CHAPTER NO 1

INTRODUCTION

Definition and Concept of Inclusion

Inclusion is an educational approach and philosophy that provides all students with community
membership and greater opportunities for academic and social achievement. Inclusion is about
making sure that each and every student feels welcome and that their unique needs and learning
styles are attended to and valued.
Inclusive schools put the values upon which America was founded (pluralism, tolerance, and
equality) into action; they ask teachers to provide appropriate individualized supports and services
to all students without the stigmatization that comes with separation.
Research shows that most students learn and perform better when exposed to the richness of the
general education curriculum, as long as the appropriate strategies and accommodations are in
place.
At no time does inclusion require the classroom curriculum, or the academic expectations, to be
watered down. On the contrary, inclusion enhances learning for students, both with and without
special needs. Students learn, and use their learning differently; the goal is to provide all students
with the instruction they need to succeed as learners and achieve high standards, alongside their
friends and neighbors.
The concept has evolved towards the idea that all children should attend the mainstream school
(equal learning opportunities) regardless of their cultural and social backgrounds as well of their
differences on abilities and capacities.
Inclusive Education means that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses
in any area, become part of the school community. They are included in the feeling of belonging
among other students, teachers, and support staff. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) and its 1997 amendments make it clear that schools have a duty to educate children with
disabilities in general education classrooms.
Inclusion is more than just physical access to schools. It is including learners in all aspects such as
social inclusion, curriculum accessibility and emotional inclusion. As such inclusive education is
a developmental approach seeking to address the learning needs of all children, youth and adults
with a specific focus on those who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion.
Inclusive Education is defined as a learning environment that promotes the full personal, academic
and professional development of all learners irrespective of race, class, gender, disability, religion,
culture, sexual preference, learning styles and language.
Inclusive education is about how we develop and design our schools, classrooms, programs and
activities so that all students learn and participate together.
Inclusive education is carried out in a common learning environment; that is, an educational
setting where students from different backgrounds and with different abilities learn together in an
inclusive environment. Common learning environments are used for the majority of the students’
regular instruction hours and may include classrooms, libraries, gym, performance theatres, music
rooms, cafeterias, playgrounds and the local community. A common learning environment is not
a place where students with intellectual disabilities or other special needs learn in isolation from
their peers.
Effective Common Learning Environments:
• Enable each student to fully participate in the learning environment that is designed for
all students and is shared with peers in the chosen educational setting;
• Provide a positive climate, promote a sense of belonging and ensure student progress
toward appropriate personal, social, emotional and academic goals;
• Are responsive to individual learning needs by providing sufficient levels of support and
applying student-centered teaching practices and principles.
• Common learning environment: an inclusive environment where instruction is designed
to be delivered to students of mixed ability and with their peer group in the community
school, while being responsive to their individual needs as a learner, and used for the
majority of the students’ regular instruction hours.
Inclusion is the same as Mainstreaming
Though "mainstreaming" has been in common use in education for decades, this word, both as a
concept and a term, has been defined very imprecisely. One early initiative to offer a model of
mainstreaming outlined three elements that should characterize it: a continuum of types of services
for students with disabilities, reduction in the number of children "pulled out" of regular classes,
and the increased provision of special services within regular classrooms rather than outside of
regular classrooms.
Proponents of mainstreaming hold that students with special needs be placed in the general
education setting solely when they can meet traditional academic expectations with minimal
assistance. Yet, simply placing students with special needs in the regular classroom is not enough
to impact learning. Teachers in inclusive schools are asked to vary their teaching styles to meet
the diverse learning styles of a diverse population of students. Only then can the individual needs
of all our students be met. Schools of the future need to ensure that each student receives the
individual attention, accommodations, and supports that will result in meaningful learning.
Inclusive Education is not the Norm in our Schools
Many years ago, special classes were created for students with special needs. Special educators
felt that if they could just teach these students separately, in smaller groups, they could help them
to catch up. However, the reality is that students in segregated special education classes have
fallen further and further behind. Over time, we have learned that inclusive education is a better
way to help all students succeed.
Inclusive Education
Basically, IE means educating learners with special educational needs in regular education
settings. However, IE is not limited to only placement. Rather, it means facilitating education of
students with special needs with a whole suite of provisions which include curriculum adaptation,
adapted teaching methods, modified assessment techniques, and accessibility arrangements. In
short, inclusive education is a multicomponent strategy or, perhaps, a mega- strategy. Inclusive
education is a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all
learners and can thus be understood as a key strategy to achieve education for all (EFA). Inclusion
is thus seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children,
youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and
reducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education It involves changes and
modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies, with a common vision that covers
all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular
system to educate all children UNESCO policy guideline for inclusive education also justifies
three main reasons for IE.
First, educational justification: IE demands to develop ways of teaching that respond to different
needs and weaknesses of children so that all children can take advantage of classroom process.
Second, social justification: inclusive education is a goodwill idea to change attitudes toward
diversity, and form the basis for a just and non-discriminatory society.
Third, economic justification: it is cost-effective to establish and maintain schools that educate
all children together than to set up a complex system of different types of schools specializing in
different groups of children.

