This blog will be a place to learn legal educational terms that are often used in special education.
Accommodations
A change that allows a student to work around their dis/ability to participate in their class (e.g., extended time on tests, allowing students to give answers orally, preferential seating, etc.). This is noted in the IEP document and should be used across all school settings.
Assessments
Could refer to the federal, state, and district tests that all students take each year to provide data and inform changes; Could also refer to tests selected to gather additional data or identify if a child has a dis/ability (e.g., IQ testing, academic testing, language testing, etc.)
Behavior Intervention Plan
A document that is included with the IEP that outlines the students’ behaviors, their functions, and the strategies that should be used by staff across all settings to minimize the behaviors as much as possible.
Acronym: BIP
Dis/ability
When speaking specifically about special education, this refers to the identification recognized under IDEA for which a child requires an IEP (e.g., “autism,” “intellectual dis/ability,” etc.)
Exclusionary Discipline
Disciplinary practices that take a student away from their mainstream education setting (e.g., suspension, expulsion)
Free and Appropriate Public Education
A guaranteed entitlement included in IDEA that means all students with dis/abilities have a right to education that is both free and appropriate
Acronym: FAPE
Functional Behavioral Assessment
A process in which a behavior analyst conducts a series of observations and interventions to determine the function of a behavior (e.g., to avoid work, to get sensory input, etc.); these results inform the student’s BIP
Acronym: FBA
Identification
The category under which the student is receiving special education. This term is often used interchangeably with dis/ability but they are not exactly the same. For example, a student may have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a dis/ability, but their identification would be “Other Health Impairment.” Other identifications include “Learning Disability,” “Emotional Disturbance,” “Intellectual Disability,” or “Multiple Disabilities,” to name a few.
Individualized Education Plan
The legal document created as a result of an IEP team meeting in which the parent, student, special education teacher, LEA representative, general education teacher and others meet to discuss the student’s present level and develop goals based on the areas of concern; these goals then determine the amount of time the student will spend in special education and in each special education service; this document also includes the accommodations and modifications a student might need; students 16 and older also have a section in the IEP about post-secondary transition
Acronym: IEP
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
A federal law that allows for students with dis/abilities to receive free and appropriate public education; the law also includes the standards, requirements and terminology we use nationwide when talking about special education
Acronym: IDEA
Least Restrictive Environment
A consideration that must be made regarding a student’s placement in special education; IDEA requires that IEP teams attempt to keep students in general education as much as possible and IEP team members must keep this in mind when deciding how many minutes a student will spend outside the general education setting
Acronym: LRE
Local Education Agency
The person who represents the student’s school district; often a principal or assistant principal but can be anyone who has the following qualifications: knowledge of general education curriculum, qualifications to supervise or provide services to students with dis/abilities, and power to allocate district resources
Acronym: LEA
Manifestation Determination Review
A federally mandated process that occurs when a student with a dis/ability is to be suspended for 10 or more days; within 10 days of the incident the MDR team must meet to decide if the behavior exhibited was or was not a manifestation of the student’s dis/ability or the LEA’s failure to implement the IEP
Acronym: MDR
Modifications
A change to course work, curriculum, or environment to better meet the needs of a student with a dis/ability as listed in the student’s IEP; modifications are different from accommodations in that they actually change what the student is expected to do (e.g., shortening assignments, eliminating word problems, less questions on a test, etc.)
Placement
Refers to the setting in which a student receives their education which varies student to student; measured as a percentage of time spent in general education and can range from 0-100%; students may be placed outside of their home school if it’s deemed necessary by the IEP team and considered to be the student’s least restrictive environment (e.g., public separate building, private separate building, homebound, or other arrangements)
Post-Secondary Transition
Plans a student has for when they leave high school including their education goals, their employment goals, and their independent living goals. This can be discussed in any IEP meeting but it is required by law to address post-secondary transition during the IEP process for all students who will turn 16 within the IEP cycle and each subsequent IEP
Zero Tolerance Policies
School policies that predetermine the consequences of specific student behaviors; these are often severe in nature and include exclusionary practices
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