Running head: FORMATION OF POLICY ALTERNATIVE

Formation of Policy Alternative

SW 4710
November 26th 2014
Amanda Cummings

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Education for Children with Disabilities
Introduction
We live in a complex and ever changing world full of many social issues. One such issue
is the education of students with disabilities. There is much to learn and many developmental
milestones that a student must reach on their journey of getting an education. Society, by default,
is constructed to educate individuals who are able-bodied and able-minded, which unfortunately
neglects those who are differently-abled. In the mind of a student with a disability the journey of
getting an education may be a difficult task to accomplish compared to their able-bodied
classmates. The federal government defines a disability as someone who has a physical or
mental impairment that limits one or more of their life activities (U.S. Department of Labor,
2007). Types of disabilities include Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, blindness or low
vision, brain injuries, deaf/hard of hearing, learning disabilities, medical disabilities, physical
disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and speech or language disabilities (Greenlee, 2014).
There are a vast number of people with disabilities in the United States and this causes
the need for the government to address the disability education issue. In the United States there
is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and in Australia they have Disability
Discrimination Act for Education Standards. An alternative to present policies in both the United
States and Australia would place more emphasis on assessing a child with a disability in order for
them to receive the best education. This paper will discuss the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act in comparison with the Disability Discrimination Act for Education Standards,
and will then formulate a policy alternative.
Comparing Policies

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In 1975 the U.S. Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act,
which required all public schools that accept federal funds to provide equal access to education
for children with physical disabilities (Kidd, 2001). The U.S. Congress reauthorized the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1990, and expanded certain programs. The
reauthorization and expansion of this act became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) (PL 101-476, 1990). In 2004, the U.S. Congress amended the law and further clarified
its intended purpose that states provide free, appropriate public education for all students
between the ages of 3 to 21, including children with disabilities (PL 108-446, 2004).
The IDEA has a Federal government spending clause meaning that States in the country
have the option to receive federal funding subject to the conditions of the law. To date all 50
states have accepted funding and are therefore subject to the IDEA. While the federal
government might provide guidelines, funding and policies, the state and local governments have
the responsibility to develop rules, criteria and curriculum for education. Local authority over
education allows for programs to be developed specific to the community served. The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is targeted for children with disabilities in the school
setting and helps over 6.5 million of these specific children in the United States (USDE, 2011).
Part B of IDEA is focused toward children and young adults with disabilities between the ages of
3 and 21 years old. Part C of IDEA is focused on children with disabilities from birth to age 2
years old and provides early intervention services (USDE, 2011).
One requirement of IDEA states that a student must meet the specific eligibility criteria
based on the following disability categories which include: mental retardation, hearing
impairments, speech or language impairments, visual impairments, serious emotional
disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or

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specific learning disabilities (IDEA, 2004). An important piece of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act is the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP ensures that
every child with a disability who receives services under the IDEA must have a record that
contains key information about the childs special education and related services that he or she
needs and will eventually receive (Greenlee, 2014).
In 1992 the Parliament of Australia enacted the Disability Discrimination Act, which
promoted the rights of people with disabilities in areas such as housing, education and provision
of goods and services (DDA, 1992). The objects of this act are to eliminate as much possible
discrimination in relation to disability, ensure equality of people with disabilities before the law,
and promote recognition and acceptance of the rights of people with disabilities. The goal is to
promote recognition and acceptance within the community of the principle that persons with
disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of the community (DDA, 1992). Under
the legislation the definition of disability according to this act is intentionally broad in order to
encompass physical, sensory, mental and intellectual aspects of disability (Ag.gov.au, 2014).
The education standards in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 set the rights for students with
disabilities and how education providers, such as schools and universities, must help students
with their disabilities (Raisingchildren.net.au, 2014). The main goal for the education standards
is to give the same educational opportunities and choices that able students have to the students
with disabilities. The standards clarify the obligations of education and training service
providers as well as the persons with disabilities, under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
Providers must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the student with a disability,
except in instances when this would impose unjustifiable hardship on a person or organization
(Ag.gov.au, 2014).

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Commonly referred to as education related adjustments the act requires educational
institutions to put in place actions that help ensure equal opportunity for students who have
disabilities. Although legislation does not specify the types of adjustments required to remove
discrimination, each case needs to be considered in its own circumstances. Some examples of
these education related adjustments include: changes to the physical environment, such as
modified physical spaces or provision of equipment, modifying communication systems or
information provision, providing course materials in alternative formats, provision of
interpreters, alternative assessments or examinations, and provision of a private room for
undertaking exams (Raisingchildren.net.au, 2014). An important piece of the Disability
Discrimination Act is a Disability Action Plan, which is developed by an organization to identify
issues and develop strategies to eliminate discriminatory practices against students with
disabilities. Any service provider, including anyone or any institution that provides goods or
services or makes facilities available with or without cost, may develop action plans. A number
of Universities and TAFE Institutes across Australia have developed, or are in the process of
developing the Disability Action Plan (Raisingchildren.net.au, 2014).
After assessing the policies regarding education of students with disabilities in the United
States and Australia, there are many things to compare between the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act and the Disability Discrimination Act. The main thing that these two policies
have in common is the fact that they both provide support for persons with disabilities and they
define disability in a similar way, although Disability Discrimination Act is broader. Compared
to the Individuals with Disabilities Education act, the Disability Discrimination Act does not
provide actual services to the students that are funded. The Disability Discrimination Act
provides reasonable adjustments to accommodate the student with a disability rather than

