Special Education for School Administrators

1. Special Education for School Administrators Ron Lorenz Director of Student and Staff Services Indianola Community School District

2. Essential Questions • Where Does Special Education Come From? • How Has Special Education Evolved? • What are the Big Ideas of Special Education? • How is Eligibility Determined? • What is an IEP? • What Do You Need to Know Student Discipline and Special Education?

3. Special Education is an Extension of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s • These cases established the notion that students with disabilities may not be excluded from educational programs, when public funds are used provide educational programs for other students, simply because they require more resources to educate. They also clearly establish a preference for placement in a regular public school setting. The states’ failure to act ‘with all deliberate speed’ (Brown v. Board of Education) to provide equitable educational opportunities for all students: with no direct jurisdiction over public education, Congress used its spending authority to create financial incentives to prompt states to reform their educational programs

4. Special Education Has Evolved Through a Series Amendments & Reauthorizations • Beginning in 1966, Congress took a series of steps to encourage states to develop resources and train teachers to address the needs of disabled students • In 1975, Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142): P.L. 94-142 was amended in 1986 • In 1990, the act was further amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) • In 1997, the reauthorization of IDEA stressed the notion of “inclusion” or Least Restrictive Environment • In 2004, the act was reauthorized as IDEIA and emphasized measurable outcomes for special education services

5. Local Policies & Procedures Stem from State & Federal Statues • Mandates are based on federal statues which generally drive state laws • Federal and state codes operationalize these laws through prescribed rules and regulations • Policy letters, case law, and appeal decisions serve to interpret and refine codes • State plans, AEA procedures, and District Developed Special Education Plans and policies guide practice

6. What are the Fundamental Principals or Big Ideas of Special Education

7. What are the Fundamental Principles of Special Education? • FAPE: Free Appropriate Public EducationAt no cost to parents. Appropriateness based on: (a) compliance with specific procedural requirements regarding development/implementation of IEPs and (b) whether IEP is “reasonably calculated” to confer “educational benefits.” • LRE: Least Restrictive Environment Presumes that student will be in the general classroom, with supports, from the outset unless it is determined that child cannot benefit from the general curriculum. • Due ProcessProcedures to guarantee parent involvement and challenge the school system when parents disapprove of decisions. • Outcomes/ResultsImproving educational results and functional outcomes for students with disabilities through a systematic approach to progress monitoring, intervention design and implementation, and data-based decision making.

8. What is FAPE? “Free appropriate public education” or “FAPE” means special education and related services that are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge; that meet the standards of the SEA, including the requirements of this chapter; that include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education; and that are provided in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP) that meets the requirements of rules 41.320(256B,34CFR300) to 41.324(256B,34CFR300). Iowa Administrative Rules of Special Education

9. Free: “…provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge…” to the parent [34 CFR 300.17]. F Appropriate: There is no bright line statutory or regulatory definition of “appropriate” because the elements of an appropriate education must be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to the individualized needs of each child [Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 553 IDELR 656 (1982)] A Public: “…include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school. . .; [34 CFR 300.17]. P Education: “…provided in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP) that meets the requirements of [the regulations]” [34 CFR 300.17]. E

10. What Constitutes “Appropriate” Rowley Standard Chevy vs. Cadillac Districts not required to maximize a student’s educational performance or provide best possible education District must provide a “basic floor of opportunity” rather than a ceiling [Doe v. Board of Education of Tullahoma City Sch., 20 IDELR 617 (6th Cir. 1993)]. 2 criteria for determining appropriateness: • did the agency comply with the procedural requirements prescribed by the IDEA; and • was the IEP reasonably calculated to provide the child educational benefits? [Board of Education of the Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 553 IDELR 656 (1982)].

11. “Appropriateness” Meaningful Benefit Adequate Progress Rowley suggested even though grade reports are not only indicator of FAPE, the fact that an entitled student earned passing marks and successfully progressed from grade to grade indicates a level of progress that strongly suggests FAPE A subsequent Supreme Court decision reiterated that report cards and class advancement are not necessarily an indication a student is receiving FAPE, and clarified that “…an evaluation of the student’s circumstances as a whole is still required” [Hall v. Vance County Board of Education, 557 IDELR 155 (4th Cir. 1985)]. • 3rd Circuit Court interpreted Rowley requirement of providing “some educational benefit” to mean more than “de minimus” benefit • IDEA demands “. . .more than a trivial educational benefit” and actually requires an IEP to provide "significant learning" and confer "meaningful benefit." [Polk v. Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit 16, 441 IDELR 130 (3d Cir. 1988)].

