Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Essay

While all children can be referred for evaluation for special education, not all are found to be eligible. The student will be tested in all areas related to the child’s assumed disability by the multidisciplinary educational team. In order to be eligible for special education services, the child’s assume disability has to impact the child’s ability to learn. Parents represent the child’s interests. They need to stay informed and involved in their child’s education. IDEA of 2004 strengthened the role, as well as the responsibility, of parents and ensures that they and their families have opportunities to participate in their child’s education. IDEA also protects the rights of parents by ensuring that they can be members of the IEP teams. Parents can be involved in the evaluations and placements of their children and have a say in what happens.

Hernandez, Beth Harry, Lynn Newman and Rene Cameto in an effort to learn more of parental awareness of special education rights and programs, perceptions of parental involvement and satisfaction with the District’s special education process as well as comparing the results to those nation wide. This study was conducted in two waves the first wave was conducted in the spring of 2005 and the second wave in the winter through spring of 2006. The interviews were conducted in eight languages among those Spanish, English, Chinese and Korean. The questions were formed in an aim to find out about parental awareness of special education rights and programs, parents participation in IEP meetings, reasons why parents did not attend meeting. Data was also collected in regards to the type of notification of meetings and for those parents who do not speak English they were also asked about translators. On wave 2 one more question was included to find out about income. A random sample of 2000 was selected for each wave. To promote higher response two letters were sent to parents notifying them about he interview before phone calls were made. Their response rate was about 70% for first wave and 72% for second wave. The survey showed the following results 85% of the parents reported to attend IEP meetings and 75% reported

The team continues to then collaborate on their individual perspectives about what are the global areas of need for the student and based on those areas, how can self-advocacy be promoted. This section of the IEP process is another key opportunity for team members to talk and discuss their perspective about the child’s needs as well as gain each other’s input before the goal brainstorming begins. Finally, the

Over the past decade I have had the honor of constructing and collaborating with IEP teams, thus ensuring the development of effective and efficient IEP’s for my students. Constructing an IEP is not a simplex task, as it requires multiple data sources, stakeholder input, and efficient data analysis. Prior to holding an IEP team meeting I assess the student through informal assessments and observations. Once I have complied my data and conducted an analysis I contact the parent to discuss present concerns regarding their child’s educational journey. When warranted, I also converse with speech and language pathologist, occupational therapist, or the school psychologist to discuss concerns or recommendations. I obtain the perspectives of each participant prior to the IEP meeting, thus creating a collaborative IEP process. Reflecting upon my personal evaluation methodology I find myself utilizing a responsive evaluation approach. I evolve and shift to meet the demands of my stakeholders; ensuring results will produce the optimal outcomes. In my case, it is ensuring my students achieve his or her life goals. In addition, I recognize multiple realities as I embrace perspectives from both the home and school communities. Lastly, I utilize learning theories to guide my critical lens, thus pulling knowledge from social learning

This is because there are language barriers that hinder the IEP team from effectively communicating with one another. In this case special considerations must be made for those whose primary language is not english. Many schools will seek an school employee that can act as a translator between all parties. If that is not an option the school will go to an outside agency and request a translator.

Lila does not need an advanced degree to be the most qualified expert on her child’s IEP team. It is enough that this mother of a five-year-old non-verbal preschooler with special needs knows how to get her child to comply with assessors or else the team would have nothing. Lila’s pre-schooler, who has been referred through XX California Regional Center to be assessed for her educational needs and to make decisions about the least restrictive environment, was sometimes reluctant during her assessments, but Lila knew how to solicit her cooperation.

Schools must collaborate with parents and students with disabilities in the planning and implementation of special education and related services. The parents’ (and, whenever appropriate, the student’s) input and wishes must be considered in determining IEP goals, related-service needs, and placement

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a four-part piece of American legislation that ensures students with disabilities will receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that meets their individual needs. From 1975 to 1990, IDEA was known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). In 1990, the United States Congress reauthorized EHA and changed the title to IDEA (Public Law No. 94-142). This law had a dramatic, yet positive impact on millions of children with disabilities in every state and local community across the country. Overall, the goal of IDEA is to provide disabled students with the same educational opportunities as those without disabilities. Although the laws governing special education students have changed over the past thirty-six years, very little has changed in school districts’ special education departments. Why is this? What factors must be present at the district level for successful change to occur? Perhaps the answer has to do with how district leadership handles change. Unfortunately, many school district leaders are not equipped to lead change. With no special training and faced with making difficult decisions, leaders struggle to implement a sustainable plan that benefits individual students’ needs. To step back and see the big picture takes expert leadership.