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developing specific programs for students with disabilities. The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act has an Individualized Education Program and the Disability Discrimination Act
has the Disability Action Plan, both helping to benefit persons with disabilities in their own
specific way. The difference between the policies from the two countries is that the United
States policy is more focused on providing services to students with disabilities whereas
Australia is more focused on the discrimination of students with disabilities. When comparing
the United States policy, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Australias Disability
Discrimination Act, it is easy to find many similarities but it is important to note the differences
between the two also.
Policy Alternative
One major issue that may interfere with how the Individuals with the effectiveness of
Disabilities Education Act is the disproportionate number of minority students represented in
special education. The topic of overrepresentation of minorities in special education has many
facets to examine; some include referral, placement, and disability category (Martinez, 2008).
Children who are not skilled with speaking English as their first language are wrongfully
assessed and referred to special education classes when the only obstacle they face is language
rather than a developmental delay. Results of a study conducted to examine the
overrepresentation of minorities being referred to special education found that there was a large
ethnic overrepresentation (Gottlieb and Alter, 1994). Gottlieb and Alter (1994) attribute the
racial disparity due to an effect from referrals received for special education evaluation as 40%
referrals were African American students and 39% were Hispanic. If more referrals are made
then it is more likely these students will be placed.

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An alternative to the policies present in both the United States and Australia would place
more emphasis on assessing a child in order for them to receive the best education and have the
correct placement and adjustments. Assessing a Child with Care Act is the alternative policy to
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Assessing a Child with Care Act will help assess
children who are referred for special education evaluation in a more detailed manner relating
more to their needs so they can be placed in the correct classroom or under the correct disability
category. When students are placed in special education classes on account of a language barrier
issue it can have more of a negative affect on their education because they are not necessarily
special needs. Wilkinson and Ortiz (1986) can support this concept with the result of their
studies of special education placement with these students who had the language barrier and
were classified as learning disabled. The non-native speakers in these studies, after three years of
special education placement, had shown that their verbal and performance IQ scores were lower
than they had been at initial entry into special education and their achievement scores were at
essentially the same level as at entry. The goal of The Assessing a Child with Care Act is to
make sure that minorities are not placed in a special education classroom simply because of the
language barrier and this policy will provide the steps and regulations to make that happen.
The federal budget for education for children with disabilities would need to be changed
in order for the Assessing a Child with Care Act to work best. There would need to be a larger
budget for assessment programs and training to properly assess a child. The federal change
would need to give the states and local agencies more incentive to properly assess a child and
decide whether or not they should be in special education or what kind of placement they would
be in if they were. If the budget is increased it would provide the opportunity for states to get the
extra services needed to assess the child, such as programs and training for people to attend.

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This policy would lower the disproportionate amount of minority students being incorrectly
assigned to special education in the future. The budget that is in place for the current policy of
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not include these types of services (PL 108-446,
2004).
Testing and assessment for children in special education programs are formal, normalized
and standardized (Webster, 2014). The specific tests that are included in this process are
individualized intelligence tests, standardized testing, individual achievement tests, functional
tests, curriculum based assessments, and teacher made assessments. All of this testing is done
solely in English, so the results may wrongly indicate that a non-English speaking child is
learning disabled (Mount-Cors, 2014). The minorities may test higher if they were given the test
in their native language. At a local level, promotions to make use of present federal funding for
more resources and services for testing would need to be made in order to accommodate tests in
other languages. These budget changes would need to be put into local programs that would help
the minority students. Giving financial help to these resources will create less stress on the
student and show their true potential, which is not always hindered by a disability. I believe this
policy would gain the support of minority groups and the staff at the schools. Therefore, another
goal with this policy alternative is to get an increased budget in order to have these tests
accommodate minoritys needs so they are not wrongly labeled.
Goals and Feasibility of the Policy Alternative
The policy alternative has particular goals apart from the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. The main goal that Assessing a Child with Care Act has is to avoid misdiagnosis
for children in the United States that do not speak English as their first language. The goal

