Special Education 101

A teachers guide to basic understanding of special

education.

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Congratulations and Welcome to SFDRCISD!

“The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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List of Included Documents

1. Acronyms and Common Terms2. Notice of Procedural Safeguards3. Guide to the ARD Process4. Sample Sped Forms5. Strategies and Accommodations6. Staar Accommodations7. Co-Teach Guidelines

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List of Included Documents

8. IDEIA and Section 504 Comparison http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU-E2pzFbF8&feature=fvwrel

9. A Teacher’s Guide to Section 504 (Q&A)10.Notice of Rights under Section 50411.Sample Section 504 Accommodations12.Teacher’s Guide to Dyslexia

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IDEA/IDEIA

IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act This Federal Law was reauthorized in 2004 and is now….

IDEIA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act

IDEA/IDEIA are used interchangeably when referring to the same law.

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IDEA/IDEIA

This federal law grants children with disabilities the right to receive a “Free Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE).

IDEA lays out the minimum requirements that each state must meet in order to receive federal special education funds.

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IDEA/IDEIA

What are the 4 parts of IDEA/IDEIA?1. Part A – General provisions, definitions, and

other issues2. Part B – Assistance for education of all

children with disabilities3. Part C – Infants and Toddlers with

disabilities4. Part D – National activities to improve

education of children with disabilities

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Special Education Process

Step 1. Request for evaluation Step 2. Notice of rights Step 3. Evaluation Step 4&5. THE ARD/IEP meeting Step 6. On-going assessment & data

collection Step 7. Examine data and make

recommendations

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Step 1Request for Evaluation

This occurs when someone believes that a student has a disability AND needs special education or related services to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum.

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Step 1Request for Evaluation

What follows is a referral for an individualized initial evaluation that is initiated either because the child is:a. Not developing at the same rate or sequence as other children

b. Experiencing unusual or prolonged difficulties with general education curriculum and instruction; varied interventions strategies have been tried (RTI) and documented before request is initiated.

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What is Response to Intervention (RtI)?

An early intervention model for addressing the learning needs of all students through a continuum of services.

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RtI

RtI services should include: High quality instruction and scientific,

research-based strategies aligned with individual student need;

Frequent monitoring of student progress to help make results based academic or behavioral decisions;

Data-based school improvement The application of student response data to

make important educational decisions

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RtI

Under IDEIA, students who are at risk should receive RtI interventions before a referral to special education can be considered.

Why??? To cut down on the number of referrals to special education for students who have NOT received adequate instruction in the general education setting. (NCLB)

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Step 2Notice of Rights

IDEA says the school must give parents a notice explaining the procedural safeguards available to parents (their rights) at least one time per year.

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Step 3Evaluation

The student is evaluated using a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, academic and developmental information, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in making a determination of……

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Step 3 Evaluation

…whether the child meets the federal definition of a “child with a disability”

…the content of the child’s IEP, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities

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Step 4& 5ARD/IEP meeting

In Texas, we call the meetings that determine the special education supports and services of a student, an ARD. ARD is an acronym for Admission, Review and Dismissal. Other states call these meetings IEP meetings.

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Step 6 On-going assessment/data collection

Instructional and related service providers collect data and maintain records of student progress as soon as the IEP is developed and continue until the next scheduled annual ARD/IEP review.

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Step 7 Examine data and make recommendations

This step should begin at least 4 to 6 weeks before the next scheduled annual ARD/IEP meeting.

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Admission, Review and Dismissal (ARD) Committee

This is the name of the team that meets at least annually to:

Decide if a student has an eligible disability

Determine whether special ed. and related services are appropriate and will be provided

Develop an individual ed. plan (IEP)

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ARD Committee Meeting

Annual review of a student’s special education program includes a review of the following:

1. Student progress2. Current IEP3. And, the development of a new IEP

for the upcoming year

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Types of ARD Committee meetings

Initial Placement DNQ Dismissal Annual Review Re-evaluation /

Triennial Manifestation Graduation

Temporary Transfer Brief Failure

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Who is invited to the ARD meeting?

Decision makers which include the following:1. Parent2. Adult student3. Administrator4. General ed. Teacher5. Evaluation personnel6. If necessary (LPAC Rep., AI, VI certified

teacher)

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What should a general ed. teacher bring to an ARD meeting?

Relevant information from other general ed. teachers

Progress reports in the gen. ed. Program

Behavior, grades, and attendance Samples of modifications Student work samples Student’s educational levels in the

gen. ed. setting

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What should a special ed. Teacher bring to an ARD Meeting?

