Enacted in 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act – now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides all children with the right to a free and appropriate public education. On the face of it, the IDEA is a shining example of law’s democratizing impulse. But is that really the case? In Disabled Education, Ruth Colker digs deep beneath the IDEA’s surface and reveals that the IDEA contains flaws that were evident at the time of its enactment that limit its effectiveness for poor and minority children. Both an expert in disability law and the mother of a child with a hearing impairment, Colker learned first-hand of the Act’s limitations when she embarked on a legal battle to persuade her son’s school to accommodate his impairment. Colker was able to devote the considerable resources of a middle-class lawyer to her struggle and ultimately won, but she knew that the IDEA would not have benefitted her son without her time-consuming and costly legal intervention. Her experience led her to investigate other cases, which confirmed her suspicions that the IDEA best serves those with the resources to advocate strongly for their children. The IDEA also works only as well as the rest of the system does: struggling schools that serve primarily poor students of color rarely have the funds to provide appropriate special education and related services to their students with disabilities. Through a close examination of the historical evolution of the IDEA, the actual experiences of children who fought for their education in court, and social science literature on the meaning of “learning disability,” Colker reveals the IDEA’s shortcomings, but also suggests ways in which resources might be allocated more evenly along class lines.

First published in 1998. This is Volume VIII of twenty-eight in the Sociology of Education series. During the nineteenth century and part of the twentieth the children now known as disabled or with accessibility needs were termed physically defective and mentally defective; the schools that they and the blind and the deaf attended were frequently called institutions; the education they received bore the name of instruction. This book is the story of the advance in opinion and outlook from 1760 to 1960, which brought about the change from instruction to education, from institution to school, and from mentally defective to those with special needs, that the book sets out to tell. Written in 1963.

Special education teachers, as a significant segment of the teaching profession, came into their own with the passage of Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, in 1975. Since then, although the number of special education teachers has grown substantially it has not kept pace with the demand for their services and expertise. The roles and practice of special education teachers have continuously evolved as the complexity of struggling learners unfolded, along with the quest for how best to serve and improve outcomes for this diverse group of students. High-Leverage Practices in Special Education defines the activities that all special educators needed to be able to use in their classrooms, from Day One. HLPs are organized around four aspects of practice collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral practices, and instruction because special education teachers enact practices in these areas in integrated and reciprocal ways. The HLP Writing Team is a collaborative effort of the Council for Exceptional Children, its Teacher Education Division, and the CEEDAR Center; its members include practitioners, scholars, researchers, teacher preparation faculty, and education advocates--Amazon.com

Aimed at parents of and advocates for special needs children, explains how to develop a relationship with a school, monitor a child's progress, understand relevant legislation, and document correspondence and conversations.

With several empirical evidences, this book advocates on the importance of human capital of persons with disabilities and demands the paradigm shift from charity into investment approach. Society in general believes that people with disabilities cannot benefit from education, cannot participate in the labour market and cannot be contributing members to families and countries. To invalidate such assumptions, this book describes how education in particular helps make persons with disabilities achieve economic independence and social inclusion. For the first time, detailed analyses of returns to the investment in education and nexus between disability, education, employability and occupational options are discussed. Moreover, other chapters describe disability and poverty followed by the discussion of barriers behind why persons with disabilities are unable to obtain education despite the significantly higher returns. These foundational themes recur throughout the book.

Clear, well organized presentation of IDEA and other pertinent federal laws, together with well organized discussion of relevant cases, help educators understand and apply their knowledge in concrete situations. The emphasis of this practical book is on increasing understanding at a conceptual level rather than rote memorization of detailed provisions of the IDEA and other laws. By understanding the law, educators will be better equipped to work with future amendments of IDEA and with new laws that may be enacted by Congress. They will also have an increased ability to apply statutory provisions to specific situations. Part I - Constitutional Framework: provides important background in understanding the authority that Congress has to enact laws that impact on education in the United States and the authority that the courts have to interpret laws. Includes discussion of the judicial system, the key provisions of the United States Constitution, due process, equal protection, the statutes of certain regulations, and a brief overview and comparison of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act (RA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Part II - IDEA: covers background, basic language and coverage, duty to evaluate, FAPE, IEP, placement, related services, inclusions/least restrictive environment, private school, discipline, mediation, due process, and court proceedings. Sample forms are included to supplement discussion with concrete examples to aid understanding. Part III - RA and ADA: covers RA/ADA basics, such as who is an individual with a disability, what entities are covered, enforcement provisions, and application to schools, universities, and employers. Part IV - Other Legal Issues: covers No Child Left Behind, FERPA, tort liability, and high stakes testing issues. At the end of each part there is a very basic question and answer section to assist the student in focusing on major points in each part.