International principles of inclusive education

International principles of inclusive education are as defined:
1. The guiding principle that informs this Framework is that schools should accommodate all
children regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions;
2. Special needs education incorporates the proven principles of sound pedagogy from which all
children may benefit;
3. The fundamental principle of the inclusive school is that all children should learn together,
wherever possible, regardless of any difficulties or differences they may have;
4. Within inclusive schools, children with special educational needs should receive whatever
extra support they may require to ensure their effective education;
5. Special attention should be paid to the needs of children and youth with severe or multiple
disabilities;
6. Curricula should be adapted to children's needs, not vice versa;
7. Children with special needs should receive additional instructional support in the context of
the regular curriculum, not a different curriculum.
Key Features of Inclusive Education
Generally, inclusive education will be successful if these important features and practices are
followed:
• Accepting unconditionally all children into regular classes and the life of the school.
• Providing as much support to children, teachers and classrooms as necessary to ensure
that all children can participate in their schools and classes.
• Looking at all children at what they can do rather then what they cannot do.
• Teachers and parents have high expectations of all children.
• Developing education goals according to each child’s abilities. This means that children
do not need to have the same education goals in order to learn together in regular
classes.
 • Designing schools and classes in ways that help children learn and achieve to their fullest
potential (for example, by developing class time tables for allowing more individual
attention for all students).
• Having strong leadership for inclusion from school principals and other administrators.
• Having teachers who have knowledge about different ways of teaching so that children
with various abilities and strengths can learn together.
• Having principals, teachers, parents and others work together to determine the most
effective ways of providing a quality education in an inclusive environment
Scope of Inclusive Education
The concept of Inclusion is often discussed as though it applies only to Special Educational Needs
(SEN), but it has much wider scope. According to Booth and Ainscow (2000) inclusion in
education involves:
1. Valuing all students and staff equally.
2. Reducing student‘s exclusion from schools and focusing their
increase participation in the cultures, curricula and communities of local schools.
3. To respond to the diversity of students in the locality, there is a
need for restructuring the culture, policies and practices in schools.
4. Reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students in
the schools. Especially those who are categorized as having special educational needs.
5. Learning from attempts to overcome barriers to the access and
participation of particular students to make changes for the benefit of students more widely.
6. Viewing the difference between students as resources to support learning, rather than as
problems to be overcome.
7. Acknowledging the right of students to an education in their
locality.
8. Improving schools for staff as well as for students.
9. Emphasizing the role of schools in building community and developing values, as well as in
increasing achievement.
10. Fostering mutually sustaining relationships between schools
and communities.
11. Recognizing that inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society.
Inclusion in education is an approach to educating students with special educational needs. Under
the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled
students. Implementation of these practices varies. Schools most frequently use them for selected
students with mild to severe special needs.
Inclusive education differs from previously held notions of ‘integration’ and ‘mainstreaming’,
which tended to be concerned principally with disability and ‘special educational needs’ and
implied learners changing or becoming ‘ready for’ or deserving of accommodation by the
mainstream. By contrast, inclusion is about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to
accept the child. Inclusion rejects the use of special schools or classrooms to separate students with
disabilities from students without disabilities. A premium is placed upon full participation by
students with disabilities and upon respect for their social, civil, and educational rights. Fully
inclusive schools, which are rare, no longer distinguish between "general education" and "special
education" programs; instead, the school is restructured so that all students learn together.
A Brief History of Inclusion
Today it is widely accepted that inclusion maximizes the potential of the vast majority of students,
ensures their rights, and is the preferred educational approach for the 21st century. Unfortunately,
the philosophy has not always been widely held. Our thinking and acceptance has evolved rapidly
over the last century, and continues to evolve, in response to federal and state law, along with our
changing social and political beliefs.
Think back. When compulsory public education began near the turn of the century, no public
school programs existed for students with disabilities. Schools were expected to be efficient
assembly lines, with each class of students moving from grade to grade and, eventually, graduating
from high school as productive citizens prepared to enter the workforce. Special classes, at first,
did not exist. Later, they were developed as a place for students who could not meet the standards
and keep pace with fellow classmates.
By the 1950s, special education public programs were available in many school districts, but some
undesirable outcomes were becoming apparent. Many authorities in the field agreed that
segregated special classes were not an appropriate educational setting for most students with
special needs, for it was clear that educating students with special needs in isolated settings
minimized, rather than maximized, their potential.
Simultaneously, the Civil Rights Movement was in its great surge, and the fights for equal rights
and non-discriminatory laws were being culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court with the historic
Brown Decision. In 1954, the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education established the principle
that school segregation denies students equal educational opportunity. Although the decision
referred to racial segregation, it began to influence our thinking about people with disabilities. The
thinking went something like this: if separate is not equal, what about our children with special
needs being denied the right to a free and public education, or being placed in separate, segregated,
classrooms?
One of the outcomes of the Civil Rights Movement is the enactment of legislation designed to
