Major Laws That Have Influenced Educational Assessment

By way of illustration, we shall draw on two laws that have impacted education and the way in which it is administered and delivered.

Please note that many other laws have impacted and do impact services and education for individuals with special needs. Additionally, any one law may derive authority for its implementation within the framework of another law from a very different area of government, e.g. Funding, Welfare, Housing, and Health.

IDEA AND ITS PREDECESSORS

YEAR	LAW	SIGNIFICANCE
1868	U.S. Constitution 14th Amendment	Due process Equal protection clause
1974	Educational Amendments Act (PL 93-380)	First federal funding for gifted and talented Due process in special education
1975	Education for All Handicapped Act PL 94-142	Free and appropriate education (FAPE) from 5-18 years IEP required
1986	Education of Handicapped Act Amendments PL 99-457	Free and appropriate education (FAPE) from 3-5 years Early intervention programs (0-2 years)
1990	Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) PL 101-336	Special education services to include assistive technology Adds new categories of disabilities: autism and traumatic brain injury
1997	Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) PL 105-17	Closer cooperation between special and general education General education teacher to be part of IEP team
2004	Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) PL 105-17	Introduced “universal design principles” in materials so they can be used with a wide range of persons. Linked to Assistive Technology

In 1975 the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was enacted.
This was reauthorized as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1990.
This law and its predecessors and its follow-up legislation are generally referred to as IDEA.
The laws were reauthorized in 1997 and 2004.
IDEA had the following effects:

Introduced concept of moving students to general education classroom and later inclusion.
Introduced IEP
Influenced attitudes to disability with “people first” language (People with disabilities are not disabled people).
Introduced services in assistive technology.
Introduced transition planning.
Merged general and special education: teachers had to work cooperatively.

YEAR	LAW	SIGNIFICANCE
1965	Elementary and Secondary Education Act	Emphasis on local school boards to control education Newly established programs to be evaluated and results reported Accountability movement gained impetus
1994*	Improving America’s Schools Act (IASA)	Increased federal involvement in Education Emphasized standards-based education
2000*	Goals 2000: Educate America First	Emphasized high standards Education to serve all students
2001	No Child Left Behind Act PL 107-110	Emphasized standards-based education with clear objectives and high standards for all children Special assessment provisions for students with limited English proficiency and those with disabilities States to provide adequate yearly reports
*	Both these laws were influenced by “A Nation at Risk,” a report that was critical of U.S. Education.

In NCLB, no definition of “proficiency” was made in the law relating to high standards.
Definition of “proficiency” was left to the states
A school is judged to be making adequate yearly progress if it reaches the target of the state for the year.
Failure to meet target may result in ending of financial support and closure of school.
If schools do not meet the target, parents can move their child to another school at district expense.

There are wide differences in “proficient” levels between one state and another.
A level considered successful in one state may mean failure in another.
Teachers focus on tests rather than on covering the curriculum.
To overcome item 3 above, some schools have “curriculum pacing guides” (which tell them what to cover in each week or other specified period).
A bourgeoning industry has developed around “testing programs” that attempt to predict performance on the state tests.
Allied industry products include curriculum guides, developing state tests, and scoring state tests.
The independent commercial firms have been found to score tests incorrectly, whereupon schools are incorrectly judged to be below state standards Bloomberg Television reported on this.
Schools become “test-focused.” Thus Thursday becomes a test preparation day for the test to be held on a Friday, while Monday becomes the test review day.
Demographic factors such as poverty weigh heavily on schools and are not considered in comparisons.