Serving Unit 5 and El Paso-Gridley District 11

Definitions and Glossary of Terms

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Adapted Instructional Settings 
This occurs when specific aspects of the general education school curriculum are modified by educators so that they are appropriate to the learning needs of students with disabilities. This concept is viewed as a process in which specialized instruction and support is provided rather than as a place where instruction is provided (e.g. a self-contained class).  

Appropriate Activities and Setting
This involves including students with disabilities in activities and settings which provide 
involvement with peers without disabilities of the same age rather than including them with younger students or other students with disabilities. Including students with disabilities in age appropriate activities helps to ensure that they model and learn skills appropriate to their age levels.  
 
Adverse Effect
How a student’s disability negatively affects his/her ability to function successfully with 
educational tasks. This must be:    
1. To a marked degree.
2. Not correctable via classroom accommodations and supplementary aids and services.
3. Persist over an extended period of time; and requires special education services.

Age of Majority
A student who has reached the age of majority under State law (18 years of age) who
has not been determined to be incompetent. The student then becomes his/her own
adult and all rights and responsibilities under IDEA shift to him/her.  
Note: The parent must still be notified of activities but has no right to challenge 
educational decisions.
 
Appropriate Activities (3-5 year olds)
Age-relevant developmental abilities or milestones that typically developing children 
of the same age would be performing or would have achieved.
 
Assessment
Tests and other evaluation materials tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and to gather information provided by the parent and others that may assist in determining:
1. Whether the student is eligible for special education and related services; and, if so,
2. The content of the student 's IEP or IFSP, including information related to enabling the student to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum or, if in preschool, to participate in appropriate activities.

Assistive Technology
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether device: acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

Assistive Technology Service 
Any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, 
or use of an Assistive technology device. The term includes:
1. The evaluation of the needs of a student with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the student in the student 's customary environment, Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of Assistive technology devices by students with disabilities.
2. Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing Assistive technology devices.
3. Coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with Assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs.
4. Training or technical assistance for a student with a disability or, if appropriate, that student 's family; and training or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing education or rehabilitation services), employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of that student.

Collaboration 
An interactive process that enables people with diverse expertise to generate creative solutions to mutually defined problems.

Collaborative Teaching
This is an educational approach in which general and special educators work in a coordinated fashion to jointly teach academically and behaviorally heterogeneous groups of students in educationally integrated settings. In collaborative teaching, both general and special education teachers are present in the general classroom maintaining joint responsibilities for specified education instruction that is to occur within that setting.

Consultation
Refers to a person who has expertise in a specific area or who has been invited to give information that assists in decision-making to individuals or teams making decisions about plans or the implementation of interventions in the lives of students with disabilities, classrooms, families, and programs.

Consensus
A decision by the group to implement an educational decision on behalf of a student.  Not all members must agree with the decision but although an individual disagrees he/she will not prevent the decision (made by the group) from being implemented.  You may not agree but you will live with the decision and implement the actions that were agreed to by the group. All individuals also agree to support the decision in its implementation and do not express doubts about its implementation in other settings. Your disagreement must be based upon factual information or data that you have that counters the information or data that was gathered in the comprehensive case study evaluation. While you may feel (gut reaction) that a student has a disability or needs services- to have a disagreement that will prevent consensus, you must have factual documentation that supports your position over that of the information gathered. 

Educational Decision Making
A series of ongoing steps to effectively analyze data to develop a comprehensive, flexible plan that addresses the educational needs (academic, social, behavioral) of any student.

Evaluation
A series of procedures designed to provide information about a child’s suspected disability; the nature and extent of the problems that are or will be adversely affecting his/her educational development; and the type of intervention and assistance needed to alleviate these problems.

