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Six principles of IDEA

Six Principles of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (Public Law 105-17 ) are the fifth set of amendments to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA - Public Law 94-142 , which was passed in 1975 . Prior to 1975 , over half the children with disabilities in United States did not receive appropriate educational services . EHA went into effect in 1977 and brought immense changes to the lives of children with disabilities , their families , and the way schools used to treat these children . It was very

common then for schools to refuse education to children with disabilities (Neas , 1998 . EHA in its refined form as now known as IDEA which ensures that every child with a disability is imparted a free and customized public education , with least restrictions and granting of certain rights to parents . The law guarantees that the children are not segregated or removed from the classroom altogether on the basis of their disabilities . Understanding IDEA 's six principles is critical to understanding the spirit and intent of the law . These principles form the hallmark of IDEA and provide the framework around which special education services should be formulated and provided to students with disabilities . These principles are discussed in the succeeding paragraphs (LDA , 2005

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE

It used to be a common scene for parents to be told by school administrators that they did not have any plan for their disabled children . But not any more . With the introduction of new amendments in the form of IDEA , all children (ages 3 to 21 ) with disabilities are entitled to a free , and appropriate public education . The state and local school systems are made responsible to organize and pay for the education even if it is provided in a private or residential school outside of the local public school system

Further detail of FAPE envisages `free of cost ' education for each child with a disability . `Appropriate ' in FAPE signifies that each child with a disability is entitled to an educational service that is appropriate ' for his or her requirements . `Public ' in FAPE identifies the public school system . Children with disability of any kind possess the same right to attend the public schools as enjoyed by normal children . IDEA makes the public school system accessible to all `Education ' in FAPE reiterates the provision of educational services at individual level to each disabled child suiting to his /her needs

Appropriate Evaluation

Appropriate evaluation helps in determining eligibility of children for special educational services . It entails testing of children by professionals . The law makes it mandatory for schools and other agencies to hold nondiscriminatory testing . The tests should be able to bring out strengths and weaknesses of a child and should spell out the kind of education necessitated for a particular child . This principle also makes it compulsory to hold several tests with wide range of activities instead of focusing on a single test . This kind of evaluation not only makes particular...

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