Transcript Americans with Disabilities Act

SPECIAL EDUCATION:
Practical Tips About IEPs and
Expulsion Hearings
The Training Institute
on Disability Rights
Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Laws
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Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act 2004 (IDEA)
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Section 504
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No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Act(FERPA)
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State Laws and Regulations
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Laws
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement
Act 2004 (IDEA)
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20 USC 1400 purpose
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1401 definitions
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1412 child find, LRE,FAPE
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1414 evaluations, consent, eligibility, IEP, Placement
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1415 Procedural Safeguards
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
SPECIAL EDUCATION RULE
IF IT’S NOT WRITTEN DOWN
IT DIDN’T OR WON’T
HAPPEN
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Purpose of Special Education
Purpose
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
unique needs and prepare them for
further education, employment, and
independent living
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC
EDUCATION
FAPE
SPECIAL EDUCATION DEFINED
Specially
designed instruction, at no cost to
parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with
a disability,…
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Least Restrictive Environment
(LRE)
20 USC 1412(a)(5)
To the MAXIMUM extent appropriate children with
disabilities… are educated with children who are
not disabled.
Removal
 nature
and severity of the disability of a child is
such that education in regular classes
– with the use of supplementary aids and
services
– CANNOT be achieved satisfactorily.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
1. Request
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Written Request by Parent, State agency, or
school may initiate request for initial case
study evaluation
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Sample letters available
Keep a copy with date and time it was delivered
and to whom it was delivered
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
2. Consent
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Parent can include consent in request letter or
School must provide parent consent form
within 14 days of request
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
2. Consent
for Case Study Evaluations
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Parental Consent not referral, starts the Case
Study Evaluation (CSE) timeline, which must
be done within 60 CALENDAR days (IDEA) –
a different timeline may be set by the state. (IL
Admin Code: 60 SCHOOL days from Consent)
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Request
Consent
Case Study Evaluation (CSE)
Eligibility Meeting –MDC
Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
3. Case Study Evaluation
 Variety of assessment tools must be used
 Testing must be done in the “language and form
most likely to yield accurate information on what
the child knows and can do academically,
developmentally, and functionally.”
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Request
Consent
Case Study Evaluation (CSE)
Eligibility Meeting –MDC
Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
4.
Eligibility Meeting –Multidisciplinary Conference
Team of qualified professionals and parents decide
Whether child is a child with a disability (1401)(3)
1. Disability – mental retardation, hearing impairment, speech or
language impairments, visual impairments, serious emotional
disturbance (emotional disturbance), orthopedic impairments,
autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments (OHI), or
specific learning disabilities (LD or SLD): AND
2. who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related
services
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Request
Consent
Case Study Evaluation (CSE)
Eligibility Meeting –MDC
Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
5. Individual Education Program (IEP) meeting

IEP meeting held at least annually
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IEP TEAM
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Parents
Not less than ONE regular ed teacher (if child IS or may be
participating in regular education)
Not less than ONE special ed teacher, or where
appropriate…special education provider of such child
Representative of Local Education Agency (LEA)
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Qualified to provide or supervise special education
Knowledgeable about general curriculum
Knowledgeable about availability of LEA resources
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education Services
5. Individual Education Program (IEP)
meeting
 IEP TEAM Continued..
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An individual who can interpret the instructional
implication of evaluation results
Other individuals who have “knowledge or special
expertise regarding the child, including related
services personnel as appropriate: and
whenever appropriate, the child with a disability
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What’s in an IEP?
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Present Levels of Performance
Goals & Objectives/Benchmarks
Progress Reports
Special Education Services
Related Services
Supplementary Aids and Services
Special factors
Transition Services (IL 14 ½ and up) – IDEA 16
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Individualized Education
Program (IEP) – annual meeting
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A Statement of the child’s academic
achievement and functional performance –
Present Level of Performance “PLOP”
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
IEP Goals
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A statement of measurable annual goals including
academic and functional goals designed to
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–
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Meet the child’s needs that result from the child’s disability to
enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the
general education curriculum; and
Meet each of the child’s other educational needs that result
from the child’s disability
SMART goals – specific, measurable, action-oriented,
realistic, and time-sensitive
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Progress Reports
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The parents need to know about their child’s
progress
The IEP should specify how the parents will be
notified of their child’s progress
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Special Education and Related
Services
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IEP includes information about types of
services a student receives
Examples of related services –
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OT
PT
Speech therapy
Social work
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Supplementary Aides and
Services
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This may be some type of accommodation the
student needs
Can include staff training
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Reevaluation - every 3 years
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Meet to discuss what information the school
already has and what information is still
needed
reevaluation every 3 years UNLESS parent
and school agree it is unnecessary
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What If You Don’t Agree?
