An Analysis of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), detailing its purpose, components, and impact on students with disabilities. It explores how IDEA ensures access to Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with various special needs, including those with developmental and medical conditions. The essay examines the act's four parts (A-D), highlighting its provisions for individualized support and services, and discusses management strategies for students with chronic illnesses, ADHD, anxiety, and other medical conditions. It also analyzes the challenges faced in implementing IDEA and offers recommendations for policy, individual, community, and environmental improvements to better serve students with disabilities. The essay emphasizes the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to minimize educational disparities and enhance learning outcomes for all students.

Running head: INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ECUATION ACT 1
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 2
Introduction
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) represents four parts (A-D) of the
American law that is designed to ensure that students who have disabilities can access to Free
Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that evaluates their individual demands (Hebbeler, Spiker
& Kahn, 2012). Initially, the IDEA was referred to as Education for All Handicapped Children
Act (EHA) from 1975 to 1990. IDEA is divided into four segments whereby A, outlines the
legislation provisions, B outlines the support offered to students with disabilities, C contains data
about toddlers and infants with disabilities, while D outlines the support that is administered by
the national programs at the state level (Adams & Tapia, 2013). Notably, despite the changes that
have occurred to IDEA since its development in 1975, the four parts remain constant (Aron &
Loprest, 2012). While IDEA’s main goal is to ensure that children with disabilities access to
equal education like those without disabilities, not all students with attention and learning
problems qualify.
Describe How the Individuals with Disabilities Education (Improvement) Act Serve
Children Who Have Special Developmental and Medical Needs
IDEA serves students with special development and medical needs in various ways.
Notably, most of the public schools in the United States such as the charter and traditional
schools struggle to ensure a consistent provision of high-quality learning to learners with special
needs (Baglieri, Valle, Connor & Gallagher, 2011). Based on the evidence, the students with
disabilities experience low graduation rates and also, they are hindered from accessing the post
graduation studies. In this case, IDEA intervenes by minimizing the disproportionate education
share and achievement gaps between students with disabilities and general students. IDEA also
ensures that the learners with disabilities are provided with facilities for juvenile detention. By

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 3
evaluating the information provided by the United States Department of Education, it uncovers
about the IDEA implementation and it depicts that 50% of the states fulfill the federal
government’s requirements for special learning. The figure below provides evidence about the
achievement of learners with and without disabilities from 2005 to 2015.
Figure 1: provides evidence for achievement of learners with and without disabilities
(Rhim, Sutter & Campbell, 2017).
To achieve high-quality instructions in an educational setting, first of all, it is important
to note that environment is a crucial element that seeks to ensure that learners with disabilities
strive to attain higher levels as the other students. Such students need to be equipped with highly-
individualized skills of special education that includes audiologists and visual impairment. In this
case, the IDEA supports the learning institutions towards developing structures that can
overcome challenges of establishing and maintaining special education across states and districts.
Provided the documented and costs challenges that are associated with specialized staff who can
enhance special education, the structures established can play significant roles in ensuring

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 4
reliable access to special education. For example, Massachusets districts collaborate with the
collaborative partners of special education to ensure a pool risk, development of expertise, and
aggregate resources that cannot be easily developed by a few schools. Another example is the
intermediate school districts in Michigan that offer crucial help to the district by offering special
education to students with disabilities within the area. Therefore, IDEA creates a platform
whereby schools can partner particularly in the smaller districts and such partnerships are
beneficial in budgeting and planning for potential variable costs, sustenance, and establishment
of the capacity required for achieving quality services for students with disabilities. Notably,
IDEA plays a huge role in ensuring collaborative relationships between charter and district
schools to ensure that they can achieve their goals to minimize the prevailing difficulties (Kurth,
Morningstar & Kozleski, 2014). The state policymakers and charter school administrators are
required to determine effective techniques to develop and sustain charter to serve the students
with disabilities. Policymakers and administrators also have a role to play in maintaining
autonomy that can sustain charter construct to evade the bureaucratic structures that may limit
the application of creative efforts in the learning environments. The figure below shows the
difference in graduation rates among normal students and those with disabilities in the United
States.

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 5
Figure 2: Shows the graduation rates for students with and without disabilities (Rhim,
Sutter & Campbell, 2017).
Further, IDEA serves children who have special development and medical needs as it
allows the provision of individualized support and services in the United States. Notably, the
federal and state legislation outline rules that offer educators guidance about methods of teaching
the students with various disabilities such as physical impairments, and mild learning problems.
Such students had a history of being alienated from others and they were provided with
inadequate protection and educational opportunities. According to IDEA, those students who
have one out of 13 disabilities are provided with the opportunity for special learning and other
services. IDEA requires public schools to allow learners with disabilities to access free education
in a less restrictive setting. Learners who are eligible for special education are issued with
modifications and accommodations that support them towards accessing special education
curriculum based on the requirements for IDEA. It is important to note that all the individualized

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 6
services for students with disabilities are crucial components for the IDEA that is designed to
improve their learning outcomes. Clearly, students with disabilities require effective educational
instructions, high-quality education, and also, differentiated supports and services based on the
outlined needs. Statistics show that 95% of the students in the United States with disabilities are
eligible for special education and they are enrolled based on the criteria outlined under IDEA
((Rhim, Sutter & Campbell, 2017). However, it is clear that IDEA also encounters various
challenges in supporting special education across the districts due to varying policies and
structures. Additionally, programs and laws might not be clearly aligned hence it is difficult for
all students to be protected under IDEA.
Examples of Special Medical Conditions and Management Strategies
According to the IDEA, most students with disabilities experience invisible medical
conditions that may result in serious challenges in the educational environment. For an instant,
students with disabilities have chronic illnesses like arthritis, allergies, asthma, Lyme disease,
cardiac conditions, Crohn's disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, seizure disorders, among
others. In other cases, such students may also experience other medical conditions such as
hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit as they are easily distracted (Kerr et al., 2011).
Depression and anxiety is also a common medical condition as most of the students with
disabilities experience worry, frustration, and low self-esteem (Shifrer, 2013). IDEA Act states
that medical conditions experienced by students with disabilities have unpredictable symptoms
that fluctuate with time. Further, those students with chronic medical conditions have difficulty
in walking, standing, or sitting for prolonged time durations. At some point, the medical
conditions cause the students to feel dizzy and also, disoriented as they have limited physical
stamina (Falvo, & Holland, 2017). On the other hand, there are various management strategies