Extended School Year (ESY)
Special education and related services which are provided to students with disabilities during the summer for the purpose of ensuring the continued provision of an appropriate education and to minimize regression.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Special education and related services that: 
1. Are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction at no cost to the parent(s).
2. Meet the standards of the state.
3. Include preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the state.
4. Are provided in conformity with an IEP. At “no cost” means that all specially-designed instruction is provided without charge, but does not preclude incidental fees that are normally charged to non- disabled students or their parents as a part of the general education program.

Full Continuum
The range of special education placements and services provided by the school district to assure that the students enrolled receive appropriate special education support. 

General Education Curriculum
A single curriculum that applies to all students as adopted by a school district. This relates to the content of the curriculum and not to the setting in which it is used. Thus, to the extent applicable to an individual student with a disability and consistent with the LRE provisions, the general education curriculum could be used in any educational  environment along a continuum of alternative placements.

Harmful Effect
The impact to the student as a result of being removed from the opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers.
 
IEP Team
1. The parent (s) of the child.
2. At least one general education teacher of the student (if the student is, or may be, participating in the general education environment).
3. At least one special education teacher, or if appropriate, at least one special education provider of the student.  
4. A representative of the LEA who: 
    a.  Is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, specially designed   
instruction to  meet the unique needs of students with disabilities.
    b.  Is knowledgeable about the general curriculum.
    c. Is knowledgeable about the availability of resources of the LEA.
5. An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results.
6. At the discretion of the parent or the school district, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student, including related services personnel as appropriate.
7. If appropriate, the student.
Note: The general education teacher participating in a student's IEP meeting should be the teacher who is, or may be, responsible for implementing the IEP, so that the teacher can participate in discussions about how best to teach the student. If the student has more than one teacher, the school district may designate which teacher (s) will participate. In a situation in which all of the student 's teachers do not participate in the IEP meeting, the school district is encouraged to seek input from teachers who will not be attending, and should ensure that any teacher not attending the meeting is informed about the results of the meeting (including receiving a copy of the IEP).

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Each local school district shall ensure that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children who are not disabled. Their removal from this environment shall occur only when the nature and severity of their disability is such that education in the standard classroom, even with the use of supplementary aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily. The Act requires the IEP team to determine and provide accommodations, modifications, supports, and supplementary aids and services, needed by each child with a disability to successfully be involved in and progress in the general curriculum, achieve the goals of the IEP, and successfully demonstrate his or her competencies in State and district-wide assessments. 

Maximum Extent Appropriate
The maximum interaction of disabled and non-disabled students in the instructional and
 non-instructional settings consistent with the avoidance of harmful effects.  

Means of Communication
In all direct contact with the student (including evaluation) communication would be in the language normally used by the student and not that of the parents, if there is a difference between the two.
 
Meeting
A prearranged event in which school district personnel come together at the same time and place and discuss any matter relating to an individual student with a disability. The term does not include informal or unscheduled conversations involving school district personal and conversations on issues such as teaching methodology, lesson plans, or coordination of service provision if those issues are not addressed in the student's IEP. The term also does not include preparatory activities that school district personnel engage in to develop a proposal or response to a parent proposal that will be discussed at a later meeting.  

Native Language/Language Use Pattern
Communication in the language or combination of languages normally used by the student in the home and learning environments and not that of the parents if there is a difference between the two.
 
Nonacademic and Extracurricular Services and Activities
Each school district shall take steps to provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in the manner as is necessary to afford students with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in those services and activities. Such services and activities may include but are not limited to: athletics, counseling services, recreational activities, special interest groups, transportation, clubs sponsored by the public, health services agency, employment of students, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, including both employment by the local school and assistance in making outside employment available.
Note: In order to be "equally effective," a nonacademic or extracurricular service or activity must afford a student with a disability an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit or to reach the same level of achievement.  

Placement
The overall educational environment in which special education and related services are provided to a student with a disability and includes, but is not limited to, the student's instructional placement. The term "instructional placement" means the setting or settings in which special education services are provided and the availability or interaction with non-disabled peers.  

