Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative

Federal, state, and school district policies and regulations are based on federal and state law. Much of the language used within the field of special education is taken from the written laws. While compliance with the law is imperative, making the whole process “user friendly” is the intent of this document.

Accommodations
Provisions made in how a student accesses and demonstrates learning. These do not substantially change the instruction level, content, or performance criteria. Made to provide equal access to learning and equal access to demonstrate what is known.

Affective Behavior
Skills in understanding one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions in order to act and interact appropriately with others.

Annual Goals
Describe the educational performance to be achieved by a student by the end of the IEP year.

Adaptive Physical Education (APE)
Involves modifications/accommodations when locomotor and/or object-control skills are significantly delayed as compared to same-aged peers.

Assessments
The process of gathering and carefully interpreting information about a child using a variety of formal tests and informal observation that provides guidance in developing an educational program.

**Criterion Referenced Test (CRT) – A non-standardized test that measures specific knowledge or content a student has learned or not learned.
**Curriculum Based Measurement (CBM) – A standardized assessment that utilizes the district curriculum to measure student performance as compared to individual school norms.
**Kansas Alternate Assessment – A comprehensive evaluation designed for students with the most significant disabilities for whom the Kansas assessments, even with accommodations or modifications, are not appropriate.
**Kansas Modified Assessment – An evaluation for students who perform at or below the 4.0 percentile rank, yet do not qualify for the Kansas Alternate Assessment.

Assistive Technology Device (ATD)
Equipment that helps students perform daily living tasks, communicate with others, participate in the educational process, join in recreational activities and/or work. Using these tools can help students become more independent.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Both disorders are characterized by inattention and behavior exhibited with little or no thought given to the consequence of the action or to the extent that they disrupt the learning of the student or others. Each condition has onset before age seven and is exhibited continually over a period of at least six months. While ADD is manifested through introverted behaviors, ADHD is demonstrated by impulsivity.

Auditory Processing
The ability to process and/or understand information taken in through the ears. Children who have auditory processing difficulties may experience problems in language development including reading, spelling, speech, and the ability to understand verbal instructions.

Benchmark
Levels of academic performance used as checkpoints to monitor progress toward performance goals and/or academic standards.

Behavior Intervention Plan
An outline of positive behavioral supports and intervention strategies, designed by the IEP team to prevent problem behavior that hinders the student’s learning or that of others.

Decoding Skills
Skills that are needed to identify letters and words, either spoken or written, and understand their meaning in the setting they are used.

Developmental Delay (DD)
Used to describe the development of children who are not able to perform skills other children of the same age are usually able to perform.

Differentiated Instruction
Consistently using a variety of instructional approaches to the content, process, and/or products in response to learning styles and interest of academically diverse students.

Educational Advocate
Appointed for students ages three to eighteen who are in the custody of SRS, the Department of Corrections (DOC), or the Juvenile Justice Authority (JJA); are receiving special education services or need an evaluation to determine eligibility for services; and whose parents are unknown or unavailable, whose parents’ rights have been terminated, or whose parents have a court order of “no contact” against them.

Exceptionality
Includes children with disabilities and/or giftedness.

Extended School Year (ESY)
Additional instructional time is provided to the student so the student will not significantly lose skills that he/she has already learned. The IEP is the guiding document for ESY and should be considered at initial, annual, and triennial reviews.

Fine Motor Skills
Small muscle development involving the integration of the student’s vision and the use of his/her hands.

Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA)
A hypothesis of a student’s purpose in exhibiting negative behaviors. An FBA answers the questions of when, where, and why challenging behaviors occur. It is developed using input from those who know and work with the student, and is used to assist in the development of a behavior intervention plan.

Gross Motor
The ability to use large muscles in a purposeful manner such as walking, jumping, and bending over.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
An individual plan written by a local agency responsible for a student’s education from birth to three years of age.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)
A written plan for a student with disabilities that is developed collaboratively with the parents, student (when appropriate), the school, and other agencies as appropriate.

Modification
Altering the length, content and scope in which assignments or tests are to be completed to allow a student with a disabling condition to complete the approved curriculum.

Occupational Therapy (OT)
A therapy or treatment that helps individual development of skills that will aid in daily living, perceptual motor skills, and sensory motor skills.

Perceptual Motor Skills
The ability to perceive a situation, evaluate it, and decide on what action to take (e.g. copying shapes or crossing a street).

Physical Therapy (PT)
Therapeutic interventions that focus on the treatment of impairments including decreased strength, low endurance, limited range of motion, poor balance or posture, and developmental delay.