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 7
that are effective under IDEA to help minimize the issues faced by students with disabilities.
First of all, ensuring that a child with a disability leads to a healthy lifestyle is an effective
management strategy. IDEA suggests that healthy lifestyles can be incorporated in the learning
programmes and courses. Notably, the programme is usually evidence-based as created by
individuals with intellectual problems. Therefore, leading healthy lifestyles will support students
with disabilities emotionally, physically, spiritually, and also, improves their well-being. Another
management strategy is that mental health practitioner’s can help learners with disabilities
comprehend their feelings, and also develop strategies that can help them cope and establish
healthy relationships with others (Schulman‐Green et al., 2012). IDEA requires the schools to
adopt dyscalculia as management strategies that integrate visual techniques and memory aids to
enhance their learning (Bauer, Briss, Goodman & Bowman, 2014). Lastly, intensive teaching
techniques can be used to manage the medical conditions for students with learning disabilities
(Felver, Doerner, Jones, Kaye & Merrell, 2013).
Recommendations
From the ecological perspective, policy, individual, community, and built-in environment
recommendations are provided to ensure that the IDEA serves students with medical and special
development needs appropriately. For instance, there is a need to offer incentives, particularly for
the charter school programme to ensure that the districts remain encouraged to ensure explicit
collaboration to improve the support services for the students. Moreover, IDEA can establish a
competitive environment whereby the authorizers and education agencies are encouraged to
establish effective collaborations to improve the medical and special development needs for the
students with disabilities. Additionally, the research and development of technical assistance will
be beneficial to individual learners as they can improve their learning outcomes. It is also

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 8
important if the mechanisms are developed and implemented such as performance metric to
ensure that the charter learning institutions are held responsible for providing special education
to students with disabilities. Lastly, there is a need to determine and integrate the tangible
advantages and mutual interests that ensure that the collaborations established comprehend the
explicit possible collaboration value. This recommendation demands organizational positioning
whereby the shared goals can be identified and the provision of the targeted resources for
students with disabilities.
Conclusion
IDEA Act has a focus on ensuring that strong relationships are established based on clear
obligations and responsibilities that are designed to serve students with disabilities. In this case,
various stakeholders such as education administrators and policymakers have an opportunity to
ensure that effective collaborations are developed to serve students with special development and
medical needs. Notably, such students experience various medical conditions that can be
addressed using various management strategies. For this reason, the ecological perspective offers
recommendations by integrating the policy, environmental, community, and individual accounts
to enhance support towards serving students with medical and special development needs.

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 9
References
Adams, R. C., & Tapia, C. (2013). Early intervention, IDEA Part C services, and the medical
home: Collaboration for best practice and best outcomes. Pediatrics, 132(4), e1073-
e1088.
Aron, L., & Loprest, P. (2012). Disability and the education system. The future of Children, 97-
122.
Baglieri, S., Valle, J. W., Connor, D. J., & Gallagher, D. J. (2011). Disability studies in
education: The need for a plurality of perspectives on disability. Remedial and Special
Education, 32(4), 267-278.
Bauer, U. E., Briss, P. A., Goodman, R. A., & Bowman, B. A. (2014). Prevention of chronic
disease in the 21st century: elimination of the leading preventable causes of premature
death and disability in the USA. The Lancet, 384(9937), 45-52.
Falvo, D., & Holland, B. E. (2017). Medical and psychosocial aspects of chronic illness and
disability. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Felver, J. C., Doerner, E., Jones, J., Kaye, N. C., & Merrell, K. W. (2013). Mindfulness in school
psychology: Applications for intervention and professional practice. Psychology in the
Schools, 50(6), 531-547.
Hebbeler, K., Spiker, D., & Kahn, L. (2012). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s early
childhood programs: Powerful vision and pesky details. Topics in Early Childhood
Special Education, 31(4), 199-207.
Kerr, M. P., Mensah, S., Besag, F., De Toffol, B., Ettinger, A., Kanemoto, K., & Mula, M.
(2011). International consensus clinical practice statements for the treatment of
neuropsychiatric conditions associated with epilepsy. Epilepsia, 52(11), 2133-2138.

INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT 10
Kurth, J. A., Morningstar, M. E., & Kozleski, E. B. (2014). The persistence of highly restrictive
special education placements for students with low-incidence disabilities. Research and
Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 39(3), 227-239.
Rhim, l. Sutter, J. & Campbell, N. (2017, January 31). Improving Outcomes for Students with
Disabilities. Retrieved from
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2017/01/31/297746/
improving-outcomes-for-students-with-disabilities/
Schulman‐Green, D., Jaser, S., Martin, F., Alonzo, A., Grey, M., McCorkle, R., & Whittemore,
R. (2012). Processes of self‐management in chronic illness. Journal of Nursing
Scholarship, 44(2), 136-144.
Shifrer, D. (2013). Stigma of a label: Educational expectations for high school students labeled
with learning disabilities. Journal of health and social behavior, 54(4), 462-480.