Legal Issues in Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Legal Issues in Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Chapter two of the book discusses the legal issues in educating students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The chapter emphasizes the need for teachers to understand all the laws, principles, and rules about emotional and behavioral disorder (EBD) students. However, one of the essential Acts that every teacher must understand fully is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) (Yell et al., 2013). The chapter also emphasizes the need for tutors to understand and acknowledge the laws of their working states regarding learners with disabilities. It also discusses liability for learner’s injuries, the confidentiality of educational records, and reportage of suspected neglect or abuse. Finally, it discusses bullying for students with disabilities. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.

IDEA Law

Yell et al. (2013) emphasize that educators of students with EBD should understand their responsibilities and rights under IDEA. Essentially, IDEA set forth several principles that tutors must adhere to when offering special education services to learners. For example, it gives principles like evaluation protection, zero rejection, least restrictive environment, free appropriate public education, etc. The main objective of IDEA is to ensure that all qualified special needs learners get free, appropriate public education that is primarily designed to meet their exceptional wants. IDEA also addresses the process of special education in detail, such as developing IEPS and conducting assessments.

SECTION 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law requiring that no qualified persons with disabilities are exempted from taking part, denied the advantages of, or discriminated against in any program getting federal funding. This Act emphasizes the need for everyone, including those with disabilities, to get an appropriate education. According to this Act, it is unlawful for schools funded by Federal governments to discriminate against learners based on their disabilities.

Disciplining Students with EBD

Yell et al. (2013) state that disciplining learners with EBD is complex. Notably, apart from observing the due process to discipline such exceptional learners plus the rights that safeguard all learners, teachers, and administrators must be aware of extra protections afforded learners with disabilities as stated by IDEA. For example, IDEA regulations state that for students with disability, teachers must gather formative data to decide if the discipline procedures have the desired impact on the learner’s behavior. In addition, in case disciplinary processes such as suspension, expulsion, and exclusion time-out are utilized, tutors must keep proper written records to help when their actions are challenged in court. Most importantly, disciplinary procedures must be used rationally and for legal and educational purposes and never compromise a learner’s FAPE or be applied discriminatively.

Managing Student Records

  Yell et al. (2013) emphasize that schools should grant parents or families access to their children’s records. Educators must protect the confidentiality of their learner’s educational data. Apart from privacy and confidentiality, school personnel should never participate in “lounge discussions” or discourse with other people who personally identify as this violates the learner’s rights under FERPA. Most importantly, teachers are encouraged to ensure learners’ files are based on facts, accurate, educationally relevant, and based on first-hand observation (Yell et al., 2013).

Reporting Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect

Apart from parents, teachers are among the few who have extensive contact with children. Therefore, tutors and counselors are in a position of great sensitivity concerning a child’s neglect or abuse. For instance, in potential issues of child abuse, educators’ responsibilities are clear, and state laws say suspected cases of neglect and abuse are to be reported to the appropriate authorities. A teacher failing to respond accordingly to that responsibility could lead to criminal prosecution, termination, continued abuse, and civil suits. In addition, teachers are protected from lawsuits through immunity granted if they report a child’s abuse in good faith (Yell et al., 2013).

Teacher Liability for Student Injury and Misconduct

Educators and other school administrators can be held responsible for student injuries due to negligence or their actions. However, the liability also applies to all other professions and citizens. The chance of harm is primarily acute for exceptional teachers because of their disabilities. They have a higher chance of not recognizing dangerous circumstances or danger and thus injuring others or being injured. Therefore, schools, teachers, and officials should have heightened standard care for learners with disabilities, particularly those with behavioral and cognitive disabilities.

Addressing Bullying of Students with Disabilities

Yell et al. (2013) insist that bullying is one of the primary concerns in American schools. Therefore, under this subheading, teachers are encouraged to understand the characteristics of bullying and act accordingly and promptly to any cases of bullying, especially for students with disabilities. This is because Disability Bullying violates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA (Yell et al., 2013). These two laws protect students with disabilities from any form of harassment. In addition, teachers and administrators should be proactive in acting or addressing any case of bullying in schools, especially for learners with disability. Their pro-activeness can be demonstrated through implications such as developing and implementing bullying policies at school, reporting bullying incidents, and finally, taking action and addressing bullying or harassment promptly and effectively.

Reference

Yell, M. L., Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2013). Evidence-Based Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Boston, MA: Pearson.

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Legal Issues in Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Summary of Chapter 2

Legal Issues in Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Read the questions very carefully, at least 2 or 3 times.
Circle the question’s main verb (= action verb/imperative) and decide on the necessary rhetorical strategy for answering the question (cause-effect, comparison-contrast, definition, classification, problem-solution).
Ensure you understand what type of answer the main verb calls for (a diagram, a summary, details, analysis, and evaluation).
Circle all the keywords in the question.
Decide if you need to write a 1-paragraph or a multi-paragraph answer.
Write a brief outline of all the points you want to mention in your answer.
Restate the question and answer it with a topic sentence (for a 1-paragraph answer) or a thesis statement (for a
multi-paragraph answer).
Answer the question according to the general rules of academic writing. Use indentations; begin each paragraph with a topic sentence; support the topic sentence(s) with reasons and/or examples; use transition words to show logical organization; write a conclusion. Use correct punctuation.
Review your answer again and check if all the main ideas have been included.
Check your answer for grammar and punctuation.

Yell, M. L., Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2013). Evidence-Based

Practices for Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Boston,

MA: Pearson.