Planning Team
A group of individual “experts” who agree to cooperate to attain a common goal and contribute their unique expertise to the group endeavor. The desired outcome of team problem solving is shared ownership and responsibility for implementing the solutions generated by the group. (Thousand, et. al. (Monograph) (No. 7-1))  

Related Services
The developmental, corrective, and other supportive services which are required to assist a student with disabilities in benefiting from special education. Therefore, if a student does not need special education, there can be no related services. Related services and activities may include but are not limited to: Speech-Language Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Social Work Services, Physical Therapy, School Health Services, Rehabilitation Counseling, School Psychological Services, Audiology, Transportation, Recreation, Consultant Services, Special Reader Services, Parent Counseling and Training, Early identification and assessment of disabilities in children, Counseling Services- including Rehabilitation Counseling, Orientation and Mobility services provided to blind or visually impaired students by qualified personnel, and Medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes- services provided by a licensed physician to determine a student's medically related disability. 
Note: Related services may not be required for each individual student. The list of related services is not exhaustive and may include other developmental, corrective, or supportive services (such as artistic and cultural programs, art, music, and dance therapy, travel training, nutrition services, and independent living services), if they are required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from special education in order for the student to receive FAPE.

Review and Revise the IEP
An evaluation by the IEP meeting participants of the current accuracy and appropriateness of each of the statements or determinations called for in the development of the IEP and the actual formulation of additions, deletions or other modifications to the IEP, but does not necessarily include the precise drafting of each such modification.

Service Options
Each school district shall take steps to ensure that its students with disabilities have available to them the variety of educational placements and services available to non-disabled students in the area served by the school district, including art, music, industrial arts, consumer and homemaking education, and vocational education.
Note: The list of placement options is not exhaustive, and could include any program or activity in which non-disabled students participate.

Special Education
Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability, including:
1. Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions,  and in other settings; and  Instruction in physical education.  
2. The term includes speech-language pathology services, or any other related service, if the service consists of specially-designed instruction.
3. The term also includes vocational education if it consists of specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability.
It may mean the need to modify, supplement, support, or replace the general educational program of the public schools.

Special Education Placement
The provision of specially designed instruction, including and limited to a special education instructional placement, resource placement, special education related services, speech and language services, homebound services, hospital services, referral to a nonpublic program or a state-operated facility.  

Specially Designed Instruction
Adapting content, methodology or delivery of instruction:  
1. To address the unique needs of an eligible student under this part that result from the student 's disability.
2. To ensure access of the student to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public school that apply to all students.
  
Statement of Specific Special Education and Related Services
1. Must include a description of each special education and related service to be provided in supprt of each identified annual goal and short-term instructional objective.
2. An identification of the person (s) who will provide, or ensure the provision of, each special education or related service.  
3. The number of hours per day and days per week each such special education or related service will be provided.  
4. The duration of the interim placement and timelines for completing reevaluation not to exceed 60 school days from the date of the student’s enrollment. 
  
Supplementary Aids and Services
Aids, services, and other supports that are provided in general education classes or other education-related settings to enable students with disabilities to be educated with non-disabled students to the maximum extent appropriate.

Supportive Teaching  
Refers to delivering special education support services by special education professionals as required by the IEP in the general educational environment in collaboration with the general education teacher.  

Transition services
A coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that: 
1. Are designed within an outcome-oriented process, that promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.
2. Are based on the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests.
3. Includes, but is not limited to: instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living  goals and objectives, and if appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.
Note: Transition services for students with disabilities may be special education, if they are provided as specially designed instruction, or related services, if they are required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from special education. 

Transition Services Participant  
1. A student with a disability of any age if a purpose of the meeting will be the consideration of transition services.
2. If the student does not attend an IEP meeting, the school district shall take other  steps to ensure that the student's preferences and interests are considered.
3. Invite a representative of any other agency that is likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services. 
4. If an agency invited to send a representative to a meeting does not do so, the school shall take other steps to obtain participation of the other agency in the planning of any transition services.