Acronyms in Education - What Do They All Mean?

In 1975, a new policy came into existence with a simple stroke of President Gerald Ford's pen; it was the Education for the Handicapped Act or EHA; located in the archives as Public Law 94-142. The EHA is currently known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA. Since its original introduction, there have been many more changes, additions and amendments.

EHA was designed to include and protect the rights of children with special needs and their families in our nation's educational system. The latest version of IDEA works with the current educational policy of No Child Left Behind in that all student's are provided the right to a free education and an education that is appropriate for their needs.

The original EHA has six major components on which all the recent additions and changes have been built upon and they are:
1. To guarantee a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for all children and disabilities, ages 5- 21. (Special Education Laws. 2000-2005)
This is fairly self-explanatory, all students that are eligible and participate in the public education system are entitled to receive a fair and just education that is appropriately suited to their abilities.

2. Procedural Safeguards- procedural safeguards are a set of activities whose purpose is to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected. All information needed to make decisions about the provision of a free and appropriate public education to the student is provided to parents of children with disabilities and to the student when appropriate. Procedures (mediation and due process) are in place to resolve. (Learning Disabilities Associate of America