Transcript Your Child’s Individualized Education Plan: Where to Start

Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA) And
Individualized
Education Program (IEP):
What Everyone Needs to Know
Presenter:
Jill Hill Fane
Family Advocate
Jacksonville System of Care Initiative
Mental Health America of Northeast Florida
Federation of Families of Northeast Florida
904-379-0617 Office
[email protected]
www.mhajax.org
www.fofjax.org
Special Education History in Florida
 1926 Jacksonville is the first in the state to have a Special Education Class
 1941 School districts permitted to serve “physically handicapped children.”
 1945 School districts permitted to serve children who are “educable mentally retarded.”
 1947 Beginning of the Exceptional Child Program with funding through the Minimum
Foundation Program.
 1965 Congress creates a Bureau of Education for the Handicapped later named Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP).
 1972 Two landmark decisions made through the Supreme Court decide that children with
disabilities should have an equal right to access education. Mills v. D.C. Board of Education
& PARC v. Pennsylvania.
 1974 The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is passed allowing parents
access to all personal information used by the school regarding their child.
 1975 An Act that allows all school districts to educate students with disabilities, called the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), is passed. It is later amended and
renamed as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990.
 Before 1975, children with disabilities were regularly excluded from public schools despite
obligatory education laws set since 1918.
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/hist_letter.pdf
Special Education History in Florida
 During 1975 Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act, It later was renamed as Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It required public schools to
provide students with disabilities four main services:
 To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a
free appropriate public education that emphasizes special
education and related services designed to meet their particular
needs.
 To ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their
parents or guardians are protected.
 To assist States and localities to provide for the education of all
children with disabilities.
 To assess and ensure the effectiveness of efforts to educate children
with disabilities. (US Department of Education)
Special Education History in Florida
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1977 The final federal regulations are passed and require school districts to adhere to a set of rules when
providing education to children with disabilities.
1980 Competency in exceptional student education for teaching certificate required
1981 Access to public buildings for physically handicapped mandated.
1989 Graduation rate calculation revised to include special diploma and certificate of completion.
1990 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
1990 Mental health impairments included in special hospital and homebound funding.
1994 1994 Special Diploma Option 2, based on employment and community competencies, developed
and approved. Juvenile Justice Education Programs established.
1999 Americans with Disabilities Act is enacted allowing disabled children to become more common
place in school districts and gives parents and children certain rights under IDEA.
2001 The No Child Left Behind law becomes enacted calling for ALL students to become proficient in
reading and math by the year 2014.
2003 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) waiver for students with disabilities for whom it is
determined that FCAT cannot accurately measure student’s ability allowed.
2005 IDEA Reauthorized
2007 Sunshine State Standards adopted for reading, mathematics, and language arts include access
points for students with disabilities.
2011 Access requirements to postsecondary education for individuals with intellectual disabilities
changed with the amendment of section 1004.015
IDEA LAW
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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement
Act of 2004
Guides states and school districts in providing specially
designed instruction and related services
Parts A, B, C, and D
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Part A: General Provisions, Definitions and Other
Issues
Part B: Assistance for Education of All Children with
Disabilities (School)
Part C: Infant and Toddlers with Disabilities (Early
Steps)
Part D: National Activities to Improve Education of
Children with Disabilities (Parent Training Centers,
Central Florida Parent Center and Florida Network on
Disabilities)
http://idea.ed.gov/
What is IDEA Part B?
 The nation’s special education law,
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), sets high standards for achievement
and guides how special help and services are
made available in schools to address
students individual needs through an
Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These
students must meet criteria qualification for
Special Education Services.
What is the criteria
qualification for Special
Education Services..
To be eligible for IDEA…
• A child must meet the criteria of one or
more disability categories
AND
• Must also need specially designed
instruction and related services
IDEA Categories
• Autism (ASD with the DSM-V)
• Emotional Disturbance
• Hearing Impairments
(Including Deafness)
• Intellectual Disability
• Orthopedic
Impairments
• Other Health
Impairments
• Specific Learning
Disabilities
• Speech/Language
Impairments
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment
• Developmental Delays
(Ages 3 through 6)
What is the criteria
qualification for Special
Education Services..
To be eligible for IDEA…
• A child must meet the criteria of one or
more disability categories
AND
• Must also need specially designed
instruction and related services
What is Specially Designed
Instruction and Related Services
Specially Designed Instruction refers to the teaching strategies and methods
used by teachers to instruct students with learning disabilities and other types of
learning disorders.
 Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of
