Embedded Files
Reggie Schneider
A brief overview of the rights established by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the ways in which they are implemented. Best viewed from desktop.
1975: A black and white photo of disabled children forming a line in a hallway of Boettcher Elementary School in Denver, Colorado. The foreground contains children with wheelchairs and other mobility aids such as forearm (Lofstrand) crutches designed for long-term comfort. Photo from the Denver Public Library.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
If you’ve ever attended a public school in the United States, you may have heard of something called an IEP, or Individualized Education Program. This is a plan of personalized accommodations for students with certain disabilities who benefit from different types of additional support, or less demanding time constraints and requirements, to aid in their academic progress. To name several examples, IEP accommodations can take the form of: audio or large print books, simplified or repeated instructions, speech to text, sign language, preferential seating and sensory tools, assistance with transitions or behavior, or any other type of modification that better positions a disabled student for academic success.
An IEP allows a disabled child to experience a free, appropriate public education—a FAPE—in the least restrictive environment, or an environment as close as possible to the one shared by non-disabled children. It is a legal requirement for public schools in the U.S. and its territories to offer the implementation of these plans—but under what law?
Before the ADA was passed back in the ’70s, Congress enacted a different act, then called the “Education for All Handicapped Children Act” (EHA), to significantly improve the quality of education offered to disabled students. Before the EHA was passed on November 29, 1975, only about one in five disabled students were able to receive the same education as non-disabled students. Various states had exclusionary ableist laws against deaf and blind children, children with emotional imbalances, and children with intellectual disabilities. Aside from improving the process of education for those in need of different requirements, the EHA also made an effort to get disabled children into the public schools in their district rather than separate schools or in-home education. In the early ’90s, the EHA was revised and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—the IDEA.
WHAT THE IDEA DOES
WHAT THE IDEA DOES
1975: A newspaper clipping entitled "PRESIDENT GERALD FORD SIGNING A NEW LAW" with a black and white photo of President Ford at his desk, mid-signature. The text to the right of the image informs readers as to what law Ford is signing, at that time still called the EHA, and what it plans to accomplish.
Signed into law by Gerald Ford on November 29, 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, or Public Law 94-142, provided educational rights to disabled children that they had never before been afforded. Later renamed to the IDEA, the law is split up into four main categories labeled from A-D.
Category A focuses on general provisions, instituting the foundational rules and definitions of terminology involved in systems of accommodation created under the IDEA. It describes phrases including but not limited to "child with a disability," "special education," and "Individualized Education Program." Established also by this category is the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), a government agency dedicated to securing and defending the educative rights of disabled individuals.
Category B centers around special education for children ages 3-21. This includes outlines for funding plans and lists of legal requirements that federally funded schools must satisfy under the law. This section aimed to garner up to 40% federal coverage of excess costs for special education accommodations—but to this day, that goal has never been met, with most schools receiving closer to 18% coverage or less.
Category C provides monetary support and early intervention services for newborns and toddlers aged 0-2. It includes aspects like service delivery, or the importance of providing services within "natural environments" like the home. This section establishes something called an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for children that need it. An IFSP is a legal document that focuses on measuring and working toward a child's developmental goals in areas such as cognitive, physical, emotional, social, communicative, and adaptive skills.
Category D tackles the national aspects of the IDEA and its implementation. This includes funding for the training of special education teachers and personnel as well as information centers for parents of disabled children. Its main goal is to distribute and popularize information availability and to facilitate the ability of states to implement the IDEA within public schools.
2025: A simple overview of the IDEA posted by the official YouTube page of the US Department of Education in honor of its 50th anniversary.
WHY WE NEED IT
WHY WE NEED IT
Today, the IDEA provides over 8 million children with the opportunity to receive academic accommodations, allowing room for negotiation and parental feedback. Though there are still flaws to work through in some aspects of the act, such as issues with funding and parental mediation, it has significantly improved access and quality of education for disabled students since the 1970s.
