FAPE
Free
Appropriate Public Education
One
of the most difficult concepts to quantify under IDEA is what is meant
by a "free appropriate public education", also known as FAPE! There is
very little difficulty with the terms "free" and "public" but there is
a great deal of difficulty with the terms "appropriate" and "education".
Let's take a quick look at each -- knowing that we are reducing a very
complicated topic to a very brief explanation.
An "appropriate" education is one that includes specially designed
instruction which is adapted to the needs of the child. These
adaptations may include changes in the content, methodology, or
delivery of instruction. The program must be designed to confer some
educational benefit on the child. The term "some educational benefit"
is also problematic. The courts have determined this means more than
simply a minimal benefit -- but they have also declared that schools
are not required to maximize a child's potential.
The term "education" is also more complicated than it might seem at
first glance. For some children an education consists of the regular
curriculum in grades Kindergarten through grades 12. For other
children, they cannot access the regular curriculum and their education
might consist of training in activities of daily living, social skills
or other areas designed to prepare them to survive in the world. The
curriculum needs to be geared to the child -- not the child geared to
the curriculum.