CONFLICT RESOLUTION OPTIONS
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1. DOCUMENTATION
2. INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL
EVALUATION
3. REQUEST AN IEP MEETING
4. STATE COMPLAINT
5. MEDIATION
6. DUE PROCESS
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What about Discipline?
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Student with a disability may be removed for
no more than 10 school days for a disciplinary
violation (unless exception applies)
More than ten days = change of placement
(see following slides for details)
Exception: can automatically remove a
student with a disability for 45 school days if 1)
a weapon; 2) Drugs; 3) Serious bodily injury
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
45 SCHOOL Day Removal
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Weapon
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Drugs
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“dangerous weapon” 18 U.S.C. § 930(g)(2)
Controlled Substance 21 U.S.C. 812(c)§ 202(c)I, II,
III, IV, or V
Does not include legally possessed or used
substances
Serious Bodily Injury
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“serious bodily injury” 18 U.S.C. §1365(h)(3)
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What about Discipline?
Suspensions/Removal
- All students “removed” are to get services to prevent
recurrence of behavior resulting in removal – should
be added to IEP
Expulsions
– FAPE services must still be provided so student can
be able to “participate in general education curriculum”
and “progress towards meeting goals set out in IEP.”
Before an expulsion can take place, must hold
Manifestation Determination Review (MDR)
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
MANIFESTATION
DETERMINATION REVIEW
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MDR is a meeting that occurs within ten school
days of decision to change a student’s
placement
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School’s actions are change of placement when
student is suspended for more than ten consecutive
days or series of days that “constitute a pattern”
exceeding 10 days in a year.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What does it mean for behavior to be
a manifestation of a disability?
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Behavior is a manifestation of a disability if:
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“caused by” the disability or
“Direct or substantial relationship to the disability” or
“direct result” of the school’s failure to implement the student’s
IEP
If student’s behavior is manifestation of disability,
student can’t be expelled without parent consent and
must be returned to pre-removal placement (unless
drugs, weapons, or serious bodily injury)
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
If behavior is manifestation of
disability, what must the school do?
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Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) –
evaluation to show relationship between
behavior and what happens in student’s
environment
Behavior Intervention Plan (positive
interventions)
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What if behavior is not a
manifestation of a disability?
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If behavior is not a manifestation of a disability,
school can use same discipline measures as
with other students
BUT school must continue providing FAPE
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What if school wants to expel a
student who has not yet been found
eligible for special ed?
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Students not yet found eligible for special ed may still
be protected by IDEA under certain circumstances:
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Parent stated in writing to a supervisor, administrator or a
teacher that child may need special ed
Parent requested evaluation
Teacher/staff expressed specific concerns abut child’s pattern
of behavior directly to director of special ed or other
supervisory person
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Student Discipline Not Yet Eligible
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School did not have “knowledge”
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Same discipline as non-disabled kids
If school did have “knowledge,” then the
student is protected by IDEA.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Expulsion Hearings (in general)
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An expulsion is a removal of a student from
school for more than 10 days in a row
A student may be expelled for a definite period
of time from 11 days up to 2 years.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
What happens before the
hearing?
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School must send written notice of the
behavior for which it believes the child should
be expelled.
School must send notice in writing and by
certified mail inviting student and parent to
attend expulsion hearing.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
At the Expulsion Hearing
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Right to call witnesses
Present evidence
Cross-examine District’s witnesses
Right to tape record
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Who will be at the expulsion
hearing?
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Student and parent should go.
School District may have an attorney.
Often people who were involved in or
witnessed the incident are there.
A school administrator may be there.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Who decides whether a student
will be expelled?
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Depends on the School District. Sometimes
the Board of Education of the District makes
the decision. Other Districts have hearing
officers who make the decision.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Can expulsion hearings be
appealed?
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Yes. If a student is expelled, the student can
appeal this decision in state court.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Expulsions from Chicago Public
Schools
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The Student Code of Conduct (SCC) outlines CPS
disciplinary policies
For a copy, contact the Law Department at (773) 5531700.
If CPS is going to expel a student, the District sends a
“Notice of Request For Disciplinary Hearing” letter.
Closer to date that hearing will take place, CPS then
sends a “Notice of Disciplinary Hearing.”
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Who is present at CPS
expulsions?
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Hearing Officer appointed by the Board of
Education
CPS “Prosecutor”
Student and Parent
Any witnesses
Usually a school administrator
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Any chance at settling an
expulsion hearing?
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Depending on the offense, CPS and student
may come to an agreement for student to
attend the SMART program.
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Special Education: What You Need to Know
Questions????
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