module 1 the top 10 basics of special education · 8/14/2006 · module 1 the top 10 basics of...

Building the Legacy: IDEA 2004 Training Curriculum

Module 1

The Top 10 Basics of Special Education

Written by: Lisa KüpperNational Dissemination Centerfor Children with Disabilities

NICHCY, PO Box 1492, Washington, DC 200131.800.695.0285 (V/TTY) [email protected] www.nichcy.org

Module 1: Building the Legacy 1-2 Visit NICHCY at www.nichcy.org

NICHCY is here for you.

This training curriculum is designed and produced byNICHCY, the National Dissemination Center forChildren with Disabilities, at the request of our funder,the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at theU.S. Department of Education.

We have a tremendous amount of information avail-able on our Web site, in our library, and in the com-bined expertise of our staff. Please feel free to contactNICHCY for the latest information and connections inresearch and disabilities. We’d also love for you to visitour Web site and help yourself to all that’s there.

1.800.695.0285 (V/TTY)www.nichcy.org

July 2007National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

Copyright free. You’re welcome to share this module far and wide. Pleasedo give credit to its producer, the National Dissemination Center forChildren with Disabilities.

Suggested citation:

Küpper, L. (2007, July). The top 10 basics of special education (Module1). Building the legacy: IDEA 2004 training curriculum. Washington, DC:National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. Availableonline at: www.nichcy.org/training/contents.asp

Visit NICHCY at www.nichcy.org 1-3 Top 10 Basics of Special Education

Background and Discussion

This module is part of atraining package on the 2004Amendments to the Individualswith Disabilities Education Act,developed by NICHCY for theOffice of Special EducationPrograms at the U.S. Departmentof Education. The trainingcurriculum is entitled Building theLegacy; this module is entitledThe Top 10 Basics of SpecialEducation.

Welcome to IDEA andto Special Education!

Thanks to a powerful andimportant federal law called theIndividuals with Disabilities Educa-tion Act, or IDEA, more than 6.8million children1 with disabili-ties attend public schools everyyear. Once there, these childrenwork with their peers towardachievement of high academicstandards, participate in large-scale testing programs to mea-sure their achievement, andsteadily learn, moving towardadulthood and the time they’llleave secondary school, reachtheir age of majority, and…what?Hopefully, have their fair shareof economic opportunity andself-sufficiency, live independentand fulfilling lives, and partici-pate freely in the great adventureof life. Certainly, those are IDEA’sstated purposes. The statutepassed by Congress (Public Law108-446) and signed into law byPresident George W. Bush inDecember 2004 opens with:

(c) FINDINGS.—Congress finds thefollowing: (1) Disability isa natural part of thehuman experience and inno way diminishes the

right of individuals toparticipate in or contributeto society. Improvingeducational results forchildren with disabilities isan essential element of ournational policy of ensuringequality of opportunity,full participation,independent living, andeconomic self-sufficiencyfor individuals withdisabilities.

The final regulations for PartB of IDEA, published in August2006,2 open with a statement ofthe IDEA’s purposes, which are:

(a) To ensure that allchildren with disabilitieshave available to them afree appropriate publiceducation that emphasizesspecial education andrelated services designed tomeet their unique needs

How This Discussion Section is Organized

As with the other modules in this curriculum, this discussionsection is organized by overhead. A thumbnail picture of eachoverhead is presented, along with brief instructions as to howthe slide operates. This is followed by a discussion intended toprovide trainers with background information about what’s onthe slide. Any or all of this information might be appropriate toshare with an audience, but that decision is left up to trainers.

and prepare them forfurther education,employment, andindependent living;

(b) To ensure that therights of children withdisabilities and theirparents are protected;

(c) To assist States,localities, educationalservice agencies, andFederal agencies to providefor the education of allchildren with disabilities;and

(d) To assess and ensurethe effectiveness of effortsto educate children withdisabilities. (§300.1)

Trainer’s Note

Throughout this training module,all references in the discussion section for a slide areprovided at the end of that slide’s discussion.


Thus, because of IDEA,children with disabilities areentitled to a “free appropriatepublic education” (often calledFAPE). This means that schoolsmust provide eligible childrenwho have a disability withspecially designed instruction tomeet their unique needs, at nocost to the child’s parents. Thisspecially designed instruction isknown as special education.

To say that IDEA has a hugeimpact on educational policyand practice is to understate thereality. IDEA’s Part B regulationsprovide States with extensiveguidelines and requirements inhow to design and implementspecial education programs forchildren with disabilities, includ-ing federal fiscal support viaformula grants to States exceed-ing $10.5 billion annually.3

This Module in Time andSpace

This module on The Top 10Basics of Special Education fallswithin the umbrella topic ofTheme A, Welcome to IDEA.There are two modules underthat umbrella, as follows:

• Top 10 Basics of Special Educa-tion (this module) looks at thesteps involved in accessingspecial education and relatedservices and 10 key definitionsin IDEA everyone shouldknow.

• Overview of Key Changes inIDEA 2004 takes a brief andsummarizing look what’s newand different in IDEA 2004.

For Whom Is This ModuleDesigned?

For educational personnelwho work with children withdisabilities in our schools,getting to know the IDEA isessential. The same is true forparents, grandparents, and otherfamily members of a child whohas a disability. This moduleopens the Building the Legacytraining curriculum and serves asthe introduction to IDEA. It isprimarily intended for audienceswho are newcomers to the lawand the special education pro-cess. As such, it’s best suited for:

• parents who suspect that theirchild may have a disability andwho want to know where toget help and what to do next;

• parents whose school-agedchild has been recently diag-nosed with a disability andwho are just beginning thejourney into special educationand related services;

• other family members of achild with a disability;

• preservice teachers who arelearning about the specialeducational needs of childrenwith disabilities and the legalfoundation for the IDEA-funded services they receive inpublic schools;

• practicing regular educationteachers who now have chil-dren with disabilities in theirclassrooms or who are retrain-ing and expanding theircertifications to include specialeducation;

• new staff, school boardmembers, advocates, policymakers, administrators, oreducators who will be workingwith children who havedisabilities, their families, orschool personnel involved inplanning or providing specialeducation services, but whohave little prior knowledge ofdisability or special education.

Organization of the Module

This module is divided intothree sections:

• Section 1: the 10 steps involvedin the special educationprocess as prescribed by IDEA;

• Section 2: five acronymsfrequently heard (and used) inthe special education field;and

• Section 3: five additionalessential terms that are de-fined within IDEA and appliedin our public schools everyday, thousands upon thou-sands of times.

The first two sections arecovered in one slide show fileand described herein, withsupportive background informa-tion in abundance. The slideshow file for these first twosections is:

1A-slideshow.zip


The last section—five essential terms defined—is treated in a separate slide show file (although itis also described herein) and is intended for thehardiest and most deeply involved of traineeparticipants. We’ve split off this last section into aseparate slide show to give trainers the maximumflexibility in its use. Not all trainees will need tolook in such depth at the five key terms the lastsection addresses (child with a disability, specialeducation, related services, supplementary aidsand services, and secondary transition services).Trainers can make that judgment on their own,using what they know about their audience in agiven training session. Find the slide show for thisthird section in the file:

1B-slideshow.zip

Files You’ll Need forThis Module

Module 1 includes thefollowing components provided inseparate files. If you need or wantthe entire module, be sure todownload each of the components in eitherWord® or PDF format.

• Trainer’s Guide Discussion. The discussiontext (what you’re reading right now) describeshow the slides operate and explains the contentof each slide, including relevant requirements ofthe statute passed by Congress in December2004 and the final regulations for Part Bpublished in August 2006.

The discussion is provided via four PDF filesthat are consecutively numbered as 1A, 1B, 1C,and 1D to make it clear the order in which theyshould be printed out and compiled. Theequivalent of all this content is also available inone accessible, quite long Word® file. Here arethe files’ full names and where to find them onNICHCY’s Web site:

1A-PDF of discussion for Slides 1-12of sections 1 and 2.www.nichcy.org/training/1A-Slides1-12.pdf

1B-PDF of discussion for Slides 13-endof sections 1 and 2.www.nichcy.org/training/1B-Slides13-end.pdf

1C-PDF of discussion for section 3,Slides 1-15.www.nichcy.org/training/1C-section3-Slides1-15.pdf

1D-PDF of discussion for section 3,Slides 16 to end.www.nichcy.org/training/1D-section3-Slides16-end.pdf

The discussion in an accessible Word® file.www.nichcy.org/training/1-discussion.doc

• Handouts in English. The handouts for thismodule are provided within an integratedpackage of handouts for the entire umbrellatopic of Theme A, Welcome to IDEA, whichincludes two different modules. If you’vealready downloaded the handouts for othermodules in Theme A, then you have what youneed for this module, too. If not, then findWord® and PDF versions of these handouts asfollows:

PDF version of the Handouts.www.nichcy.org/training/A-handouts.pdf

Word® version of the Handouts, for participantswho need an accessible version of the handoutsor if you’d like to create large-print or Brailleversions:www.nichcy.org/training/A-handouts.doc

• PowerPoint® slide show. NICHCY is pleased toprovide two slide shows (produced inPowerPoint®) around which trainers can frametheir presentations and training on the basics ofspecial education. As described in “Organiza-tion of This Module,” the files you’ll need are:

www.nichcy.org/training/1A-slideshow.zip

www.nichcy.org/training/1B-slideshow.zip

Important note: You do NOT need thePowerPoint® software to use these slide shows.It’s set to display, regardless, because thePowerPoint Viewer® is included. (You may beasked to agree to Viewer’s licensing terms whenyou first open the slideshow.)


Looking for IDEA 2004?

The Statute:• www.nichcy.org/reauth/PL108-446.pdf• http://idea.ed.gov

Final Part B Regulations:• www.nichcy.org/reauth/IDEA2004regulations.pdf• http://idea.ed.gov

Finding Specific Sections of the Regulations: 34 CFR

As you read the explanations about the final regulations, you willfind references to specific sections, such as §300.173. (The symbol §means “Section.”) These references can be used to locate the precisesections in the federal regulations that address the issue being dis-cussed. In most instances, we’ve also provided the verbatim text ofthe IDEA regulations so that you don’t have to go looking for them.

The final Part B regulations are codified in Title 34 of the Code ofFederal Regulations. This is more commonly referred to as 34 CFR or 34C.F.R. It’s not unusual to see references to specific sections of IDEA’sregulations include this—such as 34 CFR §300.173. We have omittedthe 34 CFR in this training curriculum for ease of reading.

Citing the Regulations in This Training Curriculum

You’ll be seeing a lot of citations in this module—and all the othermodules, too!—that look like this: 71 Fed. Reg. at 46738

This means that whatever is being quoted may be found in the FederalRegister published on August 14, 2006—Volume 71, Number 156, tobe precise. The number at the end of the citation (in our example,46738) refers to the page number on which the quotation appears inthat volume. Where can you find Volume 71 of the Federal Register?NICHCY is pleased to offer it online at:

www.nichcy.org/reauth/IDEA2004regulations.pdf


1 U.S. Department of Education. (2007). FY 2008 education budgetsummary and background information. Retrieved May 26, 2007, at:http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget08/summary/edlite-section2b.html

2 Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilitiesand Preschool Grants for Children with Disabilities, Final Rule, 71Fed. Reg. 46540 (August 14, 2006) (at 34 C.F.R. pt.300). Availableonline at:

• www.nichcy.org/reauth/IDEA2004regulations.pdf

• http://idea.ed.gov

Unless otherwise noted, the citations to the final Part B regulationsare to those that took effect on October 13, 2006.

3 U.S. Department of Education. (2007). FY 2008 education budgetsummary and background information. Retrieved May 26, 2007, at:http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget08/summary/edlite-section2b.html

References


Slide 1Introductory Slide

How to Operate the Slide:

Slide loads fully. Noclicks are necessaryexcept to advance to thenext slide.

Use Slide 1 (above) to orientyour audience to what thistraining will be about: The top10 basics of special education.

Use Handout A-1 to break theice and involve participantsimmediately in the trainingsession (see instructions on thenext page). Then engage them ina discussion that activates theirprior knowledge about specialeducation—its acronyms, inparticular.

Be sure to explore howtoday’s training on specialeducation and IDEA is person-ally relevant to their lives.

Theme A, Among OtherThemes

While this slide presents thetitle for the training session, itcan also be used to highlightthat this module on the top 10basics of special education is oneof two in Building the Legacy’s

Themes inBuilding the Legacy

Theme AWelcome to IDEA

Theme BIDEA

and General Education

Theme CEvaluating Children

for Disability

Theme DIndividualized Education

Programs (IEPs)

Theme EProcedural Safeguards

Available online at:www.nichcy.org/training/

contents.asp

CLICK to advance to next slide.


Opening Activity

2. At the end of the time allotted,call the audience back to large-group focus.

3. Take 2-3 minutes to see howthey did—could they match thelicense tag abbreviations withthe car owner’s profession?

4. Take 5 minutes to relate thisexercise to the training andexplore what trainees alreadyknow about special education,its acronyms, and other keyterms. Highlight any experi-ences that trainees have hadwhere they were bewildered bya term they heard (this doesn’tnecessarily have to be related tospecial education or IDEA).What terms or aspects of IDEAdo they wish to know? Whyhave they come to this trainingsession today? How do theirlives intersect with IDEA? Howdo they expect to use theinformation they gain today atsome future point in time?

PurposeTo have participants focus onacronyms in a fun way and thenidentify what special educationacronyms they may know or haveheard.

Total Time Activity Takes15 minutes.

Group SizeWork in pairs, then discuss inlarge group.

MaterialsHandout A-1

Instructions

1. Refer participants to HandoutA-1. Indicate that this is theactivity sheet they have tocomplete. They will have 5minutes to work with a partner.

Theme A, Welcome to IDEA. Asidentified in the introduction,the other module in Theme A isKey Changes in IDEA.

And just as this module existswithin a series, Theme A existswithin a curriculum of multiplethemes. Those themes representcritical components and organiz-ing elements within IDEA. You

may wish to make participantsaware that there are otherthemes around which importantIDEA-related issues can be (andare!) meaningfully grouped. Alist of themes in this trainingcurriculum is provided in thebox on the previous page. Ifparticipants want to learn moreon their own (or share informa-

tion with their family or col-leagues), they’re welcome to visitNICHCY’s Web site and down-load any and all modules theywish.


Slide 2 Agenda

CLICK AGAIN to advance to next slide.

Slide loadscompletely. Noclicks are necessaryexcept to advance tothe next slide.

Trainer Note

Remember that the third section of this training module—represented on the slide as “5 key terms defined”—isprovided through a separate slide show (1slideshow-Part3.zip). The five terms are examined in a level of detailthat not all audiences may need. If you don’t intend to “gothere” with your current audience, you may need to adjustwhat you say here on this agenda slide.

Slide 2 is an advance organizerfor the audience, to alert them tothe areas covered in this trainingmodule. You can talk with theaudience about what they thinkeach of these elements willinvolve, asking such questionsas:

• What steps might you guesswould be involved in accessingspecial education services for achild with a disability?

• What acronyms have youheard that made you wonder,huh? What does that mean?

• Have you ever had an experi-ence with an acronym—inspecial education or other-wise—where knowing whatthe acronym meant made allthe difference in the world?

• What key terms might youexpect to hear defined here?Any wild guesses?

Make a list of the terms andacronyms that people mentionand refer back to it if one of theterms or acronyms comes up inthe training.



Slide 3Step 1 (of 10)


Trainer Note

Handout A-2 will also serve you well if you have only a shortamount of time available for this training session and needto present the 10 steps in their barest bones. If that’s not thecase and you don’t need to minimize, much additionalinformation is provided in the discussion section for eachslide to flesh out those bones and offer participants a moresubstantial look at each of the 10 steps.

The first section of this train-ing session, meant for green-horns to special education,focuses on the 10 basic stepsinvolved in the special educationprocess. Participants will find the10 steps depicted on Handout A-2.

Slide 3 talks about Step 1,when a child is identified aspossibly needing special educa-tion and related services. Trans-late this to mean: the child ishaving some sort of difficulty inschool—and this can cover abroad range of possibilities,including:

• academic troubles (although achild does not need to showacademic difficulties in orderto be “identified” as possibly

needing special education andrelated services, which we’lldiscuss in a moment);

• behavioral problems;

• a physical issue that adverselyaffects his or her educationalperformance;

• emotional or social dysfunc-tion or difficulty; or

• some other manifestation ofdifficulty (e.g., inattention,hyperactivity, tics or oddoutbursts, speech problems).

When children are having anyof these difficulties in school,someone generally notices,becomes concerned, and wantsto get to the root of the prob-lem. This may be the child’steacher or parent(s). At othertimes, the child’s performance


The Term “Public Agency”

The term “public agency” in IDEA refers to the agency that isresponsible for providing education to children with disabilities.The “public agency” may vary from location to location andfrom child to child. In some instances, it is the State educationalagency (SEA); in others, it is the local educational agency (LEA), apublic charter school, or some other entity responsible forproviding education to children with disabilities.

Although public agency is not a term most people are familiarwith, we have chosen to use this term to refer to the agency inyour area that is responsible for providing education to childrenwith disabilities. In most cases, this agency will be your localschool district.

on a large-scale test may be whatsounds the alarm bell. To findout what’s amiss and whether ornot the child needs specialeducation and related services, afull and individual evaluation ofthe child must be conducted.(That’s Step 2, the subject of thenext slide.) Let’s look at two ofthe mechanisms through whichchildren come to be evaluatedunder IDEA.

Child Find

IDEA includes a componentcalled child find that requiresStates to identify, locate, andevaluate all children with dis-abilities, aged birth to 21, whoare in need of early interventionor special education services.IDEA’s Part B child find provi-sions are found at §300.111 andbegin:

§300.111 Child find.

(a) General. (1) The Statemust have in effect policiesand procedures to ensurethat—

(i) All children withdisabilities residing in theState, including childrenwith disabilities who arehomeless children or arewards of the State, andchildren with disabilitiesattending private schools,regardless of the severity oftheir disability, and whoare in need of specialeducation and relatedservices, are identified,located, and evaluated;and

(ii) A practical method isdeveloped andimplemented to determinewhich children arecurrently receiving needed

special education andrelated services.

Thus, each State must operatecomprehensive systems of childfind in order to identify, locateand evaluate children withdisabilities residing in the Stateand who are in need of specialeducation and related services.Before children are old enoughto attend public school, how-ever, it’s not uncommon for ababysitter, a daycare provider, orpreschool staff to express con-cern to the young child’s parentsabout developmental or learningdelays and suggest that theparents contact the appropriateState agency to have the childscreened to determine whetherthe child should be referred for afull evaluation to determineeligibility for special educationand related services. Such screen-ings cover a range of skill areas—vision and hearing (often over-

looked as the root of the prob-lem), gross and fine motor skills,speech and language use, andmore.

Parents don’t have to waituntil someone suggests that theirchild be screened, though. Ifthey are concerned about theirchild’s developmental progress,they should get in touch withthe State agency themselves andarrange to have their childscreened. Such screenings arefree of charge to parents. Theyare considered part of the State’sresponsibility toward the well-being of its resident children.

If the screening finds somesort of problem or greater causefor concern based on the child’sage and skills, then a full andindividual evaluation is in order.This, too, is free of charge toparents and child, and requiresthe parents’ informed writtenconsent, among other things (tobe discussed in the next slide).


For school-aged children, therequest to conduct an initialevaluation typically comesthrough the school itself—or inthe terms used by IDEA, what’scalled the public agency. You’llhear a lot in this training curricu-lum about the responsibilitiesand rights of the agency that’sresponsible for providing educa-tion to children with disabilities.There’s more in the box on theprevious page about this term. Itmay be very helpful to youraudience to specifically mentionthe term and discuss what itmeans, since it’s used consis-tently throughout IDEA.

Requesting an Evaluation

As stated above, a parent or apublic agency is usually the onethat requests that a school-agedchild (K-12) be evaluated. Theregulations at §300.301 coverrequests for initial evaluations:

(b) Request for initialevaluation. Consistent withthe consent requirementsin §300.300, either aparent of a child or apublic agency may initiatea request for an initialevaluation to determine ifthe child is a child with adisability.

The public agency maycontact the parents,explain its concerns, andrequest the parents’permission to evaluatethe child. IDEA is veryspecific about the infor-mation that must beincluded in such a request (moreon that below). Alternatively,parents may contact the school(or the public agency, the Direc-tor of Special Education for thedistrict, or the principal of the

child’s school), indicate that theythink their child has a disabilityand needs special educationhelp, and ask the school toevaluate the child. If the publicagency agrees that the child mayhave a disability, the agency mustevaluate the child at no cost tothe child or parents.

It’s important for parents toknow that the public agencydoes not have to evaluate thechild just because parents haveasked. The public agency mayrefuse to do so if it “does notsuspect that the child has adisability” (71 Fed. Reg. at46636). In keeping with IDEA’sprovisions governing such arefusal, the public agency mustprovide written notice to theparents [consistent with§300.503(b)], “which explains,among other things, why thepublic agency refuses to conductan initial evaluation and theinformation that was used as thebasis to make that decision. Theparent may challenge such arefusal by requesting a dueprocess hearing” (Id.). Dueprocess hearings are discussed inthe module Options for DisputeResolution.

If the public agency refuses toevaluate the child, there are twothings parents can do immedi-ately:

• Ask the school system forinformation about its specialeducation policies and obtaina copy of the proceduralsafeguards, as well as parentrights to disagree with deci-sions made by the schoolsystem. These materials shoulddescribe the steps parents cantake to challenge a schoolsystem’s decision.

• Get in touch with the State’sParent Training and Informa-tion (PTI) center. The PTI is anexcellent resource for parentsto learn more about specialeducation, their rights andresponsibilities, and the law.The PTI can tell parents whatsteps to take next to find helpfor the child. The box belowprovides information on howto get in touch with yourState’s PTI.

New Timeframe forEvaluation

Congress added a specifictimeframe to IDEA 2004 withinwhich initial evaluations must beconducted. This has been ad-dressed in the regulations asfollows:

Finding Your State’s PTI

NICHCY, the National Dissemination Center for Children withDisabilities, maintains State Resource Sheets for every State andterritory of the U.S. These will list the contact information for thePTIs serving the State. State resource sheets are available online24/7 (www.nichcy.org/states.htm), or people may call or emailNICHCY for the information.


The initial evaluation—

(1)(i) Must be conductedwithin 60 days of receivingparental consent for theevaluation; or

(ii) If the Stateestablishes a timeframewithin which theevaluation must beconducted, within thattimeframe...[§300.301(c)(1)]

Under prior law, publicagencies were required to con-duct initial evaluations within a“reasonable period of time” afterreceiving parental consent [34CFR §300.343(b)(1999)], so thespecification of a 60-daytimeframe in IDEA 2004 repre-sents a significant change thatshould be identified as such toyour audience. It’s important tonote, however, that any timeframeestablished by the State takesprecedence over the 60-day timelinerequired by IDEA, as is clear in useof the word “or” between (i) and(ii).

Before Conducting an InitialEvaluation

Before conducting any initialevaluation of a child, there arethree actions that a public agencymust take:

• Provide parent with priorwritten notice,

• Provide parent with proce-dural safeguards notice, and

• Obtain parent’s informedwritten consent.

As discussed in Module 10,Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation,these actions are very important;depending on the time you haveavailable for training and the

needs of your audience, you mayeither state these as solid re-quirements of law and move on,or examine parent notification(both the prior written noticeand the procedural safeguardsnotice) and parent consent inmore detail.

What is Prior Written Notice?

Prior written notice refers to thepublic agency’s obligation toinform parents a reasonable timebefore it proposes to takespecific actions, or refuses totake specific actions—in thiscase, initiate an initial evaluationof the child.

According to the regulationsat §300.503(a) (provided in thistraining package in the moduleIntroduction to Procedural Safe-guards, as Handout E-2), thepublic agency must provideparents with prior written noticewhenever it:

(1) Proposes to initiate orchange the identification,evaluation, or educational

Trainer Note

Be aware that both prior written notice and the proceduralsafeguards notice are discussed in full as part of the moduleIntroduction to Procedural Safeguards. Some of the backgroundtext accompanying that module is reproduced here, for conve-nience, but if you intend to take up either of these subjects inany detail, you may want to read that background materialcompletely rather than rely on what’s presented here, whichhas been streamlined to focus on how either of these twonotices might look when they are provided regarding initialevaluation.

placement of the child orthe provision of FAPE tothe child; or

(2) Refuses to initiate orchange the identification,evaluation, or educationalplacement of the child orthe provision of FAPE tothe child. [§300.503(a)]

Within the context of thecurrent module, the prior writtennotice that the public agencyprovides to parents must de-scribe its proposed action—inthis case, to conduct an initialevaluation of a child or itsrefusal to do so. IDEA requiresthat this description be compre-hensive, as can be seen in itsprovisions detailing the “contentof the prior written notice” givena bit further below. It is notsufficient for the agency to tellparents that it would like toevaluate their child or that itrefuses to evaluate their child.The agency must also:

• explain why it wants to con-duct the evaluation (or why itrefuses);

• describe each evaluationprocedure, assessment, record,or report used as a basis forproposing the evaluation (orrefusing to conduct the evalu-ation);


Introduction to Procedural Safe-guards].

Making These NoticesUnderstandable

IDEA requires more of publicagencies than simply providingparents with the two aforemen-tioned notices. Agencies mustalso ensure that parents canunderstand the notices, whichmust involve, as necessary:

• providing notice to parents intheir native language or othermode of communication used

by the parent, unless it isclearly not feasible to do so;and

• writing the notice in languagethat is understandable to thegeneral public.[§300.503(c)(1)]

What if the parents’ languageis not a written one? IDEA 2004and the final regulations includethe following requirements insuch cases:

(2) If the native languageor other mode ofcommunication of theparent is not a writtenlanguage, the public agencymust take steps toensure—

Provisions in IDEA 2004 and the Final Part B Regulations:Content of the Prior Written Notice

(b) Content of notice. The notice required under paragraph (a) ofthis section must include—

(1) A description of the action proposed or refused by theagency;

(2) An explanation of why the agency proposes or refuses totake the action;

(3) A description of each evaluation procedure, assessment,record, or report the agency used as a basis for the proposed orrefused action;

(4) A statement that the parents of a child with a disability haveprotection under the procedural safeguards of this part and, ifthis notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, the means bywhich a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards canbe obtained;

(5) Sources for parents to contact to obtain assistance inunderstanding the provisions of this part;

(6) A description of other options that the IEP Team consid-ered and the reasons why those options were rejected; and

(7) A description of other factors that are relevant to theagency’s proposal or refusal. [§300.503(b)]

• let parents know that theyhave protection under IDEA’sprocedural safeguards and, ifthis notice is not an initialreferral for evaluation, themeans by which parents canobtain a description of thosesafeguards;

• where parents can go toobtain help in understandingIDEA’s provisions;

• what other options the agencyconsidered and why thosewere rejected; and

• a description of any otherfactors that are relevant tothe agency’s proposal(or refusal) toevaluate the child.[§300.503(b)]

The purposebehind this thoroughexplanation is to ensurethat parents are fully in-formed, understand what isbeing proposed (or refused),and understand what an evalua-tion of their child will involve(or why the public agency isrefusing to conduct an evalua-tion of the child).

What is the ProceduralSafeguards Notice?

The procedural safeguards noticerefers to the comprehensivewritten explanation that publicagencies must provide parentson specific occasions to, amongother things, fully inform themof IDEA’s procedural safeguards.“Upon initial referral or parentrequest for evaluation” are twooccasions that trigger the provi-sion of the procedural safe-guards notice [§300.504(a)(1),see Handout E-4 in the module


(i) That the notice istranslated orally or byother means to the parentin his or her nativelanguage or other mode ofcommunication;

(ii) That the parentunderstands the content ofthe notice; and

(iii) That there is writtenevidence that therequirements in paragraphs(c)(2)(i) and (ii) of thissection have been met.[§300.503(c)(2)]

Parental Consent

Consent within IDEA has avery specific meaning that risesout of, and is closely tied to, itsprovisions regarding priorwritten notice. Consent, in IDEA,means informed written consent.The comprehensive descriptionof a proposed or refused action,as contained in the prior writtennotice, is intended to informparents fully about a specificissue. Only by building thatfoundation of understandingcan informed consent be given.

Therefore, before a publicagency may initiate the evalua-tion of a child, it must obtain aparent’s informed written con-sent for that evaluation. Thefollowing provision makes thatvery clear:

The public agencyproposing to conduct aninitial evaluation todetermine if a childqualifies as a child with adisability under §300.8must, after providingnotice consistent with§§300.503 and 300.504,obtain informed consent,consistent with §300.9,

from the parent of thechild before conductingthe evaluation.[§300.300(a)(1)(i)]

Reasonable Efforts toObtain Consent

The final regulations imple-menting IDEA 2004 add aprovision that “[p]ublic agenciesmust make reasonable efforts toobtain informed consent fromthe parent for an initial evalua-tion to determine whether thechild is a child with a disability”[§300.300(a)(1)(iii), see Hand-out C-1]. To illuminate what ismeant by “reasonable efforts,”another new provision has beenadded to the final regulations at§300.300(d)(5) and reads, inpart:

. . .the public agency mustdocument its attempts toobtain parental consentusing the procedures in§300.322(d).

What are the procedures in§300.322(d)? They’re the same asthose required when the publicagency seeks parental consent forinitial evaluation—namely,detailed records of phone callsmade or attempted, any corre-spondence sent to parents andresponses received, and visitsmade to the parent’s home orplace of employment and theresults of those visits.

What if the Public AgencyCannot Obtain ParentalConsent?

There are two circumstancesunder which a public agencywould not be able to obtain aparent’s consent for an initialevaluation. For each, IDEAcontains explicit provisions toguide public agencies in execut-ing their duties and ensure thatthe rights of parents regardingconsent are not violated. Thesecircumstances are:

• The parent explicitly refuses toprovide consent.

• The parent fails to respond toa request to provide consent.

Both of these circumstancesare examined in Module 10,Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation(see Slide 7). We won’t repeatthat information here but,rather, refer you to Module 10 ifyou feel it’s important to sharethat information with the audi-ence.


Slide 4


Step 2 (of 10)


Trainer Note

Evaluation is an enormous topic in its own right—that’s why thethree modules in Theme C or this training curriculum aredevoted to it. The background material provided for the currentslide is drawn from those modules with an eye to identifying theinformation most important to share with newcomers to specialeducation, especially parents. How much detail you provide,however, is your choice, given the needs of the audience and byselecting additional material from the three evaluationmodules.

Step 1 has been completed.The public agency has adheredto IDEA’s requirements aboutproviding parents with priorwritten notice and the proce-dural safeguards notice, and hasobtained their informed writtenconsent to conduct the evalua-tion. Now comes Step 2—evaluating the child. This, too,appears on Handout A-2, with abare bones summary.

How do the final Part Bregulations define evaluation?Do they define evaluation? Yes,they do, as follows:

§300.15 Evaluation.

Evaluation meansprocedures used inaccordance with §§300.304

through 300.311 todetermine whether a childhas a disability and thenature and extent of thespecial education andrelated services that thechild needs.

Although you could talk allday about what evaluationentails, this is, after all, only an

introduction to IDEA and the 10basic steps in special education.In pursuit of brevity, you maywish to paint the broad picturefor the audience, which might besummarized as follows: Informa-tion gathered during the evalua-tion process is used to fullyunderstand the educationalneeds of the child and to guide


decision making about the kindof educational program that isappropriate for the child. Fromevaluation, it is possible—no, itis imperative—to fully learn thenature and extent of the specialeducation and related servicesthe child needs, so that a com-prehensive and appropriateindividualized education pro-gram (IEP) can be developedand implemented. The underly-ing standards to be used and themultiple ways in which schoolsare to learn this vital informationabout each child with a disabilityis the focus of Module 9, Intro-duction to Evaluation.

Here are some key points alsoimportant to share with theaudience, adding detail as youdeem responsive to the needsand interests of participants.We’ve grouped these points intoareas of concern or intent andincluded a brief summary, whenappropriate.

Purposes of Evaluation

• To see if the child is a “childwith a disability,” as definedby IDEA;

• To gather information that willhelp determine the child’seducational needs; and

• To guide decision makingabout appropriate educationalprogramming for the child

Who’s Involved?

Who’s involved in the evalua-tion process? According to IDEA,the group involved in the evalua-tion is the IEP Team (includingthe parents) and other qualifiedprofessionals [§300.305(a)].

Since we haven’t gotten toIEPs in this training module yet,this point may be a bit sticky todiscuss. Be aware that truebeginners in the audience maynot know what an IEP is, letalone who’s on an IEP Team.Therefore, identify the typicalplayers in evaluation by men-tioning “qualified professionals”and then going down IDEA’sregulations describing the IEPTeam, as follows:

• The parents of the child;

• Not less than one regulareducation teacher of the child(if the child is, or may be,participating in the regulareducation environment);

• Not less than one specialeducation teacher of the child,or where appropriate, not lessthen one special educationprovider of the child;

• A representative of the publicagency who must have specificqualifications;

• An individual who can inter-pret the instructional implica-tions of evaluation results,who may be a member of theteam already described (butnot the parent);

• At the discretion of the parentor the agency, other individu-als who have knowledge orspecial expertise regarding thechild, including related servicespersonnel as appropriate; and

• Whenever appropriate, thechild with a disability.[§300.321(a)]

Scope of Evaluation

A child’s initial evaluation mustbe full and individual. This is alongstanding provision of IDEA,found at §300.301(a). Make itclear to participants that an“individual” evaluation is justthat—individual. Focused on thatchild and that child alone. Anevaluation of a child under IDEAmeans much more than the childsitting in a room with the rest ofhis or her class taking an examfor that class, that school, thatdistrict, or that State. How thechild performs on such examswill contribute useful informa-tion to an IDEA-related evalua-tion, but large-scale tests orgroup-administered instrumentsare not enough to diagnose adisability or determine what, ifany, special education or relatedservices the child might need, letalone plan an appropriateeducational program for thechild. More information avail-able in Module 9, Introduction toEvaluation.


The evaluation must gatherrelevant functional, developmental,and academic information about thechild, including informationprovided by the parent [§300.304(b)(1)]. When conducting aninitial evaluation, it is necessaryto examine all areas of a child’sfunctioning related to the sus-pected disability (e.g., intelli-gence, language, speech, hearing,vision, fine and gross motorskills, social/emotional behavior)to establish baseline informationon the child and to recognizeareas of impairment. As the IDEAstates:

Each public agency mustensure that—

(4) The child is assessedin all areas related to thesuspected disability,including, if appropriate,health, vision, hearing,social and emotionalstatus, general intelligence,academic performance,communicative status, andmotor abilities;

(5)…

(6) In evaluating eachchild with a disabilityunder §§300.304 through300.306, the evaluation issufficiently comprehensiveto identify all of the child’sspecial education andrelated services needs,whether or not commonlylinked to the disabilitycategory in which the childhas been classified.[§300.304(c)]

An example may help crystal-lize the comprehensive scope ofevaluations: Consider a first-grader with suspected hearingand vision impairments who’sbeen referred for an initialevaluation. In order to fully“gather relevant functional,

developmental, and academicinformation” and “identify all ofthe child’s special education andrelated services needs,” evalua-tion of this child will obviouslyneed to focus on hearing andvision, as well as cognitive,speech, language, motor, andsocial/behavioral skills, todetermine not only the degree ofimpairment in vision and hear-ing and related educationalneeds, but also:

• the impact of these impair-ments (if any) on the child inother areas of functioning, and

• if there are additional impair-ments in any other areas offunctioning (including thosenot commonly linked tohearing and/or vision impair-ment).

The evaluation must use a varietyof assessment tools and strategies. Inother words, it cannot be basedsolely on one test or criterion. AsIDEA states at §300.304(b)(1)and (2):

(b) Conduct of evaluation.In conducting theevaluation, the publicagency must—

(1) Use a variety ofassessment tools andstrategies to gather relevantfunctional, developmental,and academic informationabout the child, includinginformation provided bythe parent, that may assistin determining…

(2) Not use any singlemeasure or assessment asthe sole criterion fordetermining whether achild is a child with adisability and fordetermining anappropriate educationalprogram for the child…

These provisions are not newin IDEA 2004. In fact, one of thecornerstones of the IDEA’sevaluation requirements is that itis inappropriate and unaccept-able to base any eligibility orplacement decision upon theresults of only one procedure.Tests alone will not give a com-prehensive picture of how achild performs or what he or sheknows or does not know. Onlyby collecting data through avariety of approaches (e.g., observa-tions, interviews, tests, curricu-lum-based assessment, and soon) and from a variety of sources(parents, teachers, specialists,child) can an adequate picturebe obtained of the child’sstrengths and weaknesses.Synthesized, this informationcan be used to determinewhether the child has a disabilityunder IDEA, the specific natureof the child’s special needs,whether the child needs specialeducation and related servicesand, if so, to design an appropri-ate program.


Ensuring Technical Qualityand Soundness

IDEA 2004 (as in prior law)requires public agencies to usetechnically sound instrumentsand processes in evaluation[§300.304(b)(3) and (c)]. “Tech-nically sound instruments”generally refers to assessmentsthat have been shown throughresearch to be valid and reliable(71 Fed. Reg. at 46642). “Techni-cally sound processes” requiresthat assessments and otherevaluation materials must be:

• administered by trained andknowledgeable personnel;

• administered in accordancewith any instructions providedby the producer of the assess-ments; and

• used for the purposes forwhich the assessments ormeasures are valid and reliable.

Much more information onthis aspect of evaluation isavailable in Module 9, Introduc-tion to Evaluation.

Considering Language,Communication Mode, andCulture

Slide 13 in Module 9 ad-dresses an issue that may be veryimportant to many audiencemembers, especially thoseworking with or parentingchildren:

• for whom English is not thenative language,

• who communicate by signing,

• who use alternative augmenta-tive communication, or

§300.304 Evaluation procedures.

(a)…

(b)...

(c) Other evaluation procedures. Each public agency must ensurethat—

(1) Assessments and other evaluation materials used …

(i) Are selected and administered so as not to be discrimina-tory on a racial or cultural basis;

(ii) Are provided and administered in the child’s nativelanguage or other mode of communication and in the formmost likely to yield accurate information on what the childknows and can do academically, developmentally, and func-tionally, unless it is clearly not feasible to so provide or ad-minister;

• who use other means tocommunicate.

Assessments of such childrenmust be conducted in accor-dance with their typical, accus-tomed mode of communication(unless it is clearly not feasible todo so) and in a form that willyield accurate information. Toassess the child using a means ofcommunication or response nothighly familiar to the child raisesthe probability that the evalua-tion results will yield minimal, ifany, information about what thechild knows and can do.

IDEA’s requirements in thisregard appear at §300.304(c)(1)(i) and (ii) and in the box onthis page (relevant provisions inbold).

Avoiding discriminatory practices.Concern has been expressed inrecent years about theoverrepresentation of minoritychildren in special educationprograms, particularly in pro-grams for children with milddisabilities, and a great deal ofresearch has been conducted toidentify the reasons why. This ismuch more fully addressed inthe module on Disproportionalityand Overrepresentation, butbriefly, here, many factors appearto contribute, including biasagainst children from differentcultural and linguistic back-grounds, particularly those whoare poor. For example, on manytests, being able to answerquestions correctly too oftendepends upon having specificculturally-based information orknowledge. If children have notbeen exposed to that informa-tion through their culture, orhave not had the experiencesthat lead to gaining specificknowledge, then they will not beable to answer certain questions


at all or will answer them in away that is considered “incor-rect” within the dominantculture. This can lead to inappro-priate conclusions aboutwhether a child has a disability,as defined by IDEA.

When English proficiency islimited. Before conducting anyformal testing of a child who is anon-native speaker of English, itis critical to determine the child’spreferred language and to con-duct a comprehensive languageassessment in the appropriatelanguage. It is highly inappropri-ate to evaluate children inEnglish when that is not theirdominant language (unless thepurpose of the testing is toassess the child’s English lan-guage proficiency). If possible,the evaluator in any testingsituation or interview should befamiliar to the child and speakthe child’s language.

When tests or evaluationmaterials are not available in thechild’s native language, examin-ers may find it necessary to useEnglish-language instruments.Because this practice is fraughtwith the possibility of misinter-pretation, examiners need to becautious in how they administerthe test and interpret results.Alterations may need to be madeto the standardized proceduresused to administer tests. Thesecan include paraphrasing instruc-tions, providing a demonstrationof how test tasks are to beperformed, reading test items tothe child, allowing the child torespond verbally rather than inwriting, or allowing the child touse a dictionary. However, if anysuch alterations are made, it isimportant to recognize thatstandardization has been bro-ken, limiting the usefulness and

applicability of test norms.Results should be cautiouslyinterpreted, and all alterationsmade to the testing proceduresshould be fully detailed in thereport describing the child’s testperformance in accordance withstandard test administrationpractice (71 Fed. Reg. at 46633).It is also be essential that otherassessment approaches be anintegral part of collecting infor-mation about the child, such asinterviews and observations.

When the child uses anothermode to communicate. Languageand cultural difference is not theonly factor that can confoundeffective evaluation. As IDEArecognizes, so can having an-other mode of communicating—such as sign, augmentativecommunication devices, orBraille. It should be readilyapparent that using speech orthe written word to evaluate achild who uses another mode ofcommunication would produceinaccurate and misleadingresults. Such results could not beused to determine if the child isa “child with a disability” or toplan an appropriate educationalprogram for that child. There-fore, unless it is clearly notfeasible to do so, the child’smode of communication mustbe the mode through whichevaluation is conducted—only inthat way can the child accuratelydemonstrate what he or sheknows or can do. If not feasibleto do so, then results must beinterpreted cautiously and all

modifications described thor-oughly in the evaluation report,along with their implications forthe test results.

Reviewing Existing Data

The points above speak moreto the responsibilities of thepublic agency than they do tothe actual step-by-step processof evaluation. For those who willbe involved in evaluating a child,it is important to understand thestep-by-step, too. Evaluationtypically begins with a review ofexisting evaluation data on thechild, which may come from thechild’s school file, his or herrecent test scores on State ordistrict assessments, classroomwork, and so on. This require-ments is stated in the final Part Bregulations at §300.305(a)(1):

(a) Review of existingevaluation data. As part ofan initial evaluation (ifappropriate) and as part ofany reevaluation under thispart, the IEP Team andother qualifiedprofessionals, asappropriate, must—

(1) Review existingevaluation data on thechild, including—

(i) Evaluations andinformation provided bythe parents of the child;

(ii) Current classroom-based, local, or Stateassessments, andclassroom-basedobservations; and

(iii) Observations byteachers and relatedservices providers...

Following this review, thegroup involved in the evaluationmust identify what additional


data (if any) are needed todetermine:

• If the child is a “child with adisability” as defined by IDEA;

• The child’s educational needs;

• The child’s present levels ofacademic achievement andrelated developmental needs;

• Whether the child needsspecial education and relatedservices; and

• Whether any additions ormodifications to the specialeducation and related servicesare needed to enable the childto meet annual goals in theIEP and to participate ingeneral education curriculum(as appropriate).[§300.305(a)(2)]

This review of existing evalua-tion data may be held without ameeting [§300.305(b)]. How isthat possible, you might ask,considering the questions thatmust be addressed and thedeterminations that must bemade? Neither the statute northe regulations, however, requirethat the public agency call ameeting for the purpose ofreviewing a child’s existingevaluation data, nor do theyspecify what other means ormethods the evaluation groupmight use to make the determi-nations they need to make,based on the review of existingevaluation data and parentinput. As in many other matters,this is left up to State and localauthority. Either might require ameeting be held to review thesedata, but the IDEA does notrequire this. The IDEA onlyrequires that the review beconducted by the group speci-

Provisions in IDEA and the Final Regulations at §300.305(d):Requirements if Additional Data Are Not Needed

(d) Requirements if additional data are not needed. (1) If the IEPTeam and other qualified professionals, as appropriate, determinethat no additional data are needed to determine whether thechild continues to be a child with a disability, and to determinethe child’s educational needs, the public agency must notify thechild’s parents of—

(i) That determination and the reasons for the determination;and

(ii) The right of the parents to request an assessment to deter-mine whether the child continues to be a child with a disability,and to determine the child’s educational needs.

(2) The public agency is not required to conduct the assess-ment described in paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section unlessrequested to do so by the child’s parents.

fied at §300.305(a) and that thedeterminations identified aboveare made.

More data are needed. Supposethe group determines that thereis not enough informationavailable in the existing evalua-tion data to make the determina-tions they need to make. Whathappens then? As stated in IDEA2004 and the final regulations at§300.305(c):

(c) Source of data. Thepublic agency mustadminister suchassessments and otherevaluation measures asmay be needed to producethe data identified underparagraph (a) of thissection.

Before the public agency mayproceed with gathering addi-tional information for the initialevaluation of the child, it mustnotify the parents (in otherwords, provide prior writtennotice), request their consent forthe evaluation, provide theprocedural safeguards notice,

and obtain their informedconsent. The evaluation maythen proceed.

Enough data exist. Suppose thegroup determines there is suffi-cient information available tomake the determinations theyneed. In this case, the publicagency must notify parents:

• of that determination and thereason for it; and

• that parents have the right torequest assessment of thechild.

The public agency is notrequired to conduct the assess-ment of the child unless theparents request that it does so.Relevant regulations appear at§300.305(d) and in the boxabove.


Slide 5Step 3 (of 10)

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(discussion on next page)

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Slide loads withthis view listingStep 3.


Slide 5: Background and Discussion1 Click

Slide 5 moves to the next stepin the special education pro-cess—determining the child’seligibility for special educationand related services under IDEA.A bare bones description of thestep appears on Handout A-2.

Group Determining Eligibility

The first noteworthy elementof this important step is thatIDEA assigns the task of deter-mining eligibility to “a group ofqualified professionals and theparent” [§300.306(a)(1)]. It isleft up to the public agency todetermine what constitutes a“qualified professional.”

This group may or may not bethe same individuals who wereinvolved in the review of existingevaluation data. That group wascomprised of “the IEP Team andother qualified professionals, asappropriate” [§300.305(a)], sothere may be overlap in themembership of these twogroups. Certainly the parents areentitled to be involved in bothgroups and in the decisions eachgroup makes.

Factors to Consider:Special Rule

The second noteworthyelement involved in determininga child’s eligibility relates to therange of factors that IDEA 2004requires the eligibility group toconsider as part of making thatdetermination. The first of thesefactors is called a “special rule,”which reads:

(b) Special rule foreligibility determination. Achild must not bedetermined to be a childwith a disability under thispart—

(1) If the determinantfactor for thatdetermination is—

(i) Lack of appropriateinstruction in reading,including the essentialcomponents of readinginstruction (as defined insection 1208(3) of theESEA);

(ii) Lack of appropriateinstruction in math; or

(iii) Limited Englishproficiency; and

(2) If the child does nototherwise meet theeligibility criteria under§300.8(a).

The overall thrust of thisspecial rule is to ensure thatchildren are not found to beeligible for special education andrelated services because of a lackof appropriate instruction inspecific key subjects or becausethey have a limited proficiency inEnglish. The determination of

whether a child has received“appropriate instruction” is, inthe words of the Department,“appropriately left to State andlocal officials” (71 Fed. Reg. at46646). Much more is said aboutthis special rule (including howElementary and SecondaryEducation Act (ESEA) defines theessential components of readinginstruction) in Module 10, InitialEvaluation and Reevaluation. Ifyou’d like to elaborate on thespecial rule, please consult thatmodule.

Factors to Consider:A “Variety of Sources”

When a child’s eligibility forspecial education and relatedservices is being determined, thepublic agency must also:

(i) Draw uponinformation from a varietyof sources, includingaptitude and achievementtests, parent input, andteacher recommendations,as well as informationabout the child’s physicalcondition, social orcultural background, andadaptive behavior; and

(ii) Ensure thatinformation obtained fromall of these sources isdocumented and carefullyconsidered.[§300.306(c)(1)]


Requiring eligibility determi-nations to be based on “a varietyof information sources” dove-tails nicely with requiring thepublic agency to “document andcarefully consider” the informa-tion from all of these sources.It’s not enough to merely gatherit and have it available in afolder. There must also beevidence that the information, inits variety, was considered inmaking the determinationregarding the child’s eligibility.