Progress Reports
Information regarding a student’s progress toward the annual IEP goals must be shared with the parents at least as often as parents of non-disabled students are informed of their student’s progress.

Phonemic Awareness
The awareness that language is composed of small sounds and the ability to manipulate these sounds.

Regression/Recoupment
The amount of loss of skills a child experiences over an instructional break (primarily summer vacation) and the length of time it takes him/her to recover the lost skills.

Related Services
Includes such services as transportation, speech-language therapy, audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, social work, and counseling services.

Special Education
Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the identified needs of a student with disabilities.

Speech Therapy
The process for remediation of speech disorders, such as stuttering, lisping, misarticulation, conducted by a qualified speech pathologist on a one-to-one or small group basis.

Transition Planning
A process in which the student, family members, friends, and professionals come together to develop and implement a plan of action that will help students lead active, productive adult lives.

Visual Processing
The ability to process and/or understand what one sees. Children who have visual processing difficulties may experience problems in academic subjects including reading, spelling, math, and the ability to understand written instructions.

Vocational Rehabilitation
Services to help people with disabilities become gainfully employed and self-sufficient. Services include counseling and guidance, physical and mental restoration, training, rehabilitation technology; job placement, job coaching and ongoing support.

Areas of Exceptionality

(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – 1997 Reauthorized 2000)

Autism
A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.

Deaf-Blindness (DB)
The combinations of hearing and visual impairments which cause such severe communication and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.

Deafness
A hearing impairment that is so severe that a child is impaired in processing information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects educational performance.

Emotional Disturbance (ED)
A condition creating emotional interference with a student’s educational progress, existing over a long period of time and to a marked degree.

Gifted (GI)
Demonstrating the potential for performing at significantly higher levels of accomplishment in one or more academic fields due to intellectual ability, when compared to others of similar age, experience, and environment.

Hearing Impairment (HI)
An impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Mental Retardation (MR)
Substantially below average general intellectual functioning, existing with deficits in adaptive behavior that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Multiple Disabilities
The combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments.

Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
A motor disability caused by an anomaly, disease or impairment where the child requires specialized and integrated services in order to benefit from an educational program.

Other Health Impairment (OHI)
Having limited strength, vitality or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Specific Learning Disability (LD)
A disorder that affects students’ ability to interpret what they see and hear or to link information from different parts of the brain.

Speech or Language Impairment (SL)
A communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force. The term applies to open or closed head injuries.

Visual Impairment (VI)
(Including blindness) An impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance.

Federal, state, and school district policies and regulations are based on federal and state laws. Much of the language that is an integral part of special education is taken from legal mandates. While compliance with the law is imperative, making the whole process “user friendly” is the intent of this document.

Age of Majority
Beginning at age seventeen, the IEP team must inform the student and parents that in Kansas, at the age of eighteen, the rights under IDEA-97 will transfer to the student. The school must provide documentation in the IEP that the student has been informed of this right at least one year before the student is eighteen.

Annual Review
Students with disabilities have their Individualized Educational Program (IEP) reviewed each year. A review involves an update of the student’s progress and the development of his/her educational program for the coming year.

Child Find
A screening process to locate, evaluate, and identify students from birth to age five who may need special education services.

Confidentiality
Refers to precautions an individual other than the student’s parent must take in not revealing information, without consent, about a student to someone who is not directly involved with that student.

Consent (Informed)
Parent is informed of information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought in his/her native language. The parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity. The consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any) which will be released and to whom. The parent understands the granting of consent is voluntary and may be revoked at any time.

Due Process
A set of procedures that seeks to ensure fairness of educational decisions and accountability, both for parents and for educational professionals. Due process provides a forum where disagreements about the identification, evaluation and educational placement and provision of a free, appropriate public education for students with disabilities can be adjudicated.

Eligibility
After completion of appropriate evaluation procedures, a team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child who has been evaluated prepare a written evaluation report that includes a statement indicating whether the child meets the criteria to be eligible for special education.

Educational Advocate
Appointed for students ages three to eighteen who are in the custody of SRS, the Department of Corrections (DOC), or the Juvenile Justice Authority (JJA); are receiving special education services or need an evaluation to determine eligibility for services; and whose parents are unknown or unavailable, whose parents’ rights have been terminated, or whose parents have a court order of “no contact” against them.

Exceptionality
Includes children with disability and/or giftedness.

