Parent Advocacy Training
Ask, Build, and Change
National Association for the Education of
African American Children with Learning
Disabilities (AACLD)
National Association for the Education of African American
Children with Learning Disabilities (AACLD)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA)
• What is it?
IDEA is a law that ensures the appropriate special
educational services are provided to all children
with disabilities.
It governs how states and local school districts
provide early intervention, special education, and
related services.
IDEA (cont.)
• What is its purpose?
It provides federal funds to states for special
education and related services so that they are
able to make the human and educational resources
available to the child to ensure provision of a free
and appropriate public education (FAPE).
Receipt of this funding requires states to abide by a
number of principles under IDEA.
IDEA (cont.)
Major principles under IDEA:
1. States and school districts must make a free and appropriate
public education (FAPE) available to all children with disabilities
between the ages of 3 and 21.
This includes using procedures to identify, locate, and evaluate students,
regardless of the severity of their disability, to determine eligibility for special
education.
2. Each child must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Specific special education and related services provided to meet the child's needs.
3. Children with disabilities must be educated with children who
are not disabled; States and school districts must provide
procedural safeguards to children with disabilities and their
parents.
IDEA and the African American child
Comments made by Congress:
Greater efforts are needed to prevent the intensification of problems
connected with mislabeling and high dropout rates among minority
children with disabilities.
More minority children continue to be served in special education than
would be expected from the percentage of minority students in the
general school population.
African-American children are identified as having intellectual disabilities
and emotional disturbance at rates greater than their White counterparts.
Studies have found that schools with predominately white students and
teacher have placed disproportionately high numbers of their minority
students into special education.
Working knowledge of key federal
laws
Public Law 94-142
Family Education Privacy Right Act (FEPRA)
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
Public Law 94-142
• What is it?
This law guarantees that every child with a
disability has a right to a free, appropriate
education (FAPE) in every state and
locality across the country.
Public Law 94-142 has 4 purposes:
1. "to assure that all children with disabilities have
available to the..a free appropriate public education
which emphasizes special education and related
services designed to meet their unique needs"
2. "to assure that the rights of children with disabilities
and their parents...are protected"
3. "to assist States and localities to provide for the
education of all children with disabilities"
4. "to assess and assure the effectiveness of efforts
to educate all children with disabilities"
FEPRA
• What is it?
It is a federal law that protects the privacy of
student education records. It applies to all
schools that receive funds under an
applicable program of the U.S. Department of
Education.
Parents are given specific rights, which transfer
to the student when he or she reaches 18
years of age or attends a school beyond the
Specific Parent Rights:
1. Parents or students have the right to
inspect and review the student's records
maintained by the school.
2. Parents or students have the right to
request that a school correct records they
believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
3. Parents may request copies of records.
Schools may or may not charge fees for this.
Using FEPRA for Advocacy
1. To make informed decisions, parents
must ensure they have ALL of their child's
educational records.
2. Parents can access teachers
assessment data, instructional information,
and basically any information used to help
their child achieve his/her goals as indicated
on the IEP.
No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB)
• What is it?
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). It incorporates a system of
accountability, local control, parental involvement, and funding.
NCLB demands that states build assessment systems that track the
achievement of all students against a common set of high
instructional standards and requires assessments for third- through
eighth-grade students annually in reading and mathematics.
Improvement among disadvantaged children must be demonstrated
under the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) provisions of NCLB.
Schools unable to demonstrate AYP will be provided with assistance
and may be subject to possible corrective action.
• What is the purpose?
NCLB was created to help provide the best
educational opportunities for our nation's
children and to ensure that they have every
opportunity to succeed regardless of their
income, background, race or ability. It institutes
a nationwide system of accountability and
it places an emphasis on all children being able
to read well by the end of third grade.
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA)
• What is it ?
The U.S. Department of Education is allowing each State
educational agency (SEA) to request flexibility on behalf of itself,
its local educational agencies, and schools, in order to better
focus on improving student learning and increasing the quality of
instruction.
• What is its purpose ?
This provides educators and State and local leaders with
opportunities to use alternative accountability and assessment
measures to improve educational outcomes for all students,
close achievement gaps, increase equity, and improve the quality
of instruction, which is done through application of waivers
submitted by the individual states.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
of 1973
•
• What is it?
Section 504 is a civil rights law designed to
protect the civil and constitutional rights of
persons with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities are defined as
individuals with a mental or physical
impairment that substantially limits one or
more major life activities.