Additional Procedures forIdentifying Children withLearning Disabilities

Does the audience need toknow that, in addition to allthat’s been said so far on thissubject, there are yet moreprovisions within IDEA that maybe very relevant to the evaluationprocess and the factors that mustbe considered when determininga child’s eligibility—namely,provisions in IDEA and the finalregulations at §§300.307-300.311,called “Additional Procedures forIdentifying Children with Spe-cific Learning Disabilities.” Theseprovisions are the subject ofModule 11, Identification ofChildren with Specific LearningDisabilities.

Alert the audience to both theexistence of additional evalua-tion procedures to be applied toidentifying children with learningdisabilities, and the availabilityof stand-alone training on thematter.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, the group respon-sible for the child’s evaluation(which includes the parents)must make a determination as towhether or not the child iseligible for special education andrelated services—yes or no.Which will it be? Go on to thenext slide, where both scenariosare discussed.


Slide 6


Step 4 (of 10)


The Beginning of §300.8 Child with a disability.

(a) General. (1) Child with a disability means a child evaluatedin accordance with §§300.304 through 300.311 as havingmental retardation, a hearing impairment (including deafness),a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (includ-ing blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to inthis part as ‘‘emotional disturbance’’), an orthopedic impair-ment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impair-ment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multipledisabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special educa-tion and related services.

Slide 6 postulates a “yes”answer to the question ofeligibility, but the answer mayvery well be “no,” the child isnot eligible for special educationand related services. We don’twant to end the story here with a“no,” but that scenario will bediscussed, including what alter-natives parents may have in thatsituation. First, it’s important tostate what’s involved in makingeither determination.

The question of eligibilityunder IDEA comes down to itsdefinition of the term “childwith a disability.” In this intro-duction to the 10 basics ofspecial education, it’s not neces-sary to go into that definition ingreat detail; that’s a treat pro-vided in the training in Section 3of this module—which, as was

explained in the introduction, isprovided via a separate slideshow file focusing solely on “fivekey terms defined.” If you don’tjudge Section 3’s level of detailappropriate to this audience,then you’ll find key points aboutthe meaning of “child with a

disability” summarized below.Use the opening paragraph ofIDEA’s definition (in the boxbelow) as your reference pointfor this discussion.


A Brief Look at the BigDefinition

Point 1: The meaning of “childwith a disability” is extremely,extremely important in IDEA. Agreat deal pivots on that defini-tion, especially the eligibilitydetermination and the child’sright to special education andrelated services. Every time IDEAuses the term “child with adisability,” it means the samething—the definition appearingat §300.8.

Point 2: IDEA provides a listof 13 disability categories underwhich a child may be identified.These are: mental retardation, ahearing impairment (includingdeafness), a speech or languageimpairment, a visual impairment(including blindness), a seriousemotional disturbance (referredto in this part as ‘‘emotionaldisturbance’’), an orthopedicimpairment, autism, traumaticbrain injury, an other healthimpairment, a specific learningdisability, deaf-blindness, ormultiple disabilities.

Each of these terms has itsown definition, all of whichappear at §300.8(c). Regardlessof how much detail you go intohere, the entirety of IDEA’sdefinition of “child with a

disability” appears on HandoutA-3, including the individualdisability terms defined.

Point 3: Another critical partof IDEA’s definition is containedwithin the phrase “by reasonthereof.” As participants can seein the opening paragraph of§300.8(a) (on Handout A-3 andin the box on the previouspage), it’s not enough for a childto have one of the disabilitieslisted in IDEA. That child mustalso have been “evaluated inaccordance with §§300.304through 300.311” (discussed herein brief as Step 2), have one ofthe disabilities listed—and, byreason thereof, need specialeducation and related services.It’s the “by reason thereof” thatsometimes causes confusion andeven gets forgotten in IDEA’sdefinition of “child with adisability.” This short phraseadds another level to what itmeans for a child with a disabil-ity to be eligible for specialeducation and related servicesunder IDEA 2004. “By reasonthereof”—meaning, because thatdisability causes the child toneed special education andrelated services. Many disabilitiesdon’t result in the need forspecial education (which is, aswe’ll see, specially designedinstruction). (Refer to Section 3for an elaborated discussion ofthis point.)

Point 4: And that brings us tothe crucial role that State defini-tions play in eligibility determi-nations. An entire slide is de-voted to making this point inthe separate slide show forSection 3 of this module (seeSlide 9). As described there,States can establish criteria in thedisability areas and frequentlydo, establishing policies of theirown that explain each of thesedisabilities in their own terms(provided that all children withdisabilities who are in need ofspecial education and relatedservices who have impairmentslisted in the definition of “childwith a disability” in IDEA andthe final regulations are identi-fied and receive appropriatespecial education and relatedservices).

Specific learning disability is anexcellent example. States differ inhow they explain this term; inone State a child may be consid-ered to have a specific learningdisability, while in another Statethe child will not.

Thus, while the term “childwith a disability” is definedwithin IDEA 2004, the term alsohas an operational explanationat the State level. So what theterm really means, and whetheror not a group of people decide

Every time IDEA uses the term“child with a disability”

it means the same thing—the definition appearing at §300.8.

Important!


that a child has a particulardisability, is a matter of how thisfederal definition intersects withState definitions and policies.

Point 5: The last point you’llwant to include in this trainingrelates to State use of the term“developmental delay.” Asextensively discussed in Module10 (see Slide 22), under§300.8(b) and repeated in itsdetail in Section 3 of this mod-ule, a State may adopt a defini-tion of “child with a disability”that includes children aged 3through 9 (or any subset of thatage range that the State estab-lishes) who are experiencing“developmental delays” and“who, by reason thereof,” needspecial education and relatedservices. (Hmmm, there’s thatphrase again, by reason thereof…itmeans the same thing here asjust discussed.)

This provision allows States tofind a child with developmentaldelays (aged 3 through 9, or anysubset of age ranges that theState establishes) to be aneligible “child with a disability”and to provide that child withspecial education and relatedservices without having toclassify the child under a specificdisability category. This provision

of law is intended to address theoften difficult process of deter-mining the precise nature of achild’s disability in the early yearsof his or her development.

Additional clarifying informa-tion: States do not have to adoptuse of the term “developmentaldelay” in their definitions of“child with a disability.” It’s anoption for States. Even if theState adopts the term (whichincludes defining the age rangeof children to which it applies),it can’t force any of its LEAs todo so. If the State does notadopt the term, its LEAs may notindependently decide they willuse the term. It’s only an optionfor LEAs if the State adopts theterm—and then, the LEA mustuse the State’s definition, includ-ing the age range specified by theState.

Point 6: Regardless of what theeligibility determination is—yes,the child is eligible, or no, thechild isn’t—the public agencymust provide the parent with acopy of the evaluation reportand the documentation ofdetermination of the child’seligibility. Both of these must beprovided at no cost to theparent. The relevant regulatoryprovision states:

§300.306 Determinationof eligibility.

(a) General. Uponcompletion of theadministration ofassessments and otherevaluation measures—

(1)...

(2) The public agencyprovides a copy of theevaluation report and thedocumentation ofdetermination of eligibilityat no cost to the parent.

Of additional interest to youraudience may be theDepartment’s observation in theAnalysis of Comments andChanges that accompaniedpublication of the final Part Bregulations:

[I]t would not beappropriate for a publicagency to providedocumentation of thedetermination of eligibilityprior to discussing a child’seligibility for specialeducation and relatedservices with the parent.Section 300.306(a)(1) andsection 614(b)(4)(A) of theAct require that a group ofqualified professionals andthe parent determinewhether the child is a childwith a disability. Therefore,providing documentationof the eligibilitydetermination to a parentprior to a discussion withthe parent regarding the

State explanations of disabilityplay a crucial role in eligibility determinations.

And So Is This!


child’s eligibility wouldindicate that the publicagency made itsdetermination withoutincluding the parent andpossibly, qualifiedprofessionals, in thedecision. (71 Fed. Reg. at46645)

The “Yes” Determination

Back to the 10 steps in thespecial education process. Basedon all that’s been said so far, letus say that the eligibility groupdetermines that, yes indeedy, thechild is a “child with a disability”as defined by IDEA and theState. That child is then consid-ered eligible for special educa-tion and related services andmoves to the Steps 5-10 (de-scribed in upcoming slides).

The “No” Determination

Now let’s suppose that theeligibility group determines thatthe child in question is not a“child with a disability.” It’s adistinct possibility and must bementioned to participants.

If the eligibility determinationis “no,” parents must receive acopy of the evaluation reportand the documentation of thatdetermination (mentioned inPoint 5 above). Under the IDEA,parents must also be giveninformation about what they cando if they disagree with theeligibility decision.

IDEA itself gives parents (andthe public agency as well) theright to request mediation or adue process hearing to resolve adispute about the child’s identi-fication, evaluation, or educa-tional placement, or any aspectrelated to the provision of FAPEto the child [§300.507(a)]. Asdescribed in Module 10, InitialEvaluation and Reevaluation, andin Module 17, Introduction toProcedural Safeguards, parentsalso have the right to obtain anindependent educational evalua-tion (IEE), the results of whichmust be considered. It’s beyondthe scope of the current moduleto discuss either of these tworather involved avenues, butinformation can certainly beborrowed from either module toexpand the discussion here ofparental options. At a minimum,you may wish to observe that:

• Parents may wish to get intouch with their State’s ParentTraining and Information(PTI) center, which can de-scribe a parent’s options atthis point and what steps totake next (as was said on Slide3, PTIs are listed on NICHCY’sState Resource Sheets);

• A child who has a disabilitybut who is not eligible underIDEA may be eligible for theprotections afforded by otherlaws—such as Section 504 ofthe Rehabilitation Act of 1973,as amended. It’s not uncom-mon for a child to have a 504plan at school to addressdisability-related educationalneeds, instead of an IEP.


Slide 7


Step 5 (of 10)


Slide 7 doesn’t seem likemuch, does it? But we’re verginginto IEP territory now, and that,in and of itself, is a vast terrainto cross. In this overview of the10 basic steps to special educa-tion, we’ll try to be as succinct aspossible and leave all the bridgesand bogs of IEPs for moredetailed modules. If you need tomake the bare-boniest of sum-maries, refer to the skeleton listof points for Step 5 on HandoutA-2.

What’s an IEP?

This is an acronym standingfor individualized educationprogram, the centerpiece andcrown jewel of special education.IEP is definitely one of the five

acronyms mentioned in the nextsection of this training module.Because it will be discussed inmore than one upcoming slide,you only need to lay the founda-tion here—what IEP means, whodevelops the IEP, what type ofinformation the documentcontains, and what’s involved inscheduling a meeting to developthe IEP (the subject of thecurrent slide).

Very briefly, an IEP is a writtenstatement of the educationalprogram designed to meet achild’s individual needs. Everychild with a disability whoreceives special education andrelated services under IDEA musthave an IEP. The IEP has twogeneral purposes: (1) to setreasonable learning goals for the

child; and (2) to state the ser-vices that the public agency willprovide for the child. This vitaldocument is developed by ateam of individuals definedwithin IDEA, including theparents. The actual membershipof the IEP Team was discussedunder Slide 4 and is thoroughlyexamined in Module 9, The IEPTeam: Who Is A Member?

Timeframes for IEP Meetings

An IEP meeting must be heldwithin 30 calendar days after it isdetermined, through the full andindividual evaluation, that achild has one of the disabilitieslisted in IDEA and needs specialeducation and related services[§300.323(c)(1)]. (Note: The IEPmeeting may go by different


names in different locales; forexample, in some places, youwon’t hear the term IEP meetingbut, rather, ARD meeting.) Achild’s IEP must be reviewed atleast annually thereafter to

determine whether the annualgoals are being achieved and must

be revised as appropriate [Section300.324(b)].

Scheduling the Meeting

For such a basic step in special education, IDEAincludes an extensive set of provisions regardingscheduling all IEP meetings. These provisions arefound at §300.322(a)-(b) (see the box at the left)and are thoroughly examined in Module 14,Meetings of the IEP Team (see Slide 9). We’ve ex-tracted key points below, but refer you to thefuller discussion in Module 14, should you wishto expand the discussion here.

Point 1: IDEA’s provisions involve both com-mon sense and courtesy, and are intended toensure that parents have every opportunity toattend the meeting and contribute. In a nutshell,the school and parents have to agree when andwhere they are going to meet.

Point 2: Parents must be notified of the meet-ing early enough to ensure they have an opportu-nity to attend. As the provisions in the box indi-cate, the public agency must tell parents thepurpose, time and location of the meeting; whowill be at the meeting; and that both the parentsand public agencies have the right to invite otherpeople with knowledge or special expertise aboutthe child, including related services personnel asappropriate. (Additional clarification: The partyinviting such an individual makes the determina-tion that the individual possesses the requisiteknowledge or special expertise regarding thechild.)

In the case of a child who was previously servedunder Part C of IDEA (the early interventionsystem) and who is now transitioning to Part Bservices for school-aged children (including chil-dren ages 3-5), this notice must also let parentsknow that, if they request it, the Part C servicecoordinator or other representatives of the Part Csystem must be invited to attend the initial IEP

Key IDEA Provisions at §300.322:Parent Participation

(a) Public agency responsibility—general.Each public agency must take steps toensure that one or both of the parents of achild with a disability are present at eachIEP Team meeting or are afforded theopportunity to participate, including—

(1) Notifying parents of the meetingearly enough to ensure that they will havean opportunity to attend; and

(2) Scheduling the meeting at a mutu-ally agreed on time and place.

(b) Information provided to parents. (1)The notice required under paragraph (a)(1)of this section must—

(i) Indicate the purpose, time, andlocation of the meeting and who will be inattendance; and

(ii) Inform the parents of the provisionsin §300.321(a)(6) and (c) (relating to theparticipation of other individuals on theIEP Team who have knowledge or specialexpertise about the child), and §300.321(f)(relating to the participation of the Part Cservice coordinator or other representativesof the Part C system at the initial IEP Teammeeting for a child previously served underPart C of the Act).

(2) For a child with a disability begin-ning not later than the first IEP to be ineffect when the child turns 16, or youngerif determined appropriate by the IEP Team,the notice also must—

(i) Indicate—

(A) That a purpose of the meeting willbe the consideration of the postsecondarygoals and transition services for the child,in accordance with §300.320(b); and

(B) That the agency will invite the child;and

(ii) Identify any other agency that will beinvited to send a representative.

[§300.322(a)-(b)]


meeting [in accordance with§300.321(f)].

Knowing each of these ele-ments in advance of the meetinggives parents the opportunity toprepare and more fully partici-pate in meeting discussions anddecisions.

Point 3: If parents need aninterpreter, including a signlanguage interpreter, they shouldlet the public agency know inadvance of the meeting, so thatthe public agency has time tomake suitable arrangements.Public agencies are required totake the necessary steps to giveparents the opportunity tounderstand the proceedings at

—Space for Notes—

an IEP Team meeting[§300.322(e)], but parentsshould not assume that such anarrangement will be made by thepublic agency. Parents who needan interpreter may wish to checkwith their school district to findout how much time is needed toarrange for an interpreter to bepresent at the IEP meeting.


Oh boy, now we’re gettinginto the vast landscape of IEPdevelopment. All of Theme D isdevoted to the IEP, so it’s easy tosee that there’s a lot to say. Here,in this overview, though, we’venarrowed this down to itsessence and a few key points.Again, the bare bones appear onHandout A-2.

Point 1: As was mentioned onthe last slide, the first IEP meet-ing must be held within 30calendar days of the eligibilitydetermination that, yes, the childneeds special education andrelated services.

Point 2: Writing the IEP is achallenge the IEP Team under-takes together, drawing on theevaluation data and the picture itprovides of the child’s strengths

and academic, developmental,and functional needs; and theparents’ concerns for enhancingthe education of their child.[§300.324(a)]

Point 3: The IEP must containspecific information about thechild, as detailed at §300.320(Content of the IEP), as the“bonus term” on Handout A-3,in the box on the next page, andin the separate module Content ofthe IEP. Go through the contentof the IEP that appears as thelast item on Handout A-3 withparticipants to ensure they getthe story straight from thehorse’s mouth. Especially em-phasize the importance of howthe IEP starts—the description of“the child’s present levels ofacademic achievement andfunctional performance”

[§300.320 (a)(1)]. The child’s“present levels” statement is, inessence, a comprehensive de-scription of a child’s abilities,performance, strengths, andneeds. It is no exaggeration tosay that a fully developed, well-written “present levels” state-ment is the foundation uponwhich the rest of the IEP can bedeveloped to specify appropriategoals, services, supports, accom-modations, and placement forthe child.

Point 4: IDEA has a strongpreference for educating childrenwith disabilities within theregular educational environment.While you’re looking at thecontent of an IEP (Point 3), ask

continued on page 1-35

Slide 8


Step 6 (of 10)



(a) General. As used in this part, the term individualizededucation program or IEP means a written statement foreach child with a disability that is developed, reviewed,and revised in a meeting in accordance with §§300.320through 300.324, and that must include—

(1) A statement of the child’s present levels of academicachievement and functional performance, including—

(i) How the child’s disability affects the child’s involve-ment and progress in the general education curriculum(i.e., the same curriculum as for nondisabled children); or

(ii) For preschool children, as appropriate, how thedisability affects the child’s participation in appropriateactivities;

(2)(i) A statement of measurable annual goals, includ-ing academic and functional goals designed to—

(A) Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’sdisability to enable the child to be involved in and makeprogress in the general education curriculum; and

(B) Meet each of the child’s other educational needsthat result from the child’s disability;

(ii) For children with disabilities who take alternateassessments aligned to alternate achievement standards, adescription of benchmarks or short-term objectives;

(3) A description of—

(i) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annualgoals described in paragraph (2) of this section will bemeasured; and

(ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child ismaking toward meeting the annual goals (such as throughthe use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrentwith the issuance of report cards) will be provided;

(4) A statement of the special education and relatedservices and supplementary aids and services, based onpeer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to beprovided to the child, or on behalf of the child, and astatement of the program modifications or supports forschool personnel that will be provided to enable thechild—

(i) To advance appropriately toward attaining theannual goals;

(ii) To be involved in and make progress in the generaleducation curriculum in accordance with paragraph (a)(1)of this section, and to participate in extracurricular andother nonacademic activities; and

(iii) To be educated and participate with other childrenwith disabilities and nondisabled children in the activitiesdescribed in this section;

(5) An explanation of the extent, if any, to which thechild will not participate with nondisabled children inthe regular class and in the activities described inparagraph (a)(4) of this section;

(6)(i) A statement of any individual appropriateaccommodations that are necessary to measure theacademic achievement and functional performance ofthe child on State and districtwide assessments consis-tent with §612(a)(16) of the Act; and

(ii) If the IEP Team determines that the child musttake an alternate assessment instead of a particularregular State or districtwide assessment of studentachievement, a statement of why—

(A) The child cannot participate in the regularassessment; and

(B) The particular alternate assessment selected isappropriate for the child; and

(7) The projected date for the beginning of theservices and modifications described in paragraph (a)(4)of this section, and the anticipated frequency, location,and duration of those services and modifications.

(b) Transition services. Beginning not later than thefirst IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, oryounger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team, andupdated annually, thereafter, the IEP must include—

(1) Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals basedupon age appropriate transition assessments related totraining, education, employment, and, where appropri-ate, independent living skills; and

(2) The transition services (including courses ofstudy) needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.

(c) Transfer of rights at age of majority. Beginning notlater than one year before the child reaches the age ofmajority under State law, the IEP must include a state-ment that the child has been informed of the child’srights under Part B of the Act, if any, that will transfer tothe child on reaching the age of majority under§300.520.

(d) Construction. Nothing in this section shall beconstrued to require—

(1) That additional information be included in achild’s IEP beyond what is explicitly required in section614 of the Act; or

(2) The IEP Team to include information under onecomponent of a child’s IEP that is already containedunder another component of the child’s IEP.

§300.320 Definition of individualized education program.


trainees to identify the phrasesthat illustrate this preference:How the child’s disability affectsthe child’s involvement andprogress in the general educationcurriculum… To be involved inand make progress in the generaleducation curriculum…. To beeducated and participate withother children with disabilitiesand nondisabled children…. Anexplanation of the extent, if any,to which the child will notparticipate with nondisabledchildren….

To support the actualizationof this preference, IDEA requiresthe IEP Team to consider whattypes of supports the childneeds in order to receive his orher education in the generaleducation environment to themaximum extent appropriate forthat child (e.g., classroom,curriculum, range of schoolactivities in which childrenwithout disabilities participate).For example, what supplemen-tary aids and services, assistivetechnology, or supports forschool personnel are needed inorder to support the child’sinvolvement and participation ingeneral education and otheractivities in the school? Theregulations may list the contentof an IEP as one item, thenanother, but they are intendedto go together and work togetherin support of the child’s educa-tional attainment.

Point 5: In addition to includ-ing these specific elements in achild’s IEP, the IEP Team mustalso consider what are calledspecial factors, listed at§300.324(a)(2) and provided inthe box on this page for yourconvenience in guiding thediscussion. These are extensivelydiscussed in Module 14, Meetingsof the IEP Team, from which youcan draw to expand what’s saidhere. The IEP Team must con-sider the child’s individual needsassociated with behavior prob-lems, limited English proficiency,

continued from page 1-33

IDEA 2004 Provisions:Special Factors to Be Considered

(2) Consideration of special factors. The IEP Team must—

(i) In the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’slearning or that of others, consider the use of positive behav-ioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to ad-dress that behavior;

(ii) In the case of a child with limited English proficiency,consider the language needs of the child as those needs relateto the child’s IEP;

(iii) In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired,provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unlessthe IEP Team determines, after an evaluation of the child’sreading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading andwriting media (including an evaluation of the child’s futureneeds for instruction in Braille or the use of Braille), that in-struction in Braille or the use of Braille is not appropriate forthe child;

(iv) Consider the communication needs of the child, and inthe case of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, consider thechild’s language and communication needs, opportunities fordirect communications with peers and professional personnelin the child’s language and communication mode, academiclevel, and full range of needs, including opportunities for directinstruction in the child’s language and communication mode;and

(v) Consider whether the child needs assistive technologydevices and services. [§300.324(a)(2)]

blindness or visual impairment(especially the child’s need forinstruction in Braille), andcommunication issues (especiallyfor children who are deaf or hardof hearing). The IEP Team mustalso discuss whether the childneeds assistive technology (AT)devices and services, an area oftremendous growth in recentyears.


When the IEP is Written

A longstanding provision ofIDEA requires that the publicagency provide a copy of thechild’s IEP to the parent at nocost to that parent. The regula-tion is found at §300.322(f) andreads:

(f) Parent copy of child’s IEP.The public agency mustgive the parent a copy ofthe child’s IEP at no cost tothe parent.

Placement

Placement—where the childwill receive his or her specialeducation and related services—is a complicated issue to explainand is the subject of an entiremodule: LRE Decision Making.We would not recommenddelving into it at this timebeyond a few summary remarksdrawn directly from IDEA’sregulations at §300.116 (pro-vided in the box at the right):

• A child’s placement is basedon his or her IEP.

• Unless that IEP requires someother arrangement, the child isto be educated in the schoolhe or she would attend ifnondisabled and as close aspossible to his or her home.

• It is not permissible to removethe child from being educatedin age-appropriate regularclassrooms solely becausemodifications need to bemade in the general educationcurriculum.

• The placement decision ismade by a group of peoplethat includes the parents.

• That group must also includeother persons who are knowl-edgeable about the child, themeaning of the evaluationdata, and the options forplacement;

• The placement decision mustbe made in conformity withIDEA’s LRE provisions.

Other Points of Interest

While you may not have timein the training session to delveinto the myriad of other pointsof interest, there are numerousadditional issues that may beimportant to share with the

§300.116 Placements.

