IDEA provides essential guidance and legal support for students with disabilities, yet its conceptual and systemic framework tends to promote a focus on student deficits. Thus, teachers and IEP team members may have low expectations of students with disabilities and fail to encourage the development of their talents. Lisa DaVia Rubenstein, Charles…

Author Michael Wehmeyer began his career in special education shortly after the passage of the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (which later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA). In those early days, he recounts, students with disability were mostly segregated from other children, and many of the adults…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has deep roots in the civil rights movement; however, the legislation, as currently applied, has done little to address racial inequities in services students with disabilities receive. Too often, schools, districts, and states focus on complying with the regulations, while failing to make necessary…

A school cannot be "good" unless it is good for all students -- including those with disabilities. In the 2018-19 school year, 14% of students in U.S. public schools received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, yet effective inclusion of students with disabilities is too often an…

Students with disabilities, especially those with non-apparent conditions, are entering universities in growing numbers. Yet more and more students are going off to college unprepared to manage their disabilities, in part because their high schools are overburdened, understaffed, and uninformed to identify and support them. A recent survey of…

This article examines a wide array of research on the link between school choice programs and student segregation and draws implications for the Obama Administration's policy promoting the national expansion of charter schools. The research demonstrates how the proliferation of charter schools risks increasing current levels of segregation…

The idea that the American education system is at risk is not a new one. This notion was brought to the top of the public agenda 25 years ago with the publication of "A Nation at Risk," and is still actively being addressed through legal reforms, mandates, and laws. In this article, the authors narrow the focus of "A Nation at Risk" to consider a…

In this article, the author criticizes the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for students with learning disabilities and points out some faulty and misguided thinking and assumptions embodied in NCLB's approach to special education. The author fears that the law's unrealistic expectations for these students and their teachers give…

In recent years, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused the educational lens on testing children rather than teaching them. Much to the dismay of many educators and parents, the burden of this yearly ritual falls most heavily on learning disabled students, who are often tested inappropriately. A clear picture of what these special-needs students…

In this article, the authors report the results of the 39th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the public's attitudes toward the public schools. This year's report examined the public's assessment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and its principal strategy, standardized testing. The authors include a summary of key findings and tables showing…

Prior to the mid-1970s, over one million children with disabilities were excluded from the nation's schools. In 1975, as a result of intense litigation and advocacy, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA, P.L. 94-142), now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), mandating that public schools…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is one of the best conversation starters that public education has ever had. Despite (or maybe because of) its numerous flaws, people across the country--and not just educators--are talking as never before about schools, the quality of teaching, expectations, and accountability. The problem is that this law,…

Contends that a New York "voucher plan," intended to serve more children in need of special services, is being abused. (Author)

Describes elementary principal's herculean efforts to obtain higher level of service for problematic second grader. Thanks to mainstreaming requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, moving this student to a "more restrictive environment" took almost nine months, hundreds of hours of work, and thousands of dollars to achieve.…

Discusses issues related to Congress's reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act in 2002. (PKP)