SPED Law
What does IDEA stand for?
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
What is RTI and its goals?
RTI stands for response to intervention and its goals are to prevent academic/ behavioral problems early on and to determine a student's eligibility for special education referral
What does IEP stand for? What is an IEP?
IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan. An IEP is a plan that creates a blueprint for a child's special education experience at school.
What are IEP goals? What questions must be answered by IEP goals?
IEP goals must be S.M.A.R.T., meaning they must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
Questions answered by IEP goals: what exactly do you want to accomplish?How will you know when you meet your goal? Is it possible to meet this goal with effort by your timeline? Is this goal worth working hard to accomplish? and What is the deadline you set to meet your goal?
What is a learning disability? Give an example of one
A learning disability is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive, process,respond to, and store information.
Accepted examples: dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalulia
What does LRE stand for? Define LRE
LRE stands for Least Restrictive Environment. This means that children with disabilities have the right to learn in an environment with the least amount of intervention possible.
draw the RTI model and label all of the parts
picture of RTI model
3 tiered pyramid
1st tier- core classroom instruction
2nd tier- targeted small group instruction
3rd tier- intensive individual intervention
Who are IEPs written for? How often must IEPs be evaluated?
IEPs are written for students with disabilities who qualify for special education. An IEP must be evaluated at least once a year, but more if problems occur that need to be reevaluated and changed within the IEP.
What does IFSP stand for? What does it mean?
IFSP stands for Individualized Family Service Plan. This is a plan for young children with disabilities. It is very similar to IEP, but it is only for children age 0-3. Beyond the age of 3, a child will get an IEP instead of an IFSP.
What does ADHD stand for and what are its key characteristics?
Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD has key characteristics of limited sustained attention, reduced impulse control, and excessive energy.
How did Brown vs. Board of Education impact and change the face of special education in the USA?
Now that children of different races were desegregated and separate was determined to be unequal, people were able to prove that this counted for special education students as well as children of color.
What is the pre-referral process?
A preventative measure that can help eliminate inappropriate referrals to special education
What is the role of the parents, including surrogate parents, in decisions regarding the educational program of their children?
The parents of a child with a disability are expected to be equal participants along with school personnel in developing, reviewing, and revising the IEP for their child.
List 3 differences between an IEP and a 504 plan
Possible answers:
IEP is required by IDEA while a 504 plan is required by Rehabilitation Act
IEP provides specialized instruction while a 504 plan provides accommodations
IEP focuses on what the student is learning while a 504 plan focuses on how the student is learning
IEP is funded by the state while a 504 plan has no state or federal funding
A student is required to have 1 or more of the 13 listed disabilities in order to qualify for an IEP while a person with any disability can qualify for a 504 plan
conduct disorder is a disorder in which a person cannot control their impulses, anger, and is continually defiant.
You can tell the difference between someone with conduct disorder and a defiant student because those with conduct disorder cannot control anger and impulses, so they would respond immediately as opposed to a simply defiant student who would take time to respond and wouldn't necessarily be defiant and disrespectful to everything.
What is FAPE? What does it guarantee?
FAPE is Free Appropriate Public Education. This guarantees that all children with disabilities are granted the right to go to public school and get the proper interventions.
Approximate the process of referring a student to SPED.
teacher interventions occur for 30 days, team meeting about child observations, teacher intervention for 30 days (if it worked the intervention stops here, if it didn't work the process continues), meeting to determine whether or not to get more information or if the student is eligible for SPED testing (parent consent required), student is tested within 30 days, if the student qualifies for SPED they will get an IEP within 30 days.
What options do parents have if they disagree with a decision made by the school during an IEP meeting?
try to reach an agreement- talk out the issue with the school officials
ask for mediation - request an impartial mediator to help reach an agreement
ask for a due process hearing - an impartial hearing officer decides how to solve the issue
file a complaint with the state education agency (SEA) - write directly to the SEA and state what part of IDEA you believe the school has violated
What are service delivery models? How many of them are there? Which of them are typically found in public school districts?
Service delivery models are different ways to provide special education services to those who need them. There are 6 in total, Push-in, Pull-out, Inclusive, and Exclusive are all typically found in public school districts.
What is Autism/ Autism Spectrum Disorder? Write a brief definition of 1 of the 3 types
ASD is a disorder with a wide array of conditions including challenges in social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication issues. One of the three types is
ASD- typical thoughts when people hear "autism", significant language delays, social challenges, communication challenges, unusual behavior and interests
Asperger Syndrome- milder ASD symptoms, unusual behaviors, social challenges, unusual interests, typically no problems with language or intellectual disability
Pervasive Developmental Disorder- usually meet some criteria for Asperger or ASD, but not all, might only have social or communication challenges
Define and Describe the Americans with Disabilities Act
The ADA is the first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities. The ADA protects the civil rights of people with disabilities in all aspects of employment, in accessing public services such as transportation, and guaranteeing access to public accommodations such as restaurants, stores, hotels and other types of buildings to which the public has access.
name the 6 stages of the pre-referral process
1. initial concern regarding student’s progress
2. information gathering
3. information sharing and team discussion
4. discussion of possible strategies
5. implementation and monitoring of strategies
6. evaluation and decision making
Name 3 rights parents have under IDEA
Possible answers:
confidentiality - right to receive a complete explanation of all procedural safeguards available under IDEA - right to receive a complete explanation of state procedures for presenting complaints - right to inspect and review the educational records of your child - right to participate in meetings related to the identification, evaluation, and placement of their child, and the provision of FAPE to your child - right to obtain an independent educational evaluation (IEE) of your child - right to receive prior written notice on matters relating to the identification, evaluation, provision of FAPE, or placement of your child - right to give or deny consent before the school can take certain actions with respect to your child - right to disagree with decisions made by the school system on these issues - right of both parents and schools to use IDEA's mechanisms for resolving disputes, including the right to appeal determinations
Name and define 3 of the 6 service delivery models of special education.
Possible answers:
Push-in Model- SPED student spends day in gen ed class with a SPED teacher providing services along with gen ed teacher instruction
Pull-out Model- SPED student removed from gen ed for brief time to recieve services
Inclusive Classroom Model- gen ed class has a cluster of SPED students, sometimes with more than one teacher
Exclusive Model- classroom with kids of similar/same educational needs (ex. all Autistic kids in one class)
Special School Model- an entire school dedicated to meeting needs of students with specific disabilities
Residential School Model- live-in facility with education and health services provided, often specific to certain disability/area of need
What are the 5 types of speech and language disorders?
speech sound disorders, language disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, stuttering/fluency disorders, and voice disorders