In determining the educational placement of a child with adisability, including a preschool child with a disability, eachpublic agency must ensure that—

(a) The placement decision—

(1) Is made by a group of persons, including the parents, andother persons knowledgeable about the child, the meaning ofthe evaluation data, and the placement options; and

(2) Is made in conformity with the LRE provisions of thissubpart, including §§ 300.114 through 300.118;

(b) The child’s placement—

(1) Is determined at least annually;

(2) Is based on the child’s IEP; and

(3) Is as close as possible to the child’s home;

(c) Unless the IEP of a child with a disability requires someother arrangement, the child is educated in the school that he orshe would attend if nondisabled;

(d) In selecting the LRE, consideration is given to any poten-tial harmful effect on the child or on the quality of services thathe or she needs; and

(e) A child with a disability is not removed from education inage-appropriate regular classrooms solely because of neededmodifications in the general education curriculum.


audience. Rather than repeatinformation already availableelsewhere, we’re going to listseveral areas of common interestto audiences, especially parents,and indicate where these aretreated in other modules. Pullmaterial from those modules asyou deem appropriate to yourtraining objectives and the needsof audience members.

• What kind of information is aparent expected to share in anIEP meeting? See Module 12,The IEP Team: Who Is A Mem-ber?, Slide 2.

• What kind of information is aregular educator expected toshare in an IEP meeting? SeeModule 12, The IEP Team: WhoIs A Member?, Slide 5.

• The child with a disabilitydoesn’t attend IEP meetings?!Oh yes, the child may certainlyattend the meeting where hisor her IEP is developed. Ifsecondary transition servicesare going to be discussed atthe meeting, the student mustbe invited to attend. Find outmore in Module 12, The IEPTeam: Who Is A Member?,Slides 11 and 12.

• May an IEP meeting be heldwithout the parents attending?Yes, given certain conditions.See Module 14, Meetings of theIEP Team, Slide 20.

• May a member of the IEPTeam be excused from attend-ing the meeting? Yes, givencertain conditions. See Mod-ule 14, Meetings of the IEPTeam, Slides 17 and 18.

• Does the IEP Team alwayshave to physically meet? No,but conditions apply. SeeModule 14, Meetings of the IEPTeam, Slides 28 and 29.

• What resources on addressingbehavior problems exist? Lots!See Module 14, Meetings of theIEP Team, Slide 12.

• What kind of assistive technol-ogy is available to help chil-dren with disabilities? Lots,with more emerging every year.See Module 14, Meetings of theIEP Team, Slide 16.


Slide 9


Step 7 (of 10)


Once the IEP is written, it istime to carry it out—in otherwords, to provide the child withthe special education and relatedservices as listed in the IEP. Thisincludes all supplementary aidsand services and program modi-fications that the IEP Teamidentifies as necessary. Unfortu-nately, it is beyond the scope ofthis module to discuss in detailthe many issues involved inimplementing a child’s IEP, butseveral points are worth noting.These are:

Point 1: The public agencymust have the parents’ writteninformed consent before theinitial provision of specialeducation and related services tothe child. [§300.300(b)]

Point 2: IDEA states that, assoon as possible followingdevelopment of the IEP, specialeducation and related servicesmust be made available to thechild in accordance with thechild’s IEP. [§300.323(c)(2)]

Point 3: IDEA also requiresthat the public agency ensurethat all service providers who willbe implementing the IEP:

• have access to the IEP.

• are informed of their specificresponsibilities.

• are informed of specificaccommodations, modifica-tions, and supports to beprovided to the child, inaccordance with the IEP.[§300.323(d)]

Point 4: At the beginning ofeach school year, each publicagency must have an IEP in effectfor each child with a disabilitywithin its jurisdiction.[§300.323(a)]


Slide 10

Slide loads fully.No clicks arenecessary except toadvance to thenext slide.


Step 8 (of 10)

IDEA Provisions at §300.320(a)(3)

(3) A description of—

(i) How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goalsdescribed in paragraph (2) of this section will be measured;and

(ii) When periodic reports on the progress the child is makingtoward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use ofquarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issu-ance of report cards) will be provided...

Part of a child’s IEP mustspecify how the child’s progresswill be measured. That progress,whatever it is, must also bereported periodically to parents,as the regulations make clear (seebox at right).

The examples of how a publicagency might periodically reportto parents are just that—ex-amples. As the Departmentclarifies:

The specific times thatprogress reports areprovided to parents andthe specific manner andformat in which a child’sprogress toward meetingthe annual goals isreported is best left toState and local officials todetermine. (71 Fed. Reg. at46664)

The periodic reporting ofprogress gives parents, othermembers of the IEP team, andthe public agency the opportu-nity to review the IEP and makeadjustments if they are war-ranted.


Click 1:Right half of slideloads, with Step 10.

Slide 11

Left half of slideloads, with Step 9.

View 1

Step 9 and Step 10 (of 10)

Click 1





This slide contains two stepsto discuss, Step 9 (reviewing theIEP) and Step 10 (reevaluation).

Step 9: Reviewing the IEP

The IEP is not a static docu-ment. It can be changed toreflect the child’s learning andgrowth—or, as the case may be,his or her lack of expectedprogress. The IEP Team is re-sponsible for determining howand when the IEP needs to bechanged to appropriately addressthe child’s needs.

The reviewing of the IEP (andits revision, as warranted) isexamined in Module 14, Meet-ings of the IEP Team. Here aresome key points from thatdiscussion you may wish toshare with the audience:

Point 1: IDEA requires that theIEP Team review the child’s IEP“periodically” but not less thanonce a year. One purpose of thisreview is to see whether the childis achieving his or her annualgoals and to revise the documentto address any lack of expectedprogress toward the annual goalsand in the general educationcurriculum, if appropriate.[§300.324(b)]

Point 2: The IEP Team mayfind it necessary to review andrevise the IEP more often. Eitherthe parents or the school can askto hold an IEP meeting to revisethe child’s IEP.

Point 3: The basic processalready described for developingthe IEP—parent notification,scheduling, arranging for inter-preters, membership of the IEP

Team, considering the specialfactors, the parents’ right to acopy of the IEP, ensuring that allservice providers of the childhave access to the child’s IEP andknow their responsibilities—alsoapplies when the IEP is reviewedand, as appropriate, revised.

Step 10: Reevaluation

Made it! We’ve come to Step10 of 10, is reevaluation of thechild. There’s a lot that can besaid about reevaluation, as mostof the provisions governinginitial evaluation apply to thereevaluation process. Detailedinformation is available inModule 10, Initial Evaluation andReevaluation. The material belowis drawn from that module insummary fashion.

Purpose of Reevaluation

The purpose of reevaluation isto find out:

• if the child continues to be a“child with a disability,” asdefined by IDEA and the finalregulations, and

• the child’s educational needs.

§300.303 Reevaluations.

(a) General. A public agency must ensure that a reevaluationof each child with a disability is conducted in accordance with§§300.304 through 300.311—

(1) If the public agency determines that the educational orrelated services needs, including improved academic achieve-ment and functional performance, of the child warrant a re-evaluation; or

(2) If the child’s parent or teacher requests a reevaluation.

(b) Limitation. A reevaluation conducted under paragraph (a)of this section—

(1) May occur not more than once a year, unless the parentand the public agency agree otherwise; and

(2) Must occur at least once every 3 years, unless the parentand the public agency agree that a reevaluation is unnecessary.


When Reevaluation MayOccur

IDEA’s provisions regardingreevaluations are provided belowin the box. Specifically, underIDEA:

• Reevaluations are not to occurmore than once a year—unlessthe parent and the publicagency agree otherwise.

• Reevaluations must occur atleast once every three years—unless the parent and publicagency agree that a reevalua-tion is unnecessary.

As you can also see in theprovisions at §300.303, IDEAprovides that a reevaluationmust be conducted:

• If the public agency deter-mines that the educational orrelated services needs, includ-ing improved academicachievement and functionalperformance, of the childwarrant a reevaluation; or

• If the child’s parent or teacherrequests a reevaluation.

Children grow and change,and the public agency has anaffirmative obligation to monitortheir educational and develop-mental progress. As progress isnoted, or as the child’s needschange, the public agency mayask to reevaluate the child toensure that his or her educa-tional program reflects currenteducational or related services

needs. Teachers are also in agood position to observe achild’s development andprogress, and may request areevaluation to determine if theexisting program of specialeducation and related servicescontinues to appropriatelyaddress the child’s needs. Thesame is true of the parent.

What Reevaluation Shareswith Initial Evaluation

As Slide 10 in Module 10describes, IDEA’s provisionsregarding reevaluation share agreat deal in common with itsrequirements for initial evalua-tion. This includes:

• Its purposes

• Prior written notice

• Procedural safeguards noticeupon parent request for anevaluation

• Review of existing evaluationdata

• Parent consent

• Gathering additional data, ifneeded

• Parent involvement in evalua-tion group

• Parent involvement in eligibil-ity determination

• Factors involved in determin-ing eligibility

• Reporting to parents

Concluding Section 1 of Training Module

You’ve come to the end of Section 1 of the 10basic steps in the special education process. Nextup will be a look at five special education acronymseveryone should know.

Time for a break first? It’s good timing, andhopefully the audience will return refreshed andready to go again.


Slide 12


Section 2 of Module: 5 Acronyms Defined (Slide 1 of 17)


It’s time now for the Section 2of this module—the top 5acronyms in special educationand their definitions under IDEA2004. Section 2 opens up withtwo slides intended to set aneasy-going mood before the realwork with acronyms begins.

The current slide asks audi-ence members to do a littleguesswork. What acronyms are soimportant that they’ve made thelist? What special educationacronyms has the audience heardor seen that they can recall?Anyone care to share a personalexperience with acronyms—first,they’re like Greek, and then youstart using them yourself!

Jot down suggestions fromthe audience, as appropriate.Refer back to whatever list theygenerated throughout Section 2,especially when an acronym ontheir list comes up on a slide. Ifthere are unmentioned acronymsat the end of the session, youmay wish to briefly explain whatthey mean, for people’s futurereference.


Slide 13Section 2 of Module: 5 Acronyms Defined (Slide 2 of 17)



Use this slide to signal the audience that you’re bringingon the ALPHABET SOUP.

Where else to start, really, but with acronyms? Specialeducation is loaded with them. It’s like a secret language,and not knowing what these acronyms mean can leave youstraight out of the conversation, wondering what planetyou’ve unexpectedly descended on. So let’s jump in ASAPinto the alphabet soup of special education. Here come 5terms most commonly referred to by their letters.


Slide 14



5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #1—IDEA (Slide 3 of 17)

The content portion ofSection 2 of this training moduleis comprised of 14 slides cover-ing 5 acronyms. Many can bemoved through rather quickly,because they may be familiar bynow to participants. Theirmeanings, and how IDEA de-fines the terms, are provided onHandout A-3.

The first acronym is: IDEA.Sometimes you’ll hear it pro-nounced as if you were spellingthe word idea, as in I…D…E…A.But either way, the letters meanthe same thing. The Individualswith Disabilities Education Act,our nation’s special educationlaw and the exclusive subject ofthis training package.

Sometimes people appendnumbers, such as IDEA ‘97 orIDEA 2004, when they’re refer-ring to a specific set of amend-ments to IDEA. You’ll hear a lotabout IDEA ‘97 and IDEA 2004in these modules, as we talkabout the changes IDEA 2004has brought to IDEA ‘97.

Discussing IDEA

If you wish to expand whatyou say about IDEA beyondwhat it means, pull from theintroduction to this trainingmodule, which provides some ofIDEA’s prestigious background aswell as information about howto get a copy of both the statuteand the final Part B regulations.

Some additional points ofinterest include:

Point 1: IDEA hasn’t alwaysbeen known as IDEA. It’s alsobeen called the EHA (the acro-nym commonly used for two ofits prior titles, the Education ofthe Handicapped Act and theEducation for All HandicappedChildren Act). And before that,itwas part of ESEA (the Elementaryand Secondary Education Act).Oh, acronyms! Aren’t theyuseful? That is, of course, if youunderstand what they mean…

IDEA became IDEA in theamendments of 1990, where thename was changed to reflect amovement toward people-firstlanguage. In its current reautho-rized form, IDEA is also referred


to as IDEA 2004 (the year it wasreauthorized), with the actualtitle of the Individuals withDisabilities Education Improve-ment Act of 2004.

Point 2: IDEA authorizesspecial education and relatedservices in the United States.More than 6.8 million childrenwith disabilities are served underits provisions.

Point 3: IDEA also authorizesa wide range of supports toimprove the results and out-comes that children with dis-abilities achieve in our schoolsand communities. This includesfiscal and programmatic supportfor research, technical assistance,dissemination of the field’sknowledge base (NICHCY! forexample), personnel prepara-tion, and much, much more.

Point 4: It’s a great law—verypowerful, thoughtful, detailed,ever evolving, far reaching, withthe well-being of children withdisabilities at its core. Every yearit impacts millions of people’slives. Imagine how many havebeen impacted over the law’s 30-year history!




FAPE. That’s not the noisethat a bag caught on your footmakes when you try and shake itoff. FAPE stands for “free appro-priate public education,” a verycentral concept in IDEA andacronym number 2. Six slideswill be devoted to discussingFAPE, walking participantsthrough what each of its lettersmean, and looking at IDEA’srelevant provisions.

Defining FAPE

IDEA’s definition of FAPE (inthe box at the right) hasn’tchanged much over the years.IDEA 2004 changed it not at all.Refer participants to Handout A-3, where the definition of FAPEappears.

§300.17 Free appropriate public education.

Free appropriate public education or FAPE means specialeducation and related services that—

(a) Are provided at public expense, under public supervi-sion and direction, and without charge;

(b) Meet the standards of the SEA, including the require-ments of this part;

(c) Include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, orsecondary school education in the State involved; and

(d) Are provided in conformity with an individualizededucation program (IEP) that meets the requirements of§§300.320 through 300.324.

Slide 15


5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #2—FAPE (Slide 4 of 17)


If you break the definitiondown, you’ll see there are sixcomponents. In “commonspeak” language, FAPE is:

• special education and relatedservices;

• free to families, provided atpublic expense;

• supervised and directed by apublic agency (via State andlocal educational agencies, e.g.,public schools);

• based on the standards of theSEA (e.g., the state’s generaland special education stan-dards and regulations);

• provided in an appropriatepreschool, elementary school,or secondary school in theState; and

• provided in accordance withan appropriately developedIEP.

Understanding FAPE

Alas, IDEA’s definition isn’tespecially helpful in understand-ing the importance of FAPE inthe lives of children with dis-abilities, educational practice inour schools, or the obligationsthat States and LEAs have tomake FAPE available to eligiblechildren. That’s why six slides aredevoted to this acronym. Look-ing at each of its letters-as-wordsalone (which upcoming slideswill do) can be a useful way ofunderstanding what FAPE is.

Module 13, Content of the IEP,also contains an extensive andevocative discussion of FAPE youmay wish to consult. We’veexcerpted a bit of that discussionbelow. Communicating to theaudience the centrality of FAPE

in IDEA’s principles and provi-sions is very important, althoughit’s also wise to admit that theconcept can be elusive.

Frame of Referencefor FAPE

FAPE is the fundamental coreof the IDEA and the IEP. Con-ceptually, FAPE is both the goaland the path to reaching thegoal. FAPE—a free appropriatepublic education—is an entitle-ment of a child with a disability,as IDEA defines that term, withthe IEP serving as a means bywhich this entitlement ismapped out. In terms of devel-oping or building an IEP, thefoundation is FAPE, and theapex is FAPE.

Yes, those are violins in thebackground.

Joking aside, what is notimmediately clear about FAPE,but what is true nonetheless, isthat for each child with a disabil-ity FAPE is different. While eachchild’s education must be free tohim or her and while a publicagency provides and pays forthat education, what is “appro-priate” for one child will notnecessarily be appropriate foranother. Defining what is appro-priate for a specific child requiresa process of discovery thatbegins with an individualizedevaluation of that child, wherehis or her areas of strength andweakness are identified in asmuch detail as possible, and

information is gathered relativeto the child’s participation in thegeneral curriculum and otherfactors. It is through evaluationthat information is gathered toilluminate the dimensions of an“appropriate” education for agiven child.

State’s Obligation to MakeFAPE Available

In order to receive federalfunding under IDEA, each Statemust make an assurance to theDepartment that it has in effectpolicies and procedures to meetall the requirements of the law.One of these provisions requiresthat each State make FAPEavailable to eligible children withdisabilities in the State. The IDEAspecifies the scope of this obliga-tion at §§300.101 and 300.102by describing the age range ofchildren for whom FAPE must bemade available and exceptions tothe State’s obligation to makeFAPE available. We won’t go intoall of that here in this introduc-tory module, but much addi-tional information is available inModule 13, Content of the IEP.

Here’s the opening paragraphat §300.101(a), however, becauseit illustrates the State’s affirma-tive obligation regarding FAPE’savailability to eligible childrenwith disabilities.

§300.101 Freeappropriate publiceducation (FAPE).

(a) General. A freeappropriate publiceducation must beavailable to all childrenresiding in the Statebetween the ages of 3 and21, inclusive, including


children with disabilitieswho have been suspendedor expelled from school, asprovided for in§300.530(d).

That’s powerful stuff.

The exceptions at §300.102are important to remember (seethe trainer note), but the fourletters of FAPE hold enormousmeaning, which we’re going tofurther explore right now.

Trainer Note

As an example of exceptions to FAPE, consider that FAPE doesnot apply to children ages 3, 4, 5, 18, 19, 20, or 21 in a State thatdoes not require the provision of general public education tonondisabled children of these ages.

All the exceptions listed at §300.102 (and the additionalaspects of FAPE described at §300.101) are provided in thistraining package as part of the handouts for Theme D (and arespecifically discussed in Module 13).



Slide 16




FAPE begins with the letter Ffor free. Free is a vital part of thelaw’s requirement. The educationof each child with a disabilitymust be “provided at publicexpense...and without charge” tothe child or the child’s parents.


Slide 17



A…for appropriate.

“Appropriate” is a highlyinfluential term in IDEA. You’llsee it a lot, used in differentcontexts but generally meaningthe same thing. It meanswhatever’s suitable, fitting, orright for a specific child, given thatchild’s specific needs, specificstrengths, established goals, andthe supports and services thatwill be provided to help thechild in reaching those goals.

Thus, as has been said, whatis an “appropriate” educationdiffers for each child with adisability. Yet each child with adisability is entitled to an educa-tion that is “appropriate” for hisor her needs. The law specifies insome detail how the publicagency and parents are to planthe education that each childreceives so that it is appropriate,meaning responsive to thechild’s needs.



Slide 18




P…for public.

“Public” generally refers toour public school systems andthe use of public funds to payfor education in those schools.Children with disabilities havethe right to attend public schooljust as other children do, regard-less of the nature or severity oftheir disabilities. The publicschool system must serve chil-dren with disabilities, respond totheir individual needs, and helpthem plan for their futures.

The use of the word “public”in FAPE also implies that thereare differences for children withdisabilities who are placed bytheir parents in private schools,which is true. These differencesare explored in Module 16,Children with Disabilities Placed byTheir Parents in Private Schools,and will not be discussed furtherhere.


Slide 19




E…for education.

“Education” is what the law isall about. IDEA is an educationact. It guarantees that FAPE isavailable to eligible children withdisabilities. Here, “education”means “special education andrelated services...provided inconformity with an IEP” thatmeets requirements specifiedwithin the law and is basedupon the child’s individualneeds.


Slide 20




This concluding slide on FAPE showsjust the picture—the promise—of childrenrunning to clamor on the school bus. Youmight say nothing when this picture isdisplayed, or perhaps summarize withsomething along the lines of:

FAPE is an exciting and important principle of

the law. While in practice FAPE differs for

each child, in principle it is the same for each

child… a guarantee of access to a free

appropriate public education that indeed

opens the doors to opportunity and learning.


Slide 21



5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #3—IEP (Slide 10 of 17)

Let’s have a new acronymnow. IEP, standing for individual-ized education program. Thedefinition of IEP appears onHandout A-3.

Considering Section 1 of thistraining module, participantsshouldn’t find the acronym“IEP” all that new. Ask for ashow of hands. How many inthe audience came to the sessionnot knowing what IEP meant?Did they recognize the acronymand its meaning when the slidefirst came up?

The definition for FAPEincludes a direct reference to theIEP, which is a cornerstone in theeducation of each child withdisabilities. Cornerstones arevery important in holding

buildings up. The IEP is just asimportant to children withdisabilities.

As the slide indicates, underIDEA 2004 (and under its prede-cessors), each public school childwith a disability who receivesspecial education and relatedservices must have an IEP. Thisrequirement also applies to eachchild with a disability who isplaced in, or referred to, a privateschool or facility by a publicagency.

Discussing the Slide

The three separate modules inTheme D are devoted to the IEP,which is one monster topic.Trainers will have to judge forthemselves how much to sayabout the IEP in this openingmodule. What was said aboutIEPs when the subject came upas part of Slides 7 and 8? Whatdo you plan to say on the nexttwo slides coming up, Slides 22and 23?

Conversely, instead of com-municating information, con-sider soliciting input from theaudience, possibly some of theirIEP questions, perhaps some IEPstories.


Slide 22

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Click 1



Click 1:An arrow extends toindicate that IDEA’sprovisions on the IEPare found at§§300.320-300.324.

The slide loads“IEP’s definitionof IEP” and itslocation in theregulations.




Continuing to look at the IEP,here’s Slide 22. Its purpose is tolet the audience know where andhow IDEA defines the term andthat its definition is very short,not much bigger than the acro-nym itself. That definition,however, contains a directreference to IDEA’s other provi-sions about IEPs, and thoseprovisions are quite lengthy anddetailed. IDEA is very specificabout how a child’s IEP isdeveloped, reviewed, and, asappropriate, revised (as coveredin Section A of this module, seeSlides 5, 6, and 9 in particular).

The Slide’s Design

This slide is designed so thatyou can easily contrast thebrevity of IDEA’s definition ofIEP with its IEP provisions.When the slide launches, youcan cover the definition at§300.22. When you’re ready tocarry the story forward to thecontrast, click and the rest of theslide will display (the §§300.320-300.324 part).

Defining IEP

IDEA defines IEP (referparticipants to Handout A-3) asfollows:

§300.22 Individualizededucation program.

Individualized educationprogram or IEP means awritten statement for achild with a disability thatis developed, reviewed,and revised in accordancewith §§300.320 through300.324.

The Contrast: Doing the IEPJustice

Considering the centrality ofthe IEP in the process by whichstudents with disabilities receiveeducational services designed tomeet their unique educationalneeds, it’s not surprising thatIDEA would flesh out its littleIEP definition in provisions from§§300.320-300.324. Theseprovisions are individuallyentitled:

• Definition of individualeducation program (§300.320)

• IEP Team (§300.321)

• Parent participation(§300.322)

• When IEPs must be in effect(§300.323)

• Development, review, andrevision of IEP (§300.324)

Five key points about the IEP,embodied in the requirementswithin this span of provisions,are discussed on the next slide.


Slide 23

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Clicks 1-4



Clicks 1-4:Bullets 2-5 load,one per click.

Slide loads withBullet 1.



Slide 23: Background and Discussion4 Clicks

The five key points about IEPsappearing on the slide should,by now, be familiar to even thefreshest newcomer. Thus, thisslide can be handled in dialoguewith the audience. For eachbullet, talk with the audienceabout the point being made.Can they add any details to thebare bones of each bullet?

With the last bullet, see if theaudience can tell you some ofthe ways in which the IEP is aprocess, even as it’s a concrete,physical document. IDEA doesnot say that the IEP is a processbut in the field, hearing peopleuse the term, hearing how they

use the term, the notion of “IEPas process” is readily apparent.At each step of an IEP’s life (ifyou’ll permit the liberty oflooking at it that way), a team isinvolved: a team to write thedocument, a team to implementit, a team to revise it. The mod-ules in this training package talkabout IEP teams, IEP teammeetings, IEP reviews, IEPmodifications, and all sorts ofIEP things.

And that’s a lot of process!



Slide 24


5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #4—LRE (Slide 13 of 17)

LRE: Least Restrictive Environ-ment. This is another essentialconcept under the IDEA. Sincethe Education for All Handi-capped Children Act was passedin 1975, schools have beenrequired to provide childrenwith disabilities with a freeappropriate public education—everyone remembers the acro-nym, right?—in the least restric-tive environment possible. Butwhat is LRE?

