Terms to know

● Exceptional student
○ students who differ from societal or community standards of normalcy due to
significant physical, sensory, cognitive, or behavioral characteristics
● Special Education
○ a specially designed instructional program designed to meet the unique needs of
an individual learner
● High incidence
○ Occur more often, less support from special ed
■ Ex autism, emotional disturbance, other health impairment, speech or
language
● Low incidence
○ don't occur as often, get more support from social workers or special ed
○ ex deaf-blindness, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment
● Gifted
○ Kansas recognized intellectual and academic

Laws and legalities to know

● Fape: free appropriate public education
○ Parents are not responsible for paying for related services if it occurs during the
school day, parents can choose to take them outside of school but its paid for by
them then
● Education for all handicapped children act
○ put into place to protect students in the public education setting, called the bill of
rights
○ NOW REFERRED TO AS THE IDEA- individuals with disabilities education act
● IDEA
○ Comes from prior law
○ 6 critical principles
■ FAPE - free appropriate public education
● Whatever they need we will provide
■ LRE - least restrictive environment
● Classroom setting that is as close to general education being
successful and receiving their needs and accommodations
 ● Gen ed is not always the least restrictive
■ IEP - individualized education program/plan
● Spells out everything about the kid to create a comprehensive
profile to help them
● Legally binding, you must abide by this
● Anything that is graded receives these accommodations
● Students legally have to be invited to their IEP meeting at 14 but
they can be invited at any time
● IEP goals have ot align with state common core standards
■ Procedural Safeguards
■ Appropriate Evaluation/nondiscriminatory assessment
● We are assessing students on everything they need to be tested on
● If you are concerned about a student you need to bring it up
● Completely confidential, no one outside of the team is to have
access to it
■ Parental participation
○ Only supports you through 12th grade
○ Governed by a special education law
● 504: Section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973
○ Public law protects children and adults against discrimination due to disability
○ Eligible for service if:
■ Have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities
■ Have a record of such impairment
■ Regarded as having an impairment by others
○ Under Section 504 schools must make reasonable accommodations so students
can participate in programs provided to other students
○ Can receive special accommodations even if they don’t qualify under IDEA
■ Relate more to environmental needs, for smaller accommodations that
don’t need special education but accommodations in the general ed
classroom
■ Kiddos who need support but don't qualify for ieps
○ More broad and goes beyond 12th grade
○ Governed by civil rights law
The Special Education Process: MTSS/RTI
● MTSS -Multi-Tier System of Support
○ Framework to provide targeted support to struggling students
○ Focuses on the “whole child”: Academic, behavior, and social/emotional
● RTI - Response to Intervention
○ Provides effective research-based instruction and intervention across three tiers
○ Implementation includes: Assessment, Progress Monitoring, and Data-driven
decision making
○ Goal: Reduce referrals to special education
○ Helps pick out kids who need to go through the process to be considered for SpEd
○ Academic considerations only
● As soon as there is a concern, notify parents
● Do not ever contact a parent and tell them you want to evaluate them for sped