The Acronym Alphabet
This 4-letter acronym represents the core federal law that ensures students with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education.
What is IDEA? (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
Once a parent signs consent for an initial evaluation, federal law mandates that the district complete it within this many calendar days.
What is 60 days?
Before an initial evaluation or a change in placement can occur, school districts must obtain this explicit permission from a parent or guardian.
What is informed parental consent?
This mandatory IEP team member is responsible for ensuring the student's access to the general education curriculum and modifying the core lessons.
Who is the General Education Teacher?
This historic 1954 civil rights case ruled that "separate but equal" is inherently unequal, paving the way for special education litigation.
What is Brown v. Board of Education?
This legally binding document outlines a student's specialized instruction, goals, and accommodations.
What is an IEP? (Individualized Education Program)
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) must be reviewed and updated at least this often.
What is once a year (or annually)?
This is the legal term for the official, written explanation a school district must provide to parents whenever it proposes or refuses to change a student's identification, evaluation, or placement.
What is Prior Written Notice (PWN)?
Under IDEA, this individual must be invited to the IEP meeting whenever postsecondary transition goals or services are being discussed.
Who is the student?
In this 1982 case involving a deaf student, the Supreme Court ruled that schools must provide a "basic floor of opportunity," not necessarily maximize a student's potential.
What is Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Central School District v. Rowley?
The acronym for the legal requirement that students with disabilities must be educated with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate.
What is LRE? (Least Restrictive Environment)
To determine if a student continues to qualify for special education services, a comprehensive reevaluation must be conducted at least every this many years.
What is 3 years? (Triennial review)
If a parent disagrees with the school district's evaluation, they have the right to request this independent assessment at the public's expense.
What is an IEE? (Independent Educational Evaluation)
This required IEP team member must have the legal authority to commit school district resources and ensure that services written in the IEP will actually be provided
Who is the District Representative (or LEA Representative)?
This landmark 2017 ruling overturned the "merely more than de minimis" standard, stating IEPs must be "markedly more demanding" and ambitious.
What is Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District?
This 4-letter acronym refers to the baseline standard of education guaranteed to qualified students under IDEA.
What is FAPE? (Free Appropriate Public Education)
Under IDEA, a school district may suspend a student with a disability for up to this many cumulative school days in a school year before it triggers a change in placement or an MDR.
What is 10 days?
This voluntary, confidential process utilizes a neutral third party to help parents and school districts resolve disputes without going to a formal hearing.
What is mediation?
To excuse a required IEP team member from attending a meeting, the school district must obtain this type of agreement from the parent in writing before the meeting.
What is a Team Member Excusal?
This 1988 Supreme Court case established the "stay-put" rule, prohibiting schools from unilaterally excluding disabled students from school for misbehavior.
What is Honig v. Doe?
When a student's behavior violates a code of conduct, the IEP team conducts this meeting, known by these initials, to determine if the behavior was linked to their disability.
What is an MDR? (Manifestation Determination Review)
IDEA requires that an IEP transition plan, focusing on post-secondary goals and career planning, must be in effect by the time the student reaches this federal age milestone.
What is 15?
This is the legal term for the requirement that a student must remain in their current educational placement while a due process hearing or legal dispute is ongoing.
What is the "stay-put" rule?
If a parent brings an attorney to an IEP meeting without prior notice, the school district has the legal right to take this collaborative step to ensure their own legal representation is present.
What is rescheduling (or pausing/postponing) the meeting?
This 1972 district court case established that a lack of funds is not an acceptable excuse for a school district to fail to provide special education services.
What is Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia?