Running head: COMPONENTS OF IDEA

Components of IDEA and Its Impact

Justine Compton
Dakota State University
April 14, 2016

COMPONENTS OF IDEA

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Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was put into place to secure free and
appropriate public education, regardless of ability. In this essay the author discusses the six
major principles of IDEA, which are as follows: Zero Reject, Nondiscriminatory Evaluation,
Free Appropriate Public Education, Least Restrictive Environment, Procedural Safeguards, and
Parent Participation and Shared Decision Making. The author also explains how the components
of IDEA have impacted her, the educators and the lives of other individuals with disabilities.

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Components of IDEA and Its Impact

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, most often referred to as the acronym
IDEA, is a four part legislation that was brought about in 1990 after Congress decided to rename
the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. This law was put into place to secure
free and appropriate public education, regardless of ability.
Since 1990, IDEA has undergone many changes. The Individuals with Disabilities Act
was later renamed The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 but
continued to keep the acronym IDEA. In 2006, Congress made final regulations to part B and in
2011 made final regulation to part C. The four parts of this legislation are as follows:
Part A covers the general provisions of the law, Part B covers assistance for education of
all children with disabilities, Part C covers infants and toddlers with disabilities, and Part
D is the national support programs administered at the federal level (Wikipedia, 2016).
Before IDEA and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, students with
disabilities were sent to state institutions for persons with mental retardation or mental illness
(U.S. Department of Education, 2007). This inhibited proper learning and interaction, which is
why IDEA was born.
There are six major principles, or components, to IDEA: Zero Reject, Nondiscriminatory
Evaluation, Free Appropriate Public Education, Least Restrictive Environment, Procedural
Safeguards, and Parent Participation and Shared Decision Making. These six principles are the
key factors that help students with disabilities not only have a chance to live more traditional
lives, but also a chance for their parents to help with the decisions as well.
The first of these six principles is titled, Zero Reject. This principle simply states that
every child with a disability must be educated. This also means that if the school is unable to

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provide for the student, they are to find another place for the child to be educated. Under the
Zero Reject principle, it is required by the state to locate, identify, and evaluate all children from
birth to age 21 who have or are suspected to have a disability.
The second principle of IDEA is titled, Nondiscriminatory Evaluation. This principle is in
place to make sure schools use non-biased, multi-factored 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, 2012, p. 17). The goal of this is to not only decrease the
number of misclassifications, but also to help students who truly need extra help without being
discriminated against, whether that be in the form of race, culture, or native language. Under that
same concept, all tests are to be administered in a students native language.
The third principle of IDEA is titled, Free Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE. As
mentioned earlier, IDEA is put into place to supply a student a free public education, regardless
of the type or severity of their disability. FAPE was put into place for just that reason. This also
means the education will be of public expense; no cost to the childs parents or guardians. Under
this principle, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is formed to help meet the needs of the
student with a disability.
The fourth principle of IDEA is titled, the Least Restrictive Environment, or LRE. It is
stated that a student with a disability must be educated in a general education classroom along
with his or her non-disabled peers, as long as the student can receive an appropriate education
within the accommodations. This is also in place so the students do not get left out of an
extracurricular or non-academic activity.
Students who may not benefit from being educated in the general classroom or are unable
to be educated in the general education classroom have other options due to IDEA, in the form of

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an IEP. When the IEP is set up, a team is also put into place to make sure the guidelines and rules
of IDEA are being followed. The IEP teams have options such as: the regular general education
classroom fulltime, a split between the regular general education classroom and a resource room,
full time in a separate classroom, or full time in a separate school. This could include: a
residential facility, private school, correctional facility, the home, or in a hospital (Heward, 2012,
p. 19).
The fifth principle of IDEA is titled, the Procedural Safeguards, or DPS. This principle
not only protects the children and their rights, but also the parents or guardians. All tests and
placement decisions must undergo parental consent. These records are to be kept confidential
between the IEP team and the parents, unless given a release signed by both the student and at
least one parent or guardian.
The last of these six principles is titled, Parent Participation and Shared Decision Making.
This principle states that schools must listen and consider the parents and, when applicable, the
students input for the IEP decisions. The school is not required to implement any of the
suggestions the parents or student may have. If a parent, guardian, or student does not agree with
the placement or terms of the IEP set in place for them, they have the option to request a free
Due Process Hearing. Under this hearing the parents may opt for a third party mediation with a
judge. This method is usually used as a last resort if any of the parties are unsatisfied with the
schools decisions (Lee, 2014).
The author has had some experience with IDEA and IEPs throughout her life. She has
had accommodations since preschool when she was given a separate teacher along with the
regular teacher. In elementary through middle school, she was sent to a resource room for part of
the day to help learn math, reading, and writing. The author can attest that her IEP through IDEA

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not only benefited her, but also her teachers and parents. The author was able to catch up with
her classmates in all the above mentioned subjects, and even though was still on an IEP in high
school, she was able to be full time in general education classrooms with her peers using
minimal accommodations.
The parents of the author were grateful for all the help needed in preschool, elementary,
and middle school, since they could not properly help their daughter understand as well as the
resource room teachers could, even though they did quite a bit to help. The resource room
teachers were able to break down the subjects into smaller steps and took a more individualized
approach that was needed.
Some teachers still have troubles when trying to work with students with disabilities,
even if they took a few classes in college. The resource room teachers like IDEA because it gives
them a chance to help students individually instead of in a large group setting, and the general
education teachers like IDEA because it helps them understand what certain children need more
help with. Teachers also benefit from IDEA because it opens new job opportunities for special
education teachers that were not around before IDEA.
IDEA has also had a major impact on the students. Since IDEA has come into effect,
more young children are getting help at a younger age; this is due to Part B and C of IDEA. With
students being diagnosed sooner, they can get the help they need and stay caught up with their
classmates.
This means that more children with disabilities are able to attend general education
classrooms with their non-disabled peers. In 2008, IDEA-reported data indicate that 5,660,491
students with disabilities were educated in general education classrooms for at least part of the

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day. Thus, 95 percent of all students with disabilities were educated in their local neighborhood
schools (U.S. Department of Education, 2010, p. 8).
It is stated that more youth (16% increase) with disabilities graduate from high school
with a regular diploma since the year 1997 (U.S. Department of Education, 2012, p. 8). This
being said, more youth with disabilities are enrolled in post-secondary programs, whether this is
a two-year or four-year college, this rose from 14.6% in 1987 to 31.9% in 2005. Enrollment rates
have dropped for post-secondary vocational, technical, and business schools, however. Since
more young adults are graduating high school and going off to college, it is said that more adults
with disabilities are employed (U.S. Department of Education, 2012, p. 9).
IDEA has changed many lives and affected todays educational society in numerous
ways. If IDEA was not intact today, some children with disabilities might not be in schools. If
the parents or guardians would not be able to leave the children home alone due to more severe
impairments, some might be sent to institutions for individuals with mental disorders. IDEA has
also lifted the confidence levels of both the students and parents since students are now able to
not only attend school, but also graduate with their peers and provide a life for themselves.

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References

Heward, W. L. (20012). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (10th ed.).

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Lee, A. (2014, March 29). Due Process Rights: What You Need to Know. Retrieved April 15,
2016, from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/disputeresolution/due-process-rights-what-you-need-to-know
U.S. Department of Education. (2010, November). Thirty-five Years of Progress in Educating 35
YEARS Children With Disabilities Through IDEA. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35/history/idea-35-history.pdf
Wikipedia. (2016, March 22). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved April 14,
2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuals_with_Disabilities_Education_Act