Terminology
Accommodations:
Teaching supports and services that the student may require to
successfully demonstrate learning. Accommodations should not change
expectations to the curriculum grade levels. Examples include, extra
time for assignments or tests, the use of taped textbooks, study carrel,
etc.
Alternative Assessment: Use of assessment
strategies, such as performance assessment and portfolios, to replace or
supplement assessment by machine-scored multiple-choice tests.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA):
An intensive, structured teaching program. Behaviors to be taught are
broken down into their simplest elements. These elements are taught
using repeated trials where the child is presented with a stimulus.
Correct responses and behaviors are rewarded with positive
reinforcement. When incorrect responses occur, they are ignored and
appropriate responses are prompted and rewarded.
Assistive Technology:
Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired
commercially, off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to
increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals
with disabilities.
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP):
A plan and/or strategies, program or curricular modifications, and
supplementary aids and supports developed by a planning and placement
team (PPT) to teach a child appropriate behaviors and eliminate
behaviors that impede his/her learning or that of others. It should be
positive in nature, not punitive.
BSE: Bureau of Special Education
CSDE: Connecticut State Department of Education
Evaluation:
Tests and other assessment procedures, including a review of
information, that are used to decide whether your child is eligible for
special education services and what services your child may need.
Extended School Year (ESY):
Special education and related services that are provided to a student:
in accordance with the student’s individualized education program (IEP);
beyond the normal school year; and/or school day and at no cost to
parents. The determination of the need for ESY services to a student is
determined by the PPT on an individual basis.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA):
A federal law, enacted in 1984, that gives all parents of students
under 18 or students over the age of 18 or attending post-secondary
schools, the right to see, correct and control access to student
records.
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE):
Special education and related services that are provided at public
expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge;
meet state and federal requirements, include preschool, elementary
school, or secondary school education; and are provided according to an
IEP.
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA): A FBA
is an assessment that looks at why a child behaves the way he or she
does, given the nature of the child and what is happening in the
environment. It is a process for collecting data to determine the
possible causes of problem behaviors and to identify strategies to
address the behaviors.
Identification: The decision that a child is eligible for special education.
Individualized Education Program (IEP):
A written education program for a child with a disability that is
developed by a team of professionals (administrators, teachers,
therapists, etc.) and the child’s parents; it is reviewed and updated at
least yearly and describes the child’s present performance, what the
child’s learning needs are, what services the child will need, when and
for how long, and identifies who will provide the services.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE):
A child with a disability must, to the maximum extent appropriate, be
educated with children who are nondisabled in the general education
class in the school that he/she would attend if the child did not have a
disability that required special education and related services. A
child with a disability should not be removed from the general education
setting unless the nature and severity of the child’s disability is
such that education in the general class with the use of supplemental
aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Manifestation Determination:
When a child with a disability behaves in a way that violates the
school’s code of conduct and, as a result, the school seeks to change
the child’s education placement, a determination needs to be made as to
whether the child’s behavior is caused by the child’s disability.
Modifications/Adaptations: Changes
made to curriculum expectations in order to meet the needs of the
student. Modifications are made when the grade level or age appropriate
expectations are beyond the student’s level of ability. Modifications
may be minimal or very complex depending on the student performance.
Modifications must be clearly acknowledged in the IEP.
Office of Civil Rights (OCR): A
branch of the U.S. Department of Education that enforces several
Federal civil rights laws (such as, Section 504) that prohibit
discrimination in programs or activities that receive federal financial
assistance. These laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race,
national origin, gender, disability and on the basis of age.
Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP): A
division of the U.S. Department of Education dedicated to improving
results for children with disabilities ages birth through 21, by
providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local
districts. OSEP administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act (IDEA).
PJ Settlement Agreement: P.J.,
et al. v State of Connecticut Board of Education, et al. was filed in
1991 in federal district court on behalf of five school-age children
with mental retardation and their families against, among others, the
Connecticut State Board of Education and the State Commissioner of
Education. The lawsuit was later certified by the court as a class
action. The class is made up of all school-age children in Connecticut
identified with the label of mental retardation/intellectual disability
who are not educated in the general classroom. On May 22, 2002, a
settlement agreement was approved by the federal court and five goals
and outcomes were established.
Positive Behavior Supports (PBS):
An approach to addressing challenging behaviors that includes
functional assessment of the behavior, organizing the environment,
teaching skills, rewarding positive behaviors, anticipating situations
and monitoring the effect of interventions and redesigning interventions
as necessary.
Planning and Placement Team (PPT):
A group of professionals who represent each of the teaching,
administrative and pupil personnel staffs and who, with the parents, are
equal participants in the decision making process to determine the
specific educational needs of the child and develop, review and revise a
child’s IEP. A planning and placement team reviews referrals to special
education, determines if the child needs to be evaluated, decides what
evaluations will be given to the child, and determines whether the child
is eligible for special education services.
Prior Written Notice:
An explanation why the school district proposes or refuses to take an
action. The school must inform parents of any actions proposed or
refused by the PPT, a description of other options that the PPT
considered, an explanation why those options were rejected including
assessment information used to make the decision. All this must be done
in writing. In Connecticut, prior written notice is attached to the IEP.
The proposed action cannot be implemented until five school days from
the date the parents receives the notice.
Regional Education Service Center (RESC):
A Connecticut public educational authority formed by four or more
boards of education for the purpose of cooperative action to furnish
programs and services.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973:
A federal civil rights statute that protects the rights of persons with
disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal financial
assistance, which includes public schools.
Stay Put:
The requirement that your child must stay in his or her current program
or placement during the course of a due process hearing, unless you and
the school district agree to a change.
Supplementary Aids and Services:
Aids, services, program modifications, and/or supports for school
personnel that are provided in general education classes or other
education-related settings to enable students with disabilities to be
educated with students who are non-disabled.