Major Life Activities
under Section 504
Lifting/bending
Caring for onself
Speaking
Performing manual tasks
Breathing
Seeing
Learning
Hearing
Reading
Eating
Concentrating
Sleeping
Thinking
Walking
Communicating
Standing
Working
•
What is it's purpose?
To protect individuals with disabilities from
discrimination.
As it pertains to education, regular or special
education and related services should be
designed to meet the individual needs of
persons with disabilities that are equal to the
needs of nondisabled persons.
Section 504 Policies
•
•
•
•
•
The child must have a physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits at least one
major life activity.
An evaluation from a variety of sources is required.
A school district must conduct an evaluation of any
individual who because of disability "needs or is
believed to need" special education or related
services.
Tests and other evaluation materials must be
validated for the specific purpose for which they are
used.
There must be a periodic reevaluation of students,
consistent with the Education for the Handicapped
Act.
Review of Landmark Cases
Brown vs. Board of Education
PARC vs Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Mills vs. Board of Education
Brown vs Board of Education
History
Before 1975, children with disabilities were excluded from public
schools and those who weren't were either placed in grossly
inadequate, segregated classrooms or in regular classrooms
without adequate support.
Impact
There were 5 separate cases that were heard by the U.S. Supreme
Court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools.
The court ruled unanimously that "separate but equal" doctrine
was unconstitutional, a violation of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
Special Education (SPED)
The Basics
What is Special Education?
It is "specially designed instruction" at no cost to the
parents, provided to meet the unique needs of the
child with a disability.
Educators are required to adapt, as appropriate to the
needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology, or
delivery of instruction.
This includes instruction in the classroom, in the home,
hospitals, and institutions.
Corrective and
Supportive Services
Interpreting services
Speech Therapy
Psychological services
Physical Therapy
School nurse services
Occupational Therapy
Assistive Technology
Counseling services
Parent training
...and any other services that you
can prove that child needs to
access a free and appropriate
public education.
What is the purpose of SPED?
• To address the unique needs of the child,
resulting from the child's disability.
• To ensure access of the child to the general
curriculum, so that the child can meet the
educational standards within the jurisdiction of
the public agency that applies to all children.
• Having equal access to the general curriculum
means having the right to a Free and
Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
Free and Appropriate Public
Education
(FAPE)
Through special education and related services....
1. Disabled students must be educated with non-disabled
students, to the maximum extent appropriate.
2. Education services and treatment of the student must comply
with the procedural requirement of IDEA and your state
regulations.
3. Parents have protections in place to ensure their child receives
appropriate education.
Free and Appropriate Public
Education
(FAPE)
4. Parents protection included:
* Participation rights:
(1) You have the right to provide information for your child’s evaluation,
(2) You have the right to be a member of any group that makes decisions
regarding the educational placement of your child, and
(3) You have the right to participate in meetings related to your child’s
identification, evaluation, educational placement and the provision of
FAPE.
Notice rights:
(1) You have the right to be informed in a timely manner of meetings related to
your child’s identification, evaluation, educational placement and the
provision of FAPE,
(2) You have the right to be informed of any proposed changes in your child's
identification, evaluation, educational placement and the provision of
FAPE,
Free and Appropriate Public
Education
(FAPE)
(3) You have the right to be informed of any refusal by the school or AEA to
make changes that you have requested in your child's identification,
evaluation, educational placement, and the provision of FAPE, and
(4) You have the right to receive notices in a manner and language you can
understand.
Consent rights:
(1) You have the right to give or withhold your consent to an evaluation to
determine if your child is eligible for special education services,
(2) You have the right to give or withhold your consent to reevaluations of
your child,
(3) You have the right to give or withhold your consent for your child’s initial
placement in special education, &
(4) You have the right to withdraw your consent for continued special
education and related services for your child. This must be done in writing.
Free and Appropriate Public
Education
(FAPE)
Your consent to an evaluation may be withdrawn before the evaluation is
completed.
Your consent to an initial placement may be withdrawn before the placement
is made.
Records rights:
(1) You have the right to review educational records,
(2) You have the right to ask that records be changed if you believe the records
are incorrect or misleading, &
(3) In many circumstances, you have the right to give your consent before
records are disclosed to other agencies or persons.
Independent educational evaluation right: You have the right to request an
independent evaluation at no cost to you if you disagree with the evaluation
done by the school.
Through FAPE....
Your child is provided with an Individual
Educational Program.... an IEP.