Teaching the Teachers: IDEA and Modifications to Classroom Environments for Students With Disabilities

By Martin Jauregui, Freelance Writer

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) appeared in its present form in 1990, its purpose was to address the educational needs of children with disabilities. The act asked for one thing on the part of children with disabilities: that they be provided with a free and appropriate public education. The act has gone through several reauthorizations since 1990, with the latest one taking place in 2004. Included in the act was the general alignment of IDEA with No Child Left Behind. Under the new version of the IDEA, the term "highly qualified", which is used to describe a teacher's certification and status, is now taken to mean the same thing under both IDEA and NCLB. Additionally, the new version of the IDEA prevents schools and school districts from being held in violation of the act if the parent of a child fails to or refuses to give consent for an evaluation of a child. Changes were also made to the act's reevaluation procedures, IEP procedures, as well as changes to procedures regarding the discipline of students with disabilities.

In 2006, the National Center for Learning Disabilities reported that more than 6 million students with disabilities receive help directly from the IDEA. Before the act made its original appearance in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), only about twenty percent of children with disabilities were educated by U.S. public schools. In most cases, children with severe disabilities like blindness or mental retardation were denied access to the public education system. Instead of allowing them to participate in the traditional education system, most schools resorted to covering the costs of placing these children in state run institutions where they were neither educated nor rehabilitated.

Today, when a student with a physical or mental disability enters into a regular education classroom, it becomes the teacher's responsibility to become educated about the disability and determine the methods that will be employed in order to provide the student with an education that under the eyes of the law is considered adequate and appropriate. In most situations, teachers will have to make certain modifications to their classrooms in order to ensure that they comply with the requirements set forth by the IDEA as well as the ADA.

Students in wheelchairs or with mobility issues may have trouble getting from one class to another within the allotted amount of time. In these situations, it is important for the teacher to consider allowing the student to leave the classroom a few minutes early in order for them to arrive at their next class on time. Administrators may also consider modifying the student's schedule, perhaps by placing the student in classrooms that are closer to each other in order to minimize the amount of traveling the student has to do.

Unscheduled breaks may also be a required modification for disabled students. Time to rest, visit the restroom or take special medication should be permitted, even if the events take place when the student is in class. If these non-traditional breaks have to take place during classroom time, it is important that they be done during a time that will minimally affect the student's instructional time.

Certain changes to the classroom environment may also need to be made. Desks might have to be rearranged, or seating charts may need to be altered in order to allow a student with a disability to successfully maneuver through and around the classroom. When it comes to emergency drills, the teacher may also want to consider the location of a disabled child's seat in order to ensure that he or she can safely make it out of the classroom when one of these drills takes place. A student might also be assigned to make sure that the student with a physical disability can quickly and easily make it out of the classroom.

Students with disabilities might require some form of assistance or modification while at school, but it is important for school staff to allow these children to learn and function independently as much as possible. It is easy for a teacher or an aide to simply decide to do a task for a disabled student, but what good will that do for student? It might take student five minutes to put on a sweater or jacket, when an aide or teacher could do it in a few seconds, but the skill of being able to put on the coat or jacket is one that the student needs to eventually master.

You can read about the modifications at:

Teachers Helping Teachers