IDEA: Constituent Elements and Related Legal Challenges

Introduction

In order to provide an education program for students with disabilities, it is necessary to understand the policies, regulations, and procedures for ensuring Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) (Jones, 2011). This document presents a training guideline for staff in a private school setting, covering the key constituent elements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the legal challenges associated with its implementation.

Staff Training: Designing a Special Education Program Under IDEA

The law governing the design and development of a school special education program requires that consultation be undertaken with the appropriate representatives of students with disabilities. These consultations must be timely and meaningful and must begin at the program's initiation stage, continuing through transition and termination. Consultations will encompass the design, development, and implementation of the special needs program (Jones, 2011).

The representatives of children with disabilities are to be engaged in consultations on the following: procedures for identifying student needs, the population of beneficiary students with disabilities, the services to be offered, service delivery procedures, locations for service delivery, and assessment of delivery and outcome procedures (Scanlon, 2004). These consultations are guided by available federal funding, the number of privately placed students with disabilities, the needs of those students, and their location within the private school (Jones, 2011).

The following steps should be considered in designing, developing, planning, implementing, and delivering a special needs learning program.

IDEA requires that child find obligations for students placed in private schools be treated similarly to those for children in public schools. In public institutions, child find is an obligation delegated to the State Educational Agencies (SEAs) and the Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). To conduct child find in private schools, LEAs are required to consult with the appropriate representatives of students with disabilities placed in those schools (Jones, 2011).

Child Find, Evaluation, and IEP Development

In the child find process, an initial evaluation is conducted, followed by an eligibility determination undertaken by a qualified group of professionals together with the child's parents or guardian. Evaluation and eligibility are determined and cross-checked under the definitions and guidelines in Part B of IDEA. Upon determining that a child requires special services and education, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed — unless the parent chooses to enroll the child in a private school and objects to a public placement.

Procedural compliance and due process apply specifically to child find where children with disabilities are enrolled in private schools. If the consultations required for child find, identification, evaluation, and eligibility determination are not carried out in accordance with the Act's provisions, a parent may file a written and signed complaint.

Consultations must also address the appropriate educational environment that provides the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for the disabled child's development. Deliberations on service delivery, evaluation, and reporting procedures are considered during these consultations. The school is mandated to ensure that the IEP is implemented according to plan and that feedback is provided to the child's parent. The child's progress is measured against the goals and objectives set out in the written service plan. Programs must also be reviewed at least once a year to confirm their continued appropriateness.

As the disabled child continues with the training and learning program, the need for transition planning becomes increasingly important. The team of professionals providing services, in consultation with the representative parent, the regular educator, and the disabled child, must deliberate on an appropriate course of specialization aligned with post-school goals. These deliberations should begin when the student approaches the age of 14. It is essential that the disabled student's input be incorporated into transition consultations, as their perspective carries significant weight.

From the age of 16, the service provider and the professional team must begin preparing the student for post-school life. These interactions should include training on work environments through direct exposure, career development, public interaction skills, and awareness of legal obligations upon reaching certain ages.

Students with disabilities are required to undergo evaluations to determine their progress and the impact of the program. While the relevance of specific assessments will vary from child to child, they must account for several special factors, including: limited English proficiency, communication needs, need for assistive technology services or devices, visual impairment or blindness, being deaf or hard of hearing, and the child's behavioral needs.

In service provision, equitable participation of both publicly and privately placed students with disabilities is emphasized. There are no special entitlements exclusive to privately placed disabled children. The authorities responsible for distributing services must ensure that qualified professionals are available — professionals with the competence to facilitate enhanced development and effective learning for children with disabilities. For privately placed disabled students, consultations on service delivery address the determination of which professionals will attend to specific types of disabilities.