Relevant information from other Sp. Ed. teachers

Up-dated progress on objectives Competencies (strengths/weaknesses) Draft of a BIP if appropriate Last progress report Student’s educational levels Work samples, TAKs or alternative

assessment scores, current grades, attendance, informal assessment results, and other information necessary.

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In order for an ARD to be duly constituted, it must include:

A campus administrator Parent (invited with a 5 day notice) At least 1 sp. Ed. Teacher (VI/AI) At least 1 gen. ed. Teacher Providers of relevant services (including

related services) A professional who can interpret evaluation

results The student, as appropriate

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A highly effective ARD Committee:

Gets participation from all members. Discusses important issues

thoroughly. Uses multiple valid measures of

evidence to support decisions. Assists the parent in understanding

the discussion and in being an active participant.

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What are some decisions made at an ARD?

Accommodations

Modifications

Assessment decisions

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Accommodations

Practices and procedures that allow students with disabilities to learn, have access to, and be tested on the same curriculum as students without disabilities.

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Accommodations

Accommodations do not change what the student is expected to learn but rather how he/she learns the curriculum.

Providing accommodations during instruction and assessment may also promote equal access to the general curriculum.

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Accommodations Practices that provide equitable

access to grade-level curriculum during instruction and assessment.

Do not reduce learning expectations and do not replace the teaching of subject specific knowledge and skills in the TEKS.

May be needed more often at some grades than others.

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Types of Classroom Accommodations

Presentation (Alternate Format) Response (methods other than paper

and pencil or machine scorable responses)

Setting (change the location or condition)

Timing and Scheduling (increase the standard length of time or change organization or test)

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Monitoring accommodations

Is it important?

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Modifications

A change in what the student is expected to learn that is different from the general education curriculum (TEKS).

Modifications are only for students with an IEP. Not all students with an IEP need modifications.

The curriculum is adjusted or reduced. The achievement standard is lowered.

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Examples of Modifications Teacher creates a separate test for

student (remove some answer choices, abstract concepts removed)

Teacher chunks test for student in assignments and assessments

In accordance to the IEP, the teacher removes parts of the grade level TEKS that students’ disability keeps student from learning

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Assessment Decisions Do special education students participate in

the Texas Student Assessment Program? NCLB tells us that All students including

those receiving special education services, must be assessed on grade-level curriculum.

NCLB calls for reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities

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What does IDEIA tell us?

Requires participation in state wide and district wide assessments.

Requires necessary accommodations.

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Alternate Assessments

STAAR is a general assessment that may also be administered to students receiving special education.

STAAR-M For only 2%

STAAR-ALT Only 1%

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STAAR General Assessment Same grade-level achievement

standards for all students Format change: larger font, fewer

items on page Same grade level and subjects for

students. SSI and exit level retest opportunities

same as STAAR

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STAAR-M

An alternate assessment Modified achievement standards Same grade level content as STAAR Format: larger font, fewer items per

page Test design: fewer answer choices,

simpler vocabulary and sentence structure

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STAAR-ALT

Alternate assessment Alternate achievement standards Designed for students with significant

cognitive disabilities Format: not a traditional paper/pencil

test Administered using students primary

language

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What are the 13 eligibility categories identified under IDEIA?

AI: Auditorially Impaired AU: Autism DB: Deaf-Blind ED: Emotionally Disturbed LD: Learning Disability MD: Multiple Disabilities ID: Intellectual Disability

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13 Categories Continued

NC: Non-Categorical OHI: Other Health Impaired OI: Orthopedically Impaired SI: Speech Impaired TBI: Traumatic Brain Injury VI: Visually Impaired

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ACRONYMS, ACRONYMS

How many are there?

Will I ever remember them all?

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Who can I ask for help?

If you are unsure about a student then ask your campus administrator or the campus special education diagnostician.

If the student is either receiving special education services or section 504 support make sure that you have a copy of the students accommodations.

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What happens if I don’t follow accommodations?

Trouble May have to go to ARD and explain to

parents why they have not been followed.

Could result in a “HARD ARD”. Could result in a Due Process Hearing

due to denial of FAPE.

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Districts Expectations

Know your students Be an active and effective member of your

students ARD Committee meetings Make instructional and testing decisions

based solely on individual student needs and eligibility requirements

Consistently follow and document accommodations for instruction and testing

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Quote: Haim Ginott“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I

am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”