Disability News

Improving Academic Results for Children with Disabilities Requires IDEA Reform, Witnesses Testify

Washington, D.C. - The House Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Education Reform, chaired by Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), today heard testimony on improving results for children with disabilities by reforming the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Due for reauthorization this year, the IDEA is the nation’s special education law, designed to provide educational opportunities for children with disabilities.

“Now more than ever, we must see that children with disabilities are given access to an education that maximizes their unique abilities and provides them with the tools for later success,” continued Castle. “We must be vigilant in our efforts towards improving their quality of education by focusing on better education results, reducing the paperwork burden for special education teachers, and addressing the problem of over-identification of minority students as disabled.”

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), the landmark education reform law signed by President Bush just over a year ago, injected accountability into education and paved the way for the reauthorization of the IDEA by ensuring that all children, including those with disabilities, are provided with a high-quality education, noted Dianne Talarico, superintendent of the Canton City School District.

“I believe the success of the No Child Left Behind Act and the reauthorization of IDEA are intricately woven together,” said Talarico. “The reauthorization of IDEA offers a tremendous opportunity to further flesh out these high expectations for students with disabilities and thus increase academic achievement, graduation rates and post-school employment and participation in post-secondary school for students with disabilities.”

Harriet Brown, director of elementary and secondary education policy and procedures in Orlando, Florida, testified that teachers and school officials struggle under a crushing paperwork burden under current IDEA law, and reducing this paperwork burden would improve outcomes for children with disabilities by allowing teachers to focus more on students and less on the often-unnecessary bureaucracy involved with paperwork.

Brown offered several suggestions for areas where paperwork could be reduced, and pointed out that educating children, not filling out paperwork, is the goal of educators. “We need to return to the spirit of the law by focusing on teaching and learning while we help students with disabilities achieve,” said Brown.

In addition to reducing the paperwork burden, reforms to the IDEA could help improve results for children by reducing misidentification and over-identification of special education students, testified Dr. Douglas Carnine, director and professor of the National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators at the University of Oregon. He pointed out that early intervention strategies can often improve results for children and reduce later identification as being learning disabled.

“Accountability for results with special education students combined with early intervention shows promising results. The President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education reported that ‘…when aggressive reading programs are implemented with accountability for results, learning disability identifications are reduced,’” pointed out Carnine. “They also commented on the identification process stating that ‘the Commission finds that many children who are placed into special education are instructional casualties and not students with disabilities.’”

Ensuring results for children with disabilities requires reforms to the IDEA, noted Castle. Witnesses echoed that statement, pointing out that while the law provides educational opportunities, all children, including those with disabilities, deserve a high-quality education, and reforming the law is necessary to reaching that goal.

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