prevent discrimination against individuals with special needs, whether they are children in schools
or adults in the workforce.
In the early 1970s, landmark civil rights legislation opened the door for all children with special
needs to receive a free and public education, and ensured equal opportunity for students to
participate in the full range of school activities.
The 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifically
supports inclusive thinking and practices. IDEA calls for involving students with special needs in
general education curricula, assessment practices, and classrooms. Recognizing that traditional
strategies result in a lack of learning outcomes for students with special needs, relative to outcomes
of comparable peers without special education labels, IDEA encourages general and special
education teachers to work together for the benefit of each and every student. The Committee
Report that accompanied the new law to Congress explains the legislators’ intent: inclusion is a
philosophy of acceptance and flexibility.
Classification of Inclusive
Inclusion has two sub-types:
The first is sometimes called regular inclusion or partial inclusion
The other is full inclusion.
"Inclusive practice" is not always inclusive but is a form of integration. For example, students with
special needs are educated in regular classes for nearly all of the day, or at least for more than half
of the day. Whenever possible, the students receive any additional help or special instruction in
the general classroom, and the student is treated like a full member of the class.
However, most specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom, particularly if these
services require special equipment or might be disruptive to the rest of the class and students are
pulled out of the regular classroom for these services. In this case, the student occasionally leaves
the regular classroom to attend smaller, more intensive instructional sessions in a resource room,
or to receive other related services, such as speech and language therapy, occupational and or
physical therapy, and social work. This approach can be very similar to mainstreaming practices,
and may differ in little more than the educational ideals behind it. In the "full inclusion" setting,
the students with special needs are always educated alongside students without special needs, as
the first and desired option while maintaining appropriate supports and services. Some educators
say this might be more effective for the students with special needs. At the extreme, full inclusion
is the integration of all students, even those that require the most substantial educational and
behavioral supports and services to be successful in regular classes and the elimination of special,
segregated special education classes. Special education is considered a service, not a place and
those services are integrated into the daily routines and classroom structure, environment,
curriculum and strategies and brought to the student, instead of removing the student to meet his
or her individual needs. However, this approach to full inclusion is somewhat controversial, and it
is not widely understood or applied to date. Much more commonly, local educational agencies
provide a variety of settings, from special classrooms to mainstreaming to inclusion, and assign
students to the system that seems most likely to help the student achieve his or her individual
educational goals. Students with mild or moderate disabilities, as well as disabilities that do not
affect academic achievement, such as using wheelchair, are most likely to be fully included.
However, students with all types of disabilities from all the different disability categories have
been successfully included in general education classes, working and achieving their individual
educational goals in regular school environments and activities.
Benefits of Inclusive Education
All children benefit from inclusive education. It allows them to:
• Develop individual strengths and gifts, with high and appropriate expectations for each child.
• Work on individual goals while participating in the life of the classroom with other students
their own age.
• Involve their parents in their education and in the activities of their local schools.
• Foster a school culture of respect and belonging. Inclusive education provides opportunities to
learn about and accept individual differences, lessening the impact of harassment and bullying.
• Develop friendships with a wide variety of other children, each with their own individual needs
and abilities.
• Positively affect both their school and community to appreciate diversity and inclusion on a
broader level.
In principle, several factors can determine the success of inclusive classrooms:
1. Family-school partnerships
2. Collaboration between general and special educators
3. Well-constructed plans that identify specific accommodations, modifications, and goals for each
student
4. Ongoing training and staff development
Classroom Practice
Students in an inclusive classroom are generally placed with their chronological age-mates,
regardless of whether the students are working above or below the typical academic level for
their age. Also, to encourage a sense of belonging, emphasis is placed on the value of
friendships. Teachers often nurture a relationship between a student with special needs and a
same-age student without a special educational need. Another common practice is the
assignment of a buddy to accompany a student with special needs at all times. This is used to
show students that a diverse group of people make up a community, that no one type of student
is better than another, and to remove any barriers to a friendship that may occur if a student is
viewed as “helpless”. Such practices reduce the chance among students in later grades and
encourage cooperation among groups.
Teachers use a number of techniques to help build classroom communities:
• Using games designed to build community
• Involving students in solving problems
• Sharing songs and books that teach community
• Openly dealing with individual differences by discussion
• Assigning classroom jobs that build community
• Teaching students to look for ways to help each other
• Encouraging students to take the role of teacher and deliver instruction focusing on the strength
of a student with special needs
The Promise of Inclusive Education
Inclusive education brings all students together in one classroom and community, regardless of
their strengths or weaknesses in any area, and seeks to maximize the potential of all students.
• Inclusion is an effort to make sure that diverse learners – those with disabilities, different
languages and cultures, different homes and family lives, different interests and ways of learning
– are exposed to teaching strategies that reach them as individual learners
• Inclusive schools ask teachers to provide appropriate individualized supports and services to all
students without the stigmatization that comes with separation
• Teachers in inclusive classrooms vary their styles to enhance learning for all students.
The benefits of inclusive education are numerous for both students with and without disabilities.

