The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) defines Special Education as “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,” but still, what exactly is Special Education? Often met with an ambiguous definition, the umbrella term of Special Education broadly identifies the academic, physical, cognitive and social-emotional instruction offered to children who are faced with one or more disabilities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) was amended in 1997 and is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The amendments made in IDEA provide children and youth with disabilities access to a higher quality of education related services, ensuring all students the complete access to the most appropriate education within the least restrictive environment.
Under IDEA’s legislation, all states receiving federal funding must:
- Provide all students with disabilities between the ages of three and 21 with access to an appropriate and free public education
- Identify, locate and evaluate children labeled with disabilities
- Develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child
- Educate children with disabilities within their “least restrictive environment.” This environment is ideally with their typically developing peers, but is dependent on individual circumstances
- Provide those students enrolled in early-intervention (EI) programs with a positive and effective transition into an appropriate preschool program
- Provide special education services for those children enrolled in private schools
- Ensure teachers are adequately qualified and certified to teach special education
- Ensure that children with disabilities are not suspended or expelled at rates higher than their typically developing peers
Above all, these federal provisions enacted by IDEA ensure that all children with disabilities are provided with the adequate services and resources necessary for them to succeed within and beyond the educational system alongside their non-disabled peers.
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