12. What are the implications of FAPE? • A free appropriate public education must be available to all children residing in the state through their twenty–first birthday, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school • The state must not use a funding mechanism by which funds are distributed on the basis of the type of setting in which a child is served or which will result in the failure to provide a child with a disability FAPE according to the unique needs of the child, as described in the child’s IEP • Each public agency must ensure that extended school year services are available as necessary to provide FAPE • Physical education services, specially designed if necessary, must be made available to every child with a disability receiving FAPE, unless the public agency enrolls children without disabilities and does not provide physical education to children without disabilities in the same grades.

13. What are the implications of FAPE? • An LEA or AEA is not required to pay for the cost of education, including special education and related services, of a child with a disability at a private school or facility if that agency made FAPE available to the child and the parents elected to place the child in a private school or facility. • A public agency that is responsible for making FAPE available to a child with a disability must obtain informed consent from the parent of the child before the initial provision of special education and related services to the child • If a child with a disability who had an IEP that was in effect in a previous public agency in this state transfers to a new public agency in this state and enrolls in a new school within the same school year, the new public agency, in consultation with the parents, must provide FAPE to the child including services comparable to those described in the child’s IEP from the previous public agency until the new public agency either: • Adopts the child’s IEP from the previous public agency; or • Develops, adopts, and implements a new IEP that meets the applicable requirements in these rules

14. What does LRE mean? Least Restrictive Environment: • To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, must beeducated with children who are non-disabled; and • Special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the general education environment should occur only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily

15. What are the implications of LRE? • Unless the IEP of a child with a disability requires some other arrangement, the child shall be educated in the school that he or she would attend if nondisabled; • In selecting the LRE, the agency shall consider anypotential harmful effect on the child or on the quality of services that he or she needs; and • A child with a disability shall not be removed from education in age–appropriate regular classrooms solely because of needed modifications in the general education curriculum. • The placement decision shall be made: • By a group of persons, including the parents and other persons knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement options; and • In conformity with the LRE provisions of this chapter, including rules 41.114(256B,34CFR300) to 41.118(256B, 34CFR300); • The child’s placement shall be: (1) Determined at least annually; (2) Based on the child’s IEP; and (3) Located as close as possible to the child’s home;

16. What are the implications of LRE? Continuum of Services: • Each public agency must ensure that a continuum of alternative services and placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services. • The continuum required…must meet the following requirements: • Include the alternative placements listed in the definition of special education under rule 41.39(256B,34CFR300) (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions); and • Make provision for supplementary services, such as resource room or itinerant instruction, to be provided in conjunction with regular class placement.

17. What is Procedural Due Process? • Procedural rules and safeguards to ensure the appropriate identification, evaluation, placement, and provision of services to entitled individuals. • Procedural safeguards are designed to ensure meaningful parent participation in decisions regarding educational programming & placement. • Parents have the right to challenge district decisions.

18. Notice Requirements Parents must be notified of Procedural Safeguards: • Notice must be written in plain language (i.e. terms easily understood by the general public) • Notice must be provided in the native language of the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. • LEA/AEA must ensure that notice is translated translated in his or her native language or other mode of communication, and that the parent understands the notice. Parents must be provided Prior Written Notice whenever the district proposes or refuses to “to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child [281—41.503(1)(a-b)] • PWN must include an explanation of why the agency proposed or refused to take action; a description of the assessment data used in determining the appropriateness of the action; and a description of other options considered. • PWN should also include a statement reiterating parent’s due process rights and sources the parents can contact to obtain assistance in understanding the provision of law and rules