an eligible child under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of
instruction—
 To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s
disability; and
 To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can
meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency
that apply to all children. [§300.39(b)(3)]
Thus, as part of designing the instruction to fit the needs of a specific child,
adaptations may be made in the content, methodology, or delivery of
instruction.
Related services is defined by the United States Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act ("IDEA") 1997 as,
 "transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive
services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special
education..."[section 300.24(a)].
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The related services include: audiology, counseling services, early identification, family trainingcounseling and home visits, health services, medical services, nursing services, nutrition
services, occupational therapy, orientation and mobility services, parent counseling and training,
physical therapy, psychological services, recreation and therapeutic recreation, rehabilitative
counseling services, school health services, service coordination services, social work services in
schools, speech pathology and speech-language pathology, transportation and related costs, and
assistive technology and services. Related services were mandated in the IDEA 1997, and more
than 6.1 million children with disabilities received related services in 1998-1999 (Nichcy).
 The related services according to IDEA, "...assist a child with a disability to
benefit from special education" [section 300.24(a)]. Related services also help
children with exceptionalities to reach their IEP goals and objectives.
Principles Included in IDEA
Principles Included in IDEA
• Appropriate evaluation
• Parent & student participation
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Free Appropriate Public Education
(FAPE)
• Procedural safeguards
• Individualized Education
Program/Plan (IEP)
Evaluation
Identifying Children for Evaluation
Before a child’s eligibility under IDEA can be determined, a full and individual
evaluation of the child must be conducted. There are two ways a child may be
identified to receive an evaluation under IDEA:
 Parents may request that their child be evaluated. Parents are often the first to
notice that their child’s learning, behavior, or development may be a cause for
concern. If they’re worried about their child’s progress in school and think he
or she might need extra help from special education services request an
evaluation. If the school agrees that an evaluation is needed, it must evaluate
the child at no cost to parents.
 The school system may ask to evaluate the child. Based on a teacher’s
recommendation, observations, or results from tests given to all children in a
particular grade, a school may recommend that a child receive further
screening or assessment to determine if he or she has a disability and needs
special education and related services. The school system must ask parents
for permission to evaluate the child, and parents must give their
informed written permission before the evaluation may be conducted.
Appropriate Evaluation
 Category of disability
 Whether the child needs specially
designed instruction and/or related
services
 The present levels of academic
achievement and related developmental
needs
 Whether any accommodations
(Adaptations) or modifications are
needed
Giving Parents Notice
IDEA requires the school system to notify parents in writing that it would like to
evaluate their child (or that it is refusing to evaluate the child). This is called giving
prior written notice. The school must also:
• explain why it wants to conduct the evaluation (or why it refuses);
 describe each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report used as a
basis for proposing the evaluation (or refusing to conduct the evaluation);
 where parents can go to obtain help in understanding IDEA’s provisions;
 what other options the school considered and why those were rejected; an
 a description of any other factors that are relevant to the school’s proposal (or
refusal) to evaluate the child.
The purpose behind this thorough explanation is to make sure that parents are fully
informed, understand what is being proposed (or refused), understand what evaluation
of their child will involve (or why the school system is refusing to conduct an evaluation
of the child), and understand their right to refuse consent for evaluation, or to
otherwise exercise their rights under IDEA’s procedural safeguards if the school refuses
to evaluate.
Parental Consent
 Before the school may proceed with the evaluation, parents must give their
informed written consent. This consent is for the evaluation only. It does not mean
that the school has the parents’ permission to provide special education services to the
child. That requires a separate consent.
 If parents refuse consent for an initial evaluation (or simply don’t respond to the
school’s request), the school must carefully document all its attempts to obtain parent
consent. It may also continue to pursue conducting the evaluation by using the law’s
due process procedures or its mediation procedures, unless doing so would be
inconsistent with state law relating to parental consent.
 However, if the child is home-schooled or has been placed in a private school by
parents (meaning, the parents are paying for the cost of the private school), the school
may not override parents’ lack of consent for initial evaluation of the child. As the
Department of Education (2006) notes: “…once parents opt out of the public school
system, States and school districts do not have the same interest in requiring parents to
agree to the evaluation of their children. In such cases, it would be overly intrusive for the
school district to insist on an evaluation over a parent’s objection.” (71 Fed. Reg. at 46635)
The Scope of Evaluation
A child’s initial evaluation must be full and individual, focused
on that child and only that child.
 The evaluation must use a variety of assessment tools and
strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and
academic information about the child, including information
