Accomodation
Accomodations are services or supports used to enable a student to fully access the subject matter and instruction. An accommodation does not alter the content or expectations; instead it is an adjustment to instructional methods. Accommodations should be specified in a student’s 504 Plan/IEP. Examples include books on tape, content enhancements, and allowing additional time to take a test.
Reasonable Accomodation is the principle by which opportunities of an organizations must be accessible to qualified disabled people. Under Section 504 (and the ADA), organizations are required to make certain adjustments to the known physical and mental limitations of otherwise qualified disabled students and employees, unless it can be demonstrated that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the program. Click here to get a few ideas on accommodations you can request for your student/child…
Adaptation
Adaptation involves an adjustment to the instructional content or performance expectations of students with disabilities from what is expected or taught to students in general education. Adaptations are usually included as part of a student’s IEP. Adaptations can include decreasing the number of exercises the student is expected to complete, assignment of different reading materials, or use of a calculator instead of working out problems by hand.
Advocate.
An individual who is not an attorney, but who assists parents and children in their dealings with school districts regarding the children’s special education programs.
Americal Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
Legislation enacted to prohibit discrimination based on disability.
Appeal
Procedure in which a party seeks to reverse or modify a judgment or final order of a lower court or administrative agency, usually on grounds that lower court misinterpreted or misapplied the law, rather than on the grounds that it made an incorrect finding of fact.
Assessment
Systematic method of obtaining information from tests or other sources; procedures used to determine child’s eligibility, identify the child’s strengths and needs, and services child needs to meet these needs. See also evaluations.
Content Enhancements
Content Enhancements are techniques that assist students in identifying, organizing, comprehending, and remembering content information. These enhancements are a type of accommodation. Examples include: advance organizers which help link prior knowledge to new knowledge, visual displays which display relationships between different types or sources of information, study guides, mnemonic devices, and peer-mediated instruction.
Disabled Person
Disabled persons are those who have a “physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities and has record of such impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment”. [Section 504:34 CFR 104.3 (j)]
Due process. In general, due process includes the elements of notice, opportunity to be heard and to defend ones’ self. With regard to IDEA, due process refers to a specific set of procedures described in 23 IAC Part 226. With regard to Section 504, procedures are less clearly specified. With regard to student discipline matters, the amount of process that is due is largely dependent upon the degree of jeopardy involved.
E.D.G.A.R. Complaint. A complaint filed with a state agency under rules promulgated as (federal) Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) that each state have a means for receiving complaints that federal laws are being violated. Enforcement mechanisms are weak.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
A federal law that regulates the management of student records and disclosure of information from those records. The Act has its own administrative enforcement mechanism.
Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
FAPE stands for “free appropriate public education.” This right is guaranteed to students with disabilities by IDEA. The provision states that special education and related services, in accordance with the state’s standards, are provided free of charge under public supervision and direction in compliance with the student’s IEP. It includes preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education.
Full Inclusion
Full Inclusion refers to the movement that all students with disabilities, regardless of type or severity, are educated full time in a general education classroom and program. Any special education or related services are delivered in that setting.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
This statute (I.R.S. Ch. 116) regulates access to public records. It is useful for accessing the policies and minutes of public bodies, but does not provide for access to individual student records.
Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 122.
Commonly called the “Illinois School Code.” It includes state law regulating the operation of public schools. Article 14 is specific to special education matters.
Illinois Student Records Act.
A portion of the school code regulating the management of all student records whether or not those students have disabilities.
Individualized Education Plan/Program (IEP)
The Individualized Education Plan is a legal document designed by a team of educators, specialists, and the child’s parent(s)/guardian(s) that outlines the child’s learning/behavioral goals and objectives. This document must be updated at least every 12 months; however, an IEP team meeting can be called by any member of the team at anytime. The IEP includes a description of the child’s present level of educational performance and identifies annual goals and objectives along with methods for assessing progress toward goals and objectives. In addition, the IEP includes any necessary supports, accommodations, adaptations, and/or related services.