Without the IDEA, the state of education offered to disabled individuals would be severely lacking. The IDEA helped to pave the way for the passage of the ADA, normalizing the idea that disability did not always necessitate institutionalization. It presented the truth: that children with disabilities were just as entitled to education and public access as non-disabled children.
1983: A black and white photo of members of the Disabled Students Program at UC Berkeley from their collection of the same name. In the foreground, a white woman with a short bob and glasses sits in a wheelchair at a table with a cup and saucer in front of her. Attending to her is a white woman standing behind her, with curly hair and glasses. Behind them, another white woman sits at the table taking notes.
1983: Another black and white photo from the same UC Berkeley Disabled Students Program collection in what appears to be the same location. A white, short-haired man in a striped collared shirt smiles or laughs at something happening out of frame. To his right and smiling in the same direction sits a white woman in a wheelchair with chin length curly hair, a dark collared jacket, and a plaid button-down. The table in front of them is covered in papers, books, and various dishes.
The IDEA was crucial towards furthering the integration of disabled people into public life. After it passed, disabled children had the opportunity to attend public schools with the support they needed to succeed academically. It was also a great way to normalize the participation of disabled people in public life, something that had earlier been frowned upon and even condemned in certain states (see our page on the Ugly Laws). The IDEA was foundational in facilitating disabled students' engagement in the greater communities around them from youth, making it more likely for them to find success navigating society as adults. Though stigma continues to exist today, the IDEA even worked alongside the Rehabilitation Act of 1970, the legislation in which Section 504 can be found, to ensure that disabled people had better access to employment post graduation.
IDEA REAUTHORIZATIONS
IDEA REAUTHORIZATIONS
The IDEA has been majorly revised four times, each bringing new relevant inclusions to the table. Listed below are the changes made by each of these revisions, called reauthorizations. Since 2004, minor amendments have been added to the IDEA when deemed necessary by a vote of Congress and a signature from the President. The most recent amendment to the IDEA, the Every Student Succeeds Act from 2015, asserts that disability is “a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society” (per the U.S. Department of Education). Navigate the drop-down menu below to learn about each significant IDEA reauthorization in detail.
The lack of amendments since 2015 encourages us to reflect on what in the world might have taken attention away from or prevented the development of disability justice.
A rough timeline of events from the passing of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973 to the final reauthorization of the IDEA in 2004. This timeline includes the original passing of the EHA, or the IDEA, and all its reauthorizations. It also includes the passage of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973 and the passage of the ADA in 1995.
1986 Reauthorization
1986 Reauthorization
The earliest reauthorization was titled Public Law 99-457, or the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986. Signed by Ronald Reagan on October 8th, 1986, it expanded the demographic of students supported by the EHA (IDEA) by changing the age range eligible for accommodations. Originally, the EHA applied only to students aged 3 and up. During this reauthorization, the EHA was extended to include children born with disabilities from birth under the Handicapped Infants and Toddlers Program. It provided more early intervention services for infants and toddlers with developmental delays and their parents. Additionally, it allowed more parental input for details of IEPs.
1990 Reauthorization
1990 Reauthorization
The second reauthorization, signed by George H.W. Bush on October 30th, 1990, officially changed the name of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a title that uses more accurate and respectful language to address the subjects eligible for accommodations. It also accomplished a few more changes to the act than the revision four years prior.
This authorization required individual transition plans to be created for disabled students no later than age 16. These transition plans included things like activities and networking opportunities that allowed disabled individuals to better enter into the post-school worlds of employment, independent living, and/or secondary education. The reauthorization added social work and rehabilitation counseling availability in regard to additional forms of support for students.
This reauthorization also added traumatic brain injury (TBI) and autism as new disability categories qualifying for accommodations. Below is a current list of every disability that makes a person eligible for academic support and an equal public education under IDEA.