provided by the parent. When conducting an initial evaluation,
it’s important to examine all areas of a child’s functioning to
determine not only if the child is a child with a disability, but
also determine the child’s educational needs. This full and
individual evaluation includes evaluating the child’s:
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health,
vision and hearing,
social and emotional status,
general intelligence,
academic performance,
communicative status, and
motor abilities
Review Existing Data
Evaluation (and particularly reevaluation) typically begins with a review of existing evaluation data on the child, which may
come from the child’s classroom work, his or her performance on State or district assessments, information provided by the
parents, and so on.
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The purpose of this review is to decide if the existing data is sufficient to establish the child’s eligibility and determine
educational needs, or if additional information is needed. If the group determines there is sufficient information
available to make the necessary determinations, the public agency must notify parents:
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The determination and the reason for it
Parents have the right to request assessment to determine the child’s eligibility and educational needs.
Unless the parent request an assessment, the public agency is not required to conduct one.
If it is decided that additional data is needed, the group then identifies what is needed to determine:
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whether the student has a particular category of disability
Student’s present levels of performance and his or her academic and developmental needs;
whether your child needs special education and related services
whether any additions or modifications are needed in the special education and related services to enable the
child to meet the goals set out in the IEP to be developed and to participate, as appropriate, in the general
curriculum.
What About Evaluation for
Specific Learning Disabilities?
 It’s important to note, that IDEA 2004 made dramatic changes in
how children who are suspected of having a learning disability
are to be evaluated.
 States must not require the use of a severe discrepancy between
intellectual ability and achievement.
 States must permit the use of a process based on the child’s
response to scientific, research-based intervention; and
 States may permit the use of other alternative research-based
procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning
disability.
 The team that makes the eligibility determination must include a
regular education teacher and at least one person qualified to
conduct individual diagnostic examinations of children, such as a
school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or remedial
reading teacher.
Determining Eligibility
 The child’s assessment results should be explained. The specialists who
assessed the child will explain what they did, why they used the tests they did,
your child’s results on those tests or other evaluation procedures, and what the
child’s scores mean when compared to other children of the same age and
grade.
 It is important to know that the group may not determine that a child is eligible
if the determinant factor for making that judgment is the child’s lack of
instruction in reading or math or the child’s limited English proficiency.
 The child must otherwise meet the law’s definition of a “child with a disability”–
meaning that he or she has one of the disabilities listed in the law and, because
of that disability, needs special education and related services.
 If the evaluation results indicate that the child meets the definition of one or
more of the disabilities listed under IDEA and needs special education and
related services, the results will form the basis for developing the child’s IEP.
What if You Don’t Agree
with the Evaluation Results?
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If you, as parents of a child with a disability, disagree with the results of your child’s evaluation as obtained by the
public agency, you have the right to obtain what is known as an Independent Educational Evaluation, or IEE. An IEE
means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the
education of your child. If you ask for an IEE, the public agency must provide you with, among other things,
information about where an IEE may be obtained.
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Who pays for the independent evaluation? The answer is that some IEEs are at public expense and others are paid
for by the parents.
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The public agency may grant your request and pay for the IEE, or it may initiate a hearing to show that its
own evaluation was appropriate.
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The public agency may ask why you object to the public evaluation. However, the agency may not require you
to explain, and it may not unreasonably delay either providing the IEE at public expense or initiating a due
process hearing to defend the public evaluation.
If the public agency initiates a hearing and the final decision of the hearing officer is that the agency’s evaluation
was appropriate, then you still have the right to an IEE but not at public expense.
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As part of a due process hearing, a hearing officer may also request an IEE. Whenever an IEE is publicly
funded, that IEE must meet the same criteria that the public agency uses when it initiates an evaluation.
Parents have the right to have your child independently evaluated at any time at your own expense.
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The results of this evaluation must be considered by the public agency, if it meets agency criteria, in any
decision made with respect to providing your child with FAPE.
Independent Educational Evaluation
 At public expense if parent disagrees
 In writing / no reason
 Without delay: IEE or Hearing
 Hearing determines appropriateness
of initial evaluation
What is RtI
(Response to Intervention)?
 RtI, identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress,
provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those
interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with
learning disabilities or other disabilities. (NCRTI, 2010)
 These elements of RTI can be observed readily in almost any RTI implementation.
 Struggling children are identified through a poor performance on a class,
school, or district wide screening intended to indicate which children may be at
risk of academic or behavioral problems.
 A child may also be identified through other means, such as teacher observation.
 The school provides the child with research-based interventions while the child is
still in the general education environment and closely monitors the student’s
progress (or response to the interventions), and adjusts their intensity or nature,
given the student’s progress.
 RTI can also be instrumental in identifying students who have learning disabilities.
 http://www.rti4success.org/pdf/rtiessentialcomponents_042710.pdf
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RTI: Different Levels of Intensity.
Tier 1 | At-risk children who have been identified through a screening process receive
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research-based instruction, sometimes in small groups, sometimes as part of a class wide intervention.
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A certain amount of time (generally not more than six or eight weeks) is allotted to see if the child responds to the
intervention.
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Each student’s progress is monitored closely. If the child does, indeed, respond to the research-based intervention, then
this indicates that perhaps his or her difficulties have resulted from less appropriate or insufficiently targeted instruction.
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Tier 2 | If, however, the child does not respond to the first level of group-oriented interventions, he or she typically moves to
the next RTI level.
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The length of time in Tier 2 is generally a bit longer than in Tier 1, and the level of intensity of the interventions is greater.
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They may also be more closely targeted to the areas in which the child is having difficulty. Again, child progress is closely
monitored.
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The time allotted to see if the child responds to interventions in this more intensive level may be longer than in the first
level—a marking period, for instance, rather than six weeks—but the overall process is much the same.
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If the child shows adequate progress, then the intervention has been successful and a “match” has been found to what
type of instruction works with that child. It is quite possible that, if the problem is caught early enough and addressed via
appropriate instruction, the child learns the skills necessary to continue in general education without further
intervention.
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Tier 3 | On the other hand, if the child does not respond adequately to the intervention(s) in Tier 2, then a third level becomes
an option for continued and yet more intensive intervention.
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This third level is typically more individualized as well. If the child does not responded to instruction in this level, then
he or she is likely to be referred for a full and individual evaluation under IDEA.
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The data gathered on the child’s response to interventions in Tiers 1, 2, and 3 become part of the information available
during the evaluation process and afterwards, when a determination must be made as to disability and the child’s possible
eligibility for special education and related services.
Important Note: At any point in this multileveled process, a child may be referred for evaluation under IDEA to
determine if he or she is a “child with a disability” as IDEA 2004’s regulation defines that term at §300.8. Becoming
involved in RTI does not mean that a child has to complete a level, or all levels, of an RTI approach before he or she may be
evaluated for eligibility for special education and related services. The IDEA 2004’s regulation is very clear about this. RTI may
not be used as a means of delaying or refusing to conduct such an evaluation if the school suspects that the child has a
disability or if the parents request that the school system evaluate the child.
RtI and Evaluation
 The School wants
to do RtI before
they begin an
evaluation?
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
 http://www.florida-rti.org/floridamtss/index.htm
Florida’s MTSS
 Response to Intervention (RtI) has been described in
Florida as a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS)
for providing high quality instruction and
intervention matched to student needs using
learning rate over time and level of performance to
inform instructional decisions.
 Phase 1 of implementation for Problem-solving and
Response to Instruction/Intervention, came to a close
in 2011. Phase II of the statewide implementation of a
MTSS has emerged. Read more about the history and
future of MTSS in Florida.
Multi-Tiered Framework
Tier 3
 Intensive Individualized Interventions and Supports
 More focused, targeted instruction/intervention and
supplemental support in addition to and aligned with the core
academic and behavior curriculum and instruction
Tier 2
 Targeted Supplemental Interventions and Supports
 More focused, targeted instruction/intervention and
supplemental support in addition to and aligned with the core
academic and behavior curriculum and instruction
Tier 1
 Core Universal Instruction and Supports
 General academic and behavior instruction and support
designed and differentiated for all students in all settings
The three tiers are not used to describe categories of students, timelines, procedures, or specific programs.
Referral Process
• Pre-referral activities (RTI/MTSS)
• Referral
• Consent
• Evaluation (60 days)
• Eligibility Determination
• Written request & consent for
evaluation
Parent & Student Participation
Parent & Student Participation
One of IDEA’s foundational principles is the right of parents to participate in educational decision
making regarding their child with a disability. The law is very specific about what school systems must do
to ensure that parents have the opportunity to participate, if they so choose.
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Parental rights of participation can be summarized as follows:
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Parent and students are not required to participate, however; that is their choice.
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Parents have the right to participate in meetings related to the evaluation, identification, and
educational placement of their child.
Parents have the right to participate in meetings related to the provision of a free appropriate public
education (FAPE) to their child.
Parents are entitled to be members of any group that decides whether their child is a “child with a
disability” and meets eligibility criteria for special education and related services.
Parents are entitled to be members of the team that develops, reviews, and revises the individualized
education program (IEP) for their child.
Parents are entitled to be members of any group that makes placement decisions for their child.
IDEA guarantees is that they are given the opportunity to participate.
If neither parent can attend the meeting the school must use other methods to ensure their
participation, including individual or conference calls, or video conferencing.
Alternative Participation
“…such as video conferences
or conference calls…”
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Parents
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School / District Personnel
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By agreement
Active Participation
 Speaking up
 Asking questions
 Making suggestions
 Disagreeing
Communication and Culture
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Another important component in evaluation is to ensure that assessment tools are not discriminatory on a racial or
cultural basis.
Evaluation must also be conducted in the child’s typical, accustomed mode of communication (unless it is clearly not
feasible to do so) and in a form that will yield accurate information about what the child knows and can do
academically, developmentally, and functionally. For many, English is not the native language; others use sign to
communicate, or assistive or alternative augmentative communication devices. To assess such a child using a means of
communication or response not highly familiar to the child raises the probability that the evaluation results will yield
minimal, if any, information about what the child knows and can do.
Specifically, consideration of language, culture, and communication mode means the following:
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If your child has limited English proficiency, materials and procedures used to assess your child must be selected and
administered to ensure that they measure the extent to which your child has a disability and needs special education,
rather than measuring your child’s English language skills.
This provision in the law is meant to protect children of different racial, cultural, or language backgrounds from
misdiagnosis. For example, children’s cultural backgrounds may affect their behavior or test responses in ways that
teachers or other personnel do not understand. Similarly, if a child speaks a language other than English or has limited
English proficiency, he or she may not understand directions or words on tests and may be unable to answer correctly.
As a result, a child may mistakenly appear to be a slow learner or to have a hearing or communication problem.
If an assessment is not conducted under standard conditions–meaning that some condition of the test has been
changed (such as the qualifications of the person giving the test or the method of giving the test)–a description of the
extent to which it varied from standard conditions must be included in the evaluation report.
If your child has impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the law requires that tests are selected and administered
so as best to ensure that test results accurately reflect his or her aptitude or achievement level (or whatever other
factors the test claims to measure), and not merely reflect your child’s impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills
(unless the test being used is intended to measure those skills).
Least Restrictive Environment
Least Restrictive Environment
By law, schools are required to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive
environment that is appropriate to the individual student's needs.
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"Least restrictive environment" (LRE) means that a student who has a disability should have the
opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate.
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They should have access to the general education curriculum, or any other program that non-disabled
peers would be able to access.
The student should be provided with supplementary aids and services necessary to achieve educational
goals if placed in a setting with non-disabled peers.
Academically, a resource room may be available within the school for specialized instruction, with
typically no more than two hours per day of services for a student with learning disabilities.
Should the nature or severity of his or her disability prevent the student from achieving these goals in a
regular education setting, then the student would be placed in a more restrictive environment, such as a
special school, classroom within the current school, or a hospital program.
Generally, the less opportunity a student has to interact and learn with non-disabled peers, the more the
placement is considered to be restricted.
To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, a team will review the student’s strengths,
weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular
educational setting. With the differences in needs varying broadly, there is no single definition of
what an LRE will be, and each student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Free Appropriate Public Education
Free Appropriate Public Education
 Under the IDEA, FAPE is defined as an educational
program that is individualized to a specific child,
designed to meet that child's unique needs, provides
access to the general curriculum, meets the grade-level
standards established by the state, and from which the
child receives educational benefit.
Definition of an
Appropriate Education
 Some of the criteria specified in various sections of the IDEA statute includes
requirements that schools provide each (disabled) student an education that:
 is designed to meet the unique educational needs of that one student,
 addresses both academic needs and functional needs,
 provides “...access to the general curriculum to meet the challenging expectations
established for all children” (that is, it meets the approximate grade-level standards of the
state educational agency, to the extent that this is appropriate)
 is provided in accordance with the Individualized Education Program (IEP)
 is reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.
 The free appropriate public education offered in an IEP need not be the best possible
one, nor one that will maximize the child's educational potential
 rather, it need only be an education that is specifically designed to meet the child's unique
needs, supported by services that will permit him to benefit from the instruction.
 The IDEA guarantees only a basic floor of opportunity, consisting of specialized
instruction and related services which are individually designed to provide educational
benefit.
FAPE according to IDEA
• Special education and related
services
• Provided without charge to
families
• Provided under public
supervision and direction
• “…in conformity with the
individualized education
program.”
Procedural Safeguards
What are the students and Parents Rights?
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/procedural.pdf
What are Procedural Safeguards?
 The federal regulations for IDEA 2004 include a section
called Procedural Safeguards. These safeguards are
designed to protect the rights of parents and their child
with a disability and, at the same time, give families and
school systems several mechanisms by which to resolve
their disputes.
 At least one time a year, the parents of a child with a
disability must receive from the school system a complete
explanation of all the procedural safeguards available to
them, as parents, under IDEA. This explanation is called
the “Procedural Safeguards Notice.”
What is the purpose of the
procedural safeguards notice?
 The purpose of the procedural safeguards notice is simple: to inform parents
completely about the procedural safeguards available under IDEA. These
represent their rights as parents and the protections they have—and their child
as well—under the law and its implementing regulations.
 IDEA states that schools must send the procedural safeguards notice to the
parents only one time a school year, except that schools must also give a copy to
parents:
 in their child’s initial referral for evaluation under IDEA, or when the parents
ask for such an evaluation of their child;
 When a State complaint is filed and when the first due process complaint is
received
 when a parent requests a copy of the procedural safeguards notice.
 Your local school district may also post a current copy of the procedural
safeguards notice on its website, if it has a website.
What does the Procedural
Safeguards Notice contain?
(A) independent educational evaluation;
(B) prior written notice;
(C) parental consent;
(D) access to educational records;
(E) the opportunity to present and resolve complaints, including-(i) the time period in which to make a complaint;
(ii) the opportunity for the agency to resolve the complaint; and
(iii) the availability of mediation;
(F) the child's placement during pendency of due process proceedings;
(G) procedures for students who are subject to placement in an interim
alternative educational setting;
(H) requirements for unilateral placement by parents of children in private
schools at public expense;
(I) due process hearings, including requirements for disclosure of evaluation
results and recommendations;
(J) State-level appeals (if applicable in that State);
(K) civil actions, including the time period in which to file such actions; and
(L) attorneys' fees.
Student Records
 IDEA and other federal laws protect the confidentiality
of your child’s education records. These safeguards
address the following three aspects:
 the use of personally identifiable information;
 who may have access to your child’s records; and
 the rights of parents to inspect their child’s education
records and request that these be amended to correct
information that is misleading or inaccurate, or that
violates the child’s privacy or other rights.
Prior Written Notice
 The school district must give parents a written notice
(information received in writing), whenever the school
district:
 Proposes to begin or change the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the
provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE)
to the child; or
 Refuses to begin or change the identification,
evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the
provision of FAPE to your child.
 The school district must provide the notice in
understandable language
Prior Written Notice
 Wording Matters
 “Due to my right to Prior Written Notice,
I would like a written explanation as to
why the school has denied
____________________.”
What Does the Notice Include?
The written notice must:
 Describe the action that your school district proposes or refuses to take;
 Explain why your school district is proposing or refusing to take the action;
 Describe each evaluation procedure, assessment, record, or report your school district
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used in deciding to propose or refuse the action;
Include a statement that the parent has protections under the procedural safeguards
provisions in Part B of the IDEA;
Tell you how the parent can obtain a description of the procedural safeguards if the action
that your school district is proposing or refusing is not an initial referral for evaluation;
Include resources for the parent to contact for help in understanding Part B of the IDEA;
Describe any other choices that the child's individualized education program (IEP) Team
considered and the reasons why those choices were rejected; and
Provide a description of other reasons why the school district proposed or refused the
action.
Notice in understandable language. The notice must be:


Written in language understandable to the general public; and
Provided in your native language or other mode of communication you use, unless it is clearly not
feasible to do so
PARENTAL CONSENT
Consent means:
 The Parent has been fully informed in your native language or
other mode of communication (such as sign language, Braille, or
oral communication) of all information about the action for
which you are giving consent.
 The Parent understands and agrees in writing to that action, and
the consent describes that action and lists the records (if any)
that will be released and to whom; and
 The Parent understands that the consent is voluntary on The
Parent part and The Parent may withdraw their consent at
anytime.
 The Parent’s withdrawal of consent does not negate (undo) an
action that has occurred after they gave the consent and before
you withdrew it.
Resolution Options
 Mediation
 Local Complaint
 State Complaint
 Resolution Meeting
 Due Process Hearings
Mediation
 Resolve disputes
 Voluntary
 Trained mediator
 Timely manner
 Confidential
 Cannot delay due process
 If agreement is reached - Legally
binding agreement
Local Complaint
 Signed written complaint
 Notify State
 Offer mediation
 Written response
 If parents disagree with the results,
they can Appeal
State Complaint
 A statement of how a requirement has not been met
 Explanation of facts
 An allegation of a violation
Within 60 days, the Department must…
 Conduct an independent investigation
 Review all information
 Issue a written decision
 Extend 60 day time limit
Resolution Meeting
 If a Due Process Hearing has been requested, a
Resolution Meeting is held to discuss all the facts that
form the basis of the request so that the school district
and the parents have the opportunity to resolve the
dispute.
 it might be the team’s last chance to resolve their issues
before going to Due Process.
 but - the meeting doesn’t have to take place at all if the
parent and the school district agree in writing to waive
the meeting, or if the parent and the school district
agree to use the mediation process instead.
Due Process Hearings
 A Request for a Due Process Hearing must include
 A description of the problem
 A proposed resolution of the problem
 The District must send a response within 10 days…
 Explanation of why it proposed or refused an action
 Description of evaluations used as basis of action
 Administrative Law Judge
 Knowledge of IDEA and Florida Rules
 Not an employee
 Impartial
Due Process Hearing Rights
Both sides have the right to…
 Counsel
 Present evidence
 Record of hearing
 Findings
Conflict Resolution Options
The Individualized
Education Program/Plan
IEP
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An IEP defines the individualized objectives of a child who has been found with a disability, as defined by
federal regulations.
The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would.
In all cases the IEP must be tailored to the individual student's needs as identified by the IEP evaluation
process, and must especially help teachers and related service providers (such as paraprofessional
educators) understand the student's disability and how the disability affects the learning process.
The IEP should describe how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and
what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively.
Key considerations in developing an IEP include assessing students in all areas related to the known
disabilities, simultaneously considering ability to access the general curriculum, considering how the
disability affects the student’s learning, developing goals and objectives that correspond to the needs of
the student, and ultimately choosing a placement in the least restrictive environment possible for the
student.
As long as a student qualifies for special education, the IEP must be regularly maintained and updated
over the student's primary educational years.
Placements often occur in "general education", mainstream classes, and specialized classes or subspecialties taught by a specifically trained individual, such as a special education teacher, sometimes
within a resource room.
An IEP is meant to ensure that students receive an appropriate placement, not "only" special education
classrooms or special schools. It is meant to give the student a chance to participate in "normal" school
culture and academics.
IEP Meeting: Notice
 Location
 Time
 Whom the school has
invited
 Purpose of the meeting
 Native Language
The IEP Team
Parents or
Guardians
Others with special
expertise
Student
Special
Education
Teacher
LEA
Agency
Rep
Regular
Education
Teacher
Interpret
Evaluation
Results
What Should an IEP Include?
This is a brief list of what IDEA requires:
 A statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance,
including how the child’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education
curriculum
 A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals;
 How the child’s progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured, periodic progress reports
 A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to
be provided to the child
 A statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to
enable the child to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make
progress in the general education curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic
activities; and to be educated and participate with other children with disabilities and nondisabled
children
 An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children
in the regular class and in extracurricular and nonacademic activities;
 A statement of any individual accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic
achievement and functional performance of the child on State and district wide assessments;
 If the IEP team determines that the child must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular
State or district wide assessment of student achievement, the IEP must include a statement of why the
child cannot participate in the regular assessment and why the particular alternate assessment
selected is appropriate for the child
 The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications, and the anticipated
frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications.
Present Level - Domains
 Curriculum & Learning
 Independent Functioning
 Social / Emotional
 Communication
 Health Care
Present Levels & Goals
Statements of:
 Present Levels of Academic
Achievement & Functional
Performance
 strengths, effect of disability, &
priority educational need
 Measurable Annual Goals
 Evaluation Plan
 measuring & reporting
IEP GOALS
 Wording matters!
 “Writing Special Education
Goals” – 9,960,000 hits!
 Learning a skill
 Measurable
 Specific
Sunshine State Standards
http://www.fldoe.org/bii/curriculum/sss/
Access Points
Next Generation Sunshine State Standards Access Points:
 Drive the curriculum, instructional strategies, and
assessment
 Reflect the key concepts of the Next Generation Sunshine
State Standards with reduced levels of complexity
 Ensure access to the standards that apply to all students in
the same grade
 Are written to three levels of complexity: participatory,
supported, and independent
 http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/OnlineParentGuide.pdf
Diploma Options
 http://www.duvalschools.org/fch/guidance
/DCPSDiplomaOptions.pdf
 Standard Diploma
 Special Diploma
Provision of Services
 Special Education
 Related Services
 Program Modifications/
Accommodations
 Supports for School Personnel
 Supplementary Aids & Services
Related Services
 Developmental
 Corrective
 Supportive
 Assist in the achievement of a goal
 Help to benefit from special education
 Nonexhaustive
Provision of Services
 Date for beginning of
services
 Frequency
 Location
 Duration
Transition IEP

