Chapter 4: Ethical-Legal Issues in the Education of Students with Disabilities Under IDEIA

Question 1

Right-to-Education

Answer 1

• Prior to 1975, many public school districts had admissions policies that required children to meet certain standards before they were eligible to attend school.
• ## Institutionalization was the recommended treatment for children with severe disabilities prior to the 1960s.

Question 2

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (P.A.R.C.) 1972

Answer 2

• All mentally retarded persons are capable of benefiting from a program of education and training.
• Free program of education and training appropriate to the child’s capacity.
• Alleged that the 14th Amendment equal protection clause prohibited states from denying children with disabilities access to public schools.

Question 3

Mills v. Board of Education (1972).

Answer 3

• Required that schools prepare a proposal outlining a suitable educational program for each child with a disability.
• Alleged that the 14th Amendment equal protection clause prohibited states from denying children with disabilities access to public schools.

Question 4

Response of U.S Congress: Two Types of Federal Legislation

Answer 4

Civil Rights Legislation
Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) [amended by ADAA in 2008]
Federal Education Law
The Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-142), renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990.

Question 5

Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEIA)

Answer 5

• Previously All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
• Part B: Funds for special education and related services to children with disabilities ages 3 to 21 years
• State Plans and Single Agency Responsibility
• The Zero Reject Principle
• Children Eligible for Services
• Early Intervening Services
• Evaluation Procedures
• Individualized Education Program
• Least Restrictive Environment
• The Meaning of Appropriate Education
• Scope of Required Related Services
• Procedural Safeguards
• Right to Private Action

Question 6

State Plans and Single Agency Responsibility

Answer 6

• State Plans
  Each state must have on file with the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) a plan that offers a free and appropriate education to all students with disabilities within the state, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school. Age range is 3-21, but states may choose to not include ages 3-5 and 18-21.
• State Agency Responsibility
  The State Educational Agency (SEA) is responsible for offering a free and appropriate education (FAPE) to each child with a disability. One exception is youth 18-21 years old who are incarcerated in adult prisons and who did not have an individualized education plan (IEP) prior to incarceration.
  Private School Placement by the IEP Team
  Publicly placed private school students are entitled to the same benefits and services as those attending public schools.

Question 7

The Zero Reject Principle

Answer 7

• Child Find
  IDEIA requires the SEA to describe policies and procedures to assure that all children with disabilities ages birth through 21 years are “identified, located, and evaluated” as part of its State Plan.
• Severity of the Disability
  The Zero Reject Principle also encompasses the idea that the SEA must provide full educational opportunity to all children with disabilities regardless of the severity of their disability.
• IDEIA 2004 prohibits schools from using procedural safeguards to over-rule a parent’s failure to consent to the initial provision of services and allows parents to withdraw their child from special education at any time. Parents have the ultimate choice as to whether their child will receive special education services.

Question 8

Identification for needing special education – 2 Prong Test

Answer 8

• A disability in obtaining an education must be determined

- A need for special education must be established

Question 9

Eligibility for disability under IDEIA

Answer 9

• Intellectual Disability
• Hearing Impairment
• Speech and Language Impairment
• Visual Impairment
• Emotional Disturbance
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Autism
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Learning Disability
• Deaf-Blindness
• Health Impairment

Question 10

Intellectual Disability

Answer 10

• To be eligible for special education under intellectual disability child must show subaverage performance on a measure of general intellectual functioning.
• Child must also show deficits in adaptive behavior and school performance.

Question 11

Specific Learning Disability

Answer 11

• Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken, or written that may manifest in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, math calculations etc.

