Disabilities Education Act Scenarios

Scenario Assignment

A federal law that mandates schools to meet and serve the educational needs of eligible students with disabilities is known as the IDEA or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Not all students with a disability will meet the qualifications however, schools must locate and evaluate students suspected of having a disability at no cost to the family. The purpose of IDEA is to provide all students with an education. The main principles of IDEA are: Zero reject, Nondiscriminatory identification and evaluation, free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), Procedural safeguards, and parent and student participation and shared decision making. Zero reject means a school cannot exclude

A free appropriate public education (FAPE) means that an education will be provided at the expense of the public for all students without regard to severity of disability. Within the FAPE students with disabilities will have an individual education placement (IEP) plan create and implemented to meet their unique educational goals and needs. A least restrictive environment is a setting that provides the student with disabilities the maximum general education time with peers while allowing educational needs to be meet. Procedural safeguards are rights of children with disabilities and their parents that schools must provide. Parents must consent for initial, all following evaluations and placement decisions. Parents have the right to have their child tested at an outside testing facility at their own expense. Mediation is available to settle disagreements between districts and parents with regards to appropriate services for a child's educational needs. Parent and student participation and shared decision making means that parents must be included in all aspects of identification and evaluation of students with disabilities. School districts, students and parents must work together to design and

The district is basing its decision on only one assessment, thus as a result of the findings of the assessment adequate educational equipment is being denied the student. The district is under the belief that the student would not benefit from a voice-activated communication system even though a speech clinician who works with the student on a regular basis has suggested he would. Further, the director explains that the district is not obligated to provide specialized equipment that was this costly. Cost can never play a role in deciding the educational needs of a student. If the evidence is present to support the need of any equipment for a student to be successful in the classroom it is the district's responsibility to find a way to provide it. (U.S. Department of Education,