Special education in the United States enables students with exceptional learning needs to access resources through special education programs. The idea of excluding students with any disability from public school education can be traced back to 1893, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court expelled a student merely due to poor academic ability.(Esteves and Rao 1). Several court cases and mounting civil rights legislation prompted congress to pass the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975 (sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law (PL) 94-142), in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities. The EAHCA has been reauthorized multiple times and was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services consistent with federal standards as a condition of receiving federal funds.
IDEA entitles every student to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). To ensure a FAPE, a team of professionals from the local educational agency and the student's parents identify the student's unique educational needs, develop annual goals for the student, and determine the placement, program modification, testing accommodations, counseling, and other special services which meet the student's needs. Parents are supposed to be equal participants in this process as well as others that are knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of the data collected through the evaluation, and all placement options. The student's plan, to include the above items, is recorded in a written Individualized Education Program (IEP). The child's placement is typically determined by the annual assessment, based on the child's IEP, and as close in proximity to the child's home as possible. The school is required to develop and implement an IEP that meets the standards of federal and state educational agencies. The state department of education oversees its schools to make sure they are compliant to every student's IEP. If schools fail to comply to the child's IEP, the school district may be put on trial. Parents have the option of refusing special education services for their child if they choose.
Under IDEA, students with disabilities are entitled to receive special education services through their local school district from ages 3 to 18 or 21. To receive special education services, a student must demonstrate a disability in one of 13 specific categories, including autism, developmental disability, specific learning disability, intellectual impairment, emotional or behavioral disability, intellectual disability, speech and language disability, deaf-blind, visual impairment, hearing impairment, orthopedic or physical impairment, other health impaired (including attention deficit disorder), multiple disabilities and traumatic brain injury. Depending on the students' individual needs, they may be included, mainstreamed, or placed in a special school or may receive many specialized services in separate classrooms. In addition to academic goals, the goals documented in the IEP may address self-care, social skills, physical, speech, and vocational training. The program placement is an integral part of the process and typically takes place during the IEP meeting.Gottlieb, J. (1978) Placement in the least restrictive environment. In Criteria for the evaluation of the least restrictive environment provision. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. During the 2022–2023 academic year, a record of 7.5 million public school students in the United States (or 15.2% of students enrolled) received special education services due to rising rates of autism and ADHD among children and adolescents.
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
A Free Appropriate Public Education means special education and related services that: Are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge, Meet state requirements and the requirements of federal regulations Include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved, and Comply with a lawful Individual/Individualized Education Program34 CFR 300.17 Least restrictive environment
The least restrictive environment is defined as "educating students with disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate with students without disabilities". It specifies that transferring learners from the general education environment may occur only when the nature or severity of the student's disability precludes satisfactory instruction in general education classes, even with supplementary aids and services.
The least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate requires that all students in special education be educated alongside their peers to the greatest extent possible while still providing FAPE. The LRE requirement is intended to prevent unnecessary segregation of students with disabilities and is based on Congress' finding students with disabilities tend to have more success when they remain with or have access to typical peers. More students with disabilities are being educated in regular education classrooms. Up to 95% of students with disabilities spend at least part of their day in regular education classrooms, and 64% of Special Education students spend their day in a regular classroom..
Although students should be educated in their LRE according to the law, a student's behavior is key to the LRE. If the behavior is not appropriate in that LRE, then it can be addressed with restrictions and (BIP) Behavior Intervention Plan. A Behavior Intervention Plan is a plan that is based on the results of a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and, at minimum, includes a description of the problem behavior, global and specific hypothesis as to why the problem behavior occurs, and intervention strategies that include positive behavior supports and services to address the behavior. School systems must allow one of the following persons to write and train teachers on the plan, before implementation in the classroom. This plan will have to be merged with the IEP to ensure a successful learning environment.
Related services Special education-related services include speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Certified orientation and mobility specialists, teachers of the visually impaired, board-certified behavior analysts, and music therapists may service eligible students. Music therapy is a more modern service, and it may not be widely accessible across the country. Services can be rendered in individual or small group sessions, in the general education classroom, or simply as a consult between the service provider and other team members. Each related service provider on the team must include goals in the IEP as well as specific time allocated to the student.
Setting for individualized services Many schools are incorporating inclusive classrooms in which both a general education and special education teacher "co-teach." Together both educators work as a team to deliver instruction while implementing the legal modifications and accommodations of the special needs students in the class.
If a student is unable to learn in a fully inclusive environment, the special education team may place the student in a more restrictive setting, usually partial inclusion. As the name implies, partial inclusion is when the student with disabilities participates in the general education setting for part of the day and receives the bulk of academic instruction in a pull-out classroom, such as the resource room, with the special education teacher or other staff.
Some students require life-skills-based academics due to the severity of their disabilities. Such students are assigned to a self-contained classroom where they spend around 60% of their school day working directly with the special education staff. Depending upon the circumstances, students may or may not participate in the general education classroom with typical peers.
If a student is unable to function within the general-education classroom or the special-education classroom, the team's next step is to consider placing the student at a school specializing in the education of children with extreme disabilities. The trend during the 1990s was to move away from this model, as previous research pointed to academic and behavioral growth among these students when taught via individualized instruction within the general setting.What works for Students at Risk: A Research synthesis. RE Slavin, NA Madden - Educational Leadership, 1989
If the student has a very severe health condition or is not able to attend school for some other reason, they will receive instruction at home. A special education teacher, staff, and related service providers go to the student's home to deliver instruction.
The highest level of restrictive placement is institutionalization. When the student's needs are such that they cannot function in any of the less restrictive environments, residential placement must be considered by the team. Very few students in the United States today are in residential placement. The goal is usually to get the student to a point where they can return to the public school campus, if at all possible.
History in the U.S. Until the passage of PL 94-142 in 1975, American schools educated only one out of five children with disabilities. More than one-million students were refused access to public schools and another 3.5 million received little or no effective instruction. Many states had laws that explicitly excluded children with certain types of disabilities, including children who were blind, deaf, and children labeled "emotionally disturbed" or "mentally retarded.""Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind," a report published by the National Council on Disability on January 25, 2000.
In the 1950s and 1960s, family associations began forming and advocating for the rights of children with disabilities. In response, the federal government began to allocate funds to develop methods of working with children with disabilities and passed several pieces of legislation that supported developing and implementing programs and services to meet their needs and those of their families. Two laws provided training for professionals and teachers who worked with students with "mental retardation" (PL 85–926 in 1958 and PL 86–158 in 1959). In 1961, the Teachers of the Deaf Act (PL 87-276) provided for training of teachers to work with the deaf or hard of hearing. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (PL 89–10) and the State Schools Act (PL 89-313) granted funds to states to help educate children with disabilities. In 1968, the Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act of 1968 (PL 90-538) funded early childhood intervention for children with disabilities. Several landmark court decisions established the responsibility of states to educate children with disabilities (in particular, Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971) and Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972)).TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF PROGRESS IN EDUCATING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES THROUGH IDEA, http://www.nrcld.org/resources/osep/historyidea.pdf, retrieved June 22, 2007
Rehabilitation Act of 1973