Question 12

Emotional Disturbance

Answer 12

• One or more of the following:
• inability to learn that cannot be explained by *intellectual, sensory or health factors
• inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships
• inappropriate types of behavior or feeling under normal circumstances
• tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Question 13

Evaluation Procedures

Answer 13

• Draw upon information from a variety of sources.
• Information obtained is documented and carefully considered.
• Eligibility, classification, and placement decisions are made by a team that includes the parents.
• Findings of an independent evaluation (IEE) must be considered.
• If a determination is made that a child has a disability and needs special education and related services, an individualized education program (IEP) must be developed for the child.
• The child’s placement must be in least restrictive environment (LRE) appropriate for the child.

Question 14

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

Answer 14

• The policy of providing an appropriate education for each child with disabilities is achieved in IDEA-Part B by the individualized education program or IEP.
• IDEA-Part B requires a written IEP for each child identified as disabled and in need of special education and related services.
• The IEP is written in a meeting that includes the parents and must be completed prior to placement in special education.

Question 15

Content of IEP

Answer 15

1. A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance
2. For a child who will take regular state and district-wide assessments, a statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to the meet the child’s needs.
3. A description of how the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured.
4. A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided… and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals.
5. An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the general education class and in nonacademic activities.
6. A statement of any individual accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the child on state and district-wide assessments.
7. The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications, and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications.
8. IEP must include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills
9. Beginning at least not later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority under state law, the IEP must include a statement that the child has been informed of his or her rights that will transfer to him or her on reaching the age of majority.

Question 16

Least Restrictive Environment

Answer 16

• Special classes, separate schooling or the removal of children with disabilities from the general education environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in general education classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
• …to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled

Question 17

Holland Case

Answer 17

• The presumption of placement in general education classroom can be rebutted. Four factors to consider:
  1. Educational benefits available in general education classroom (with appropriate aids and services) as compared to special education classroom.
  2. Nonacademic benefits of interaction with children who are not disabled.
  3. Effect of the child’s presence on the teacher and other children in the classroom. (Must try behavior intervention plan to reduce disruptive behavior).
  4. The cost of educating the child in the general education classroom.

Question 18

Brillon v. Klein Independent School District (2004)

Answer 18

• Suggested that a fifth factor that can be considered in making placement decisions, namely, whether the child can benefit from the general education curriculum “without substantial and burdensome curricular modifications

Question 19

Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley and Fair and Appropriate Education (FAPE)

Answer 19

• Suggests that IDEIA assures only an educational program reasonably designed to benefit the student, not the “best possible” or most perfect education
• Set forth a 2-prong test of “appropriate,” namely, “Were IDEIA procedures followed?” and “Is the program reasonably designed to benefit the child?”
• Consistent with language in Rowley, parents do not have the legal right to dictate specific teaching methodologies for their child

Question 20

Scope of Related Services

Answer 20

• Under IDEIA-Part B, a child must be found eligible for special education before he or she qualifies to receive related services, and the related service must be necessary to assist the child with disabilities to benefit from special education.
• Medical exclusion - medical services are provided only for diagnostic and evaluation purposes to determine a child’s medically related disability.

Question 21

Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garret F

Answer 21

• Supreme Court held that the school must provide full-time nursing services if such services are necessary for a child with a disability to benefit from special education. Schools are not responsible for services that must be performed by a physician, but the nursing services a child needs to benefit from special education must be provided without regard to cost to the school.

Question 22

Procedural Safeguards

Answer 22

• Parents have right to confidentiality of records and right to examine records
• right to give consent prior to evaluation
• right to written prior notice before changes are made in identification, evaluation, placement, and special services
• right to present findings from an independent evaluation
• right to resolution of complaints by a resolution meeting, mediation, or an impartial hearing officer.
• If the parent or the school is not satisfied with the decision of the hearing officer, they may appeal to the SEA for an impartial review of the hearing and the decision of the hearing officer.
• Parents (and the school) also have right to bring civil action in court.

Question 23

The Handicapped Children’s Protection Act of 1986

Answer 23

• In any action or proceeding brought under this subsection, the court in its discretion, may award reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the costs to the parents or guardian of a handicapped child or youth who is the prevailing party