Expedited Hearing
Occurs in three instances: 1) when a school district asks a Special Education Due Process Hearing Officer to order an interim alternative educational setting because a child’s behavior is substantially likely to result in injury to the child or to others; 2) when a parent challenges the manifestation determination or any placement decision in a disciplinary context; or 3) when a school district maintains it is dangerous to return a child (who is in an alternative educational setting) to a current placement and seeks a Special Education Due Process Hearing Officer’s order that the child’s educational placement be changed.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Refers to the rights of parents and students with regard to confidentiality of student records. Schools must provide access to parents and students to inspect educational records, and to seek correction of records they believe to be misleading or inaccurate.

Formal Complaint
One of the methods parents have to resolve special education disagreements with the school district. The formal complaint process provides an objective investigation to ensure that all procedures under IDEA-97 have been followed properly.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
Means special education and related services that: (a) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction without charge; (b) meets the standards of the state educational agency; (c) include an appropriate preschool, elementary or secondary school education; and (d) are provided in conformity with an IEP.

General Education Intervention
A problem-solving process to help support students with academic or behavioral concerns. Intervention plans are developed by a Student Improvement Team to assist the student’s progress in the general education class.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)
A written plan for a student with disabilities that is developed collaboratively with the parents, student (when appropriate), the school, and other agencies as appropriate.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
This federal act (reauthorized in 2000) governs special education processes and procedures.

IEP Team
A group who comes together to develop, review, and revise a student’s IEP. Members of the IEP team include: student, parents, special education teacher(s), general education teacher(s), school representative or designee, and a person to interpret instructional implications of any new evaluation or assessment result. Representatives of other agencies that are likely to be responsible for providing or paying for transition services for students ages sixteen and older must be invited.

Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
An individual plan written by a local agency responsible for a student’s education from birth to three years of age.

Interim IEP
Developed for a student who has been determined to be a child with an exceptionality, but more information is needed to determine the appropriate services. An IEP must be reviewed or re-written within thirty days of the student enrolling in school.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Used to describe procedures to ensure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities are educated with non-disabled students. Removal of students with disabilities from the general education environment may occur only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in general classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. The student should be educated in the school he/she would attend if not disabled, unless the IEP requires otherwise and then as close to home as possible.

Manifestation Determination
When any disciplinary action that constitutes a change of placement is contemplated for a child with a disability, the parents must be notified of the proposed action and of procedural safeguards accorded under IDEA-97. As soon as possible, but no later than ten days after the decision is made, the IEP team must meet to review the relationship between the child’s disability and the behavior subject to disciplinary action to determine whether or not the behavior was a manifestation of the disability.

Mediation
A method of resolving disputes at the local level. Both parties must agree to mediate. Either the parents or a school representative may suggest this option initially. A parent advocate, outside agency, or another individual may not request mediation. Costs of mediation are borne by the state.

Parent Involvement
Parents have the right to participate in decisions involving the identification, assessment and placement of their child, as well as the right to participate in the child’s educational program.

Parent Rights
Parents of children who are or may be exceptional, have certain rights or procedural safeguards under federal and state laws. A copy of the Parent Rights in Special Education must be given to parents in their native language.

Placement
Refers to the program chosen as the most appropriate educational setting for a student. Placement occurs after a comprehensive assessment and formulation of the IEP. The IEP team utilizes the IEP to decide placement.

Prior Written Notice
This notice must be provided to parents before the school proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of their child or the provision of special education and related services to their child.

Procedural Safeguards
Precautions taken to ensure that an individual’s rights are not denied without due process of law.

Section 504
Prohibits discrimination against persons with a disability in any program receiving federal financial assistance. Section 504 defines a person with a disability as anyone who: 1) has a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activity; 2) has a record of such impairment; or 3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

Student Improvement Team
The team uses a multidisciplinary problem-solving process that promotes school-based coordination, individualized student academic or behavioral interventions, school-parent efforts and greater access to community resources. Intervention plans to assist students with academic or behavioral concerns in the classroom are developed.

“Stay Put” Provision
If a disagreement occurs between the parent and school, the student remains in the most current program until the difference is settled, unless both parties agree otherwise.

Team Meeting Notice
The school must provide notice of an IEP meeting to the parents for the initial IEP meeting and any subsequent IEP meetings. The notice must be provided at least ten calendar days prior to the meeting and must be accompanied by the Parent Rights document.

COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS

ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
APE – Adaptive Physical Education
FHSEC – Flint Hills Special Education Cooperative
CP – Cerebral Palsy
DB – Deaf-Blind
DD – Developmental Delay
ED – Emotionally Disturbed
ESY – Extended School Year
FAPE – Free Appropriate Public Education
FBA – Functional Behavior Assessment
FERPA – Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
HI – Hearing Impaired
IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IEP – Individualized Education Program
IFSP – Individualized Family Service Plan
LEA – Local Education Agency
LD – Learning Disabled
LRE – Least Restrictive Environment
KSDE – Kansas State Department of Education
KSD – Kansas School for the Deaf
KSB – Kansas School for the Blind
OCR – Office of Civil Rights
OHI – Other Health Impaired
OI – Orthopedically Impaired
OT – Occupational Therapy or Occupational Therapist
PDD – Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PT – Physical Therapy or Physical Therapist
SIT – Student Improvement Team
SL – Speech-Language
TBI – Traumatic Brain Injury
VI – Visually Impaired/Visual Disability

AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress – a yearly determination about whether a school has met the targeted level for both reading and mathematics performance of all students and each identified sub-population in the school.   School districts and the state as a whole must meet the AYP targets set at the high school level for both reading and math.

Balanced Literacy – a research-based approach to teaching reading which consists of five major components – word identification, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing/ communication

CETE – Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation – the contractor with the Kansas Department of Education to develop the multiple forms for all subject areas tested as part of the Kansas Assessment system

CAT-6 – the California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition – a norm-referenced achievement test which schools across the country choose to use as a basis of comparing student performance on both an individual and school aggregate basis.   Several other nationally normed achievement tests exist (Stanford, Iowa Tests, Metropolitan), but the CAT is the test chosen locally for use in USD 253

Charter Schools – a process created by Kansas Statute which enables a school to focus on a defined mission and to measure its achievement against that mission.   The process allows schools to request waivers from some components of district and/or state policies

Curriculum Mapping – a method of determining the intended curriculum (content, assessment, and resources) in a classroom, school, or district.   The process was developed by Dr. Heidi Hays-Jacobs over ten years ago and is used in schools and districts across the US and around the world.

Differentiated Instruction – a process in which the teacher provides learning activities which vary from student to student based on the individual learning needs of the student (interests, prior knowledge, skills, abilities, needs, etc.) and which helps all learners to grow as much as they can.

ELA – English Language Acquisition – refers to programs that support learning for English Language Learners (ELL).   Other terms often used when referring to ELL instruction include:   ESL instruction (English as a Second Language), bi-lingual instruction, and dual language instruction (classroom instruction delivered in both English and the native language of the students – typically the amount of English increases each year and the native language support decreases until after about four years instruction is entirely in English).

Formative Assessment – testing during the learning process to determine if learning has taken place so that adjustments in instruction can be made (can be both whole class adjustments or for individual students)

Disaggregated data – a requirement of both QPA and NCLB to move thinking away from determining the level of learning through the use of building averages is to examine the performance of traditionally underperforming sub-populations (low socio-economic status [SES], minority ethnic, special education, migrant, and English Language learner [ELL] groups) to assure that all sub-populations are improving

Graduation Requirements – this specific list of high school courses in which a student must gain credit in order to be eligible to graduate.   The state has a minimum set of requirements and local districts have the option of having additional local requirements.   The current state minimum credit requirement is 18 (changes to 21 for the class of 2009) and the USD 253 credit requirement is 24.

Graphic organizers – a visual technique used by students (or demonstrated by teachers) to help make connections between several learning components of the same topic (examples include:   Venn diagrams, organizational charts, concept web, etc.)

IEP – Individual Development Plan – the learning plan developed to meet the individual needs of an identified special education student.   The plan is developed by a team of those who best know the student including the student’s parents, teachers, school administration, and support services who work with the student.   The student will attend when it is appropriate to do so. The IEP is based on current, measurable information.   Identification of students is based on questions of eligibility related to the presence of an exceptionality and the need for specialized instruction.

Kansas Assessments – the state tests for reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and writing (usually given between the end of February and the first week of April

KSDE – Kansas State Department of Education – the state agency responsible for overseeing public education in Kansas on a day to day basis.   Lead by the Commissioner of Education, Dr. Andy Thompkins.   Other top leaders are Deputy Commissioner, Dale Dennis and Assistant Commissioner, Dr. Alexa Pochowski.

KSBE – Kansas State Board of Education – the ten member, elected body who set the focus, rules and regulations for public education in Kansas .   The representative for District 6 is Dr. Deena Horst, 920 S 9th, Salina, KS   67401 , dhorst@ksde.org, 785-827-8540.