Understanding what LRE iscan be as elusive as understand-ing what FAPE is, so it’s nowonder the terms are frequentlyused in the same sentence. LikeFAPE, LRE differs for each childwith a disability receiving specialeducation and related services.

It’s best to start with whatIDEA 2004 has to say about LRE.The central hub of the LREprovisions can be found at§300.114, with additional provi-sions continuing through§300.120. The conceptual core ofLRE—where you’ll find its heart,soul, and intent—is located at§300.114(a)(2), which appears inthe box on the next page and onHandout A-3.

So—what does all that mean,and how is it achieved? Basically,a child’s LRE is the environmentwhere the child can receive anappropriate education designedto meet his or her special educa-tional needs, while still beingeducated with nondisabled peersto the maximum extent appro-priate.

Appropriate. There’s that termagain, meaning more or lesswhat it meant on Slide 17, whatit means in the acronym FAPE.What’s appropriate here, withLRE, will also depend on thespecific child, given that child’sspecific needs, specific strengths,established goals, and thesupports and services that will beprovided to support the child inreaching those goals. Dependingon the child’s individual needs,the LRE could be, for example:

• the regular classroom, with orwithout supplementary aidsand services;

• a pull-out program for part ofthe day with the remainder ofthe day being spent in theregular classroom or in activi-



The Conceptual Core of IDEA’s LRE Provisions:§300.114(a)(2)

(2) Each public agency must ensure that—

(i) To the maximum extent appropriate, children withdisabilities, including children in public or private institu-tions or other care facilities, are educated with children whoare nondisabled; and

(ii) Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal ofchildren with disabilities from the regular educational envi-ronment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disabilityis such that education in regular classes with the use ofsupplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfac-torily.

ties with children who do nothave disabilities;

• a special education classwithin the child’s neighbor-hood school; or even

• a separate school specializingin a certain type of disability.

More will be said about therange of options in a moment(and on the next slide). For now,it’s important to grasp that onechild’s least restrictive environ-ment—where that child can getthe education he or she needswhile still interacting withnondisabled peers—may be verydifferent from another child’s.The determining factor is thechild’s needs.

Determining a Child’s LRE

IDEA’s LRE provisions clearlyshow the law’s strong preferencefor educating children withdisabilities in regular educationenvironments. In fact, the child’splacement in the general educa-tion classroom is the first optionthe IEP Team must consider.

To decide that question,however, the Team must makean individualized inquiry into thepossible range of supplementaryaids and services that are neededto ensure that the child can besatisfactorily educated in thegeneral education environment.If the IEP Team determines thatthe child can be educated satis-factorily in that environment,then that placement is the LREfor that student. (Note: Thedefinition of supplementary aidsand services also appears onHandout A-3.)

However, the IEP Team maydetermine that the child cannotbe educated satisfactorily in thegeneral education classroom,even when supplementary aidsand services are provided. Analternative placement must thenbe considered. Accordingly, IDEArequires school systems toensure that a continuum ofalternative placements is avail-able to meet the needs of chil-dren with disabilities for specialeducation and related services.This is one of the focal points ofthe next slide.


Slide 25


5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #4—LRE (Slide 14 of 17)


This slide can be used tocontinue the discussion of thecontinuum of alternative place-ments and to summarize thenature of LRE. There are nowords on the slide, just picturesof children with disabilitiesengaged in academic work in avariety of settings.

A Continuum for Children’sVarying Needs

In IDEA, the provisions at§300.115 contain the publicagency’s obligation to makeavailable a range of alternativeplacements for children. Thoseprovisions appear in the box atthe right.

§300.115 Continuum of alternative placements.

(a) Each public agency must ensure that a continuum ofalternative placements is available to meet the needs of childrenwith disabilities for special education and related services.

(b) The continuum required in paragraph (a) of this sectionmust—

(1) Include the alternative placements listed in the definitionof special education under §300.38 (instruction in regularclasses, special classes, special schools, home instruction, andinstruction in hospitals and institutions); and

(2) Make provision for supplementary services (such asresource room or itinerant instruction) to be provided inconjunction with regular class placement.


Thus, the continuum ofplacements that each publicagency must make availablespans a range of possibilities:instruction in regular classes,special classes, special schools,home instruction, and instruc-tion in hospitals and institu-tions. The continuum of alterna-tive placements also reinforcesthe importance of the individu-alized inquiry, not-a-one-size-fits-all approach, in determiningwhat placement is the LRE foreach child with a disability.

Placement-Neutral Funding

While it’s outside the scope ofthis module per se, we’d like tomention one additional LREprovision that truly illustrateshow IDEA’s various provisionsweave together to solidify thefoundations of the law—LREbeing one of those foundations.This information is primarilyoffered as a trainer’s option toshare or not to share as appro-priate for the audience and timeconstraints.

IDEA ’97 marked a time whereLRE provisions included asubstantial revision. That reau-thorization introduced what’scalled placement-neutral funding, arequirement of law that ismaintained in IDEA 2004.Included within the provisionsat §300.114 where the concep-tual core of LRE is also found(discussed on the last slide),there’s an additional require-ment that effectively prohibitsStates from using a fundingmechanism that results in place-ment violating LRE require-ments. (See Handout A-3.)States also may not use anyfunding mechanism that distrib-utes funds based on the type ofsetting in which a child isserved…well, best to read theregulations yourself! Here theyare:

(b) Additional requirement—State funding mechanism—(1)General. (i) A State funding mechanism must not result inplacements that violate the requirements of paragraph (a)of this section; and

(ii) A State must not use a funding mechanism by whichthe State distributes funds on the basis of the type ofsetting in which a child is served that will result in thefailure to provide a child with a disability FAPE according tothe unique needs of the child, as described in the child’sIEP.

(2) Assurance. If the State does not have policies andprocedures to ensure compliance with paragraph (b)(1) ofthis section, the State must provide the Secretary anassurance that the State will revise the funding mechanismas soon as feasible to ensure that the mechanism does notresult in placements that violate that paragraph.

Placement-Neutral Funding Provisions:§300.114(b)


Slide 26


5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #5—TA&D (Slide 15 of 17)


We’ve come to the last acro-nym in the series: TA&D. Twoslides will be devoted to thisacronym.

Okay, so we slipped this onein. It’s not a term you’ll hearovermuch in special education,but you should. TA&D standsfor Technical Assistance andDissemination, and that meansthere’s help and assistanceavailable to implement the IDEA2004 through services andprograms that work.

OSEP, the Office of SpecialEducation Programs at the U.S.Department of Education, isresponsible for guiding, support-ing, and monitoring the imple-mentation of IDEA on behalf of

children with disabilities in thenation. As part of that responsi-bility, OSEP funds what isknown as the TA&D network ofprojects, more than 40 projectswith specialized areas of knowl-edge.

All current TA&D projects arelisted on Handout A-4, forparticipants’ future reference. Ifparticipants need information orassistance in an area of specialeducation, encourage them totake advantage of the TA&Dcenter that addresses that area.


Slide 27 5 Acronyms Defined: Acronym #5—TA&D (Slide 16 of 17)

View 1

Click 1:One by one, theacronyms of differentTA&D centers appearuntil the screen is full.

Slide loads thetitle, “Just thestart of the acro-nyms!” and“NICHCY.”

Click 1

Click 2

Click 2:All the acronym-names disappear, and“etc... etc... etc...”appears.


Slide 27: Background and Discussion2 Clicks

Some examples of TA&Dprojects? More alphabet soup?Certainly! Coming right up…

As the slide illustrates, theTA&D is a hotbed of letters.NICHCY is the first acronym toappear and stands for the Na-tional Dissemination Center forChildren with Disabilities.NICHCY has been around, withdifferent names, for more than25 years as part of the TA&Dnetwork. It’s the disseminationend of the network—gettingdisability, research, and specialeducation information out tothose who need it.

Other centers? CLICK once andtheir acronyms will appear, oneby one. There won’t be enoughtime in between each name tosay what each set of lettersstands for, let alone describewhat area of expertise the TA&D

project emphasizes or what typeof assistance it provides to thefield. Participants may pursuethat level of information on theirown, using Handout A-4. Foryour convenience, we’ve deci-phered all those appearing onthe screen in the list at thebottom of the page, which isorganized alphabetically byacronym.

What should be clear is thatthere is a lot of help available tosupport implementation ofIDEA, including building staffand institutional capacity thatwill surely impact outcomes forchildren with disabilities.

What’s listed on the slide is allthat what would fit on theslide—there are still more acro-nyms and TA&D projects avail-able to the field. The second

CADRE—Consortium for Appropriate DisputeResolution in Special Education

ECO—Early Childhood Outcomes Center

FCTD—Family Center onTechnology and Disability

FRC—Federal Resource Center for SpecialEducation

NCCRESt—National Center for Culturally Respon-sive Educational Systems

NCEO—National Center on Educational Outcomes

NECTAC—National Early Childhood TechnicalAssistance Center

CLICK you make will erase all theacronyms and bring up “ETCETC ETC” to indicate that there’smore to the TA&D network thanwhat’s shown here. Before youmake that second CLICK, are thereany projects listed whose exper-tise would be well suited to theneeds of your particular audi-ence? If so, you may wish toidentify them explicitly anddescribe a bit of what they doand what type of help they canoffer.

The TA&D is a great acronymas acronyms go, and OSEPwould encourage the audienceto access its funded centers ofexpertise liberally and often.

NICHCY—National Dissemination Center forChildren with Disabilities

NIMAS—National Instructional MaterialsAccessibility Standard Development and TechnicalAssistance Centers

NRCLD—National Research Center on LearningDisabilities

PBIS—Center on Positive Behavioral Interventionsand Supports

PTACs—Regional Parent Technical AssistanceCenters (there are 6 PTACs)

RRCs—Regional Resource Centers (there are 6RRCs)

“Cracking the Code”


Slide 28

CLICK AGAIN to END this slide show.

5 Acronyms Defined (Slide 17 of 17)

Slide loads completely. No clicksare necessary except to END theslide show for Sections 1 and 2 ofthis module.

Note: Section 3 is providedthrough a separate slide show file(1slideshow-section3.zip), withthe trainer guide discussion of itsslides available in the file:1-discussion-section3.pdf

Slide 28 shows the full alpha-bet soup we’ve consumed—thefive acronyms defined in thismodule. Tasty, wasn’t it?

Use this slide as you see fit toreview and recap what’s beensaid to date, especially drawingupon audience input and mak-ing participants do the recalling.This is the end of Section B ofthis module.

Looking Ahead

The third and last section ofthis module is presented via aseparate slide show file(1slideshow-section3.zip). Thiswas done in part to address howgigantic the slide show filewould be if all the images andinformation were included inone file, but the more compel-ling reason to split the showsinto two parts is the nature ofwhat’s coming up. The lastsection of this module looks atfive key terms in special educa-tion—in much greater detailthan what’s been used in the

current slide show. The termsexamined are IDEA’s definitionsof:

• child with a disability,

• special education,

• related services,

• supplementary aids andservices, and

• transition services.

While a trainer may treat theseparate slide show in a summa-rizing, not-too-detailed fashion,the very centrality of these termsin the understanding and imple-mentation of IDEA begs for adeeper, more comprehensivelook at their definitions. Split-ting the last section off from thefirst two sections of this modulegives trainers the flexibility todesign training appropriate tothe needs of specific audienceswithin the time constraints ofdifferent situations. You canstop here. Or you can go on and

jump into the last part. And, ifyou go there, you can providethe information in overview orin detail. In the upcoming slidediscussions (provided in file 1-discussion-section3.pdf), weoffer suggestions for how tosummarize or expand the infor-mation you present.

In any event, you can exit thecurrent slide show. Now’s a goodtime for a break—even a siesta.

To Continue to Section 3 ofThis Module

If you decide to continue andpresent the third and finalsection of this module, you willneed to open the separate slideshow file (1B-slideshow.zip) anddouble-click the PLAY.bat fileto launch the slide show. Thediscussion of its slides areprovided below. Note that we’vestarted their numbering anew—and just like that, you’re back toSlide 1!




Having launched the separateslide show for Section 3 of theTop 10 Basics of Special Education,you arrive at this title page,reintroducing the module andclearly indicating that you’vecome to the “final 5” of the top10.

Offer whatever re-introduc-tion you feel appropriate. If thisis being shown to an audiencethat didn’t participate in Sections1 and 2 of the module (availablein slide file 1A-slideshow.zip)—and it can be used that way, it

doesn’t require an audience tohave gone through Sections 1and 2—adjust your intro accord-ingly.

Slide 1Section 3 of Module 1: The Final 5 of the Top 10 Basics




Slide 2 repeats the last slide ofthe earlier slide show, giving youan opportunity to either:

• go over these acronyms as areview with the audience (ifmembers participated inSections 1and 2, or

• talk a bit about what each ofthese acronyms mean (ifyou’re working with a newaudience that hasn’t seen theearlier slide show).

The tag line “These don’t addup to 10!” refers back to thepromise of 10 terms definedmade in that earlier show, butconsidering the title of themodule, it shouldn’t causeconfusion with an audiencetaking only this section of thetraining.

Slide 2Section 3 of Module 1: Revisiting 5 Acronyms Defined




Slide 3Section 3 of Module 1: Five More Key Definitions

For those who participated inthe prior training (in Sections 1and 2), the man shown in therestaurant should be familiar—inSection 2, he orderedALPHABET SOUP, which led tothe presentation of the 5 specialeducation acronyms.

Now, apparently he’s readyfor a decent meal of real words.And here they come, startingwith the next slide.


Slide 4Section 3 of Module 1: Definition #6: “Child with a Disability” (Slide 1 of 6)

View 1

Click 1

Click 1:The screen fillswith the definitionin IDEA, very smalland overwhelm-ingly long.

The slide loadsthe term “childwith a disability”and a picture ofone such child.

“Definition #6”also appears (onfar right).

(continued on next page)


Click 2

Click 2:The picture of awoman squintingto read the defini-tion appears atopthe definition.

Slide 4 (Section 3): Background and Discussion2 Clicks


Slide 4 brings up the first keyterm and definition in this slideshow: “child with a disability”(Definition #6). The child yousee out and about in the woodswith his walker is named Max.

This slide is both the truthand a bit of a joke. Regrettably,with your first CLICK, the defini-tion of “child with a disability”will cover Max’s picture, but theaudience will get a gander at thefull definition. To fit on thescreen, the text is very tiny, whichillustrates two things simulta-neously:

• how detailed and involved thedefinition of this all-importantterm is, and

• the reason why you’re going tobreak the definition down andlook at it a piece at a time.

Let the audience see thecrowded screen of this slide for asmall bit of time, enough toabsorb the absurdity of trying toread it—and then CLICK to bringup the woman’s squinting face.Indicate that maybe it would bebest if you all tackled this crucialdefinition a piece at a time, andCLICK to advance to the nextslide.



View 1

Click 1

Click 1:The next 3disabilitiesappear.

Slide loads with thelead-in paragraph(e.g., Child with adisability…), thepicture of the girl,and the first 3disabilities in thelist.



Click 2


Click 3




Click 4

Click 4:Full list appears,with the text belowthe line emphasiz-ing “by reasonthereof...”



Trainer Note

This slide and most of the discussion below are drawn fromModule 10, Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation, which alsoexamined IDEA’s definition of a “child with a disability.”

Slide 5 presents, through aseries of CLICKS, the 13 disabilitycategories listed in IDEA 2004and the final regulations, givingtrainers the opportunity topresent these categories in thelevel of detail they deem appro-priate for the needs of theiraudience. It’s important for theaudience to know these 13categories, for they are part ofthe core definition of “child witha disability,” a term with enor-mous implications underIDEA—including but certainlynot limited to whether or not achild is determined to be eligiblefor special education and relatedservices. State and local educa-tional agencies have multipleand serious obligations towardevery child that is determinedeligible for these services as a“child with a disability.”

The slide presents thesedisability categories:

• autism

• deaf-blindness

• deafness

• emotional disturbance

• hearing impairment

• mental retardation

• multiple disabilities

• orthopedic impairment

• other health impairment

• specific learning disability

• speech or language impair-ment

• traumatic brain injury, or

• visual impairment (includingblindness).


Handout A-3 presents IDEA2004’s complete definition of“child with a disability” at§300.8. Refer participants to thishandout for their later reading ifyou’re skimming over thesecategories. If you’re taking adeeper look, Handout A-3includes individual definitionsof the disabilities that are worth-while examining, especially if theaudience is invited to say whichdefinitions they’d like to look atfirst. (Postpone discussing themeaning of “by reason thereof,”which will be discussed on thenext slide.) Among the pointsyou may wish to emphasize are:

The child’s needs drive theservices, not the disability categoryinto which the child is classified.The Department reminds us that“[s]pecial education and relatedservices are based on the identi-fied needs of the child and noton the disability category inwhich the child is classified” (71Fed. Reg. at 46549).

The meaning of “adversely affectseducational performance.” Thisphrase—adversely affects educa-tional performance—appears inmost of the disability defini-tions. Have participants look atthe individual definitions on thethird page of Handout A-3 andidentify the disability categoriesin which this phrase is used:autism, deafness, emotionaldisturbance, hearing impairment,mental retardation, orthopedicimpairment, other health impair-ment, speech or language impair-ment, traumatic brain injury(TBI), and visual impairment,including blindness. Where thephrase doesn’t appear, it can beimplied due to the actual lan-guage used, such as:

• “which causes such severecommunication and otherdevelopmental and educa-tional needs” (deaf-blind-ness);

• “which causes such severeeducational needs” (multipledisabilities); and

• “may manifest itself in theimperfect ability to listen,think, speak, read, write, spell,or to do mathematical calcula-tions” (specific learningdisabilities).

May school district personnelinterpret the phrase “adverselyaffects a child’s educationalperformance” to mean that achild must be failing in school toreceive special education andrelated services? No, according tothe Department. In fact, “wehave clarified in §300.101(c) thata child does not have to fail orbe retained in a course or gradein order to be considered for

special education and relatedservices” (Id.). And what does§300.101(c) say? Take a look atthe provision presented below,along with the lead-in paragraphat (a), for context. This is oneamong many provisions relatedto FAPE, one of the acronymsdiscussed in Section 2 of thistraining module.

Terminology: Mental retardationor intellectual disability? Those inyour audience who are involvedwith children or adults who haveintellectual disabilities may haveopinions about the continueduse of the term “mental retarda-tion.” Certainly, there is a notice-able movement in the field away

§300.101 Free appropriate public education (FAPE).

(a) General. A free appropriate public education must beavailable to all children residing in the State between the agesof 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities whohave been suspended or expelled from school, as providedfor in §300.530(d).

(b) ...

(c) Children advancing from grade to grade. (1) Each Statemust ensure that FAPE is available to any individual child witha disability who needs special education and related services,even though the child has not failed or been retained in acourse or grade, and is advancing from grade to grade.

(2) The determination that a child described in paragraph(a) of this section is eligible under this part, must be made onan individual basis by the group responsible within the child’sLEA for making eligibility determinations.


from using that term, as wit-nessed by many name changes inrecent years, including the 2003Executive Order 12994 to changethe name of the President’sCommittee on Mental Retarda-tion to the President’s Commit-tee for People with IntellectualDisabilities (PCPID) and theadoption of the same terminol-ogy by the U.S. Equal Employ-ment Opportunity Commission(EEOC). The Departmentacknowledges this recent trendbut maintains the IDEA’s use ofthe term “mental retardation,”explaining as follows:

Section 602(3)(A) of theAct refers to a ‘‘child withmental retardation,’’not a ‘‘child withintellectual disabilities,’’and we do not see acompelling reason tochange the term.However, States arefree to use a differentterm to refer to a childwith mentalretardation, as long asall children who wouldbe eligible for specialeducation and relatedservices under the Federaldefinition of mentalretardation receive FAPE.(71 Fed. Reg. at 46550)

The Department goes on to say:

We do not believe thedefinition of mentalretardation needs to bechanged because it isdefined broadly enough in§300.8(c)(6) to include achild’s functionallimitations in specific lifeareas...There is nothing inthe Act or these regulationsthat would prevent a Statefrom including ‘‘functionallimitations in specific lifeareas’’ in a State’s

Department of Education Remarkson the Definition in IDEA and the Final Regulations

of “Emotional Disturbance”

Historically, it has been very difficult for the field to come toconsensus on the definition of emotional disturbance, whichhas remained unchanged since 1977. On February 10, 1993,the Department published a ‘‘Notice of Inquiry’’ in theFederal Register (58 FR 7938) soliciting comments on theexisting definition of serious emotional disturbance. The com-ments received in response to the notice of inquiry ex-pressed a wide range of opinions and no consensus on thedefinition was reached. Given the lack of consensus and thefact that Congress did not make any changes that requiredchanging the definition, the Department recommended thatthe definition of emotional disturbance remain unchanged.We reviewed the Act and the comments received in responseto the NPRM and have come to the same conclusion.Therefore, we decline to make any changes to the definitionof emotional disturbance. (Analysis of Comments andChanges, 71 Fed. Reg. at 46550)

definition of mentalretardation, as long as theState’s definition isconsistent with theseregulations. (Id.)

Defining emotional disturbance.The Department received manycomments on the definition of“emotional disturbance” in IDEAand the final regulations. In theend, the definition was main-tained unchanged from priorlaw. The Department’s remarks(in the box) are interesting inthat they provide a mini-reviewof how this term and its defini-tion have been scrutinized in thepast.

Multiple disabilities? But it’s notin the Act! Some in your audiencemay wonder why “multipledisabilities” is included in the listof disability categories in thefinal regulations and definedthere [at §300.8(c)(7)], when it isnot included in the statute’s listof disability categories. TheDepartment explains, as follows:

The definition of multipledisabilities has been in theregulations since 1977 anddoes not expand eligibilitybeyond what is providedfor in the Act. Thedefinition helps ensurethat children with morethan one disability are notcounted more than oncefor the annual report ofchildren served becauseStates do not have todecide among two or moredisability categories inwhich to count a childwith multiple disabilities.(71 Fed. Reg. at 46550)


Concluding the Discussion

As noted earlier in the discus-sion, having a disability does notnecessarily mean that a childmeets IDEA’s definition of “childwith a disability.” There arenumerous factors involved in

reaching that determination,including how IDEA and thefinal regulations define eachindividual disability term. How-ever, one very crucial factormerits a close look on its own.“By reason thereof...” is a part of


the definition in IDEA and thefinal regulations of a “child witha disability” and is the subject ofthe next slide.





An Excerpt From The Definition of “Child with aDisability” in IDEA and the Final Regulations

(2)(i) Subject to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, if it isdetermined, through an appropriate evaluation under§§300.304 through 300.311, that a child has one of the dis-abilities identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, but onlyneeds a related service and not special education, the child isnot a child with a disability under this part.

(ii) If, consistent with §300.39(a)(2), the related servicerequired by the child is considered special education ratherthan a related service under State standards, the child wouldbe determined to be a child with a disability under paragraph(a)(1) of this section. [§300.8(a)(2)]

Slide 6 sets the phrase “who,by reason thereof...” apart from therest of IDEA’s definition of a“child with a disability” because“who, by reason thereof…” isoften forgotten but is actually acritical part of that definition.The phrase adds another level towhat it means for a child withdisabilities to be eligible forspecial education and relatedservices under IDEA 2004.

As previously stated, having adisability does not necessarilyqualify a child for special educa-tion services under IDEA. Manychildren have disabilities but donot need special education.IDEA’s definition of “child with adisability” explicitly acknowl-edges this fact—by including thephrase “who, by reason thereof”and by containing the provisionsnoted in the box at the right.

If you look at these provi-sions, you’ll see they relate to achild who has one of the dis-abilities identified within IDEAbut who only needs a relatedservice, not special education.That child would not be consid-

Trainer Note

This slide and most of the discussion below are also drawnfrom Module 10, Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation.


ered a “child with a disability”under Part B—unless underState standards the relatedservice required by the child isconsidered special education,not a related service. This provi-sion recognizes that, althoughIDEA may list a service as arelated service, a State mayclassify the very same service asspecial education.

It is very important to discusswith the audience that not allchildren with a disability will beeligible under IDEA. That is onereason this training curriculum

frequently puts the term inquote marks—”child with adisability”—which is intended toremind everyone that the termhas a specific meaning withinthis law.

