and the role of the principal in the development and implementation process.
IDEA and NCLB define how students with disabilities are to be included in statewide assessment and accountability systems. In chapter 4, Assessing and Teaching Students With Disabilities, we discuss the requirements regarding assessment and provide information about accommodations and modifications. Barriers to developing an inclusive school are discussed, and promising approaches for improving student achievement are provided.
Chapter 5, Discipline and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, explains the processes, as defined under IDEA, for disciplining a student with disabilities. Terms such as manifestation determination, functional behavioral assessment, and behavior intervention plan are described, and suggestions to avoid discipline problems are offered.
Finally, in chapter 6, Encouraging Parental Involvement, we focus on parents and ways to involve them in the individualized education of their students. Ways for schools to engage parents and build effective relationships are suggested. The book ends with a list of online resources, a guide to significant changes that appear in IDEA 2004, and a glossary of terms used in special education.
CHAPTER 1
Understanding the Basic Rights of Students With Disabilities
Questions Principals Ask
• What are FAPE, LRE, and related services?
• What rights do students and their parents have?
• What is required under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)?
• How do Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act affect schools?
The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act is the primary U.S. federal policy that defines which students are eligible for special education supports and services and protects students with disabilities against discrimination (see appendix B, beginning on page 71, for a summary of key legal provisions in IDEA 2004). This federal law guarantees all students, regardless of their disability, a free appropriate public education (commonly referred to as FAPE). To be eligible under IDEA, a student must first be determined to have a disability that is consistent with one or more of the categories specified in the law, and the disability must have an adverse effect on educational performance that necessitates specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs resulting from the disability. Only students who meet the eligibility requirements are entitled to FAPE.
Visit http://nichcy.org/laws/idea for a wealth of information about IDEA, including summaries of requirements, statutes and regulations, and training materials.
Free Appropriate Public Education
A free appropriate public education includes specially designed instruction in addition to appropriate related services (for example, speech and language services, occupational therapy, technology, and so on) without cost to parents or students. The individualized education program defines what is considered appropriate for each student with a disability. To create an IEP, a team of individuals referred to as the IEP team (which includes the parents, selected school personnel, and, when appropriate, the student) meets to review the student’s evaluation data and determine the appropriate services and instructional strategies that will support the student in the classroom (see chapter 3 for more information about developing an IEP and selecting members for the IEP team).
The IEP is a critically important legal document as well as the foundation for educating a student with a disability. The process for developing the IEP and who should be involved in developing the IEP are carefully prescribed in law as part of the guarantee of FAPE. The IEP represents a contract between the school system and the student’s parents or guardians. We will discuss this important document in more detail in chapter 3.
What is considered FAPE for any given child is to be determined by the IEP team. However, defining what is considered appropriate has been subjected to a number of legal decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Rowley (1982) ruled that schools are responsible for providing an individualized education to students eligible under the law. However, the court also stated that the law did not intend appropriate to mean maximizing the fullest potential of each child with a disability. The court further defined FAPE as an education that is delivered in compliance with the student’s individualized education program and is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits” (Board of Education v. Rowley, 1982).
Additional guidance on implementing IDEA’s statutes and regulations is provided at http://idea.ed.gov by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) within the U.S. Department of Education.
Least Restrictive Environment
IDEA also requires that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment and with their nondisabled peers “to the maximum extent appropriate” (Assistance to States for the Education of Children With Disabilities, 2009). The 1997 and 2004 amendments to IDEA emphasize that IEP teams must first consider providing special education in the general education classroom and may only consider other settings if the student cannot receive an appropriate education even with special supports and services. For most students, the general education classroom is the appropriate setting. However, some children may require other settings, and the IDEA regulations require that school districts must be able to provide instruction in the following settings: general classrooms, special classrooms, special schools, home, and hospitals and institutions.
Where a child is educated is based on multiple factors such as academic achievement, progress in the general education curriculum, and teacher and parent input, and it is the responsibility of the IEP team to evaluate all the data and document why a student might receive special education outside the general classroom. According to OSEP’s 29th Annual Report to Congress, during the 2004–2005 school year, 96 percent of students ages six through twenty-one served under Part B of IDEA were educated in general education classes for at least some part of the school day. More than half of all students ages six through twenty-one served under Part B of IDEA were educated for 80 percent or more of the school day in general education classes (U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 2007).
Under IDEA, more restrictive placements can be considered appropriate when the safety of the student with a disability or of the other students in the school environment is threatened or when the student with a disability is so disruptive that the education of the other students is significantly impaired. In these instances, documentation of the student’s behaviors to support the more restrictive placement is essential. Exactly what documentation might be required will depend on your local district’s policies, but most likely the IEP will require that the team indicate why it has decided to remove a student from the general education classroom. For instance, the statement might include evidence about specific behaviors such as vocal outbursts or aggression that may require a smaller, more controlled environment for learning to occur. These decisions are to be reconsidered at least once a year, and there should be evidence in the IEP that the interventions and supports that the student might require have been attempted
