HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? DEFINING AN "APPROPRIATE" PROGRAM UNDER THE EDUCATION FOR ALL HANDICAPPED CHILDREN ACT

A major controversy in providing services to educationally handicapped students is determining what constitutes an appropriate education. Unfortunately, neither the federal statutes nor court decisions provide an exact formula for identifying when a program is appropriate. However, both the statutes and court rulings do provide general principles for determining when a program is appropriate. This article examines some of the more important court decisions and provides guidelines for determining program appropriateness for individual children.