Running head: CHECKPOINT IDEA 2004 1

CheckPoint IDEA 2004

Crystal Conner
AED 222
December 12, 2013
Tamara Garcia
CHECKPOINT IDEA 2004 2


CheckPoint IDEA 2004
Congress enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA,
20004) in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities had an opportunity to receive due process
and equal rights, to receive educational equality, regardless of their disabilities. The legislative
act was introduce because approximately I million children between the ages of 7-17 with
disabilities were not enrolled in schools. It was not the familys choice that the children were
absence, but because school officials decided that, these children were beyond their
responsibility for learning. Highly restrictive institutions only provided a little more than shelter,
food, and clothing.
Over the years, the evolving legislation has been influenced the initial passage and
promoted improvements in the provision of IDEA, 2004, where all students, regardless of their
severity of disability can learn and are entitled to free appropriate education. When testing and
evaluating these students with disabilities, they should not discriminate or be racial. Students
should be placed in the general classroom and when success cannot be achieved within the
general classroom, alternative measure for placements of these students, are to be considered.
Individual Education Program should be developed for each student with disability and
include current levels of performance, annual goals, the extent of each participant in the general
education program, evaluation measure and beginning dates and anticipated duration of service,
Parents should be highly involved by giving written permission to all testing evaluation and
change in service. Any disagreement can and should be settled, through mediation and due
process hearing.
CHECKPOINT IDEA 2004 3


In many respects, the components of IDEA 2004 forms a core on competencies reflecting
what all teachers should know and be able to do when teaching students with disabilities in their
classrooms (Rosenberg et al, 2006).




















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Reference
Rosenberg, M.S, Westling, D.L., & McLeskey, J. (2008). Special education for todays
teachers: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, N.J. Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall