Issues in Special Education Law (Essay Sample)

Special Education Law
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Abstract
Transition services are one of the issues in special education law that the current curriculum has not effectively addressed. This paper introduces how this issue has evolved and how it has affected students with special needs. The essay contends that the growing confusion in special education has obstructed the transition plan of learners with special needs from high school to higher learning or other ventures as they enter the majority age. The essay defines transition services in line with IDEA and how it has progressed throughout history. The paper further outlines how the Individualized Education Program (IEP) has sought to integrate a transition component for eligible disabled students. The next part of the paper highlights the current state of the issue and how it affects special educators. According to the findings, while the concept of transition has constantly attracted heated debates, many students with special needs still encounter unfavorable post-secondary outcomes.
Keywords: transition, special needs, disability, post-secondary, Individualized Education Program.
Special Education Law
Most special-needs learners are currently served in general education classrooms as stakeholders seek to adopt inclusive learning practices. The dynamics of the general education classroom are shifting owing to these inclusive actions. It is indisputable that there is no clarity in pedagogy, diagnosis, and instruction between special education methods to teaching and the general education classroom. These blurring lines in special education impede learners' transition plan with special needs from high school to higher learning or other ventures as they enter majority age.
Conventionally, transitioning from high school to higher learning or adult life upon reaching the majority age is one of the most challenging phases for all youths. Nonetheless, this step to adult life has extra demands for people with disabilities. The majority of young populations with special needs have similar aspirations as their nondisabled counterparts: an opportunity for college education, employment, meaningful participation and contribution in the community, and living in a secure and comfortable home. Whereas secondary transition for youths with special needs has received increased attention over the years, most disabled youths still lag in important post-school outcomes compared to their nondisabled peers.
Definition of Issue
Grounded in need to prepare the young generation with special needs for useful life after high school, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) sought to integrate a transition component for eligible disabled students in 1990 (Cover, 2019). Following further reauthorizations of the act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) continued to enhance transition services for young learners with special needs. According to IDEA, transition services imply an organized set of activities for children with special needs within results-oriented processes (Cover, 2019). Besides, these services aim to enhance children's functional and academic achievements with special needs to support their movement from school to post-school activities.
History
The previous curriculum addressed transition programs following high school graduations as an indicator of accountability in the 1990 and subsequent amendments to IDEA (Cover, 2019). Whereas offering a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is the basis of IDEA, it has been a difficult and occasionally litigious process. With more children with special needs continuing to graduate, offering successful transition services to advance effective post-school education or employment is a critical indicator of accountability for special-needs children (Section 601[14]). In the decision of Dutkevitch v. Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (2012), for example, the court restated that State law may offer alternative educational provisions (Zirkel, 2018). In such situations, alternate programs ensure that students receive FAPE, including transition services after high school.
Current Status
Notwithstanding the prominence of transition, many students with special needs still encounter unfavorable post-secondary outcomes. In most instances, disabled learners experience behavioral and academic problems in high school that negatively affect successful graduation from schools. According to the U.S. Department of Education report in 2016, learners with speci