Benefits of Inclusion for Students with Disabilities

Friendships
Increased social initiations, relationships and networks
Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
Increased achievement of IEP goals
Greater access to general curriculum
Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
Increased inclusion in future environments
Greater opportunities for interactions
Higher expectations
Increased school staff collaboration
Increased parent participation
Families are more integrated into community
Benefits of Inclusion for Students without Disabilities
Meaningful friendships
Increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences
Increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
Respect for all people
Prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society
 Opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others
Greater academic outcomes
All students needs are better met, greater resources for everyone
There is not any research that shows any negative effects from inclusion done appropriately with
the necessary supports and services for students to actively participate and achieve IEP goals.
Supporting Inclusion
Enrolment Application and Support Procedure (EASP)
This process seeks to reveal and clarify the needs of the student and to identify the educational
adjustments required for accessing the learning program for the student. Adjustments are made for
students with a disability to enable them to access the curriculum, achieve curriculum outcomes
and participate in school life. An adjustment is any change made to help a student participate at
school, learn, and be comfortable and safe.
More information is available in the Supporting Children with a Disability at School – A Guide
for Parents.
Transitions occur when a student has to move from or into a new educational setting. Transitions
may occur when students are moving:
Into prep
From one year level to another
From one phase of learning to another
From primary to secondary school, or
To prepare for the most appropriate career pathway throughout life.
Before a transition process commences, parents, with support, are encouraged to take time to visit
all possible educational settings when considering a placement for a student with a disability. The
Enrolment Application and Support Procedure (EASP) is one way of identifying the support and
personnel required to make the transitioning as smooth as possible. The purpose of a transition
meeting is to discuss and plan, collaboratively, a suitable course of action to assist the move as
effortlessly as possible.
Dual Enrolment
A dual enrolment occurs when a parent requests enrolment in a Brisbane Catholic
Education school and concurrently in another setting. This usually occurs when the child:
 attends early intervention settings and it is intended they will progress to a full time
enrolment into a primary school;
Is on a pathway to a full time primary or secondary school enrolment, but currently requires
significant support with learning from a specialist education setting;
Requires intensive daily support with learning which cannot be provided in a primary or
secondary school and parents are seeking a Catholic education and/or social opportunities.
Issues and Challenges Teachers Faces in a Special Needs Inclusive Classroom
1. Lack of experience in an inclusion setting
Some teachers have not been exposed to special needs classrooms and this can be a disadvantage.
Educators need to coordinate efforts and understand the needs of the classroom in terms of
developing skills and lesson plans.
2. Lack of experience dealing with severe and profound disabilities
Students with severe and profound require more adaptation and medical attention than the average
student. Teachers must be skilled in handling severe disabilities and create lesson plans based on
individual abilities and adhere to dietary needs of the child. Lack of experience can lead to the
child not progressing with skills or cause of adverse medical incidents.
3. Including all students in all activities
Special needs inclusion classrooms must be able to involve its students in all classroom activities.
