D754 SPED Law, Policies, and Procedures

What does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) do?

It ensures access for people with impairments and exceptionalities

What is considered a reasonable accommodation under Section 504?

Accessible Elevators/ramps/accessible bathrooms

Providing Braille and other forms of reading material

Extended time on tests

Peer tutoring

Assistive technology

Advance outlines

Note-taking help

What are the four steps in the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to help students before they are referred to special education?

Screening

Tiers of Support

Progress Monitoring

Data-based Decision Making

What characterizes Tier 1 in the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)?

Universal Support

What characterizes Tier 2 in the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)?

Targeted Support

What characterizes Tier 3 in the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)?

Intensive/Individualized Support

What are the three relevant case laws that shaped education rights in the United States?

Brown v Board of Education (1954)

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1971)

Mills v Board of Education of the District of Columbia (1972)

Brown v Board of Education

This case declared that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, establishing the principle that all children deserve equal educational opportunities

Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

This case extended the rights of equal protection and due process to children with intellectual disabilities, ruling that they could not be denied access to public education and were entitled to a free public education

Mills v Board of Education of the District of Columbia

This case further expanded these rights to all children with behavior challenges and emotional disturbance, mandating that public schools provide appropriate educational services. The court ruled that lack of funds was not an acceptable excuse for failing to provide education to students with exceptionalities

What is one relevant case law result for special education evaluations?

Board of Education v Rowley

Who are the primary members of a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT)

School Psychologist

Special Education Teacher

General Education Teacher

Parent/Guardian

What are some of the optional positions for a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT)?

Physical Therapist

Speech Language Pathologist/Therapist

Occupational Therapist

Social Worker or Counselor

Which role does the special education teacher have on the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT)?

Watching for bias that may affect assessments and answering parents' questions

How does the parent or guardian contribute to the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) assessment?

By providing insights to help the team understand the student's overall situation

In order to begin the initial evaluation process for a student, a special education teacher must obtain express written consent. The student lives with and is cared for by their grandmother.

Is the grandmother able to provide consent for the evaluation?

Yes, because the grandmother has legal authority over the student

A special education teacher is on the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) for the evaluation of a second-grade student who has been struggling to keep up with students in the general education classroom.

Which role does the teacher have on this team?

Watching for any bias affecting assessment results

A fourth-grade student has been consistently struggling with emotional disturbances, leading to poor performance in the general education classroom. The special education teacher on the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) wants to ensure that all rules outlined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are followed.

What must the special education teacher ensure for the initial evaluation process?

The process is completed within 60 days of given parental consent.

A special education teacher is helping conduct an initial evaluation of a student as part of the special education referral process. The teacher is on the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) and wants to make sure that the process is performed properly.

Which factor about the evaluation should be concerning to the special education teacher?

An IQ test is the primary reason for referral to special education services.

Which condition is necessary in order to identify a child with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?

The disability falls into one of the 13 categories listed in the law.

What are the 13 disability categories under IDEA?

Specific learning disability

Speech or language impairment

Other health impairment

Autism

Intellectual Disability

Emotional Disturbance

Developmental Delay

Multiple Disabilities

Hearing impairment

Orthopedic Impairment

Visual Impairment

Traumatic Brain Injury

Deaf-Blindness

What is one of the Specific Learning Disability (SLD) criteria of the response-to-intervention (RTI) approach?

The student's lack of progress is not due to other disabilities or economic factors.

What does the IQ-achievement discrepancy model involve?

Comparing a student's IQ score with their academic performance

What role do Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE) have in special education?

Offering a formal process for parents to dispute eligibility results

A student is being evaluated to determine if they have a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). The Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) is considering evidence both for and against eligibility.

Which evidence makes the student ineligible for having an SLD?

The student has an intellectual disability.

A fifth-grade student's reading struggles have prompted a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) evaluation to determine if the student has a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). The team is using the response-to-intervention (RTI) approach.

Which evidence satisfies a criterion of this approach?

Performance has continued to decline, even after implementing questioning strategies.

A third-grade student has been struggling with reading and writing in the general education classroom. The teacher suspects that the student may have a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). A Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) is conducting an evaluation using the response-to-intervention (RTI) approach to determine if the student does, in fact, have an SLD.

What is one of the criteria for this approach?

The student must be observed in a general education setting.

Which scenario describes a student who fails the criteria for a Specific Learning Disability (SLD)?

A student has difficulty reading and writing but has severe Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

What is a possible remedy that can be required from a school that denies a student a free appropriate public education (FAPE)?

Compensatory education

What is one example of a consequence that results from denying a student a free appropriate public education (FAPE)?