• autism • multiple disabilities
• deaf-blindness • other health impairment (including ADHD)
• deafness OR hearing impairment • visual impairment
• orthopedic impairment • speech or language impairment
• emotional disturbance • specific learning disability
• intellectual disability • traumatic brain injury
• developmental delay
1997 Reauthorization
1997 Reauthorization
The 1997 reauthorization is the largest and most complicated revision of the IDEA. Also known as Public Law 105-17, it tackled a wide variety of topics once it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on June 4th, 1997. This revision firstly claimed that the IDEA had been hindered by establishing low expectations for children with disabilities. It focused on setting higher expectations and goals for disabled children in accordance with what was possible for them to accomplish and prioritizing their participation in the general curriculum "to the maximum extent possible," according to direct language from the legislation. To condense some of its main points down to a list, the 1997 reauthorization of the IDEA...
• increased emphasis on setting and achieving educational goals
• required IEPs to state exactly how a student will engage with and progress through the general curriculum
• mandated transition planning to begin at age 14
• emphasized the importance and fairness of disabled students' right to participate in the general curriculum
• established that, for less serious infractions, disabled students may be disciplined in as close a way possible to non-disabled students
• required states to offer mediation services between parents and schools to help resolve disputes
• required states to include disabled students in standardized testing, with adjustments made to assessments as necessary
• added orientation and mobility aid to the definition of the "related services" (or accommodations) designated
• included regular educators in the implementation of IEPs
Another aspect of this authorization was to mandate the evaluation of IDEA implementation within schools. The aim was to ensure that students were being properly supported by the IDEA (in the form of IEPs, IFSPs, or other accommodations) as mandated. Below is a collection of images of archived files from the Paraquad, an organization based in St. Louis that supports equity and independent living for people with disabilities. These files contain findings of the OSEP in regard to the functionality of IDEA within schools and plans to remedy any issues found.
2004 Reauthorization
2004 Reauthorization
The 2004 IDEA reauthorization is the most recent revision of the IDEA, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 3rd of 2004 and entitled the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
Firstly, this revision included some language from the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001, an act that mandated standardized testing from grades 3-8 in public schools and attempted to provide better education support to students in poverty, students of color, disabled students or students in special education, and students with limited English knowledge. The IDEA reauthorization from 2004 added some language from this act to ensure the two were collaborating effectively.
Furthermore, it established a myriad of small amendments at once. It moved transition services to begin at age 16 rather than age 14 and made changes to the special education eligibility process. It created a pilot program for fifteen selected states to test out three-year IEPs, provided the opportunity to outline student goals and monitor progress towards those goals, and changed the way that intellectual disability could be assessed (including disregarding IQ as directly pertaining to intellectual disability). Finally, it required IEP planning teams to use peer-reviewed literature as their foundational texts for mapping out plans of action.
WHY WE CARE TODAY
WHY WE CARE TODAY
A disability and poverty diagram with statistics about the disabled population: employment rates for the disabled are 50-75% lower than the non-disabled; 15% of the world's population experience a form of disability; 80% of disabled people live in developed countries; 1/3 of the 58 million children lacking an in-school education have disabilities; and 174 countries have ratified the UN convention on the rights of disabled people.
Today, the IDEA still works to ensure that students have the accommodations they need to succeed in school. In the face of developing medical and social understanding of disability, the special education system has come a long way since it was established in the 1970s. Still, however, it is crucial to note that not every aspect of the IDEA is as successful as it was theorized and intended to be. Due to decades of exclusion and discrimination, there is always room for improvement in the special education field and in the rights afforded to people with disabilities.
No person is impervious to disability at any point in their life; in fact, we are all "Temporarily Able-Bodied," a term coined in the 1980s and popularized by disability justice activists like Nirmala Erevelles and Simi Linton. Over 1 billion people on the planet are disabled in some way, a number that makes up just over 15% of the global population. The disabled population is even larger in the United States—up to one in four adults in the U.S. (~25-29%) have some type of disability. It is imperative to recognize not only the existence but the prevalence of disability in the world around us and the need for a society that enables access to all, incorporating architectural designs and social systems that don't cater specifically toward the able-bodied. Aiming for collective access is crucial in the fight for disabled rights that continues on today.