Since the first Special Education law was enacted in 1977 the total number of children and students served has increased by 81%. . Every child who receives special education services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child's individual needs. Teachers are held with the responsibilities of creating and updating the students IEP’S and meeting with parent to discuss their child’s IEP. IEP’s are often filled with terms and acronyms that makes the readability of an IEP challenging. The article “Readability of Individualized Education Programs” suggests that IEP’s should be written in better context to increase readability.

This assignment helped me to show what items are included in a IEP and in a IFSP. This assignment helped me to learn how hard it can be to communicate with families if the school does not have the same view. I found this very useful because when it is time for me to be part of an IEP, I could then use this knowledge. I learned so much from my group though we were split half of us were the school and half of us were the family we ended up working together and I learned a lot of interesting facts and most importantly I learned creative ways to better help a child in this case we read about. I wonder how hard this can be for a parent who doesn’t have this knowledge?

Union Elementary School is home to Perrysburg Preschool, where I did my observation and job shadowing. Union elementary is located in Maumee, Ohio although the school itself is part of the Perrysburg school district, In Northwest Ohio. Though this is a public school, all pre-school programs in this school feature both children with developmental delays and are on IEPs, as well as children that are considered on track, developmentally. IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs, are defined as special education services that is required by law. This is a document that lays out a child’s learning needs and services that the school provides to help said student succeed. By incorporating children that not only are on IEPs, but also children considered up to date developmentally, this allows for those children on IEPs to see themselves as equals, and those who are up to date to become familiar with these children who are living with special needs, seeing them as equals. One of the teachers in this pre-school, as well as therapy specialist for those children who need it, is Cathie France. For this job shadowing assignment I observed her both in the classroom with the children and during therapy sessions with individual children.

In the case of students who do not have parents that can advocate for them, this video demonstrates the importance of student input when the boy said, "Ask me what I need and want… Most of the time I know what will help" (IEP Video). Sometimes this is an overlooked part of the process, but it is a vital part. Students have the best understanding of themselves and their needs and so we want to include their voice in the IEP.

Only two of the 24 students being served in the researcher’s rural school district could explain when and why they were placed in the special education program, the purpose of the IEP meeting, and accommodations available to help them succeed. These same two students were the only two to attend their annual IEP meeting. When asked by the researcher why the students did not attend the IEP annual meeting the most common response was, “They don’t need me.”

Ideally, after I graduate from this program I’ll like to work in the Central Valley and live nearby my family. If that does occur, I would have to face the reality that many of my student and their families come from a lower socioeconomic status. With that said, as the school counselor I would need to be prepare and make sure that my students and their family members are educated about the school system and their rights in regards to their child with the disability. As stated by Fiedler, Simpson, and Clark (2006), “Family poverty or financial difficulties impose a number of logistical barriers that restrict parent participation in educational decision making.” (p. 198). To ensure that the family members make proper decisions for their child with the disability, I would have to meet with them throughout the school year and educate them about the their legal rights. I would also have to make sure that the family members attend the IEP meetings. However, because many family face financial difficulties the family members may have different work schedule that might make them feel like they should be using those time earning money instead of coming to the IEP meetings, can’t afford transportation, or have work or other obligations that doesn’t permit them to come to the meeting during the schedule appointment time. Therefore, as the school counselor I need to try my best to be flexible with the IEP meetings and talk to the other school staff who will be attending those meetings

One of the important role of working with students with learning disabilities is teaming with parents and being respectful to their culture. According to Preliminary Credential Competency Checklist (2014), Professionalism and Interpersonal Skills competency 6. 1 stresses the importance of respecting the families and students in regards to their culture, personal beliefs, identity, and ethnicity when communicating important information to the parents regarding the student performance in school (p. 8). In competency 6.4 the role of a special education teacher is to communicate important information of the students performance to the IEP. When communicating with the IEP, the special education teacher must have diverse methods of communicating specific information. The students parent being an important member of the IEP team must be aware of the information, and must be explained to them in a way they understand (p.8)