Term Paper on "Socio Cultural"

Term Paper 11 pages (3092 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Socio-Cultural Aspects of LRE and IDEA for Deaf Students

In the successive decades since the original passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the subsequent Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), much conversation and controversy has surrounded the socio-cultural aspects of both programs in terms of the effect that the introduction of physically and/or perceptually challenged students can fairly and effectively be introduced into the mainstream learning environment. Prominent among these controversies and debates is the assertion that the LRE does more socio-cultural damage than good to the deaf community because it separates the deaf individuals from each other through language. In this paper, literature that maintains this claim will be presented in an effort to understand the situation in terms of both an historical and socio-cultural framework.

Historical Framework of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

The LRE, or at least the spirit of it, has been in existence in the United States from the nation's very foundation. When the founders of the country proclaimed equal rights for all, this was meant to ensure that people of different backgrounds are all given the same opportunity to advance and reach their full potential, which in time came to encompass individuals of varying degrees of physical and perceptual ability (Palley, 2006). Admittedly, at the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution, those who were deaf, for example, were in most cases kept away from schools in favor of students who had the best chances for utilizing an education for enrichment, especially because of the expense of schooling and the selectivity of the early American educational system. In addition to the economic and practical facets which made the schooling of the deaf in a conventional school unrealistic, the socio-cultural nature of the learning process itself made the accommodation of special needs all but impossible. Eventually, those with a charitable nature began to establish special schools for the deaf and the blind which gave those individuals the chance to be part of the educational process like never before (Where Special Needs Truly Can be Met, 2003). During these early days of what would eventually come to be known as "special education," it was possible for special needs students to receive the individualized teaching that they required because of the small size of the classes themselves and the low cost of the educational process. As time moved forward, however, special education class sizes increased, and along with them, the complexity and expense of educating special needs students. Another factor which served as a catalyst for the change to the traditional special education class structure in schools was the movement to attempt to reduce the stigma associated with disabilities by integrating special needs students into classes with the main school populations (Osborne, et al., 1994). This initiative raised several key questions, such as the question of whether or not a student who may require specialized instruction will be able to gain the benefits of an education in an instructional setting that is clearly geared to students that may have a mental and/or physical advantage to those who are physically and/or mentally impaired.

The desire to include special needs students in the mainstream of the educational system for the sake of building self-esteem and reducing stigmatization eventually led to the creation of legislation which mandated this action. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) asserted that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Specifically, IDEA mandates that:

to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities including children in public and private institutions or other care facilities are educated with children who are not disabled... Or removal of children with disabilities from the regular education environment occurs only when the nature and severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily" (Osborne, et al. 1994).

A literal interpretation of IDEA leaves wide gaps on both sides of the LRE debate. First, there are the vague words such as "appropriate" and "satisfactorily" which makes the determination of the correct LRE open to a great deal of interpretation by school officials, and even in situations when IDEA is required by law, most educational institutions, both public and private, fail to practice IDEA as needed (Worth, 1999). Even in those cases when IDEA is put into practice, once again, the non-specific nature of many of the versions of IDEA that are in use today do little to either integrate those who are able to function in a mainstream educational environment into that environment or prevent those who are capable from being unfairly removed from the traditional classroom setting if the student is perceived to have a disability that precludes inclusion in a class with traditional students. In the worst cases, it is alleged that IDEA is used as an excuse to separate students based upon economic factors rather than physical or mental abilities. Because of the rights-based nature of the American legal system, individual court cases disputing the legality or propriety of IDEA have resulted in the piecemeal disruption of IDEA in those instances when courts ruled one way or another that IDEA was incorrectly interpreted by either a public or private learning institution and as a result, the rights of a student or students were infringed upon (Palley, 2006). Many of the elements that lead to a successful-or unsuccessful-IDEA implementation depend upon isolated circumstances.

During the decades that IDEA and LRE have been in effect, there have been several landmark legal cases that have charted the course that IDEA and LRE would take in the subsequent years:

EARLY COURT INTERPRETATIONS OF THE LRE MANDATE

Initially, there were court rulings that held a position on both sides of the LRE controversy, ranging from state courts to the Supreme Court as follows (Palley, 2006):

HENDRICK HUDSON SCHOOL DISTRICT V. ROWLEY- In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in this case that special education programs must be provided in LRE in order to be effective; this went against the conventional wisdom that held that LRE was secondary to the provision of an education that is appropriate based on disabilities. This court decision also seems to go against the spirit of IDEA.

ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES CENTER V. MALLORY- This 1984 lower court ruling went against the Supreme Court's 1982 decision, stating that LRE could be waived in the interest of appropriate educational levels, resulting in a court case that was better aligned with the intentions of IDEA.

In general, prior to1989, the majority of court rulings on LRE dictated that mainstreaming was not mandatory for all disabled students, but could be used if it was appropriate for the student, taking away the tendency to make broad statements about what is best for "all students."

RECENT COURT INTERPRETATIONS OF THE LRE MANDATE

There have been an increased number of LRE court decisions in the last decade or so; although some of these cases have resulted in student placement in restrictive environments, the groundwork has been laid for LRE placements in the future, setting the stage for students with severe disabilities to be placed in the general student population. Specifically, IDEA has been adversely affected by some more recent cases:

BARNETT V. FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD- This case determined in 1991 that the school that a hearing impaired student was receiving an appropriate education in the conventional school environment, and that the school district did not need to make special accommodations for special needs students due to limited resources available for such a change.

DANIEL V. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION- Issued in 1999 by the Fifth Circuit Court, this case has been used by many as the benchmark for the LRE issue. In short, the court held that a separate class was needed for students who had been classified as mentally retarded because of the fact that these students had been placed in conventional classes, and in the end result, the students did not gain the education they needed, and the teachers of the classes were diverted from the other students on a constant basis in order to meet the needs of the special students, which put the majority of the students in the class at a distinct disadvantage.

Perhaps the most accurate statement regarding LRE court cases and the controversy surrounding same is that the educational community is divided on the issue, as are many parents and students because of their individual situations and emotions. From one viewpoint, it seems obvious that students with special needs should be placed in classrooms that accommodate those needs and should be taught in a way that allows them to gain the same benefits of an education that all other students receive in the conventional classroom setting. Education is a fundamental element of the development of solid citizens and productive members of society, and as such, should be a top priority of a civilized population. Conversely, in the interest of developing social skills and self-esteem,… READ MORE

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