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focuses on providing extra services for these minorities so that they are not automatically placed
into special education programs due to their test scores. Instead of placing the student into a
special education program they should be placed into general education where they can learn the
things they have the potential to learn, while at the same time being provided with the extra
services to help them with the language barrier. In order to meet these goals we need another
goal to address the budget, which would need to be increased for these services.
Assessing a Child with Care Act can be described through political, economic and
administrative feasibility. In assessing the political feasibility of this policy alternative the
analyst must examine the publics sentiment. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, approximately
36.3% of the United States population currently belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group, thus
showing that a large segment of the public would have interest in the Assessing a Child with
Care Act because it benefits minorities and they will be positively affected by this policy. In
assessing the economic feasibility of the policy alternative the analyst must consider some form
of direct or indirect funding because most social policies require this. The funding would be for
translators, training for certifications, and new written test. The analyst must also be concerned
with the administrative feasibility of the Assessing a Child with Care Act. When looking at the
effectiveness of this policy there is a good likelihood that it will accomplish what it was intended
to do because the policy is broad enough to accomplish its stated goals, thus benefiting the
intended target group.
Implementing the Policy Alternative
The process of implementing this policy alternative would require going to a lobbyist,
think tanks, and the National Association for the Education for Young Children for support of the

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Assessing a Child with Care Act. It would need to be viewed by legislators who could then take
it to Congress to be reviewed. There may be resistance by legislators for this policy due to the
increase in budget but to help this conflict be considered the research of how it negatively affects
minorities would need to be set forth to show how much it would provide a better future for
those students, ultimately leading to a more productive society. This policy would reduce the
number of students being improperly diagnosed and provide for more educated individuals in our
society. Presenting the information with statistics of disproportionate number of minority
students represented in special education would help sway opinions.
Personal Feelings about the Policy Alternative
As a social worker my belief is that this proposal works for the common good at all
levels: the micro, mezzo and macro levels in the social work practice. It is a good proposal for
individuals, classrooms, families, schools and the nation overall. Social Workers believe in
cultural competence and social diversity, where one should obtain education about and seek to
understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national
origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political
belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability (NASW, 2008). Another
value of social workers is that they should not practice, condone, or collaborate with any form of
discrimination on the basis of any type of discrimination (NASW, 2008). The proposal of
Assessing a Child with Care Act would help lead to a stronger sense of these values.
I believe that the proposal of Assessing a Child with Care Act would be a big shift for
budgeting for governmental officials due to all the extra services and resources that would be
needed. In order to implement this policy the federal government would have to increase the

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budget that they currently have in place and it seems that neither the United States or Australias
government has not yet been able to achieve. I believe that minorities today are still not
carefully considered and they suffer from that in everyday life. The United States is very diverse
yet I do not feel that we do enough to accommodate people who do not know English as their
first language. I feel that a policy like Assessing a Child with Care Act would help start to
alleviate some of the obstacles that minorities face with discrimination or improper placements,
at least in the education system.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both the United States and Australia have made a great effort in assessing
and accommodating differently-abled students through their respective IDEA and DDA policies.
Both countries encourage custom assessments and progress reports to help educate students with
particular disabilities. Both acts, however, fail to accommodate minorities. Students that do not
speak English as their native language or do not come from the same ethnic backgrounds as the
majority of other students are wrongly diagnosed. This paper proposes the Assessing a Child
with Care Act, which focuses on properly assessing minority students. It discusses public support
and economic feasibility of the act and concludes that this act is a wonderful solution to better
assess minority students for disabilities.

References

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Ag.gov.au, (2014). Disability standards for education | Attorney-General's Department. [online]
Available at:
http://www.ag.gov.au/RightsAndProtections/HumanRights/DisabilityStandards/Pages/Di
sabilitystandardsfore
Disability Discrimination Act. Act No. 135 (1992)
Gottlieb, J. & Alter, M. (1994). An analysis of referrals, placements, and progress of children
with disabilities who attend New York city public schools. New York University, New
York

Department of Education. Retrieved from ERIC database (ED 414 372).

Greenlee, B. (2014). Types of Disabilities. [online] Web.jhu.edu. Retrieved from:

http://web.jhu.edu/disabilities/faculty/types_of_disabilities/
Individuals with Disability Education Act. PL 101-476 (1990)
Kidd, Warren. (2001). Culture and Identity: Skill-Sociology. New York: Palgrave and
Macmillan, page 17
Martinez, V. (2008). A policy analysis of the individuals with disabilities and education
improvement act of 2004. California State University, pp.8-14.
Mount-Cors, M. (2014). English language learners and special education testing. [online]
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Willig, A.C. (1985). Characteristics of limited English proficient Hispanic students in
programs for the learning disabled: Implications for policy, practice, and research.

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Austin, TX: The University of Texas, Handicapped Minority Research Institute on
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U.S. Department of Education. (2011). Building the legaecy: IDEA 2004. Retrieved from:
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Webster, J. (2014). 6 Types of Testing in Special Education. [online] About. Available at:
http://specialed.about.com/od/assessment/tp/assessmentoverview.htm