Inclusion
Inclusion occurs when students with disabilities are included in the general education classroom/program to the extent possible. Any support services the student needs will be provided in this setting.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was first enacted in 1975 as the Education for all Handicapped Children Act. It is a comprehensive law that governs the education of students with disabilities. The current version of the law was amended in 2004 (referred to as IDEA ’04 or PL 108-446).
Leave No Child Behind Act
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) refers to the concept that children with disabilities should be educated to the maximum extent possible with children who are not disabled while meeting all their learning needs and physical requirements. The type of setting is stipulated in a child’s Section 504 Plan/IEP. Least restrictive environment requires that qualified individuals be placed in a “regular educational environment” unless “it is demonstrated … that education of the person in the regular environment with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily”. If the placement is outside of the regular classroom, consideration shall be given to the proximity of the alternate placement setting to the student’s home [504 Act: 34 CFR 104.34]
Learning Disabled (LD) As currently defined in IDEA, the term refers to a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage (IDEA).
Level I Due Process Hearing.
An administrative remedy for alleged violation of the rights of children with disabilities which is created under the Illinois School Code. Note: New procedures become effective July 1, 1997.
Level II Due Process Hearing.
An administrative remedy provided under the school code which provides for appeal from Level I decisions. This remedy must normally be exhausted in order for a court to consider a special education matter. Note: New procedures become effective July 1, 1997.
Local Education Agency (LEA)
Local Education Agency is a school district, board of education, or other public authority under the supervision of a state educational agency having administrative control and direction of public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or political subdivision in a state.
Major Life Activity
Major life activities include such things as caring for one’s self, doing manual tasks or walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. A substantial limitation in only one of the life activities is all that is needed for one to be considered disabled under the Law.
Mainstream
Mainstream is the placement of a student with a disability into a general education classroom or any non-academic setting (such as physical education, lunch, etc.) for any part of the school day. This type of placement is often seen as being appropriate once it is determined that the child is able to keep up academically or interact appropriately with the other students.
Modification
Modification is often used instead of adaptation. See “adaptation.”
Multidisciplinary Conference (MDC)
A required gathering under IDEA and is the only body that can make certain determinations — specifically about a child’s eligibility for special education.
Mediation
A voluntary dispute resolution process for which ISBE will provide mediators upon request.
Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
An agency of the federal government’s executive branch within the Department of Education. It is charged with enforcing a number of civil rights statutes including Section 504.
OSEP – US Office of Special Education Programs. An office within OSERS charged with assuring that the various states comply with IDEA.
OSERS – US Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. An agency of the federal government’s executive branch within the Department of Education.
Public Law (P.L.) 94-142.
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act; enacted into law in 1975
School District
School Board
Section 504
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law designed to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. Section 504 guarantees certain rights to individuals with disabilities, including the right to full participation and access to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. is a component of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Section 504 regulations require a school district to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to each qualified student with a disability who is in the school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. This may be defined as regular or special education services. Section 504 does require development of a plan, usually referred to as a 504 plan, although this written document is not mandated. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) of IDEA may be used as the 504 plan . Typically, a student who needs 504 services needs accommodations and/or related services but does not need special placement or instruction from a special education teacher. For example, students with ADD or ADHD, who do not qualify under the disability categories of IDEA, often have 504 plans. General education teachers, resource teachers, and speech and language therapists usually provide the additional services.
Section 504 Plan
State Board of Education (SBE)
The state administrative agency responsible for educational services. Its office relevant to special education is the Department of Special Education which is headed by an Assistant Superintendent.
Transition
Transition is the set of activities and services that assist students with disabilities to successfully move from the school environment to the post-school environment, such as employment, post-secondary education, or vocational training. These services can include adult education, independent living, and community participation.
Visual impairment including blindness.
Disability category under IDEA; impaired vision that adversely affects educational performance.
The following sites are useful glossaries and dictionaries that define and explain many terms used in special education.
