In Board of Education v. Rowley, a New York public school refused to provide a sign language interpreter for a deaf student, Amy Rowley, claiming that her academic performance and progress demonstrated that she did not need one. The student could read lips and had minimal, residual hearing. School administrators, along with a sign language expert, determined that the student was able to succeed in school without an interpreter. Her parents sued the school on her behalf for violation of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. A district court ruled in the student’s favor, holding that while she was doing better in school than the average hearing student, she was not achieving her full potential because she was unable to understand as much as she would with a sign language interpreter.