Landmark Cases

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

• Occured in 1975 (formally known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
• Ensures that all children with disabilities receive free public education to meet their needs.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

• Ensures education meets unique needs and prepares students for further education, employment, and independent living.
• This act helps teachers understand how to effectively teach these students and gives them individualized plans (IEP) for their education.

Title IX and Sex Discrimination

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972

• Protects students from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities.
• Programs or activities that receive funds from the Department of Ed. must run in a nondiscriminatory manner.
• Teachers must ensure and understand that all students are to be treated as equals.

Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act

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• Passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
• Focuses on serving students who are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs.
• The Javits program must be funded each year by Congress.

3 Primary Components

• National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
• Competitive grants to institutions to design & expand models serving underrepresented students.
• Competitive grants statewide for gifted and talented if funding exceeds $7.5 million.

It is important for teachers to recognize students who show levels of high achievement so they can receive specialized services and actitivies to reach their full potential.

Title I- Improving the Education of the Disadvantaged

The 1965 Act was amended to read as:

• Title I- Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged.
• Purpose: To ensure all children have a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.
• Meeting the educational needs of all children with all different backgrounds.

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• Provides opportunites of involvement for students, teachers, and parents to provide significant resources and support for the best education possible.
• Teachers need to accept help and resources and be involved in the lives of both the students and parents to have the most effective relationships and academic achievements.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 & 1974

Section 504

• Covers qualified students with disabilities who attend schools receiving Federal financial assistance.
• Requires providing free appropriate public education to qualified student with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability

To determine qualification a student must:

• a physical or mental impairment that limits 1 or more major life activities (determined on a case-by-case basis)
• have a record of impairment
• be regarded as having the impairment.

Teachers must understand how to meet these student's needs so they can have as adequate of an education as nondisabled students have.

Lau vs. Nichols

The Issue in Question

• Should the school offer special help to students who are unable to understand English? Would this interfer with the obligation of equal educational opportunities?
• For children who arrive at school with little to no English speaking ability, the "sink or swim" method is prohibitted by the U.S. Supreme Course decision in 1974.

San Francisco Unified School District

• This case was brought by non-English-speaking Chinese students against the officials who operate this district.
• They were seeking relief against unequal educational opportunities.

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• In section 601 of the Civil Right Act of 1964, it bans discrimination based on "the grounds of race, color, or national origin," in any program receiving federal assistance.

Lau vs. San Francisco Unified School District

• The United States Supreme Court ruled that the district violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• The Court continues to modify plans on how to provide appropriate education for these students.

Teachers need to understand that all students come from different backgrounds and all have specific needs that will need to be addressed in the classroom.