Anaya Nolan
The Individualized Education Program (IEP) was introduced in 1975, when the right of students with disabilities to attend public schools was legally recognized under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). This was a landmark law that guaranteed a free, appropriate public education to every child with a disability in the US. The EHA was later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, with the most recent reauthorization of the law taking place in 2004.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of introduction | 1975 |
| Introduced along with | Education of All Handicapped Children's Act (EHA) |
| Focus | Students with disabilities |
| Type of disabilities covered | Physical handicaps, mental retardation, speech, vision and language problems, emotional and behavioral problems, and other learning disorders |
| What it ensures | Equal learning opportunities in the classroom |
| Who creates the plan | A specific team of the child's parent(s) and district personnel |
| Review frequency | Every year |
| Last reauthorized | 2004 |
What You'll Learn
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA)
The EHA was a response to the widespread exclusion of children with disabilities from education. In 1970, only one in five children with disabilities received an education, and many states had laws excluding certain students, including those who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or had an intellectual disability. The act mandated that public schools evaluate children with disabilities and create an educational plan with parent input that closely emulated the educational experience of non-disabled students. This was a critical step towards ensuring that children with disabilities had access to the same educational opportunities as their non-disabled peers.
The EHA had four main goals:
- To ensure that special education services are available to children who need them
- To guarantee that decisions about services to students with disabilities are fair and appropriate
- To establish specific management and auditing requirements for special education
- To provide federal funds to help states educate students with disabilities
The act also contained a provision that disabled students should be placed in the least restrictive environment, allowing them to interact with non-disabled students as much as possible. Separate schooling was only permitted when the nature or severity of the disability made it impossible to achieve instructional goals in a regular classroom. Furthermore, the law included a due process clause that guaranteed an impartial hearing to resolve conflicts between parents of disabled children and the school system.
The EHA was a landmark legislation that transformed the educational landscape for children with disabilities, ensuring their right to education and protecting their rights. It laid the foundation for future improvements and amendments, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990, which built upon the EHA to further enhance the educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The IDEA provides an educational roadmap for children with disabilities, outlining the exact education, services, and supplementary aids that will be provided. It requires that an Individualized Education Program (IEP) be designed with parental approval to meet the needs of every child with a disability. The IEP can be modified at any time, as long as all parties are advised and agree to the changes.
The IDEA has its roots in the Brown v. Board of Education case of 1954, in which the US Supreme Court ruled that African American children had the right to equal educational opportunities and that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Following this decision, parents of students with disabilities began to bring lawsuits against their school districts for excluding and segregating their children.
In the 1960s and 1970s, several pieces of legislation and court cases further advanced the educational rights of children with disabilities. Notable examples include the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v. Commonwealth case of 1971, and the Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia case of 1972. These efforts culminated in the passage of the EHA in 1975, which guaranteed a free and appropriate public education for all children with disabilities.
The IDEA has undergone several amendments since its inception. In 1986, the EHA was amended to include early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities. In 1990, the law was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and added traumatic brain injury and autism as new disability categories. The 1997 amendments further emphasized access to the general curriculum and required that parents be provided with opportunities to resolve disputes with schools and local educational agencies.
The 2004 reauthorization of the IDEA aligned the law with the No Child Left Behind Act requirements, calling for early intervention services, greater accountability, improved educational outcomes, and raised standards for instructors teaching special education.
The IDEA has had a significant impact on the education of children with disabilities in the US. It has increased the number of children receiving special education services, improved high school graduation rates and post-school employment for youth with disabilities, and reduced the number of children being educated in separate schools and institutions. However, compliance with the IDEA remains an issue, with many states failing to meet its key requirements.
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The Handicapped Children's Protection Act
Both Acts stipulated that schools must allow parents of children with disabilities to participate in the formation and implementation of their child's Individualized Education Program (IEP). They also gave parents the right to a hearing and to bring their case to state and/or federal court if they deemed their child's IEP unsuitable. The HCPA also ensured that public educators keep parents of disabled children informed of decisions and involved in their child's education.
The HCPA came about after the United States Supreme Court's final ruling on the 1984 case Smith v. Robinson. The high court ruled that the EAHCA is the primary enforcement mechanism of disability rights in education but did not cover how, when, and/or where legal costs are to be resolved. The HCPA addressed this issue in favour of parents.
The HCPA also includes clauses regarding disabled children from birth to five years old. It ensures that disabled children aged three, four, and five are guaranteed a Free and Appropriate Public Education like their non-disabled peers. The Act also offers Early Intervention Programs aimed at newborns, infants, and toddlers with disabilities. In addition, the HCPA provides families with disabled newborns and toddlers an Individualized Family Service Plan, which maps out the services each child and family need.
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The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
The NCLB was the product of a collaboration between civil rights and business groups, as well as both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and the Bush administration. It sought to advance American competitiveness and close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more advantaged peers.
The NCLB law significantly increased the federal role in holding schools responsible for the academic progress of all students. It put a special focus on ensuring that states and schools boost the performance of certain groups of students, such as English-language learners, students in special education, and poor and minority children, whose achievement, on average, trails their peers.
The NCLB required all federally funded public schools to administer a standardized test annually to students in selected grades. Schools that receive Title I funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in test scores. Schools that repeatedly fail to meet AYP targets face a cascade of increasingly serious sanctions.
The NCLB also required states to ensure their teachers are "highly qualified", which generally means that they have a bachelor's degree in the subject they are teaching and state certification.
The NCLB was controversial in part because it penalized schools that didn't show improvement. Critics argued that the law grew the federal footprint in K-12 education and relied too heavily on standardized tests. They also said that its emphasis on math and reading tests narrowed the curriculum, forcing schools to spend less time on subjects that aren't explicitly tested, like social studies, foreign language, and the arts.
Despite the controversy, the NCLB had a positive impact on student achievement. The United States Department of Education points to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, released in July 2005, showing improved student achievement in reading and math.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA)
The IDEIA has four main parts: Part A covers the general provisions of the law; Part B covers assistance for the education of all children with disabilities; Part C covers infants and toddlers with disabilities, including children from birth to age three; and Part D consists of national support programs administered at the federal level.
The IDEIA introduced several changes to the IDEA. Firstly, it required early intervention for students, greater accountability, and improved educational outcomes. Secondly, it raised the standards for instructors who teach special education classes. Thirdly, it mandated that states report the progress of children with disabilities on state and district assessments and work to improve graduation and dropout rates among this group. Finally, the IDEIA brought IDEA into conformity with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
The IDEIA also includes provisions for disciplinary actions and procedural safeguards. For example, schools are allowed to consider unique circumstances on a case-by-case basis when determining disciplinary actions for students with disabilities who violate the code of student conduct. Additionally, parents have specific rights and protections under the IDEIA, including the right to present complaints and request mediation.
The impact of the IDEIA has been significant. In the 2022-23 school year, more than 66% of children with disabilities spent 80% or more of their school day in general education classrooms. Early intervention services were provided to over 441,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. The IDEIA has also contributed to improvements in high school graduation rates, post-secondary school enrollment, and post-school employment for youth with disabilities.
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Frequently asked questions
IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. It is an official program designed to ensure that every student with a disability has an equal learning opportunity in the classroom.
IEPs were introduced in 1975, along with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA).
The EHA was a landmark decision that required schools to provide students with a wide range of disabilities with a "free appropriate public education". It was also the first time that children with disabilities were granted a legal right to education.
In 1986, the EHA was amended to include preschool children with disabilities. In 1990, the EHA was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and traumatic brain injury and autism were added as new disability categories.