Standard or Special Diploma

Post-School Outcome

Transition Service Needs

Instruction / Information on Self-Determination

Goals based upon transition assessments

List of transition services

Age of Majority / Transfer of Rights

Interagency linkages
Signatures
 Who attended
 Parent’s signature
(Exception: Child’s first IEP)
Manifestation Determination
 A decision made by the IEP Team about whether
a student's misconduct is caused by the
student's disability.
Team determines “Yes”
 Functional Behavioral Assessment
 Behavioral Intervention Plan
Team determines “No”
 Services in different setting
How do you make a
Behavior Plan?
1. Identify and Name the Problem Behavior

Even if a Certified Behavior Analyst or Psychologist is going to do the FBA, the teacher will be the person to identify which behaviors most
impact a child's progress. It is essential that the teacher describes the behavior in an operational way that will make it easy for the other
professionals to complete the FBA.
2. Complete the FBA
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The BIP Plan is written once an FBA (Functional Behavioral Analysis) has been prepared. The plan may be written by the teacher, a school
psychologist or a behavior specialist.
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A Functional Behavioral Analysis will identify target behaviors operationally and the antecedent conditions. It will also describe the
consequence, which in an FBA is the thing that reinforces the behavior. Understanding the consequence will also help choose a replacement
behavior.
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A BIP or Behavior Intervention Plan, describes how teachers, special educators and other staff will help a child eliminate problem behavior. A
BIP is required in an IEP if it is determined in the Special Considerations Section that behavior inhibits academic achievement.
3. Write the BIP Document
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Your state or school district may have a form you must use for a Behavior Improvement Plan. It, and your BIP should include:
Target Behaviors
Specific, measurable goals
Intervention description and method
Start and frequency of intervention
Method of Evaluation
Persons responsible for each part of the intervention and evaluation
Data from Evaluation
4. Take It to the IEP Team
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The last step is to get your document approved by the IEP team, including the general education teacher, the special education supervisor,
the principal, the psychologist, the parents and anyone else who will be involved in implementing the BIP.
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The Team has been working to involve each of the stakeholders at the beginning of the process. That means phone calls to parents, so the
Behavior Improvement Plan is not a big surprise, and so the parent doesn't feel like they and the child are being punished.
5. Implement the plan

Once the meeting is over, it's time to put the plan into place! Be sure that all the members of the implementation team to meet briefly and
evaluate progress. Be sure to ask the tough questions. What is not working? What needs to be tweeked? Who's collecting the data? How is
that working?
CONNECT THE DOTS
Goal
Evaluation
Present
Level
Related
Service
Effect of
Disability
Priority
Educational
Need
Resources:
What is the child’s Disability?
Or suspected disability?
 NICHCY http://nichcy.org/
 http://nichcy.org/disability/s
pecific
 NICHCY offers brief, but
detailed fact sheets on
specific disabilities. Each fact
sheet defines the disability,
describes its characteristics,
offers tips for parents and
teachers, and connects you
with related information and
organizations with special
expertise in that disability.
 In English and Spanish
RtI (Response to Intervention)
 Florida Brochure on RtI
 http://www.florida-
rti.org/_docs/EvaluationsSpecialEd.pdf
 Florida RtI
 http://www.florida-
rti.org/Resources/index.htm
 National Association of State Directors of
Special Education, Inc.
 http://www.nasdse.org/Projects/Respon
setoInterventionRtIProject/tabid/411/De
fault.aspx
Does the child take the FCAT
or Alternative Assessment?
FCAT Accommodations
 http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/fcattea
m.pdf
Alternative Assessment
http://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/depts/ese
/FAQ09.pdf
Alternative Assessment Manual
http://www.fldoe.org/asp/pdf/fl-altassessment-manual.pdf
 DOE Technical Assistance Paper
http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb
/Get/Document-5831/dps-2010-92.pdf
Does the Child have
behavioral issues?
Functional Behavioral Assessment and Plans
http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/tap99-3.pdf
RtI Behavior
http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/requestservices_onlin
emodules.asp
 What does the Matrix mean?

http://www.mckay-iepmatrix.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=v
iew_page&PAGE_id=13
 What is Extended School Year (ESY)?

http://www.fldoe.org/ese/pdf/y2002-5.pdf
 What should parents do when services in their child's
IEP are not being provided?

http://school.familyeducation.com/specialeducation/ada/38430.html
Advocacy
 Wrights Law

www.wrightslaw.com
 Special Education Advocate

www.specialeducationadvocacy.org
 Central Florida Parent Center

www.CFLparents.org
 Family Network on Disabilities

www.fndfl.org
 The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)

www.copaa.org
Questions?
Please fill out survey
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