Diversity & inclusion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Diversity & inclusion - Research Paper Example American legislation has shown progressive development in the past few decades when it comes to children with special needs. One of the major transformations taken by legislation was from The Education for All Handicapped Children act to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. All these changes and development have ensured that individuals with special needs are provided with all the necessary support they require from society and state in order to have access to appropriate education. The main focus of this law is to ensure that special emphasis is put on individuals instead of their disability and state provides them with all the sources required for education either in a public schools or any other facility under individualized education programs. These individualized programs require extensive evaluation in order to ascertain disability of the child, and referrals of IEP teams. According to Gargiulo (2006), "The journey from referral to assessment to the development of an IE P and eventual placement in the most appropriate environment is a comprehensive process incorporating many different phases (p. 59). All these phases are outlined by IDEA (2004) and have been made broader in order to include needs of children with disability, their parents and teachers with a goal to ensure that these children have all the opportunities to acquire education from the inception. 2. Key Components of ‘The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) 1975’ ... b) Non-discriminatory Identification and Evaluation With the help of this clause, necessary protection was provided to children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The mandate ensured that misidentification of students with special needs is refrained and placement of children in special education programs is just. For this purpose, assessment is performed in child’s primary language, conducted by qualified professionals, customized to examine specific areas requiring attention, consist of at least two procedures, should reflect non-discrimination against any disability and a multidisciplinary team proficient in child’s disability is involved in the administration of this assessment (â€Å"Current Legislation†, n.d). c) Individualized Education Program (IEP) An education program should be designed for children with identified disability with the help of a team called IEP team (comprising of professionals, parents and other personnel) who would annually develop or update such programs (â€Å"Current Legislation†, n.d). d) Least Restrictive Environment This provision indicates that necessary effort should be made to ensure that children who are disabled should be educated with children having no disability until unless this educational setting does not meet the needs of every child. e) Due Process This mandate allows parents to contest educational provisions and disability programs designed for their children. Hence, multiple rights are provided to parents for reviewing educational provisions before and after placement of their child. f) Parental Participation This mandate allows parents to participate in placement and IEP development along with evaluation regarding children’s progress