19. Procedural Safeguards Include: • The “…right to an independent educational evaluation (IEE) at public expense [when] the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the AEA…”[281—41.502(2)(a)] • Prior Written Notice (PWN) whenever a public agency proposes or refuses “…to initiate or change the identification, evaluation or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the Child.” [281—41.503(1)(a-b)] • Informed parent consent approving the evaluation, programming, or placement of a child • The right “…to inspect and review all education records with respect to….the identification, evaluation, and educational placement of the child; and [t]heprovision of FAPE to the child.”[281—41.501(1)(a-b)]

20. More Procedural Safeguards: • The “Opportunity to present and resolve complaints through the due process complaint and state complaint procedures…” [281--41.503(e)] • Pendency placement (i.e. stay put) during due process proceedings • Procedures for students subject to placement in interim alternative educational settings (i.e. unilateral disciplinary change in placement) • “Requirements for unilateral placement by parents of children in private schools at public expense…”[281--41.503(i)] • Due process hearings, “…including requirements for disclosure of evaluation results and recommendations” [281—41.503(j)] • The right to appeal administrative hearing decisions in civil courts (i.e. state or federal court) [281--41.515(1)] • The discretion of a civil court to award reasonable attorney fees when parents are the prevailing party in a due process action. [281—41.517(1)]

21. Meaningful Parent Parent Participation is Predicated on Informed Parent Consent Public agencies must obtain “informed” parent consent prior to: • Initial evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services [281—41.300(1)] • Initial provision of special education and related services [281—41.300(2)] • Conducting a reevaluation [281—41.300(3)]

22. Informed Parent Consent “Informed” parent consent means permission given after the full disclosure of all information a reasonable person would need to make an intelligent decision: • “The parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in his or her native language, or through another mode of communication” [281—41.9(1)(a)] • The parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which parental consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any) that will be released and to whom [281—41.9(1)(b)] • The parent understands that the granting of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time [281—41.9(1)(c)]

23. Revocation of Consent • The 2006 reauthorization of IDEA regulations gives parents the right to revoke consent for special education services at any time [34 CFR 300(b)(4)]. • Revocation must be provided in writing • Districts must honor the request but only after providing parents with Prior Written Notice indicating: • The child will no longer receive special education services of any kind • The child will no longer be entitled to IDEA discipline protections • It is not necessary to convene an IEP team meeting to exit a child from special education pursuant to parent’s revocation of consent • Districts may not use due process or mediation procedures to challenge a parent’s decision to revoke consent [281—41.300(2)(c )(1)]

24. What does IDEIA mean by Outcomes? Improving educational results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities through: • A systemic approach to progress monitoring • A systemic approach to intervention design and implementation Systematic Progress Monitoring: • “regular and frequent data collection, analysis of individual performance across time, and modification of interventions as frequently as necessary based on systematic progress monitoring data” • collecting and displaying an individual’s performance over timefor the purpose of making educational decisions.

25. What does IDEIA mean by Outcomes? General education interventions • shall include teacher consultation with special education support and instructional personnel working collaboratively to improve an individual’s educational performance. • shall be documented; • shall include measurable and goal–directed attempts to resolve the presenting problem or behaviors of concern; • communication with parents; • collection of data related to the presenting problem or behaviors of concern, intervention design and implementation, • andsystematic progress monitoring to measure the effects of interventions. Intervention design and implementation. • Interventions shall be designed based on the preceding analysis, the defined problem, parent input, and professional judgments about the potential effectiveness of interventions. • The interventions shall be described in an intervention plan that includes goals and strategies, a progress monitoring plan, a decision–making plan for summarizing and analyzing progress monitoring data, and responsible parties. • Interventions shall be implemented as developed and modified on the basis of objective data and with the agreement of the responsible parties.

26. How is Eligibility Determined?

27. Evaluation Child Find Full & Individual Evaluation Whenever a parent requests an evaluation or a district has reason to suspect a disability that may entitle a child to special education and/or related services, the district is obligated to conduct a Full and Individual Evaluation The public agency must obtain written parent consent for evaluation and implement a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information within various performance domains • Public agencies are required to develop and implement procedures to identify, locate and evaluate children in need of special education and related services [Iowa Rules of Special Education 281—411(1); 34 CFR 300.111]. • This includes all children who are suspected of having a disability, even though they may be advancing from grade to grade or otherwise appear to making reasonable progress toward district standards and benchmarks [Iowa Rules of Special Education 281—411(3)].