Learning Strategies – a method of thinking about or organizing thinking on a topic

Migrant – any student whose family moves due to the temporary nature of agricultural-related work or food processing work

NCA – North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement – the regional accrediting association of schools covering 17 states from Michigan to Arizona .   Their school improvement process is a continuous improvement model.   Schools choose to participate in this process or choose to use this approach to meet Kansas ‘ QPA process.

NCLB – No Child Left Behind – the reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 – includes the Title I program is a federal government entitlement program aimed at addressing the skills children of poverty typically come to school lacking, Title II is Highly Qualified Teachers and staff (professional development); Title III is English Language Acquisition; Title IV is Safe and Drug Free Schools; Title V is Innovative Programs.   All funding is distributed district-wide except for Title I which goes only to those schools which the district has identified as high poverty K-4 buildings.

PDC – Professional Development Council – the group of the teachers and administrators from every district building who oversee the professional training process in USD 253

Priority indicators – the specific curriculum indicators at each grade level identified as the most critical for further learning and/or which have been identified for assessment on the Kansas Assessments

Progress Reports (K-3) and Grade Cards (4-12) – a written record of student learning made in a formal fashion each quarter of the school year.   In grades K-3 the report is on the level of mastery for each important learning component for the particular grade level.   In grades 4-12 the report is a letter grade for each general subject area.

QPA – Quality Performance Accreditation – the name of the school improvement process in Kansas .   All schools must participate in this process.   QPA is a continuous improvement approach to school improvement.

Reading First – a competitive federal/state first through third grade grant program targeted at changing literacy instruction in Title I schools who have a high level of students not reading at grade level by second grade.   Schools receiving the grant must hire a reading coach and give specific literacy tests to measure the progress of students in the school (and a comparison school in the district matching the grant school must give the same tests).   William Allen White is a Reading First school and Timmerman has been identified as the comparison school

Results Based Staff Development – the process of implementing teacher training (professional staff development) in the classroom so student learning is positively impacted

Schools of Choice – in Title I schools which do not meet the AYP target for either reading or mathematics for two consecutive years a number of sanctions occur which restrict how Title one funds can be spent.   Another sanction is that students attending such a school can transfer to another district school, which has attained AYP, with transportation provided.   If they original school meets the AYP target for two consecutive years, students can remain in the School of Choice , but transportation is no longer provided.

Sheltered Instruction or SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) – an approach to instruction developed for English Language Learners (ELL, students may also be identified by in similar acronyms – LEP = Limited English Proficient and NES = Non-English Speaking or the ELL program may be referred to as ELA = English Language Acquisition) which allows students to gain both content and language understanding during the same lesson.   The strategies used for ELL students are applicable to and should increase the learning of all students.

SIT – Student Improvement Team – a site based group of teachers to whom any teacher in the building can discuss learning questions about an individual student and with the help of the team strategize possible interventions to assist the student to increase his/her learning.   The SIT team meets weekly in many buildings.   The SIT process is part of the regular education responsibility and must be completed before a student can be considered for special education services.

Standards-based math – an approach to mathematics education in which the math content is presented in a problem context and includes instruction in each of the four standards (number/number systems; algebra; geometry/measurement; and data).   It might also be described as a problem solving approach to teaching math.   The standards-based math series adopted in USD 253 include:   Math Trailblazers by Kendall/Hunt for grades K-4;Mathematics in Context by Holt for grades 5-8; and Core Plus Math by Glencoe for high school.

Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators
– the hierarchy of curriculum content-

• standards are big, general concepts to be learned – are identical from grade to grade (see examples for math above – an example for math is – Data-The student uses concepts and procedures of data analysis in a variety of situations.)

• benchmarks are smaller concepts several of which are imbedded in each standard – tend to only be similar from grade to grade (an example for math is – Statistics-The student collects, organizes, displays, and explains numerical and non-numerical data sets including the use of concrete objects in a variety of situations)

• indicators are the individual concepts taught at each grade level and may range from one to ten or more per benchmark – may be only slightly similar from grade to grade (an example for math is – The student communicates the results of data collection and answers questions based on information from horizontal and vertical bar graphs)

Summative Assessment – testing at the end of the learning process to determine the final level of learning which has taken place.   Usually a judgment about the level of learning is made.

504 Plan – refers to Section 504 of the Civil Rights Act of 1974.   This act requires accommodations to student learning when any life-function has been affected.   This act is broader than special education.