There are a plethora of things that you, the reader, can do to support students in special education and the efficiency of the IDEA. The first is to simply educate yourself on disability history, justice, and studies (the references listed throughout our website are a great place to start!). Try to inform your view of disability using sources created by disabled people to share their experiences. Another way you can help is to contact your local representatives in support of IDEA funding, filing formal complaints if rights are denied or IDEA is not being adequately implemented in public schools.
WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED
WORKS CITED AND CONSULTED
“A Billion People Experience Disabilities Worldwide — so Where’s the Data?” World Bank Blogs, blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/billion-people- experience-disabilities-worldwide-so-wheres-data.
Brain Injury Association of America. “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” Brain Injury Association of America, 26 Mar. 2020, biausa.org/public- affairs/public-policy/individuals-with-disabilities-education-act.
“Boettcher School Students in Hallway.” Denver Public Library Digital Collections, Denver Public Library, 1975, digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1136720.
California Department of Education. “Reauthorization of the IDEA 2004 - Laws, Regulations, & Policies (ca Dept of Education).” Ca.gov, 2018, www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/lr/ideareathztn.asp.
"Categories of Disability under IDEA." NICHCY, National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, Mar. 2012, https://www.parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/gr3.pdf.
CDC. “Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic.” Disability and Health, CDC, 10 Dec. 2024, www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/articles- documents/disability-impacts-all-of-us-infographic.html.
Diament, Michelle. “Major Flaws Identified with IDEA Complaint System.” Disability Scoop, 26 Sept. 2023, www.disabilityscoop.com/2023/09/26/major- flaws-identified-with-idea-complaint-system/30562/.
"Disabled Students Program Photograph Collection." AAHSSPE, UC Berkeley Library, 1983, digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/116236?v=uv#? xywh=-426%2C-40%2C2351%2C1335.
Dragoo, Kyrie. “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Funding: A Primer.” Congress.gov, 29 Aug. 2019, www.congress.gov/crs- product/R44624.
Emily, "Markup of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997." 8 May 1997, Paraquad, Records (SA0956), box 13, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
Erevelles, Nirmala. “Thinking With Disability Studies." Disability Studies Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 19 Mar. 2014, https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v34i2.4248.
Goodling, William F. “H.R.5 - 105th Congress (1997-1998): Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997.” Www.congress.gov, 4 Jun. 1997, www.congress.gov/bill/105th-congress/house-bill/5.
Sins Invalid. “10 Principles of Disability Justice.” Sinsinvalid.org, 2015, sinsinvalid.org/10-principles-of-disability-justice/.
Smith, Tom E.C. “Idea 2004.” Remedial and Special Education, vol. 26, no. 6, Nov. 2005, pp. 314–319, https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325050260060101.
Lee, Andrew. “What Is No Child Left behind (NCLB)?” Www.understood.org, Understood, www.understood.org/en/articles/no-child-left-behind-nclb- what-you-need-to-know.
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, "OSEP Findings," 1996, Paraquad, Records (SA0956), box 17, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
Smith, Mark, "Attacks on the ADA and IDEA Continue!" 18 Jul. 1996, Paraquad, Records (SA0956), box 13, State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
Undivided Editorial Team. “Background and History of IDEA in Special Education.” Undivided.io, 11 Nov. 2020, undivided.io/resources/background-and- history-of-idea-in-special-education-116.
United States Commission on Civil Rights. Making a Good IDEA Better [Electronic Resource] : The Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 2002. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=3fa2c255-85e6-339f-a1bb- 739449b26971.
U.S. Department of Education. “About IDEA.” IDEA, U.S. Department of Education, 2024, sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/.
U.S. Department of Education. “A History of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.” Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, U.S. Department of Education, 16 Feb. 2024, sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” US EEOC, 2024, www.eeoc.gov/rehabilitation-act-1973.
Other Recommended Resources
Other Recommended Resources
To learn even more about disability history, studies, culture, and justice, please explore the other pages included in our virtual disability history museum!
Assembled under the direction of Dr. Lauren Obermark with the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Questions about this exhibit? reaschneider@gmail.com might have answers!
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