Federal Education Acts - No Child Left Behind Act

Federal Education Acts - No Child Left Behind Act

In the world of education there are many areas of importance and many areas that we welcome governmental interference or rather assistance. One such area is Special Education; special education is defined in the Encarta Dictionary as teaching modified to serve students with special educational needs (MS Office 2007, Encarta Dictionary). The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has defined all areas of special education as well as defined what special educational needs are for all students. Modified from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 will help explain and clarify what special needs are and how inclusion is used in a classroom setting for the children.

When congress set out to improve the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, they set out with the goal of close the learning or achievement gap between minorities and special needs children. They planned on accomplishing this with accountability, flexibility, and choice, in the hopes that no child is left behind throughout the course of their educational pursuits. Title I is a portion of this act that helps identify the disadvantaged children and sets the statutes that offer inclusion and mainstream educational opportunities for these children.

Title I defines disadvantaged as low-achieving children in our Nation's highest-poverty schools, limited English proficient children, migratory children, children with disabilities, Indian children, neglected or delinquent children, and young children in need of reading assistance (Elementary and Secondary Education Act [No Child Left Behind], 2001). Disabilities are defined as (including but not limited to) specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, deaf-blindness, traumatic brain injury, and developmental delays. Disabilities also encompass other health impairments such as limited strength, vitality, or alertness to chronic or acute health problems such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes (Fast Facts, 2009).

Inclusion means that children with special needs attend school, child care, or extracurricular programs with peers that are typically developing in nature. In a text book titled The Exceptional Child