If a student fails to make progress, the district may have to pay for private school.

What is one situation that illustrates a student being denied a free appropriate public education (FAPE)?

A denial of due process causes parents to be unable to participate in educational decisions.

What does the school psychologist contribute to the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meeting?

Interprets the evaluation results for the student

A third-grade student has been found to be eligible for special education services due to a specific learning disability in mathematics by the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT).

What characterizes the type of goals that the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team should craft for this student?

The goals should be ambitious and outline clear opportunities for progress.

A school district has been found to be in violation of due process concerning the initial evaluation of a student for a disability.

What is the remedy that will follow from this scenario?

The school district will have required corrective actions and possible fines levied by the state.

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a second-grade student uses only data gathered from standardized assessments.

What describes the IEP in this situation?

The IEP is not reasonably calculated.

A student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) has transferred from one school to another. The former school has not yet sent the IEP to the new school, and the new school waits to begin services until the IEP has been received. The delay is approximately two months.

How does this situation relate to the student's right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE)?

This student is being denied FAPE, and the school district may be subject to legal consequences.

What describes the use of a general education classroom with support services within the school's continuum of alternate placement options?

A student receives additional help while learning alongside their peers without disabilities.

A student is placed into a specialized setting with peers who have similar needs for most of the day.

What describes this option within the school's continuum of alternate placement options?

Self-contained special education classes

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) team for a fourth-grade student who has just qualified for services is meeting to review the initial IEP.

What is one of the required components for the IEP?

Least restrictive environment (LRE)

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) team for a seventh-grade student is meeting to consider a change in placement.

Who is required to be at this meeting?

Administrator

OTHERS

Per the Individualized Education Program (IEP), a second-grade math student has a paraprofessional to assist with certain tasks during general education instruction. During instruction on a particularly difficult concept, the paraprofessional decides to pull the student out for individual instruction. This works well, so the paraprofessional decides to keep doing this for the rest of the unit.

Which statement correctly characterizes this decision?

This is a due process violation because the least restrictive environment was changed without a change to the IEP.

A ninth-grade student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that stipulates a certain number of hours outside the general education classroom for reading intervention services. After a semester of receiving these services, the student has made enough progress that the IEP team feels a change of placement that reduces the amount of time away from the general education classroom is warranted. The parents agree with this decision, but the student enjoys being pulled out and wants to continue at the same frequency.

What should the IEP team do in this situation?

Explain that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students be placed in the least restrictive environment in which they can be successful

A student with autism who is in a self-contained special education classroom was not making progress toward most of the goals outlined in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP team met and decided that a placement in an autism unit at a separate facility would be more beneficial for the student. The parent agreed, and the student was moved. After three weeks, the student is now showing progress in nearly every one of the IEP goals.

Is this student's new placement the least restrictive environment (LRE)?

The new placement is the least restrictive environment (LRE) because of a lack of progress toward the IEP goals in the previous placement and an increase of progress in the new placement.

Multiple school personnel agree that a change in placement for a kindergarten student is necessary in order for the student to make meaningful educational progress toward the goals in the Individualized Education Program (IEP).

What is one of the procedural safeguards necessary to ensure that the parents are informed and can participate in decision-making regarding the placement of the student?

Signatures of all IEP team members are needed to show that parents were involved in the decision-making process.

What is the purpose of manifestation determination?

It helps ensure that students with disabilities are disciplined fairly.

What does the manifestation determination process involve?

Identifying whether a behavior resulted from a school's failure to implement an IEP or BIP

Which statement accurately represents the law relating to changes in placement and students with Individualized Education Program (IEP) services?

Services do not need to be provided during student suspensions of 10 days or fewer.

Which purpose do annual reviews have in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)?

To implement needed program changes

A special education student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) has been updated with new goals, and data must be collected by the student's teacher to monitor progress.

Which source of data is appropriate?

Curriculum-based test

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determined that a student is not making significant progress toward their academic goals.

Which action should the team take?

Review the IEP to determine if it has been implemented exactly as it was written

A special education student disrupted the classroom with inappropriate behavior. The student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) team conducted a manifestation determination and decided that the behavior was a manifestation of the student's disability.

Which action should be taken, based on this decision?

Update the behavioral intervention plan (BIP) to address the behavior

A student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) has been suspended for five school days. The student was suspended for eight school days earlier in the academic year.

Which action should the teacher take to ensure alignment with legal requirements in this situation?

Arrange for services to be delivered in the student's home

Board of Education v Rowley

A single test cannot be used to determine eligibility for special education.