You may want to point outthat a child who has a disabilitybut who is not eligible underIDEA may be eligible for theprotections afforded by otherlaws—such as Section 504 of theRehabilitation Act of 1973, asamended. As was mentionedearlier in this training module,

it’s not uncommon for a child tohave a 504 plan at school toaddress disability-related educa-tional needs, instead of an IEP.

It’s obviously beyond thescope of this training curriculumto go into the protectionsoffered by other laws, but moreinformation is available aboutthem at NICHCY’s Web site(www.nichcy.org) or by callingNICHCY (1.800.695.0285),should you or any participantswant to pursue this topic.






Trainer Note

You guessed it, the discussion on this slide is drawn fromModule 10, Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation. Be aware thatadditional information is available in that module aboutchanges in IDEA 2004 that have clarified aspects of IDEA ’97’sprovisions people often found confusing.

Slide 7 introduces anotheraspect of the term “child with adisability”—how it can beapplied to children who have adevelopmental delay. The term“developmental delay” can onlybe applied to children aged 3through 9 under Part B of theIDEA. (Under Part C of theIDEA, this term is used forchildren aged birth to three.) Asyou can see on this slide, underthe conditions specified at§300.111(b), a State may applythe term “child with a disability”to a child aged 3 through 9, or toa child in a subset of that agerange, who:

• experiences developmentaldelays, and

• by reason thereof needsspecial education and relatedservices.

There’s that phrase again—byreason thereof. It means the samething here as just discussed.

Subject to the conditions at§300.111(b), the provisionallows States to find a child withdevelopmental delays (aged 3through 9, or any subset of agerange within) to be an eligible“child with a disability” and toprovide that child with specialeducation and related serviceswithout having to classify the

child under a specific disabilitycategory. This provision of law isintended to address the oftendifficult process of determiningthe precise nature of a child’sdisability in the early years of hisor her development.

There’s still more to IDEA’s“developmental delay” provi-sions that may be important foryour audience to know. Theseare examined on the next slide.


Click 1


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Slide loads withonly “Develop-mental Delay?”at the top. Then“Defined by thestate” and thepicture appear.




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Click 2:The text “Definitionincludes that all-important by reasonthereof...” appears.


Trainer Note

Yes, yes, this is gonna be drawn from Module 10, InitialEvaluation and Reevaluation.

Slide 8 concludes the discus-sion of using “developmentaldelay” within the definition of“child with a disability.” Thisslide corresponds directly to theprovisions at §300.8(b)(1) and(2), which indicate that, forchildren ages 3 through 9, or anysubset of that age range, the term“child with a disability” caninclude a child:

(1) Who is experiencingdevelopmental delays, asdefined by the State and asmeasured by appropriatediagnostic instruments andprocedures, in one or moreof the following areas:Physical development,cognitive development,communication

development, social oremotional development,or adaptive development;and

(2) Who, by reasonthereof, needs specialeducation and relatedservices.

These provisions are un-changed from prior law, so youmay have participants who arealready familiar with the infor-mation on this slide. For thosewho are not, however...

Defined by the State

A State is not required to adoptthis term or define it. If it doesdefine the term, then it is theState (not an LEA) that deter-mines whether the term appliesto children ages 3 through 9, orto a subset of that age range(e.g., ages 3 through 5), as§300.111(b) makes clear. The LEA


must conform with both howthe State defines the term andthe age range(s) to which itapplies the term. If the Statechooses not to adopt the term,then the LEA may not separatelyand independently do so.However, the converse is nottrue. The State may adopt theterm, but the LEA does not haveto adopt it and cannot becompelled by the State to do so.

As Measured By...

The meaning of the middlepart of the slide is clear andunsurprising, given IDEA’srequirement that evaluation ofchildren be technically soundand utilize instruments andmethods that are appropriate tothe purpose of the evaluation.Comprehensiveness of evalua-tion is required as well, just aswith any child suspected ofhaving a disability involved ininitial evaluation and, ultimately,subject to a determination ofeligibility. The areas of develop-

ment mentioned are broad butextensive:

• physical development;

• cognitive development;

• communication development;

• social or emotional develop-ment; or

• adaptive development.

By Reason Thereof

The slide specifically notesthat the phrase “by reasonthereof...” is also included as partof IDEA’s requirements regarding“developmental delay.” Usedhere, it has the same meaning aspreviously discussed.



View 1

Click 1

Click 1:An arrow appears,leads to the “plus”sign, and the 2ndpicture appears,representing “Statedefinition + federaldefinition = ” Nomore clicks arenecessary; lastpicture loads itself.Taken as a whole,the slide depicts theinteraction betweenIDEA’s definition ofa “child with adisability” andindividual Statedefinitions ofthat term.

Slide loads withonly Picture 1 ofthe States,representing“State definitionsof disability.”




Slide 9 (Section 3): Background and Discussion1 Click

Trainer Note

Slide and discussion are courtesy of Module 10, InitialEvaluation and Reevaluation.

Slide 9 finishes this examina-tion of what it means to meetthe definition of “a child with adisability”—by looking at theinteraction of the federal defini-tion contained within IDEA withindividual State explanations.

States can further explain thedisability areas and frequentlydo, establishing policies of theirown that describe each of thesedisabilities in the State’s ownterms, provided that all childrenwith disabilities who are in needof special education and relatedservices who have impairmentslisted in the definition in IDEAand the final regulations of“child with a disability” receiveappropriate instruction andservices.

Specific learning disability is anexcellent example (this point wasmentioned in Section 1 of thismodule as part of talking aboutStep 4 in the special educationprocess; see discussion underthat section’s Slide 6). Statesdiffer in how they explain thisterm; in one State a child may beconsidered to have a specificlearning disability, while inanother State the child will not.

Discussing the Slide

The slide has no text, only theopening graphic of the UnitedStates shown as all the separateStates. This allows trainers tointroduce the additional elementof State-specific definitions ofIDEA’s disability categories.

One CLICK will unravel the restof the story. A line will appear,then a “plus” sign (+), and thenthe graphic of the United Statesas a whole, with the legal-look-ing backdrop. This graphic isintended to indicate the federaldefinition of “child with adisability” available under IDEA.The plus sign (+) joins the two—State and federal definition—toyield the top graphic, which is afriendly, “in agreement” hand-shake with the United States yetagain in backdrop.

Summarized, the slide ismeant to show that, while theterm “child with a disability” isdefined within IDEA and thefinal regulations, the term alsohas an operational explanationat the State level. In the end,what the term really means, andwhether or not a group ofpeople decides that a childqualifies as a “child with adisability” under IDEA, is amatter of how the federal defini-tion interacts with State explana-tion and criteria.


Slide 10Section 3 of Module 1: Definition #7: “Special Education”

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Slide loads the term“Special Education,”identifies it as defini-tion #7, and presentsthe intro paragraph(…specially designedinstruction…).


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Special education. Sometimes,when the term is used, it means“special education” as definedby IDEA at §300.39, and othertimes it’s a reference to the fieldat large—teachers, offices,knowledge base, professionalpractice, the system. However,when IDEA uses the term, itsmeaning is never mixed orambiguous. Every single time“special education” is used inthe law and the final Part Bregulations, its meaning is thesame—the definition we’re goingto look at now.

Refer participants to the fulldefinition on page 6 of HandoutA-3; it’s also provided in the boxon page 1-90. Because of thedefinition’s length, we’ll walkthrough it, bit by bit. Only the

first bit is captured on a slide,allowing you to adjust theamount of detail you provide tofit your current training situa-tion.

“Special Education” Begins…

The 20 opening words ofspecial education’s definition—specially designed instruction, atno cost to the parents, to meetthe unique needs of a child witha disability—contain the core ofthe term’s meaning. The 362other words in the definition,while still very critical, add detailto that core and further clarify it.The chart on the next pagehopefully illustrates this point.

When an abbreviated defini-tion of the term special educa-tion is called for, you’re mostlikely to hear its core: “Specialeducation is specially designedinstruction, at no cost to theparents, to meet the uniqueneeds of a child with a disabil-ity.”

In the definition’s full form,examples roll out and take awaygray areas about the some of thescope and substance of specialeducation. Special education canbe, for example,:

• travel training (which has itsown definition);


• vocational education (alsodefined on its own); and

• services that may be listed inIDEA as a related service butthat a State may consider asspecial education—which

makes them “special educa-tion” in that State.

Special education can alsooccur in a variety of settings: inthe classroom, in a home, in ahospital or institution, and inother settings. This is why you

might also hear that “specialeducation is not a place.” It’snot. Where it is provided for aspecific child with a disabilitywill depend on that child’sunique needs as determined by

...(means) speciallydesigned instruction* tomeet the unique needsof a child with a disabil-ity

Special Education...

… includinginstruction …

…conducted inthe classroom,home, hospitals,institutions, andin other settings

Specially designed instructionmeans adapting… the content,methodology, or delivery ofinstruction—(i) To address theunique needs … (ii) To ensureaccess of the child to the generalcurriculum….

* At no cost to parents

…in physicaleducation

(which means) the developmentof —(A) Physical and motorfitness; (B) Fundamental motorskills and patterns; and (C) Skillsin aquatics, dance, and indi-vidual and group games andsports…

(which includes) special physicaleducation, adapted physicaleducation, movement education,and motor development.

(means) all specially-designed instruction is provided without charge, butdoes not preclude incidental fees that are normally charged to nondisabledstudents or their parents as a part of the regular education program

...(includes) each of thefollowing

...if the servicesotherwise meetrequirements ofparagraph (a)(1)

Speech-languagepathology services,or any other relatedservice

(means) organized educational programs that aredirectly related to the preparation of individuals forpaid or unpaid employment, or for additional prepa-ration for a career not requiring a baccalaureate oradvanced degree

if the service is considered special education ratherthan a related service under State standards

Travel training

Vocationaleducation

(means) providing instruction…to children withsignificant cognitive disabilities, and any other childrenwith disabilities who require this instruction, to enablethem to—develop an awareness of the environment inwhich they live; and learn the skills necessary to moveeffectively and safely from place to place...

continued on page 1-92


§300.39 Special education.

(a) General. (1) Special education means spe-cially designed instruction, at no cost to theparents, to meet the unique needs of a childwith a disability, including—

(i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, inthe home, in hospitals and institutions, and inother settings; and

(ii) Instruction in physical education.

(2) Special education includes each of thefollowing, if the services otherwise meet therequirements of paragraph (a)(1) of this sec-tion—

(i) Speech-language pathology services, or anyother related service, if the service is consideredspecial education rather than a related serviceunder State standards;

(ii) Travel training; and

(iii) Vocational education.

(b) Individual special education terms defined.The terms in this definition are defined asfollows:

(1) At no cost means that all specially-designedinstruction is provided without charge, butdoes not preclude incidental fees that arenormally charged to nondisabled students ortheir parents as a part of the regular educationprogram.

(2) Physical education means—

(i) The development of—

(A) Physical and motor fitness;

(B) Fundamental motor skills and patterns;and

(C) Skills in aquatics, dance, and individualand group games and sports (including intra-mural and lifetime sports); and

(ii) Includes special physical education,adapted physical education, movement educa-tion, and motor development.

(3) Specially designed instruction means adapt-ing, as appropriate to the needs of an eligiblechild under this part, the content, methodol-ogy, or delivery of instruction—

(i) To address the unique needs of the childthat result from the child’s disability; and

(ii) To ensure access of the child to the gen-eral curriculum, so that the child can meet theeducational standards within the jurisdictionof the public agency that apply to all children.

(4) Travel training means providing instruc-tion, as appropriate, to children with signifi-cant cognitive disabilities, and any otherchildren with disabilities who require thisinstruction, to enable them to—

(i) Develop an awareness of the environmentin which they live; and

(ii) Learn the skills necessary to move effec-tively and safely from place to place within thatenvironment (e.g., in school, in the home, atwork, and in the community).

(5) Vocational education means organizededucational programs that are directly relatedto the preparation of individuals for paid orunpaid employment, or for additional prepa-ration for a career not requiring a baccalaureateor advanced degree.

IDEA’s Definitionof Special Education


the group of individuals (whichincludes the parents) that makesthe placement decision. (Recallthe brief look at placementunder Section 1, Slide 8.)

Closer Look at “SpeciallyDesigned Instruction”

Given the prominence of“specially designed instruction”in the core of special education’sdefinition, the audience mayalso find it useful to take a closerlook at how that term is defined:

(3) Specially designedinstruction means adapting,as appropriate to the needsof an eligible child underthis part, the content,methodology, or deliveryof instruction—

(i) To address the uniqueneeds of the child thatresult from the child’sdisability; and

(ii) To ensure access ofthe child to the generalcurriculum, so that thechild can meet theeducational standardswithin the jurisdiction ofthe public agency thatapply to all children.[§300.39(b)(3)]

According to these provisions,as part of designing the instruc-tion to fit the needs of a specificchild, adaptations may be madein the content, methodology, ordelivery of instruction. This is astrong point of pride within thespecial education field (see, we’retrying not to mix up IDEA’s use

of the term with its more gener-alized use) and a considerableaccomplishment that’s comefrom 30 years of practice: theindividualization of instruction.

As the provisions above show,adaptations can take many formsin response to the child’s needs;the field is replete with guidanceon this critical part of specialeducation. As appropriate,connect the audience with theTA&D network (discussed inSection 1 on Slides 26 and 27and listed on Handout A-4) andNICHCY’s online resource libraryof all available TA&D’s productsand publications(www.nichcy.org/search.htm),which will open a true treasurechest of offerings.

The Role of States

This discussion of specialeducation as a term brings tomind how it is also a process, asystem. IDEA may define the termand establish rigorous standardsfor its implementation, but howspecial education unfolds inschools is very much a State andlocal matter. Education is tradi-tionally a State responsibility;each State is vested with theauthority to determine its ownpolicies within the parameters offederal requirements. This is onereason why it’s so critical toknow your State’s specific specialeducation policies and require-ments.

So—where to look for thatinformation? How about theNational State Policy Database?The NSPD is available online,courtesy of the National Associa-tion of State Directors of SpecialEducation (NASDSE) and theFederal Resource Center forSpecial Education (FRC). There,you can search State and federalspecial education regulationsand save excerpts from thosedocuments into a downloadablefile. Sweet! Find the NSPD at:http://nspd.rrfcnetwork.org/search/searcher.php

continued from page 1-90


Slide loads com-pletely. No clicks arenecessary except toadvance to the nextslide.

This starting viewshows the over-whelming beginningof the definition of“related services.”

The scene belowauto-loads.

Slide 11Section 3 of Module 1: Definition #8: “Related Services (Slide 1 of 5)

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The design of this slidemimics the slide that showed thefull definition of “child with adisability” and the squintingwoman. Its intent is the same,too: to indicate that the defini-tion of related services is longand detailed and, to be exam-ined adequately, must be broken

apart and taken piece by piece.The first piece will be displayedon the next slide.



Slide 12Section 3 of Module 1:

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Definition #8: “Related Services (Slide 2 of 5)



IDEA’s definition of relatedservices at §300.34 begins:

§300.34 Related services.

(a) General. Relatedservices meanstransportation and suchdevelopmental, corrective,and other supportiveservices as are required toassist a child with adisability to benefit fromspecial education, andincludes…

This part of the definition isthe subject of Slide 12; whatIDEA “includes…” (the last wordof the slide) in its list of relatedservices will be the subject ofSlide 13. The piece at handrepresents the core of the defini-tion, just as the first 20 words ofspecial education’s definitioncaptures its core. The term relatedservices is typically spoken in thesame breath as special educationand, when used in IDEA, willalways have the same meaningdiscussed in this and the nextfour slides.

What other terms can theaudience think of that alwaysseem to appear in tandem? Hamand eggs, peas and carrots, Psand Qs…special education andrelated services are like that.However, as should be evidentfrom the definition of specialeducation, a child must needspecial education to be consid-ered eligible for related services(unless the related serviceneeded by the child is consid-ered special education ratherthan a related service under Statestandards).

lifts, and ramps), if required toprovide special transportationfor a child with a disability.[§300.34(c)(17)]

The last bullet isn’t justtalking about a separate bus thatonly children with disabilitiesride to school. The Departmentstates, “It is assumed that mostchildren with disabilities willreceive the same transportationprovided to nondisabled chil-dren” (Id.), in keeping with LRErequirements. Thus, transporta-tion as a related services may alsomean providing modificationsand supports so that a child mayride the regular school bustransporting children withoutdisabilities. (71 Fed. Reg. at46576)

As part of longstanding OSEPpolicy and numerous writtenpolicy letters, memos, andsummaries,1 public schooldistricts must provide transpor-tation to children with disabili-ties in two situations. These are:

• if a district provides transpor-tation to and from school forthe general student popula-tion, then it must providetransportation for a child witha disability; and

• if a school district does notprovide transportation for thegeneral student population,then the issue of transporta-tion for children with disabili-ties must be decided on acase-by-case basis if the IEPTeam has determined thattransportation is needed by

The second half of the slidecontains the key to the intent ofrelated services in the educa-tional life of a child with adisability. Related services arethose services “as are required toassist a child with a disability tobenefit from special education”[§300.34(a)]. They are intendedto support the child’s educationand allow the child to derivebenefit from that education.They are services that are devel-opmental, corrective, and other-wise supportive in nature. Theupcoming list of what are typi-cally thought of as relatedservices is extensive and, as thedefinition indicates, also in-cludes “transportation.”

Transportation as aRelated Service

Transportation is included inan eligible child’s IEP if the IEPTeam determines that such aservice is needed in order for thechild to benefit from his or herspecial education and receiveFAPE. The term has a specificmeaning. IDEA defines transpor-tation as:

• travel to and from school andbetween schools;

• travel in and around schoolbuildings; and

• specialized equipment (suchas special or adapted buses,


the child and has included iton his or her IEP.

Not all children with disabili-ties are eligible to receive trans-portation as a related service. Achild’s need for transportation asa related service and the type oftransportation to be provided

• OSEP Letter to Smith, dated July 12, 1995 (www.stnonline.com/stn/specialneeds/osep95hehir.htm);

• OSEP Letter to [redacted], dated April 19, 2002 (www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/letters/2002-2/redact041902-2q2002.doc).

• Appendix A to the federal regulations for IDEA ’97 (64 Fed. Reg. at12478) and Attachment 1 (64 Fed. Reg. at 12551), March 12, 1999.

• OSEP memo 03-10 to the State Directors of Special Education, datedAugust 22, 2003 (www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/letters/2003-3/osep0310relsvcs3q2003.doc).

1 See:

must be discussed and decidedby the IEP Team. If the Teamdetermines that the child needsthis related service to benefitfrom his or her special educa-tion, a statement to that effectmust be included in the IEP,along with relevant details andarrangements.


Slide 13Section 3 of Module 1:

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Definition #8: “Related Services (Slide 3 of 5)


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§300.34 Related services.

(a) General. Related services means transportation and suchdevelopmental, corrective, and other supportive services as arerequired to assist a child with a disability to benefit from specialeducation, and includes speech-language pathology and audi-ology services, interpreting services, psychological services,physical and occupational therapy, recreation, includingtherapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment ofdisabilities in children, counseling services, including rehabili-tation counseling, orientation and mobility services, andmedical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Relatedservices also include school health services and school nurseservices, social work services in schools, and parent counselingand training.

The slide presents the list ofrelated services contained inIDEA, which is not to be consid-ered an exhaustive list. Otherrelated services exist and areoften provided to children withdisabilities who need them inorder to receive FAPE (as deter-mined by their IEP Teams). Thelist you see on the slide corre-sponds to IDEA’s provision inthe box below, which picks upwhere the text of the last slideleft off.

Discussing Related Services

How much information topresent about related services?There’s a lot available and worthdiscussing, but how much youraudience needs at this point issomething only you can judge.

• A minimal presentation wouldinvolve going through the list,so participants are aware of itsbreadth (make it clear that it’snot an exhaustive list).

• Detail can be added by brieflydescribing what each serviceentails, drawing from IDEA’sdefinitions of each individualterm at §300.34(c).

• You can also go more indepthby discussing what’s changedin IDEA’s list and definitionsof related services and high-lighting some of the keypoints identified below.

Determining What RelatedServices a Child Needs

The evaluation process isintended to provide decisionmakers with the informationthey need to determine: (a) ifthe child has a disability and byreason thereof needs specialeducation and related services;and, if so, (b) an appropriateeducational program for thechild. It also allows them toidentify the related services achild will need. You’ll recall thatthe law requires a child to beassessed in all areas related to hisor her suspected disability. Usingthe data gathered during evalua-tion, the IEP Team can makedeterminations as to whatrelated services the child needs inorder to benefit from specialeducation. The strong linkbetween evaluation and deter-mining what related services achild needs is the subject of thenext slide, so you may wish topostpone talking about it untilyou get to that slide.

Not an Exhaustive List

It is important to recognizethat each child with a disabilitymay not require all of the avail-able types of related services—and that the list of services inIDEA is not considered exhaus-tive, as the following remark ofthe Department illustrates:

Section 300.34(a) and section602(26) of the Act state thatrelated services include othersupportive services that arerequired to assist a child with adisability to benefit from special

Trainer Note

Reference footnotes appear-ing in the trainer text for thisslide are provided at the endof the slide’s discussion,page 1-108.


education. We believe this clearlyconveys that the list of services in§300.34 is not exhaustive andmay include other developmen-tal, corrective, or supportiveservices if they are required toassist a child with a disability tobenefit from special education.(71 Fed. Reg. at 46569)

As States respond to therequirements of federal law,many have legislated their ownrelated service requirements,which may include servicesbeyond those specified in IDEA.Artistic/cultural programs are anexample of a related service notlisted in the law but commonlyprovided, and may include art,music, or dance therapy asrequired to assist a child with adisability to benefit from specialeducation.

Listing Related Services inthe IEP

Once the IEP Team has deter-mined which related services arerequired to assist the child tobenefit from his or her specialeducation, these must be listedin the IEP. The IEP must alsospecify with respect to eachservice:

• when the service will begin;and

• the anticipated frequency (howoften), location (where), andduration (how long) of theservice. [§300.320(a)(7)]

The IEP is a written commit-ment for the delivery of servicesto meet a child’s educationalneeds. A school district mustensure that all of the relatedservices specified in the IEP, atthe right amount, are providedto the child.

At No Cost

School districts may notcharge parents of eligible chil-dren with disabilities for thecosts of related services that havebeen included on a child’s IEP.Just as special and regular educa-tion must be provided to aneligible child with a disability atno cost to the parent or guard-ian, so, too, must related serviceswhen the IEP Team has deter-mined that such services arerequired in order for the child toreceive FAPE and have includedthem in the child’s IEP.

About Specific Services

If you wish to delve intoindividual related services andtalk with the audience aboutwhat each involves and what’schanged in IDEA 2004’s relatedservices provisions, the followingdiscussion may be helpful. It

includes brief summaries of eachrelated service and identifiesnoteworthy changes. The list ofservices is discussed inalphabeticalorder.

Audiology

The definitionof audiology as arelated serviceappears at §300.34(c)(1), in thebox below, and on Handout A-3. Audiology is primarily pro-vided to support the needs ofchildren with hearing loss andincludes (but is not limited to)key services such as determiningthe range, nature, and degree of achild’s hearing loss and bothgroup and individual needs foramplification. The NationalInstitute on Deafness and OtherCommunication Disorders(2006) estimates that 17 of every1,000 children under 18 have a

Description of an Individual Related Service:Audiology

(1) Audiology includes—

(i) Identification of children with hearing loss;

(ii) Determination of the range, nature, and degree of hearingloss, including referral for medical or other professional atten-tion for the habilitation of hearing;

(iii) Provision of habilitative activities, such as languagehabilitation, auditory training, speech reading (lip-reading),hearing evaluation, and speech conservation;

(iv) Creation and administration of programs for preventionof hearing loss;

(v) Counseling and guidance of children, parents, and teach-ers regarding hearing loss; and

(vi) Determination of children’s needs for group and indi-vidual amplification, selecting and fitting an appropriate aid,and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification.[§300.34(c)(1)]


hearing loss.1 More than 71,900children, ages 6-21, are served inthe U.S. under IDEA’s category ofhearing impairments.2

Some schools have hearingscreening programs and stafftrained to conduct audiologyscreenings of children. Othersmay participate in regionalcooperatives or other arrange-ments that provide audiologyservices. Those school districtsthat do not have diagnosticfacilities to evaluate children forhearing loss and related commu-nication problems or centralauditory processing disordersmay refer children to a clinicalsetting, such as a hospital oraudiology clinic, or make othercontractual arrangements.

