of

Progress, 2010, p.10). Since many children were still excluded in the 1970s, Congress passed

the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, which was amended to become the
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current Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The six principles of IDEA made

public education accessible to all children with disabilities regardless of the severity.

The zero-reject principle, the least restrictive environment (LRE), and free appropriate public

education (FAPE) principles of IDEA have created a significant impact on the American public

education system. The zero-reject principle of IDEA has changed American public education

from an educational system that excluded children with disabilities to one that must educate all

children with disabilities. In the past, children with disabilities were taught in separate

classrooms away from other students in the general education classrooms, and many were not

allowed in school at all. The least restrictive environment (LRE) principle of IDEA has changed

the location that children with disabilities receive their instruction. According to Heward (2013),

IDEA creates a presumption in favor of inclusion in the general education classroom by

requiring the students IEP contain a justification and explanation of the extent, if any, to which

the student will not participate with nondisabled peers (p.19). In addition, FAPE requires

that children with disabilities are educated in public schools at no cost to their parents just like

their nondisabled peers. Not only are children with disabilities sharing the same classrooms as

their nondisabled peers, but they are also attending their neighborhood schools. As the

Department of Education points out, Millions of children with significant disabilities are

attending neighborhood schools and learning the life skills they will need for full, active

participation in integrated activities with their family members, friends, neighbors, and

coworkers. (Thirty-Five Years of Progress, 2010, p. 13).

In addition to children with disabilities attending these public schools, IDEA mandates

for strong accountability which holds schools and districts responsible for the performance of

students, including students with disabilities. (Thirty-Five Years of Progress, 2010, p.15). This
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provision makes it important for schools to use research based instruction to teach the children.

with disabilities. The exceptional children in the classroom are expected to learn just like their

nondisabled peers.

As well as schools, the educators in the schools have seen many changes because of the IDEA

law. IDEA requires highly qualified teachers (HQT). The definition of HQT that IDEA uses is

closely aligned with the provisions in the No Child Left Behind Legislation (NCLB), which

requires teachers to have a bachelors degree, full state certification or licensure, and prove that

they know each subject they teach. Special education teachers must also have a bachelors

degree and full state special education certification, and if they provide direct instruction in core

subjects they also must prove that they know the subject they teach. (IDEA 2004 Close Up,

2015).

Because of LRE, teachers must practice inclusion of all students. This requires them to work

with students whether they are disabled or not. Burns (2007) states, Children with disabilities

should not simply be in the classroom but participate in the general curriculum and classroom

activities (p. 6). As a result, general education teachers must make accommodations for the

exceptional children in their classroom, and must work with the special education teachers. The

FAPE principle requires that all special education students have an individual education program

(IEP), which must be produced by a team. This provision also increases the teachers

responsibilities, because the team includes the special education and the general education

teacher.

Finally, to fully understand the impact of IDEA on individuals with disabilities, it is important

to look back at the situation many individuals with disabilities faced before they could participate
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in school. In the Huffington Post article, The Impact of I.D.E.A. for Students with Disabilities

and Education Equality: 40 Years Later, the author details the story of Allan, a boy with

disabilities born in the late 1940s. Allan was brought to an institution right after he was born.

By the time he was 30-years old, Allan was completely blind. He sat in a corner most of the time

just rocking back and forth, and had self-inflicted wounds that resulted in calluses all over his

face. When examiners assessed Allan, they were surprised to find that he had average

intelligence and he became blind because he slapped himself repeatedly in the face. He learned

this behavior from the other residents in the institution. Although Allan was already in his 30s,

he was able to learn some life skills when people at the institution began teaching him.

(Sprayberry, 2015). Allans story is just one of many stories with similar situations and

outcomes. The story illustrates the importance of evaluation and individual instruction. Since

the passage of IDEA, all children with disabilities are protected under the IDEA principle known

as the protection in evaluation procedures. Schools must use nonbiased, multifactored methods

of evaluation to determine whether a child has a disability and, if so, whether the child needs

specially designed instruction to benefit from education (Heward, 2013, p.17). Imagine how

different Allans life might have been if someone had evaluated him earlier in life. His

behavioral problems that led to his blindness may have been averted. Because he had average

intelligence, he may have been able to lead an independent life. Today, children are evaluated

and receive the special services they need because of IDEA.

Along with specially designed instruction, the free appropriate public education (FAPE)

principle of IDEA provides the assistive technology and related services that a child needs when

attending school. If a child needs physical therapy or special medication while in school, the

FAPE principle states that the school must provide this for the student. The U.S. Department of
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Education (2010), provides an example in their report of a boy named Anthony who needed

assistive technology to succeed in school. When Anthony was 10 years old, he lost his sight.

The school provided Anthony with textbooks that were translated into Braille with an optical

character recognition program. He also used special talking software on his laptop that would

read his written schoolwork and crucial content from the Web aloud. In addition, he used a

tactile scientific calculator to help him understand math. Anthony graduated from high school

and wanted to become a lawyer. (Thirty-Five Years of Progress, 2010, p. 15). This story

illustrates how important the correct assistive technology can be for students with disabilities.

Although Anthonys story is a true success story, not all students with disabilities receive the

assistive technology they require as Ruth Colker explains in her book, Disabled Education: A

Critical Analysis of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Colker describes a story about

her son Sam, who had a central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), and needed a personal

listening device (PLD) to function effectively in the classroom. When the school did not provide

a PLD, Colker had to file a due process claim. This is another benefit that the IDEA law

provides when parents and the school disagree on an aspect of the childs IEP. However, Colker

contends that it is a long draining process for parents and it is especially difficult for parents that

come from poorer, less educated communities. (2013).

The least restrictive environment (LRE) principle of IDEA also plays a significant role for

students with disabilities. This principle increases the social opportunities for exceptional

children. In the past, the exceptional children were kept separate from the regular classrooms

and had little interaction with their nondisabled peers. Now they can learn with and from their

peers, as well as, the nondisabled children learning from the exceptional children.
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The six principles of IDEA have changed the lives of millions of children with disabilities in

positive way, by creating an inclusive environment in public schools through the zero reject and

least restrictive environment principles of IDEA. They are receiving an education based on

research based instruction with teachers that must be highly qualified. There are provisions for

assistive technologies that students may need, for participation and shared decision making, and

for conflict resolution. The principles of IDEA have changed the dim lives of children that were

once ignored and not educated, to a much brighter future for these children with disabilities.

They are now able to become independent, contributing members of society.

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References

Burns, Edward. (2007). The Essential Special Education Guide for the Regular Education

Teacher. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.

Colker, Ruth. (2013). Disabled Education: A Critical Analysis of Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act. New York: NYU Press.

Heward, William C. (2013). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. (10th

ed.). Boston: Pearson.

IDEA 2004 Close Up: Highly Qualified Teachers. (2015, April 2). Retrieved from

www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/highlyqualified_teachers/.

Sprayberry, Trisha. (2015, March 1). Re: The Impact of I.D.E.A. for Students with Disabilities

and Education Equality: 40 Years Later. Retrieved from Huffington Post Blog,

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

disabilities_b_6312830.html.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. (2010).

Thirty-Five Years of Progress in Educating Children with Disabilities Through IDEA.

Washington D.C. Retrieved from www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/idea-

35-history-pdf.