Landmark Cases

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Revised in 1990

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• Originally Education for all Handicapped Children Act (1975-1990)
• Ensures free appropriate education is available to those children who are disabled from birth to 21 years.
• Emphasizes special education and related services are designed to meet their unique needs

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• Teachers must take into account the input of the child and their parents in the educational process
• Individualized Education Plans (IEP) are created to meet the unique needs of the student
• IEP's can be challenged if a parent feels it is inappropriate for their child

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• Important for teachers to have an understanding of those students under an IEP
• Allows them to design lesson plans that will best align with their needs while still presenting the material

Title IX and Sex Discrimination
1972 Revised in 1998

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• Protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance
• Requires the programs and activities that receive federal funds operate in a nondiscriminatory manner

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• Office of Civil Rights enforces Title IX
• Investigates complaints filed alleging sex discrimination
• If institutions did not follow provisions of Title IX then they could potentially lose their funding

Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act
1988

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• Major emphasis of the program is on serving students traditionally underrepresented in gifted and talented programs, particularly economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient (LEP), and disabled students, to help reduce the serious gap in achievement among certain groups of students at the highest levels of achievement.

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• Conducts research to identify gifted and talented students and meet their special educational needs
• Schools apply for grants according to the needs of their students
• If teachers have students that display high achievement capabilities, it is their responsibility to help them achieve their potential

Title 1 - Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
1965

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• To ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education
• To reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments
• Focuses on disadvantaged children

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• Holds schools accountable for improving academic achievement of all students
• Identifies low-performing schools that haven't met high-quality education requirements
• Encourages meaningful parental participation

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• Important for teachers to strive to decrease the gap between high and low performing students

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 & 1974

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• Federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs that receive Federal financial assistance
• Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a "free appropriate public education" to each qualified student with a disability that limits a major life activity

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• Teachers need to be aware of students needs in this situation. Not following a 504 plan may have consequences for that school.

Lau v. Nichols
414 U.S 563
1974

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• Class action suit that stated that non-English-speaking Chinese students did not receive equal educational opportunities
• Supreme court ruled against lower Federal courts in favor of the Chinese families

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• Requires that no student should graduate from 12th grade who has not met the standards of proficiency in English as well as other subjects

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• Led to Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 in Congress, which specifically prohibited discrimination against faculty and student in public schools and required the school districts to take "appropriate action" to overcome the barriers to equal participation of all students

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• It increased funding to the Bilingual Education Act and made additional English instruction mandatory, which effectively extended the Lau ruling to all public schools
• Specified methods and approaches for the school districts to follow in order to provide a meaningful education to students with limited English proficiency

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• This led to the development of bilingual programs and additional English instructions in most public schools
• Important for teachers to be aware of requirements when they have an ELL student in their class