Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Education for Students with
Disabilities
In 1975, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L.
94–1142), which required public schools to identify and then to provide special
education services to all children with educational, emotional, developmental, or
physical disabilities (Singer, Palfrey, Butler, & Walker 1989). The act was amended
in 1990 and has since been known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) (Kauffman & Smucker 1995). This act mandates free and appropriate
public education for all handicapped children between the ages of 3 and 21 and
sets up a system of federal financial support to states that implement the law.
Funds are supplied to each school system for each child who is enrolled in a spe-
cial education program, until the number of students reaches 12 percent of the
school population, after which no additional funds are available. The guiding prin-
ciples of the act ensure that:
•
No child will be denied placement;
•
Programs will be individualized;
•
Children will be placed in the least restrictive environment that can ade-
quately accommodate their needs; and
•
Parents will participate in making decisions about placement (Mehan,
Hertweck, & Meihls 1986).
To fulfill federal reporting requirements and receive reimbursement, states and
school districts are required to classify their students who have special needs.
Classifications of students vary somewhat but generally correspond to seven condi-
tions mentioned in P.L. 94–142: speech impairment, learning disability, emotional
disturbance, mental retardation, hearing impairment, vision impairment, and ortho-
pedic/medical impairment. The child’s classification is a major determinant of the
placement and services the child will receive. For example, children classified as
learning disabled are usually placed in regular classes, often leaving class for a pe-
riod of special instruction, while children classified as emotionally disturbed or

---

98
mentally retarded are usually placed in separate classes or schools (Singer et al.
1989).
The evaluation is conducted by a multidisciplinary team, which must include at
least one teacher or other specialist with knowledge of the area of suspected dis-
ability. After interpreting the evaluation data and identifying the child as handi-
capped, the team develops an individualized education plan (IEP). Included in the
IEP are the student’s current level of educational performance, short- and long-
term educational goals for the student, a plan for the evaluation of student
progress, and documentation of the kind and duration of the services the student
will receive. The IEPs and the child’s progress are reviewed at least once a year
to determine if revision is necessary (Mehan et al. 1986).
P.L. 94–142 also specifies protective safeguards pertaining to the rights and
responsibilities of parents. The development of educational policy for a child re-
quires parent participation, and parents or guardians must receive written notice
whenever a change in identification, assessment, or educational placement of their
child is proposed. If an agreement cannot be reached about the appropriate place-
ment or the IEP for a handicapped child, then parents or educators can initiate
an impartial hearing. To prepare for this hearing, parents must be given access
to all educational records and information pertaining to the school’s evaluation of
their child. (Mehan et al. 1986).
At the elementary level, most special education students receive pull-out services
from regular classes, meaning that students leave their regular classroom to re-
ceive specialized instruction with a small group of other students and then return
to their classroom (Entwistle & Alexander 1993). National statistics, collected by
the National Center for Education Statistics for the 1993–94 school year, showed
the following percentages of students participating in remedial and special edu-
cation programs or services: 3.07 percent in bilingual education, 3.97 percent in
English as a second language, 10.88 percent in remedial reading, 6.90 percent in
remedial mathematics, and 6.88 percent in programs for the handicapped (USDE
1995).