This document summarizes the 1982 Supreme Court case Board of Education v. Rowley regarding whether a deaf student named Amy Rowley was receiving a free and appropriate public education under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (now IDEA). The Supreme Court established that schools must provide some educational benefit to disabled students, not guarantee any particular level of education. The Court found Amy's school district was meeting legal standards despite Amy not reaching her full academic potential. This established the "Rowley test" for determining appropriate education that remains influential today.

1. HUDSON CENTRAL
SCHOOL
DISTRICT
v. ROWLEY
(Doug Kerr 2008)

2. Legal Summary Enrichment
Nancy Berger and Timothy McKean
EDL 585
Azusa Pacific University

3. Case Scenario
Amy Rowley, Kindergarten
FM Hearing Aid
Training for teachers
Personal Interpreter
(2 week trial period)

4. Case Scenario
Amy Rowley, 1st Grade
FM Hearing Aid
Training for teachers
Personal Interpreter
Work with tutor for deaf
students
Work with Speech Therapist

5. Pre-court Appeals
School District's Committee on the
Handicapped
Independent Examiner

6. Appellate Courts

7. Free and Appropriate
Public Education
not achieving as well
as “she could if she
were not deaf and thus
was not learning as
much . . . as she
would without her
handicap”
(McFarlane 2012, p8)

8. U.S. Supreme Court
Petition for
Writ of
Certiorari
STARE DECISIS-
"to stand by
that which is
decided."

9. Two Questions
What is meant by “Free and Appropriate
Public Education?”
What is the role of the State and
Federal courts in exercising the the
review?
?

10. Supreme Court
Decision
“ . . . the intent of
the Act was more to
open the door of
public education to
handicapped children
on appropriate terms
than to guarantee any
particular level of
education once inside”
(MacFarlene, 2012, p. 49)
Thomas Loepp, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

11. Blackmun’s
Concurrence
“...offered her an
opportunity to
understand and
participate in the
classroom that was
substantially equal to
that given her non
handicapped
classmates.”
(Mead, & Paige, 2008, p. 2)
Everett Raymond Kinstler, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

12. Dissent
“Amy, without a sign
language interpreter,
comprehends less than
half of what is said in
the classroom less than
half of what the normal
children comprehend.
This is hardly an equal
opportunity to learn,
even if Amy makes
passing grades”

13. Decision in Practice
The Rowley Test
Passing Marks
Procedural Safeguards
Trust School
Authorities

14. Following Rowley
Cadillac vs. Chevrolet
Argument
1997 IDEA Ammendments
vs.
J.L. V Mercer Island
School District,

15. Sources
Crockett, J. & Yell, M., Without data all we have are assumptions: Revisiting the
meaning of a free appropriate public education, Journal of Law & Education, July 2008,
Vol. 37 (3), p381-392.
Hersh, C.L. & Johansen, I. M, Free appropriate public education in the fourth circuit,
School of Government, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007,
Johnson, S., Rowly forever more? A call for clarity and change, Journal of Law &
Education, January 2012, Vol. 41, No.1, p25-44.
Kaufman, A.K. & Blewett, E., When good enough is not longer good enough: how the high
stakes nature of the no child left behind act supplanted the Rowley definition of free
appropriate public education, Journal of Law and Education, January 2012, Vol.41, No. 1
p8-23.
Macfarlane, M., The shifting floor of educational opportunity: the impact of
educational reform on Rowley, Journal of Law & Education, January 2012, p 48-69.
Mead, J. & Paige, M., Board of Education of Hendrick Hudson v. Rowley: An Examination
of its Precedential Impact, Journal of Law & Education, July 2008, 37 (3) p 329-345.
National Center of Accessing the General Curriculum, Post IDEA'97 case law and
administrative decisions: access to the general curriculum, a policy paper for educator
and families.

16. Photos
Doug Kerr. (Photographer). (2008). Westechester county, new york. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/4331743203/sizes/o/in/photostream/
(2008) Deaf Student [Web Photo] Retrieved from: http://education-portal.com/articles/Teaching_the_Deaf_an_Issue_in_Many_States_
http://nylawblog.typepad.com/suigeneris/federal_decisions/
Open Democracy (Photographer). (2007) US Supreme Court. [Web Photo] Retrieved from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opendemocracy/761487307/
Thomas Loepp, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States [Web Graphic] Retrieved from
http://www.oyez.org/justices/william_h_rehnquist
Everett Raymond Kinstler, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States [Web Graphic] Retrieved from
http://www.oyez.org/justices/harry_a_blackmun
Kevo,Jose (Photographer). (2009). Yo y mis estudiantes Retrieved from [Web Photo]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jose_kevo/3860952848/
Justice Byron White [Web Photo] Retrieved from http://lawyersusaonline.com/dcdicta/files/2009/06/byronwhite.jpg