Teachers need to address how the classroom will communicate with each other and encourage
participation. If there is a lack of adaptive equipment or adaptive communication and language
tools, it makes it difficult for teachers to function as a united classroom
4. Educating students with less severe disabilities
When there are children of all abilities in the classroom, both physical and academic, children in
the middle can easily fall between the cracks. These children can have learning disabilities, hearing
impairments, ADD or language delays to name a few. Providing the right amount of attention and
adaptation can be challenging, especially if there is a higher teacher to student ratio.
5. Dealing with death
Death is difficult for any teacher to explain to their classroom. When you have a special needs
inclusive classroom, there may be students with chronic illnesses and teachers may have to deal
with the death of a student.
 6. Shortage of teacher aide’s
Normally, inclusive classrooms have a regular educator and special needs educator. Due to the
nature of the classroom and size, it is imperative that there be an appropriate number of teacher
aides to assist the teachers with day to day activities.
7. Teaching compassion to students
Not all students have been exposed to persons with special needs and this becomes a challenge to
teachers. Teachers must not tolerate insensitiveness and cruelness and teach that all students are to
be treated with respect, regardless of ability.
8. Dealing with parents of “typically developing” students
As some students are not use to dealing with persons with special needs, parents are no exception.
Teachers need to convey to parents how the classroom is conducted and that all educational needs
will be met.
9. Individualized lesson plans
Because there are varying abilities in the classroom, teachers can be challenged to address
individual academic needs based on ability.
10. Coordinating therapies
A special needs inclusion classroom needs to be well organized and allow for students to attend
therapy sessions. However, this becomes a challenge in planning day to day activities and keeping
all students engaged and learning.
Barriers of Inclusive Education
Inclusive education does away with the practice of segregating students with learning and/or
physical challenges from the rest of the student body. While the practice of inclusion places extra
demands on students and facility logistics, there are numerous benefits to all students, both
disabled and non-disabled.
Teachers in inclusive classrooms must incorporate a variety of teaching methods in order to best
reach students of varying learning abilities. This has benefits even for those students who would
be placed in a traditional classroom, as this increases their engagement in the learning process.
Even gifted and accelerated learners benefit from an environment that stresses responsiveness from
all students.
Perhaps most importantly, inclusive classrooms encourage open and frank dialogue
about differences as well as a respect for those with different abilities, cultural backgrounds, and
needs.
Despite the benefits, there still are many barriers to the implementation of inclusive education. A
UNESCO article, “Inclusive Education,” outlined many of them, including:
Barriers of Inclusive Education is classified into Internal and External Barriers:
Internal Barriers are:
1. Attitude
2. Psychical Barrier
3. Curriculum
4. Teacher
5. Language and Communication
6. Socio-Economic Factor
7. Funding
8. Organization of the Education System
9. Policies as a Barrier
1. Attitudes:
Societal norms often are the biggest barrier to inclusion. Old attitudes die hard, and many still
resist the accommodation of students with disabilities and learning issues, as well as those from
minority cultures. Prejudices against those with differences can lead to discrimination, which
inhibits the educational process. The challenges of inclusive education might be blamed on the
students’ challenges instead of the shortcomings of the educational system.