28. Problem Solving is a Multi-Tiered Process Focused on Meeting Child’s Needs Rather Than Assigning a Label “. . . The student is not declared eligible for special education because of performance on an IQ test, but because their academic performance did not improve as the result of trying a continuum of progressively more intensive regular education interventions.” Move to Entitlement

29. Eligibility • An educational disability requiring Special Education is a skills deficit, a health or physical condition, a functional limitation, or a pattern of behavior that adversely affects educational performance. An educational disability: • 1) results in educational performance that is significantly and consistently different, diminished, or inappropriate when compared to the expectations for peers and • 2) significantly interferes with: • access to general education settings and opportunities • developmental progress, involvement and progress in the general curriculum, or • interpersonal relationships or personal adjustment. • Eligibility decisions are based on a child’s progress (i.e. performance over time), discrepancy (i.e. performance as compared to grade level expectations or developmental norms) and need. Special Education Eligibility Standards, Iowa Department of Education, July 2006

31. Essential Entitlement Questions

32. What is an IEP?

33. An IEP IS a Commitment to Provide Services… • The IEP is the cornerstone of the IDEA. • Developed in collaboration between parents and schools, the IEP describes the unique abilities, interests, and needs of a child and prescribes the educational placement, services, and supports that are needed to meet those needs. • The IEP is a comprehensive statement of the educational needs of a handicapped child and the specially designed instruction and related services to be employed to meet those needs. [Burlington Sch. Comm. v. Massachusetts Dept. of Educ., 556 IDELR 389 (U.S. 1985)].

34. An IEP is NOT a Guarantee of Educational Achievement • School districts are obligated to ensure entitled individuals have access to educational opportunity, not specific achievement of educational results. [Board of Educ. of the Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 553 IDELR 656 (U.S. 1982)]. • A child’s IEP is not a contract guaranteeing a student will achieve a certain level of academic proficiency; a district must only make a “good faith effort to assist a child to achieve his or her IEP goals. [Coalev. State Dept. of Educ., 35 IDELR 149 (D. Del. 2001)] • The standard to be considered is whether the IEP, at the time proposed, was reasonably calculated to confer educational benefit. [Board of Educ. v. Rowley].

35. Implementation Requirements • When a child is determined eligible for special education the district must ensure: • A meeting to develop an IEP for a child is conducted within 30 days of a determination that the child needs special education and related services; and • As soon as possible following development of the IEP, special education and related services are made available to the child in accordance with the child’s IEP. [281—41.323(3)] • At the beginning of each school year, each district must have an IEP in place for each entitled individual within its jurisdiction. [281—41.323(1)] • Districts must also ensure that IEPs are accessible to all special education teachers, general education teachers, and other service providers who are responsible for their implementation; teachers and service providers must be informed of their responsibilities related to implementation as well as specific accommodations, modifications, and supports that must be provided [281—41.323(4)]

36. Types of IEP Meetings • Initial: held following completion of a full and individual evaluation and determination of eligibility • Review: IEPs must be conducted at least annually to determine whether annual goals are being achieved or revisions to the IEP are required • Reevaluation: required at a minimum every three years to determine the extent to which the child’s progress, discrepancy, and needs have changed, whether additional modifications or services are required, and whether the child continues to be eligible for special education • Amendment: an IEP can be amended without having a comprehensive annual review; amendments may be made during an IEP meeting or, if parents and the school agree, without a formal meeting • Interim: may be developed when a team determines it is necessary to temporarily provide special education, support, and/or related services to an individual who has already been determined eligible

37. Required IEP Team Members/Meeting Participants [281--41.321(1)] • Parent(s) • Regular Education Teacher • Special Education Teacher • A District Representative who is: • qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education • knowledgeable regarding the general curriculum • knowledgeable regarding available resources, and • authorized to commit agency resources • An individual who can interpret evaluation results

38. IEP Considerations IEP Team must consider [34 CFR 300.324 (a)(1)]: IEP Team must also consider special factors [34 CFR 300.324 (a)(2]): The use of positive behavioral interventions and supports, and other strategies, to address that behavior The language needs of the child The communication needs of the child Whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services • The strengths of the child;  • The concerns of the parents for enhancing the education of their child;  • The results of the initial or most recent evaluation of the child; and  • The academic, developmental, and functional needs of the child.