Counseling Services

IDEA 2004 defines counselingservices as follows:

(2) Counseling servicesmeans services provided byqualified social workers,psychologists, guidancecounselors, or otherqualified personnel.[§300.34(c)(2)]

According to the AmericanSchool Counselor Association(2007), counseling services areintended to help all children inthe areas of academic achieve-ment, personal/social develop-ment and career development. 3

This can include helping childrenwith personal and social con-cerns such as developing self-knowledge, making effectivedecisions, learning healthchoices, and improving responsi-bility. Counselors may also helpchildren with future planningrelated to setting and reaching

academic goals, developing apositive attitude toward learning,and recognizing and utilizingacademic strengths.

Note that IDEA’s list of relatedservices includes other counsel-ing services—parent counselingand training; and rehabilitationcounseling (that is, counselingspecific to career developmentand employment preparation).These are defined separately inIDEA and are clearly differentfrom counseling services (whichare also not to be confused withpsychological services).

Early Identification andAssessment of Disabilitiesin Children

This related service is definedat §300.34(c)(3) as follows:

(3) Early identification andassessment of disabilities inchildren means theimplementation of aformal plan for identifyinga disability as early aspossible in a child’s life.

The disability and medicalfields are replete with informa-tion about, and the importanceof, early identification of dis-abilities in children as well asassessing the scope and impactof a child’s disability. This litera-ture is focused on system-levelissues such as setting up screen-ing programs for specific disabili-

ties (e.g., autism, speech-lan-guage impairment, visual andhearing impairments) andestablishing mechanisms withinthe educational system by whichchildren at risk of learningproblems are quickly identifiedand their learning issues ad-dressed.

As a related service, however,early identification and assess-ment of disability in childrenrepresents an individual servicefor one child. If a child’s IEPTeam determines that identifyingand assessing the nature of achild’s disability is necessary inorder for the child to benefitfrom his or her special educa-tion, then this related servicemust be listed in the child’s IEPand provided to the child by thepublic agency at no cost to theparents. A formal plan would bewritten to establish the processand procedures by which thechild’s disability will be identi-fied. This may seem strange—identifying the disability? isn’tthat one of the purposes ofevaluation?—but disability canelude diagnosis, even as itadversely affects academic andfunctional performance in clearand measurable ways. PermittingStates to adopt the term “devel-opmental delay” acknowledgesthat it’s not always possible tosay what’s causing a learning orother problem, but that inter-vention is still necessary. Earlyidentification and assessment ofdisability in children, as a relatedservice, acknowledges thatcontinuing to search for andidentify the disability as early aspossible in a child’s life may benecessary if the child is going toderive benefit from specialeducation.


InterpretingServices

Interpretingservices has beenadded to IDEA’s list of relatedservices in this reauthorization. Ifyou have an audience who arefamiliar with IDEA ’97, you’llprobably want to mention thisnewcomer to the related serviceexpressly identified in law andregulations. IDEA’s definition ofinterpreting services appears at§300.34(c)(4), on Handout A-3,and in the box below.

Interpreting services may benew to IDEA’s definition ofrelated services, but they arebeen provided over the years tomany children who are deaf orhard of hearing, as part ofproviding them with access toinstruction. The definition ofinterpreting services indicates arange of possible such services(e.g., oral transliteration, cuedlanguage), all of which refer tospecific communication systemsused within the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. To findout more about these varioussystems, visit such organizationsas:

• Laurent Clerc National DeafEducation Centerhttp://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/InfoToGo/index.html

• National Institute on Deafnessand Other CommunicationDisorders Information Clear-inghousehttp://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/

Description of an Individual Related Service:Interpreting Services

(4) Interpreting services includes—

(i) The following, when used with respect to children who aredeaf or hard of hearing: Oral transliteration services, cued lan-guage transliteration services, sign language transliteration andinterpreting services, and transcription services, such as commu-nication access real-time translation (CART), C-Print, andTypeWell; and

(ii) Special interpreting services for children who are deaf-blind.[§300.34(c)(4)]

The case of Cedar RapidsCommunity School District v.Garret F.,4 which took place in1999, turned the gray line aboutthe provision of related servicesto children with complex medi-cal needs into a “bright line.”5

The U.S. Supreme Court foundthat, if a related service is re-quired to enable a qualifiedchild with a disability to remainin school, it must be provided aslong as it is not a purely “medi-cal” service. What is considered“medical,” as IDEA’s definitionamply indicates, are thoseservices that can only be pro-vided by a licensed physician(and only for the purposes ofdiagnosis or evaluation). If anon-physician can deliver theservices, then the service must beprovided by public agencies,regardless of the staffing or fiscalburdens they may impose.Health care services that can beprovided by a non-physician arenot provided under the categoryof medical services, however.(Examples of such services

Medical Services

Medical services are consid-ered a related service only underspecific conditions: when theyare provided (a) by a licensedphysician; and (b) for diagnosticor evaluation purposes only.This is clear from the very defini-tion at §300.34(c)(5):

(5) Medical services meansservices provided by alicensed physician todetermine a child’smedically related disabilitythat results in the child’sneed for special educationand related services.

This related services has a longand interesting history that hasonly gotten more interesting asmedical science has advancedand children with diverse medi-cal conditions are being edu-cated in increasing numbers ingeneral education classrooms.The support that many suchchildren need in order to attendschool, school districts haveargued, is medical in nature,complex and continual, and isnot the responsibility of publicagencies because IDEA clearlystates that medical services areallowable related services onlywhen provided for diagnostic orevaluation purposes.

New inIDEA 2004!


include bladder catheterization,tracheostomy tube suctioning,positioning, and monitoring ofventilator settings, to name afew.) Today such services wouldbe as considered school healthservices and school nurseservices.

Occupational Therapy

The term occupationaltherapy (OT) is likely to befamiliar to many in the audienceand is defined in IDEA at§300.34(c)(6) (see Handout A-3and the box at the right).

OT services can enhance achild’s ability to function in aneducational program and mayinclude such services as:

• self-help skills or adaptiveliving (e.g., eating, dressing);

• functional mobility (e.g.,moving safely throughschool);

• positioning (e.g., sittingappropriately in class);

• sensory-motor processing(e.g., using the senses andmuscles);

• fine motor (e.g., writing,cutting) and gross motorperformance (e.g., walking,athletic skills);

• life skills training/vocationalskills; and

• psychosocial adaptation.

Description of an Individual Related Service:Occupational Therapy

(6) Occupational therapy—

(i) Means services provided by a qualified occupational therapist;and

(ii) Includes—

(A) Improving, developing, or restoring functions impaired or lostthrough illness, injury, or deprivation;

(B) Improving ability to perform tasks for independent functioningif functions are impaired or lost; and

(C) Preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impair-ment or loss of function. [§300.34(c)(6)]

Description of an Individual Related Service:O&M Services

(7) Orientation and mobility services—

(i) Means services provided to blind or visually impaired children byqualified personnel to enable those students to attain systematicorientation to and safe movement within their environments in school,home, and community; and

(ii) Includes teaching children the following, as appropriate:

(A) Spatial and environmental concepts and use of informationreceived by the senses (such as sound, temperature and vibrations) toestablish, maintain, or regain orientation and line of travel (e.g., usingsound at a traffic light to cross the street);

(B) To use the long cane or a service animal to supplement visualtravel skills or as a tool for safely negotiating the environment forchildren with no available travel vision;

(C) To understand and use remaining vision and distance low visionaids; and

(D) Other concepts, techniques, and tools. [§300.34(c)(7)]

Orientation and MobilityServices

We’re getting there! Almostthrough with the O’s!

Orientation and mobilityservices (O&M) became part ofIDEA’s list of related services withIDEA ’97. They are defined at§300.34(c)(7) (see box below

and Handout A-3) and even abrief read makes it clear thatO&M services are intended forchildren who are blind or visu-ally impaired, with the purposeof teaching them how to orientthemselves in a range of environ-ments (school, home, commu-nity) and to move safely withinthose environments.


As was discussed in theAnalysis of Comments andChanges that accompaniedpublication of the final Part Bregulations for IDEA ’97, O&Mservices are not intended forchildren with disabilities otherthan visual impairments. If sucha child needs to learn how tosafely navigate a variety ofsettings, that child would gener-ally not receive O&M servicesbut, rather, travel training. Traveltraining is included in the defini-tion of special education (seeSection 3’s Slide 10) and meansproviding instruction to childrenwith significant cognitive dis-abilities, and any other childrenwith disabilities who require thisinstruction, to enable them todevelop an awareness of theenvironment in which they liveand learn the skills necessary tomove effectively and safely fromplace to place [§300.39(b)(4)].

Parent Counseling andTraining

Parent counseling and train-ing is an important relatedservice that can help parentsenhance the vital role they playin the lives of their children. Itsdefinition is found at§300.34(c)(8) and reads:

(8)(i) Parent counselingand training means assistingparents in understandingthe special needs of theirchild;

(ii) Providing parentswith information aboutchild development; and

(iii) Helping parents toacquire the necessary skillsthat will allow them tosupport the implementa-tion of their child’s IEP orIFSP.

The first two parts of thisdefinition are longstanding inIDEA. The last part—regardinghelping parents acquire thenecessary skills that will allowthem to support the implemen-tation of their child’s IEP orIFSP—was added in IDEA ’97“to recognize the more activerole of parents as participants inthe education of their children”(71 Fed. Reg. at 46573) and isretained in IDEA 2004. As withall related services, parent coun-seling and training would onlybe provided to parents “if achild’s IEP Team determines thatit is necessary for the child toreceive FAPE” (Id.).

Physical Therapy

IDEA defines physical therapyas “services provided by a quali-fied physical therapist”[§300.34(c)(9)]. These services

Description of an Individual Related Service:Psychological Services

(10) Psychological services includes—

(i) Administering psychological and educational tests, andother assessment procedures;

(ii) Interpreting assessment results;

(iii) Obtaining, integrating, and interpreting informationabout child behavior and conditions relating to learning;

(iv) Consulting with other staff members in planning schoolprograms to meet the special educational needs of children asindicated by psychological tests, interviews, direct observation,and behavioral evaluations;

(v) Planning and managing a program of psychologicalservices, including psychological counseling for children andparents; and

(vi) Assisting in developing positive behavioral interventionstrategies. [§300.34(c)(10)]

generally address a child’s pos-ture, muscle strength, mobility,and organization of movementin educational environments.Physical therapy may be pro-vided to prevent the onset orprogression of impairment,functional limitation, disability,or changes in physical functionor health resulting from injury,disease, or other causes.

Psychological Services

Now here comes a longishdefinition! IDEA defines psycho-logical services at §300.34(c)(10),which is provided in the boxbelow and on Handout A-3.


Psychological services aredelivered as a related servicewhen necessary to help eligiblechildren with disabilities benefitfrom their special education. Insome schools, these services areprovided by a school psycholo-gist, but some services are alsoappropriately provided by othertrained personnel, includingschool social workers and coun-selors.

You may notice that counsel-ing is mentioned in the defini-tion of this related service, and isalso mentioned in IDEA’s defini-tion of social work services(specifically, group and indi-vidual counseling with the childand family). In response topublic comments questioningthis, the Department clarified:

Including counseling in thedefinition of social workservices in schools in§300.34(c)(14) is intendedto indicate the types ofpersonnel who assist inthis activity and is notintended either to implythat school social workersare automatically qualifiedto perform counseling orto prohibit other qualifiedpersonnel from providingcounseling, consistent withState requirements. (71Fed. Reg. at 46573-4)

Further, the definition ofpsychological services uses thephrase “planning and managinga program of psychologicalservices”—which includes “psy-chological counseling for chil-dren and parents.” The moreadministrative nature of “plan-ning and managing” is a tellingdifference in how counseling isincluded in the definitions ofthese two related services.

IDEA’s definition of psycho-logical services also specificallymentions positive behavioralintervention strategies, oftenreferred to as PBS or PBIS.Behavior is an area of greatconcern these days, and it’suseful to know that many ofIDEA’s provisions supporttaking a proactive approachto addressing behaviorthat interferes with achild’s learning or thelearning of others. Forsuch a child, the IEPTeam must consider, ifappropriate, strategies(including positive behav-ioral interventions, strate-gies, and supports) toaddress that behavior[§300.324(2)(i)]. Much moreinformation on addressingbehavior issues is available inModule 14, Meetings of the IEPTeam (see Slide 12), some ofwhich you may wish to sharewith participants here.

The fact that psychologicalservices can include “assisting indeveloping positive behavioralintervention strategies” does notmean that only the professionalswho provide psychologicalservices may provide such assis-tance or that they are evennecessarily qualified to do so. Asthe Department states:

There are manyprofessionals who mightalso play a role indeveloping and deliveringpositive behavioralintervention strategies. Thestandards for personnelwho assist in developingand delivering positivebehavioral interventionstrategies will varydepending on therequirements of the State.Including the developmentand delivery of positive

behavioral interventionstrategies in the definitionof psychological services isnot intended to imply thatschool psychologists areautomatically qualified toperform these duties or toprohibit other qualified

personnel fromproviding these

services,consistent withStaterequirements.(71 Fed. Reg. at46574)

Recreation

We’re to the R’s, making slowbut sure progress through IDEA’slist of related services. Recreationas a related service is defined at§300.34(c)(11) and reads:

(11) Recreation includes—

(i) Assessment of leisurefunction;

(ii) Therapeuticrecreation services;

(iii) Recreation programsin schools and communityagencies; and

(iv) Leisure education.

Recreation services generallyare intended to help childrenwith disabilities learn how to usetheir leisure and recreation timeconstructively. Through theseservices, children can learnappropriate and functionalrecreation and leisure skills.Recreational activities may beprovided during the school dayor in after-school programs in a


school or a community environ-ment. Some school districts havemade collaborative arrangementswith the local parks and recre-ation programs or local youthdevelopment programs toprovide recreational services.

As part of providing thisrelated service, persons qualifiedto provide recreation carry outactivities such as:

• assessing a child’s leisureinterests and preferences,capacities, functions, skills,and needs;

• providing recreation therapeu-tic services and activities todevelop a child’s functionalskills;

• providing education in theskills, knowledge, and atti-tudes related to leisure in-volvement;

• helping a child participate inrecreation with assistance and/or adapted recreation equip-ment;

• providing training to parentsand educators about the roleof recreation in enhancingeducational outcomes;

• identifying recreation re-sources and facilities in thecommunity; and

• providing recreation programsin schools and communityagencies.6

Rehabilitation Counseling

And here is another relatedservice that specifically mentionscounseling. Rehabilitationcounseling, however, uses suchkey terms as employment, career,and independence, which nar-rows the focus of the counselingand the purpose for which it isprovided. The definition reads:

(12) Rehabilitationcounseling services meansservices provided byqualified personnel inindividual or groupsessions that focusspecifically on careerdevelopment, employmentpreparation, achievingindependence, andintegration in theworkplace and communityof a student with adisability. The term alsoincludes vocationalrehabilitation servicesprovided to a student witha disability by vocationalrehabilitation programsfunded under theRehabilitation Act of 1973,as amended, 29 U.S.C. 701et seq. [§300.34(c)(12)]

Wondering about the refer-ence to vocational rehabilitation(VR)? VR is a nationwide federal-state program for assistingeligible people with disabilitiesto define a suitable employmentgoal and become employed.Each State has a central VRagency, with local offices in mostStates. VR provides medical,therapeutic, counseling, educa-

tion, training, and other servicesneeded to prepare people withdisabilities for work. VR is anexcellent place for a youth oradult with a disability to beginexploring available training andsupport service options. Moreinformation about vocationalrehabilitation programs fundedunder the Rehabilitation Act of1973 is available at: http://www.jan.wvu.edu/SBSES/VOCREHAB.htm

School HealthServices andSchool NurseServices

School health services havelong been a part of IDEA’srelated services definition. InIDEA 2004, the term has beenchanged to school health servicesand school nurse services, withthe following definition at§300.34(c)(13):

(13) School health servicesand school nurse servicesmeans health services thatare designed to enable achild with a disability toreceive FAPE as describedin the child’s IEP. Schoolnurse services are servicesprovided by a qualifiedschool nurse. Schoolhealth services are servicesthat may be provided byeither a qualified schoolnurse or other qualifiedperson.

New inIDEA 2004!


Returning to an issue that wasraised under Medical Services,many children with disabilities,especially those who are medi-cally fragile, could not attendschool without the supportiveservices of school nurses andother qualified people. Over theyears, the extent of the health-related services that are providedin schools has grown, as mightbe expected when you considermedical advances in the lastdecade alone. In Cedar RapidsCommunity School District v.Garret F., the question ofwhether or not public agenciesare responsible for providinghealth-related supports that arecomplex or continuous wassettled. They are, “only to theextent that the services allow achild to benefit from specialeducation and enable a childwith a disability to receive FAPE”(71 Fed. Reg. at 46574-5). Whatwas previously called “schoolhealth services” in IDEA hasbeen expanded to distinguishbetween services that are pro-vided by a qualified nurse andthose that may be provided byother qualified individuals.

States and local school dis-tricts often have guidelines thataddress school health servicesand school nurse services. Thesemay include providing suchhealth-related support as:

• special feedings;

• clean intermittent catheteriza-tion;

• suctioning;

• the management of a tracheo-stomy;

• administering and/or dispens-ing medications;

• planning for the safety of achild in school;

• ensuring that care is givenwhile at school and at schoolfunctions to prevent injury(e.g., changing a child’s posi-tion frequently to preventpressure sores);

• chronic disease management;and

• conducting and/or promotingeducation and skills trainingfor all (including the child)who serve as caregivers in theschool setting.6

Social Work Servicesin Schools

Issues or prob-lems at home or inthe community canadversely affect achild’s perfor-mance at school, ascan a child’s attitude

Description of an Individual Related Service:Social Work Services in Schools

(14) Social work services in schools includes—

(i) Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with adisability;

(ii) Group and individual counseling with the child and family;

(iii) Working in partnership with parents and others on thoseproblems in a child’s living situation (home, school, and com-munity) that affect the child’s adjustment in school;

(iv) Mobilizing school and community resources to enable thechild to learn as effectively as possible in his or her educationalprogram; and

(v) Assisting in developing positive behavioral interventionstrategies. [§300.34(c)(14)]

or behavior in school. Social workservices in schools may becomenecessary in order to help a childbenefit from his or her educa-tional program. They are also afamiliar related service, includedin IDEA from its early days, andare currently defined at§300.34(c)(14), which appears inthe box below.

The discussion of this relatedservice in the Analysis of Com-ments and Changes raises twointeresting points that may berelevant to an audience that’sdelving into the definitions oneby one. The first is that thedefinition of social work servicesin schools includes examples of

services “that mightbe provided to achild if the child’sIEP Team deter-mines that suchservices areneeded for the

child to receiveFAPE.” (71 Fed.

Reg. at 46575) On


that basis the Departmentdeclined to add “functionalbehavioral assessment” to thedefinition, although “conductinga functional behavioral assess-ment typically precedes develop-ing positive behavioral interven-tion strategies.” (Id.) This doesnot exclude functional behav-ioral assessments as a social workservice in schools; rather, itillustrates that this service isn’tlimited to what’s listed in itsdefinition but can include otheractivities as determined necessaryby a child’s IEP Team.

The second point that may berelevant to some members ofyour audience (if you’re digginginto the definitions, that is, asopposed to skimming the list) isthat “mobilizing school andcommunity resources toenable the child to learn aseffectively as possible in hisor her educational program”does not extend to creatingcommunity resources thatdon’t exist. (Id.). If no suchcommunity resources exist,they obviously cannot be“mobilized” on the child’sbehalf, and “the IEP Teamwould need to consider otherways to meet the child’s needs.”(Id.)

Speech-Language Pathology

Speech-language pathologyservices are provided by speech-language professionals andspeech-language assistants, inaccordance with State regula-tions, to address the needs ofchildren and youth with disabili-ties affecting either speech orlanguage. IDEA defines thisrelated service at §300.34(c)(15),which appears in the box at theon this page.

Description of an Individual Related Service:Speech-Language Pathology Services

(15) Speech-language pathology services includes—

(i) Identification of children with speech or language impair-ments;

(ii) Diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or languageimpairments;

(iii) Referral for medical or other professional attention neces-sary for the habilitation of speech or language impairments;

(iv) Provision of speech and language services for the habilita-tion or prevention of communicative impairments; and

(v) Counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachersregarding speech and language impairments. [§300.34(c)(15)]

Speech-language pathologyservices are longstanding relatedservices in IDEA. They are alsocrucial in the education of manychildren with disabilities. Morethan 1 million children areserved under the disabilitycategory of “speech or languageimpairments” alone, according tothe 25th annual report to Con-gress.7

Transportation

This related service was dis-cussed previously, when the term“related services” was first intro-duced. Refer to Slide 12.

In Conclusion

That’s quite a list, isn’t it? Ifyou and the audience movedthrough it in any detail, you nodoubt now have a very goodsense of how extensive, well-thought-out, and importantrelated services actually are forchildren with disabilities whoneed them. It’s no wonder theterm so often appears with itsbuddy, special education.

Time for a break? The slideson related services aren’t overyet, though—two more to go.


References for Slide 13 (Section 3)

1 National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.(2006). Statistics about hearing disorders, ear infections, and deafness. Bethesda,MD: Author. Available online at: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/hearing.asp

2 Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department ofEducation. (2006). 26th annual report to Congress on the implementation of IDEA:Vol. 2. Washington, DC: Author. Available online at: http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2004/index.html

3 American School Counselor Association. (2007). Role of the school counselor.Retrieved June 4, 2007 at http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=327&sl=341&contentid=341

4 Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garrett F, 526 U.S. 66 (1999). Avail-able online at: www.reedmartin.com/garretf.htm

5 Supreme Court adopts bright-line test in medical services case. (1999, March12). The Special Educator, 14(15), 1, 6-7.

6 Mattson, B. (2001). Related services (2nd ed.). NICHCY News Digest 16, 1-20.Available online at: www.nichcy.org/pubs/newsdig/nd16txt.htm

7 Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education. (2003).Annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act, Vol. 2. Washington, DC: Author. Available online at:hwww.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/index.html





Slide 14 in Section 3 ad-dresses how an IEP Team decideswhich related services a childneeds. The answer was touchedupon in the last slide, under theheader “Determining WhatRelated Services a Child Needs.”As indicated there, key informa-tion for decision makers will beavailable from the evaluationprocess, since the child must beassessed in all areas related to hisor her suspected disability. TheIEP Team must look carefully atthe evaluation results, whichshow the child’s areas of strengthand need, and decide uponmeasurable annual goals, amongother things, that are appropriatefor the child. Part of developingthe IEP also includes specifying“the special education andrelated services and supplemen-

tary aids and services to beprovided to the child, or onbehalf of the child, and a state-ment of the program modifica-tions or supports for schoolpersonnel that will be provided”to enable the child:

(i) To advanceappropriately towardattaining the annual goals;

(ii) To be involved in andmake progress in thegeneral educationcurriculum in accordancewith paragraph (a)(1) ofthis section, and toparticipate inextracurricular and othernonacademic activities; and

(iii) To be educated andparticipate with otherchildren with disabilitiesand nondisabled children

in the activities describedin this section.[§300.320(a)(4), see the“bonus term” on HandoutA-3]

The scope of this consider-ation is important to note. Whatwould enable the child toadvance appropriately towardattaining the annual goals, to beinvolved in and make progress inthe general education curricu-lum, to participate in extracur-ricular and other nonacademicactivities, and to be educatedboth with other children withdisabilities and those who donot have disabilities?


Thus, based on the evaluationresults and keeping in mind theabove scope of a child’s educa-tional undertakings, environ-ments, and participation, the IEPTeam discusses, decides upon,and specifies the related servicesthat a child needs in order tobenefit from special education.Making decisions about howoften a related service will beprovided, and where and bywhom is also a function of theIEP Team.