2. Physical Barriers:
In some districts, students with physical disabilities are expected to attend schools that are
inaccessible to them. In economically-deprived school systems, especially those in rural areas,
dilapidated and poorly-cared-for buildings can restrict accessibility. Some of these facilities are
not safe or healthy for any students. Many schools don’t have the facilities to properly
accommodate students with special needs, and local governments lack either the funds or the
resolve to provide financial help. Environmental barriers can include doors, passageways, stairs
and ramps, and recreational areas. These can create a barrier for some students to simply enter the
school building or classroom.
3. Curriculum:
A rigid curriculum that does not allow for experimentation or the use of different teaching methods
can be an enormous barrier to inclusion. Study plans that don’t recognize different styles of
learning hinder the school experience for all students, even those not traditionally recognized as
having physical or mental challenges.
4. Teachers:
Teachers who are not trained or who are unwilling or unenthusiastic about working with
differently-abled students are a drawback to successful inclusion. Training often falls short of real
effectiveness, and instructors already straining under large workloads may resent the added duties
of coming up with different approaches for the same lessons.
5. Language and communication:
Many students are expected to learn while being taught in a language that is new and in some cases
unfamiliar to them. This is obviously a significant barrier to successful learning. Too often, these
students face discrimination and low expectations.
6. Socio-economic factors:
Areas that are traditionally poor and those with higher-than-average unemployment rates tend to
have schools that reflect that environment, such as run-down facilities, students who are unable to
afford basic necessities and other barriers to the learning process. Violence, poor health services,
and other social factors make create barriers even for traditional learners, and these challenges
make inclusion all but impossible.
7. Funding:
Adequate funding is a necessity for inclusion and yet it is rare. Schools often lack adequate
facilities, qualified and properly-trained teachers and other staff members, educational materials
and general support. Sadly, the lack of resources is pervasive throughout many educational
systems.
8. Organization of the Education System:
Centralized education systems are rarely conducive to positive change and initiative. Decisions
come from the school system’s high-level authorities whose initiatives focus on employee
compliance more than quality learning. The top levels of the organization may have little or no
idea about the realities teachers face on a daily basis.
9. Policies as Barriers:
Many policymakers don’t understand or believe in inclusive education, and these leaders can
stonewall efforts to make school policies more inclusive. This can exclude whole groups of
learners from the mainstream educational system, thereby preventing them from enjoying the same
opportunities for education and employment afforded to traditional students.
Overcoming the many barriers to inclusive education will require additional funding, but even
more importantly, it requires the change of old and outdated attitudes. Studies support what many
classroom teachers know by experience: that the benefits inclusion provides to all students easily
justifies the effort.
External Barriers include:
1. School Location
2. School Enrollment
3. Educational Barrier
4. Social Stigmatization
5. Economical Condition