39. IEP Content Requirements[281—41.320(1)] • Statement of Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP • Measurable Annual Goals • Description of Progress Monitoring and Reporting Protocols • Description of special education and related services, supplementary aids and services, program modifications, and supports for school personnel • Explanation of the extent, if any, the child will not participate with non-disabled peers in the general education setting • Description of necessary accommodations on district wide assessments or need for alternate assessment • Statement of anticipated start date and frequency, location, and duration of services. • Statement of secondary transition services

40. Present Levels of Academic Achievement & Functional Performance (PLAFP)— page(s) B, C, Top of Goals page(s) • The starting point that determines the direction of the IEP: • explains needs of the student and • explains how the student’s disability affects his/her involvement and progress in the general curriculum. • Documents baseline or summary of current level of achievement in areas of need • Describes how student applies skills. • Documents strengths, interests, and preferences and identifies effective approaches and instruction that enable student success. • Documents how the disability impacts the child from a functional perspective

41. Measurable Annual Goals—page(s) D, or E (goal pages) • Required for each area student receives services (i.e. academic, behavior, related services) • Descriptions of what a student can reasonably be expected to accomplish within a 12-month period with the provision of special education services and supports. • Linked to district grade level standards and benchmarks: aimed at closing the gap between current level of performance and expected outcomes • Defined in specific, observable, and measurable terms.

42. Progress Monitoring & Reporting • Identifying the frequency, method and mechanism for communicating student progress • Teams may develop any schedule of reporting that meets it’s needs, so long as parents are informed of their student’s progress at least as often as the parents of non-disabled students are informed their students’ progress • Parent’s may request additional progress information at any time.

43. Service Descriptions—page(s) F • Description of each REQUIRED service, activity, and support that will be provided to the student or on behalf of the student. • Ensure that all members of the IEP team know what services, including specially designed instruction, supports, and activities will be provided, when they will be provided, and by whom they will be provided

44. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) • Document participation in special education, general education and community settings: calculate the amount of time the student is removed from general education • Identifying the students’ attendance center and justify the reason(s) why child cannot be served in neighborhood school

45. District Wide Assessments (DWA) • Students with disabilities are expected to participate in DWA • Determine how student will participate in DWA • The IEP team must decide whether: • The student can participate without accommodations • The student can participate with accommodations, or • The student will need to participate in the Iowa Alternate Assessment

46. Secondary Transition • Appropriate, measurable, postsecondary goals, based upon age appropriate transition assessments, related to training, education, employment and where appropriate, independent living skills • The transition services, including courses of study, needed to assist the student in reaching the goals [41.320(2)]

47. IEP Development Process • Identify present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, • Develop well-written goals and effective progress monitoring strategies, • Describe special education services, activities and supports, • Consider the least restrictive environment (LRE) and make a placement decision • Communicate responsibilities and progress.

48. What Do You Need to Know Student Discipline and Special Education?

49. Special consideration MUST be given to children with special needs A child may NOT be denied a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as a result of conduct that is a manifestation of their disability • “…the mere fact that a student with a disability knows right from wrong did not make his conduct unrelated [to his disability].” S-1 v. Turlington, EHLR 552:267 (5th Cir. 1981) • “…[a] handicapped child’s conduct [is related to his disability] only if the handicap significantly impairs the child’s behavior controls. . . [I]t does not embrace conduct that bears only an attenuated relationship to the child’s handicap.” Doe v. Maher, 557, EHLR 557:353 (9th Cir. 1986)

50. Students Not Yet Eligible • Child is entitled to IDEA disciplinary protections if district had knowledge child had a disability before behavior that resulting in disciplinary action occurred. • District is presumed to have knowledge if: • parent expressed concern to district personnel that child needed services; • behavior or performance of child demonstrates need for services; • parent requested evaluation; or • teacher of the child, or other district personnel, expressed specific concerns about behavior or performance to special education director or other personnel pursuant to district established child find or referral policy. • District not deemed to have knowledge if it conducted an evaluation and determined child did not have disability or determined evaluation unnecessary, providing notice to parents of determinations IAC 281—41.534(256B,34CFR300)