IEP Team Considered

IDEA purposefully requires anIEP Team to be comprised ofindividuals with a range ofexpertise and duties (the Team’smembership is described at§300.321). For the purposes ofanswering the question posed bythis slide, it’s helpful to considersome of the players that typicallycontribute to determining whatrelated services a child needs inorder to benefit from his or herspecial education. Three inparticular come to mind, al-though any individual on theTeam may inform the process:

• Related services personnel. TheIEP Team may include relatedservices personnel, whichIDEA expressly mentions as anexample of a person “withspecial knowledge or expertise

regarding the child” who maybe invited, at the discretion ofeither the public agency or thechild’s parents, to participateon the Team. [§300.321(a)(6)]

• “An individual who can interpretthe instructional implications ofevaluation results” is anotherrequired member of the IEPTeam. The expertise that thisperson brings to the table willbe very useful when determin-ing a child’s related services.

• “A representative of the publicagency” is also required on theTeam and must possessspecific qualifications, includ-ing knowing what resourcesthe public agency has avail-able. This person must alsopossess the authority tocommit those resources tosupport and provide a childwith special education andrelated services.

These individuals pool theirknowledge with that of the othermembers of the IEP Team,including the child’s parents, tospecify the related services thatthe child will receive as part ofFAPE. It is important to recog-nize that each child with adisability may not require all ofthe available types of relatedservices.


View 1

Click 1



Click 1:Rest of slide loads(“Related services donot include” and thebullets).

The slide loadsthe “exception.”




Note the Exception at §300.34(b)!

(b) Exception; services that apply to children with surgically implanteddevices, including cochlear implants.

(1) Related services do not include a medical device that issurgically implanted, the optimization of that device’s functioning(e.g., mapping), maintenance of that device, or the replacement ofthat device.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (b)(1) of this section—

(i) Limits the right of a child with a surgically implanted device(e.g., cochlear implant) to receive related services (as listed inparagraph (a) of this section) that are determined by the IEPTeam to be necessary for the child to receive FAPE.

(ii) Limits the responsibility of a public agency to appropriatelymonitor and maintain medical devices that are needed to main-tain the health and safety of the child, including breathing,nutrition, or operation of other bodily functions, while the childis transported to and from school or is at school; or

(iii) Prevents the routine checking of an external component ofa surgically implanted device to make sure it is functioning prop-erly, as required in §300.113(b).

The slideconcludes thislook at relatedservices by notingIDEA’s exceptionregarding surgi-cally implanteddevices, including cochlearimplants (see the box below andHandout A-3 for the text of theexception). This exception is newwith IDEA 2004 and shows theadvance of time and technology.A relatively new technologicaldevelopment, the cochlearimplant is a “small, complexelectronic device that can help toprovide a sense of sound to aperson who is profoundly deafor severely hard-of-hearing”(National Institute on Deafnessand Other CommunicationDisorders, 2006).1 While animplant does not restore normalhearing, it does give the recipient“a useful representation ofsounds in the environment andhelp him or her to understandspeech.”1 Other examples ofsurgically implanted devicesinclude: insulin pump, baclofenpump, pacemaker, G-tube, andvagus nerve stimulator device.

The “exception” at §300.34(b)regarding surgically implanteddevices generated many publiccomments and questions whenproposed regulations werepublished in June 2005. Whilethe extensive discussion of thesecomments and questions in theAnalysis of Comments andChanges is both interesting andinformative, it is beyond theimmediate scope of this module.To give trainers flexibility inaddressing the needs of theiraudience, however, we’ve in-

cluded the Department’s com-ments in their entirety in theseparate Resources for Trainersunder Theme D (see Resource D-1in D-resources.doc or D-resources.pdf). For audiencesconcerned with the scope of apublic agency’s responsibilitywith respect to services providedto children with surgically im-planted devices—especiallycochlear implants—theDepartment’s comments areextremely relevant and can easilybe shared by photocopying andsharing Resource D-1.

Some key points are summa-rized below.

What’s In and What’sExcluded

If a child has a surgicallyimplanted device, the scope ofthe public agency’s responsibilityto provide supportive relatedservices in relation to that deviceis covered in IDEA’s provisions at§300.34(b). Public agencies arenot responsible for optimizingthese devices, maintaining them,or replacing them. Public agen-cies are responsible for “routinechecking to determine if theexternal component of a surgi-cally implanted device is turned

New inIDEA 2004!


on and working” (71 Fed. Reg. at46570) and for providing othertypes of services the child needs,as determined by the IEP Team,including:

• assistive technology (e.g., FMsystem);

• proper classroom acousticalmodifications;

• educational support services(e.g., educational interpreters);and

• receiving the related services(e.g., speech and languageservices) that are necessary forthe child to benefit fromspecial education services. (Id.)

While public agencies are notresponsible for mapping acochlear implant, they do have arole to play in providing servicesand supports to help childrenwith cochlear implants. As theDepartment observes:

Particularly with youngerchildren or children whohave recently obtainedimplants, teachers andrelated services personnelfrequently are the first tonotice changes in thechild’s perception ofsounds that the child maybe missing. This maymanifest as a lack ofattention or understandingon the part of the child orfrustration incommunicating. Thechanges may indicate aneed for remapping, andwe would expect thatschool personnel wouldcommunicate with thechild’s parents about theseissues. To the extent thatadjustments to the devicesare required, a speciallytrained professional wouldprovide the remapping,

which is not consideredthe responsibility of thepublic agency. (71 Fed. Reg.at 46570-1)

In many ways, the Depart-ment points out, there is nosubstantive difference betweenserving a child with a cochlearimplant in a school setting andserving a child with a hearing aid.A “public agency is responsiblefor the routine checking of theexternal components of a surgi-cally implanted device in muchthe same manner as a publicagency is responsible for theproper functioning of hearingaids” (71 Fed. Reg. at 46571).What distinguishes a servicecovered under the Act and onethat is excluded is, in largemeasure, “the level of expertiserequired” (Id.). Maintaining andmonitoring a surgically im-planted device require theexpertise of a licensed physicianor an individual with specializedtechnical expertise beyond thattypically available from schoolpersonnel. On the other hand:

Teachers and relatedservices providers can betaught to first check theexternally worn speechprocessor to make sure it isturned on, the volume andsensitivity settings arecorrect, and the cable isconnected, in much thesame manner as they aretaught to make sure ahearing aid is properlyfunctioning. To allow achild to sit in a classroomwhen the child’s hearingaid or cochlear implant isnot functioning is to

effectively exclude the childfrom receiving anappropriate education.(Id.)

You’ll note that the exceptionin IDEA is carefully crafted toensure that public agenciesremain aware of, and responsiblefor, monitoring and maintaining“medical devices that are neededto maintain the health and safetyof the child, including breathing,nutrition, or operation of otherbodily functions, while the childis transported to and fromschool or is at school”[§300.34(b)(2)(ii)]. This clearlyaligns with the discussion earlierin this section regarding a publicagency’s responsibility for thehealth-related services (seediscussion of Medical Servicesand School Health Services andSchool Nurse Services on theSection 3’s Slide 13). As theDepartment states:

The public agency also isresponsible for providingservices necessary tomaintain the health andsafety of a child while thechild is in school, withbreathing, nutrition, andother bodily functions(e.g., nursing services,suctioning a tracheotomy,urinary catheterization) ifthese services can beprovided by someone whohas been trained toprovide the service and arenot the type of servicesthat can only be providedby a licensed physician.(Cedar Rapids CommunitySchool District v. Garret F.,526 U.S. 66 (1999)). (Id.)

1 National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disor-ders. (2006). Cochlear implants (NIH Publication No. 00-4798).Bethesda, MD: Author. Available online at: www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp


Slide 16Section 3 of Module 1: Definition #9: “Supplementary Aids and Services”


At last, a new term and defini-tion! We’re drawing close to theend of this training module asthe curtain goes up on definition#9—supplementary aids andservices. This term is defined at§300.42; appears on Handout A-3; is discussed at length inModule 13, Content of the IEP;and, while short in words, ismighty in scope and impact. Thedefinition reads:

§300.42 Supplementaryaids and services.

Supplementary aids andservices means aids,services, and othersupports that are providedin regular educationclasses, other education-related settings, and inextracurricular andnonacademic settings, toenable children with

disabilities to be educatedwith nondisabled childrento the maximum extentappropriate in accordancewith §§300.114 through300.116.

Supplementary aids andservices are intended to improvechildren’s access to learning andtheir participation across thespectrum of academic, extracur-ricular, and nonacademic activi-ties and settings. The latterelement—“…in extracurricularand nonacademic setting”— is newto IDEA. Consistent with theinclusive nature of the legisla-tion, the final Part B regulationshave added this phrase to thedefinition of supplementary aidsand services and, thus, enlargedthe scope of where supplemen-tary aids and services must beprovided, as appropriate to thechild’s needs.

What is IDEA referring to at§§300.114 through 300.116?Anyone recognize those num-bers? They were discussed underSlides 24 and 25 in Section 2 ofthis module (on acronyms), andrelate to IDEA’s requirements for:

• least restrictive environment(LRE) (§300.114);

• the continuum of alternativeplacements (§300.115); and

• placements (§300.116).

Thus, supplementary aids andservices are often critical ele-ments in supporting the educa-tion of children with disabilitiesin regular classes and theirparticipation in a range ofanother school activities.



Examples from the Field

The definition of “supple-mentary aids and services” wasnew in IDEA ’97. Since then, thefield has fleshed out the defini-tion through practice. NumerousStates have developed IEP guidesthat include both the regulatorydefinition of “supplementaryaids and services” and examplesto guide IEP teams in theirconsiderations of what a studentmight need. Here are someexamples that the New MexicoPublic Education Department1

provides online that you mayfind illuminating:

• Supports to address environ-mental needs (e.g., preferentialseating; planned seating onthe bus, in the classroom, atlunch, in the auditorium, andin other locations; alteredphysical room arrangement);

• Levels of staff support needed(e.g., consultation, stop-insupport, classroom compan-ion, one-on-one assistance;type of personnel support:behavior specialist, health careassistant, instructional supportassistant);

• Planning time for collaborationneeded by staff;

• Child’s specializedequipment needs (e.g.,wheelchair, com-puter, software,voice synthesizer,augmentativecommunicationdevice, utensils/cups/plates,restroom equip-ment);

• Pacing of instruction needed(e.g., breaks, more time, homeset of materials);

• Presentation of subject matterneeded (e.g., taped lectures,sign language, primary lan-guage, paired reading andwriting);

• Materials needed (e.g., scannedtests and notes into computer,shared note-taking, large printor Braille, assistive technol-ogy);

• Assignment modificationneeded (e.g., shorter assign-ments, taped lessons, instruc-tions broken down into steps,allow student to record ortype assignment);

• Self-management and/orfollow-through needed (e.g.,calendars, teach study skills);

• Testing adaptations needed (e.g.,read test to child, modifyformat, extend time);

• Social interaction supportneeded (e.g., provide Circle ofFriends, use cooperativelearning groups, teach socialskills);

• Training needed for personnel.

Settings and Services

As said above, considering thesupplementary aids and sup-ports that a child needs shouldtake into account the academic,extracurricular, and nonacademicenvironments available to, andof interest to, the child. Tworelated sets of provisions withinIDEA are helpful in defining therange of settings and services toconsider: nonacademic servicesand nonacademic settings.

Note that both of theseprovisions directly referencesupplementary aids and servicesas an often-appropriate andnecessary element in providingchildren with disabilities theopportunity to participate innonacademic and extracurricularservices and activities.

NIMAS

A new andexciting additionto IDEA is therequirementregarding accessto instructionalmaterials forblind or other persons with printdisabilities, in accordance withthe National Instructional MaterialsAccessibility Standard (NIMAS). Aseparate module is devotedentirely to the NIMAS provisions(see Module 8), so the topic willnot be covered here. However, itdoes bear mentioning that accessto instructional materials forchildren who are blind or haveother print disabilities is relevantboth to discussion of supple-

New inIDEA 2004!


mentary aids and services and toaccess to the general curriculum.

Concluding Words

A fair amount of time andspace has been devoted to thisdiscussion of supplementaryaids and services. For manychildren with disabilities, theseare pivotal elements to participa-tion in school-related settings,activities, and learning opportu-nities. The Department’s com-ments in the Analysis of Com-ments and Changes summarizewell the role that supplementaryaids and services can play in achild’s school life:

The Act places greatemphasis on ensuring thatchildren with disabilitiesare educated, to themaximum extentappropriate, with childrenwho are nondisabled andare included innonacademic andextracurricular services andactivities as appropriate tothe needs of the child. Webelieve the public agencyhas an obligation toprovide a child with adisability with appropriateaids, services, and othersupports, as determined bythe IEP Team, if necessaryto ensure the child’sparticipation innonacademic andextracurricular services andactivities. Therefore, we willclarify in §300.117 thateach public agency mustensure that children withdisabilities have thesupplementary aids andservices determinednecessary by the child’s IEPTeam for the child toparticipate in nonacademicand extracurricular services

§300.107 Nonacademic services.

The State must ensure the following:

(a) Each public agency must take steps, including the provi-sion of supplementary aids and services determined appropri-ate and necessary by the child’s IEP Team, to provide nonaca-demic and extracurricular services and activities in the mannernecessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportu-nity for participation in those services and activities.

(b) Nonacademic and extracurricular services and activitiesmay include counseling services, athletics, transportation,health services, recreational activities, special interest groups orclubs sponsored by the public agency, referrals to agencies thatprovide assistance to individuals with disabilities, and employ-ment of students, including both employment by the publicagency and assistance in making outside employment available.

§300.117 Nonacademic settings.

In providing or arranging for the provision of nonacademicand extracurricular services and activities, including meals,recess periods, and the services and activities set forth in§300.107, each public agency must ensure that each child with adisability participates with nondisabled children in the extra-curricular services and activities to the maximum extent appro-priate to the needs of that child. The public agency must ensurethat each child with a disability has the supplementary aids andservices determined by the child’s IEP Team to be appropriateand necessary for the child to participate in nonacademicsettings.

1 New Mexico Public Education Department. (2004). A sampling ofsupplemental supports aids & services. Retrieved May 13, 2007, atwww.ped.state.nm.us/seo/library/qrtrly.0204.lre.handouts.pdf

and activities to themaximum extentappropriate to the needsof that child. (71 Fed. Reg.at 46589)


Oh no, here we go again.Another huge definition,another viewer trying to hidefrom it. By now, participantsshould recognize the messagehere: giant definition, we’regoing to break it down to itscomponent pieces. When theslide appears and they get agood look at it, ask them to tellyou what’s going to happennow…

Slide 17Section 3 of Module 1: Definition #10: “Transition Services” (Slide 1 of 5)







Unlike previously gigantic definitions, we take upthe definition of transition services with a simplesummary of its purpose, as shown on the slide.

This is a good opportunity to talk with participantsabout what “the world of adulthood” involves. Whatwould help a student get ready for that world? Whatare the domains of adult activity? This type of discus-sion can serve as both an advance organizer forupcoming content and a way to spark participants’own internal constructs of the adult world, which willlikely mesh well with the domains they’ll seeaddressed in the definition of transition services.


View 1

Click 1


Click 1:Picture of rock piledisappears, and toppart of transitiondefinition appears.

Slide loads withthe title and thepicture of rocksleading to a castleof rock.




Clicks 2-3

Click 2:Bullets 1-3 appears.

Click 3:Bullets 4-7 appears.


The slide opens with a view ofrocks leading to a castle of rocksto indicate that the lengthydefinition of transition serviceswill now be broken down intoits pieces (all those rocks you seepiled up). One CLICK, the castlepicture will fold away, and thefirst part of the definition will beon the screen, as follows:

(a) Transition servicesmeans a coordinated set ofactivities for a child with adisability that—

(1) Is designed to bewithin a results-orientedprocess, that is focused onimproving the academic

and functionalachievement of the childwith a disability tofacilitate the child’smovement from school topost-school activities…[§300.43(a)(1)]

A number of key words areused in this definition thatencapsulate important conceptsabout transition services:

• Activities need to be coordi-nated with each other.

• The process focuses on results.

• Activities must address thechild’s academic and functionalachievement.

• Activities are intended tosmooth the young person’smovement into the post-school world.

Thus, transition services are tobe planned as a group and areintended to drive toward aresult—they should not behaphazard or scattershot activi-ties, but coordinated with eachother to achieve that outcome orresult.


What result might that be?From a federal perspective, theresult being sought can be foundin the very first finding of Con-gress in IDEA’s statute, whichrefers to “our national policy ofensuring equality of opportu-nity, full participation, indepen-dent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals withdisabilities.” [20 U.S.C.1400(c)(1)] Preparing childrenwith disabilities to “lead produc-tive and independent adult lives,to the maximum extent pos-sible” is one of IDEA’s statedobjectives. [20 U.S.C.1400(c)(5)(A)(ii)]

When? Including TransitionServices in the IEP

What’s not apparent in IDEA’sdefinition of transition servicesbut nonetheless critical tomention is the timing of transi-tion-related planning and ser-vices: When must transitionactivities considerations begin?The answer lies in a differentprovision related to content ofthe IEP:

From §300.320(b):

(b) Transition services.Beginning not later thanthe first IEP to be in effectwhen the child turns 16, oryounger if determinedappropriate by the IEPTeam, and updatedannually, thereafter, theIEP must include—

(1) Appropriatemeasurable postsecondarygoals based upon ageappropriate transitionassessments related totraining, education,employment, and, whereappropriate, independentliving skills; and

(2) The transition services(including courses ofstudy) needed to assist thechild in reaching thosegoals.

It’s interesting to note that, inIDEA ’97, specific types oftransition statements wererequired in the IEP beginningwhen the student was age 14and every year thereafter. IDEA2004 has changed the age andrevised the language describingwhat type of statements must beincluded in the student’s IEP (asis more fully explained in Mod-ule 13, Content of the IEP). Inkeeping with the individualizednature of the IEP, the IEP Teamretains the authority, however, tobegin transition-related consider-ations earlier in a student’s life, ifTeam members (which includethe parent and the student witha disability) determine it appro-priate, given the student’s needsand preferences.

Domains Considered:Parts 2 and 3 of the Slide

With another CLICK, the firstthree bullets appear on the leftside of the screen, continuingthe definition of transitionservices. These are:

• postsecondary education,

• vocational education,

• integrated employment (in-cluding supported employ-ment).

The next CLICK will bring upthe remaining elements con-tained in the opening to thedefinition:

• continuing and adult educa-tion,

• adult services,

• independent living, or

• community participation.

As context, here’s the openingpart of the definition in oneplace, with the relevant text inbold:

(a) Transition servicesmeans a coordinated set ofactivities for a child with adisability that—

(1) Is designed to bewithin a results-orientedprocess, that is focused onimproving the academicand functionalachievement of the childwith a disability tofacilitate the child’smovement from school topost-school activities,including postsecondaryeducation, vocationaleducation, integratedemployment (includingsupported employment),continuing and adulteducation, adult services,independent living, orcommunity participa-tion...

Here are the domains of thepostschool world you may havediscussed with the audience andthe range of areas to be exploredby the IEP Team to determinewhat types of transition-relatedsupport and services a studentwith a disability needs. It’s easyto see how planning ahead ineach of these areas, and develop-ing goal statements and corre-sponding services for the stu-dent, can greatly assist thatstudent in preparing for life afterhigh school.

And we’re not done yet.There’s more to IDEA’s definitionof transition services, and it’scoming up next.





The slide includes the open-ing section of the definition oftransition services, very small andin gray text; the next section ofthe definition, in bold andnormal text to indicate that thisis the subject of this slide; andthe final section of the defini-tion, also small and in gray,which will be the subject of thenext slide. This organizationplaces the subject to be dis-cussed (the middle section ofthe definition) in its propercontext.

The provision of interestfollows the lead-in “Transitionservices means a coordinated setof activities for a child with adisability that…” and adds:

(2) Is based on theindividual child’s needs,taking into account thechild’s strengths,preferences, and interests;and includes—

This is not a new provision oflaw. It acknowledges that, forchildren themselves, the out-come or result sought via coordi-nated transition activities mustbe personally defined, takinginto account a child’s interests,preferences, needs, andstrengths. This is why the publicagency must invite the child witha disability to attend IEP Teammeeting “if a purpose of themeeting will be the consider-ation of the postsecondary goalsfor the child and the transitionservices needed to assist thechild in reaching those goals

under §300.320(b)” or “musttake other steps to ensure thatthe child’s preferences andinterests are considered” if thestudent is not able to attend[§300.321(b)].





Last slide in the transitionfive! And we are very nearly donewith this separate slide show offive key terms and the moduleitself.

This slide picks up where thelast left off, providing examplesof the types of activities includedin that “coordinated set ofactivities” mentioned two slidesago and still barely visible in thetiny, grayed-out print on theslide. As IDEA specifies at§300.43(a)(2), this includes:

• Instruction;

• Related services;

• Community experiences;

• The development of employ-ment and other post-schooladult living objectives; and

• If appropriate, acquisition ofdaily living skills and provisionof a functional vocationalevaluation.

That is a lot of ground tocover, but essential ground, ifthe student’s transition to theadult world is to be facilitated. Aspectrum of adult activities isevident here, from community toemployment, from being able totake care of oneself (e.g., dailyliving skills) to considering otheradult objectives and undertak-ings.


Resources of More Information

Transition is a huge topic. Its treatment within this module and inthe module Content of the IEP is necessarily brief, given all that can besaid on the subject. Not all audiences will need extensive informationon transition planning; it really is a topic that comes in its own time.You can therefore enlarge its treatment here for participants who livewith or work with children with disabilities of transition age, or keepthis key change in the IEP a brief mention only.

Should you wish to enlarge the training (or connect interestedparticipants with more information), here are several truckloads oftransition-related materials, all summed up in NICHCY’s TransitionSuite, which is divided into five separate offerings:

• Transition 101http://www.nichcy.org/resources/transition101.aspIntroducing the students, the laws, transition planning in action,transition connections state-by-state, and materials in Spanish.

• Transition for Parentshttp://www.nichcy.org/resources/transition_parents.aspParents have unique transition-related questions and concerns,addressed through the resources identified here.

• Transition for Studentshttp://www.nichcy.org/resources/transition_students.aspCalling all students! These resources are for you, to explain transi-tion planning and to talk about what you bring to the IEP table,including your dreams.

• Transition for Professionalshttp://www.nichcy.org/resources/transition_professionals.aspResources for administrators, transition specialists, secondaryschool teachers, job developers, youth development professionals ,and those planning school-to-work programs and activities.

• Transition for Specific Disabilitieshttp://www.nichcy.org/resources/transition_disab.aspFind transition resources specific to these disabilities: AD/HD,autism, blindness/visual impairment, deaf-blindness, deaf/hearingimpairment, Down syndrome, intellectual disabilities, learningdisabilities, mental health, special health care needs, and traumaticbrain injury.


Slide 22Section 3 of Module 1: Wind-Down



So—are you tired yet? Howabout the audience? You bet!

This slide signals that the endis in sight, that participants haveabsorbed tremendous amountsof information, and that every-one is entitled to feel a bit tired.There’s no need to say anything;the picture on the slide willspeak for itself.


Slide 23Section 3 of Module 1: Wind-Down



Nearly done. The purpose ofthis slide is to indicate the scopeof what’s been addressed in thismodule on the Top 10 Basics ofSpecial Education—namely, thefull platter of IDEA’s mostessential concepts and principles.

Having completed this mod-ule, participants should be well-versed in the acronyms, process,and terminology that are pivotalto the statute and regulations.No wonder the girl on the slideis smiling. Not only has shesurvived the intake of so muchinformation, she now has abroad and deep understandingof IDEA’s core elements and howthey go together to address theeducation of children withdisabilities.

Take 10 minutes more andtalk with participants whatthey’ve learned today, what theyidentify as IDEA’s core conceptsand principles, and how theserelate to their own personal orprofessional involvement withchildren who have disabilities.


Slide 24Section 3 of Module 1: Last Slide!

CLICK AGAIN to END the slide show.

Slide loadscompletely. Noclicks are necessaryexcept to END theslide show.

And you’re done! Everyoneout to the meadow and eatingwildflowers!

module 1 the top 10 basics of special education · 8/14/2006 · module 1 the top 10 basics of...

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