Special Education

Special education programs are designed for those students who are mentally, physically, socially
and/or emotionally delayed. This aspect of “delay,” broadly categorized as a developmental delay,
signify an aspect of the child's overall development (physical, cognitive, scholastic skills) which
place them behind their peers. Due to these special requirements, students’ needs cannot be met
within the traditional classroom environment. Special education programs and services adapt
content, teaching methodology and delivery instruction to meet the appropriate needs of each child.
These services are of no cost to the family and are available to children until they reach 21 years
of age (states have services set in place for adults who are in need of specialized services after age
21).

The strides made in special education advocacy and policy have come far. Primarily established
through the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975) External link , the law was later
amended into the Individuals with Disabilities with Education Act of 2004 External link .

Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975

In 1975, Congress enacted Public Law 94-142, more commonly known as the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act (EHA). The goal of EHA was to ensure children with disabilities gained
access to a free and appropriate public education. This law provided local and statewide support
and protection to children and youth with disabilities, as well as their families.

Under EHA, all public schools were granted federal funding that provided equal access to
education for children with physical and/or mental disabilities. Schools were required to evaluate
children and create an educational plan that paralleled the academic experience of their non-
disabled peers. EHA requirements also provided parents and families the necessary support
systems to ensure their child received appropriate and adequate services, along with the services
needed to dispute decisions made on behalf of the child.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) was amended in 1997 and is now known
as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The amendments made in IDEA
provide children and youth with disabilities access to a higher quality of education-related services,
ensuring all students the complete access to the most appropriate education within the least
restrictive environment.

Under IDEA’s legislation, all states receiving federal funding must:

• Provide all students with disabilities between the ages of three and 21 with access to an
appropriate and free public education
• Identify, locate and evaluate children labeled with disabilities
• Develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child
• Educate children with disabilities within their "least restrictive environment." This
environment is ideally with their typically developing peers but is dependent on individual
circumstances
• Provide those students enrolled in early-intervention (EI) programs with a positive and
effective transition into an appropriate preschool program
• Provide special education services for those children enrolled in private schools
• Ensure teachers are adequately qualified and certified to teach special education
• Ensure that children with disabilities are not suspended or expelled at rates higher than
their typically developing peers

Above all, these federal provisions enacted by IDEA ensure that all children with disabilities are
provided with the adequate services and resources necessary for them to succeed within and
beyond the educational system alongside their non-disabled peers.

References
➢ Allen, K. E.; Schwartz, I. (2000). The Exceptional Child: Inclusion in Early Childhood
Education (4 ed.). Delmar Cengage Learning. ISBN 0766802493.
➢ Scheyer et al. (1996). The Inclusive Classroom Teacher Created Materials, Inc. The
Inclusive Classroom
➢ Definition of inclusion, accessed October 11, 2007. Archived 2009-10-3
Bowe, Frank. (2005). Making Inclusion Work. Merrill Education/Prentice Hall.
➢ Understanding Psychology Eighth Edition”, Feldman, Robert S. (2008), page 309.
Retrieved 2010-06-10.
➢ Student teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of children with special needs. Educational
Psychology, Hastings. R.P., & Oakford, S. (2003), page 23, 87-95