1. Teaching, Learning, and Access for Students with Disabilities
Ann Morrison, Ph.D.

2. Legislation Regarding People with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

3. Legislation Regarding People with Disabilities
ADA
Section 504
IDEA
1990
1973
1975
Civil rights law prohibiting discrimination
Provides federal financial assistance to educate students with disabilities
Individuals of any age
Children ages 3-21
Not funded
Funded, but only at a fraction of what was promised
Focus on community
Focus on school
Focus on student

5. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

6. Primary Principles of IDEA
Free and Appropriate Public Education
Individualized Education Program
Appropriate evaluation
Least Restrictive Environment
Parent and Student Participation in Decision Making
Procedural Safeguards

7. Definition of Disability Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA) has a three-part definition of disability. Under ADA, an individual with a disability is a person who:
has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; OR
has a record of such an impairment; OR
is regarded as having such an impairment.

8. Definition of Disability Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Individuals with disabilities are defined as persons with a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. People who have a history of, or who are regarded as having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, are also covered. Major life activities include caring for one's self, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, performing manual tasks, and learning.

9. Definition of Disability Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The term `child with a disability' means a child—
(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this title as `emotional disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and
(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

10. Educational Definition of Exceptional Learners
Exceptional learners are those who require special education if they are to reach their full human potential.
Diversity of characteristics
Need for special education
Assessment must show that learner is unable to make satisfactory progress without special services. 3

11. Prevalence of Exceptional Learners
Approximately 10 in every 100 students receive special education.
Over 6 million students in the U.S. receive special education services.
There have been changes in prevalence for certain disabilities.
There are high-incidence and low-incidence categories. 4

12. Free and Appropriate Public Education

13. Free and Appropriate Public Education
Free requires that the education of each child with a disability must be provided at public expense and at no cost to the child’s parents. The only exception is that incidental fees normally charged to non-disabled students or their parents as part of the regular education program may also be charged to students with disabilities and their parents.

14. Free and Appropriate Public Education
Appropriate means that each child with a disability is entitled to an education that is “appropriate” for his or her needs. “Appropriate education” is determined on an individual basis and may not be the same for each child with a disability.

15. Free and Appropriate Public Education
Public refers to the public school system. Children with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of their disabilities, have the same right to attend the public schools as their non-disabled peers. The public school system must educate students with disabilities, respond to their individual needs, and help them plan for their future.

16. Free and Appropriate Public Education
Education - IDEA is an education act that guarantees that eligible children with disabilities will receive a public education that includes special education and related services as directed by the child's Individualized Education Program (IEP), based on the child's individual needs.

17. Individualized Education Program

18. Individualized Education Program
Individualized Education Program (IEP) —IDEA requires that, after drawing upon current evaluation information, the IEP team develop a written document, the IEP, designed to meet the unique educational needs of each student with disabilities.
The IEP is a legal document and schools are legally responsible for implementing the services described in it

19. IEP Review Annual Review: Triennial Evaluation
Must be reviewed periodically, but not less than annually to determine whether the annual goals for the child are being achieved and revised as appropriate
Triennial Evaluation
A reevaluation to determine whether the student continues to qualify for special education services is required periodically, but not less than every three years

20. Members of the IEP Team
The following people are required to participate in the development of an Individualized Education Program
Parent
Student required beginning at age 15
General education teacher
Special education teacher
Individual who can interpret assessment results
Related services providers as appropriate (speech language pathologist, social worker, psychologist, nurse, occupational therapist, physical therapist, vision specialist, hearing specialist, community service agency representative, etc.)

21. Main Components of an IEP Document
Documentation of Procedural Safeguards
List of IEP meeting participants
Present level of academic achievement and functional performance
Post-school considerations
Annual goals and objectives
Accommodations and modifications
Extended School Year (ESY)
Participation in and accommodations and modifications in state and district assessments
Recommended placement in the Least Restrictive Environment

22. Appropriate Evaluation

23. Special Education Eligibility Determination
Parent or teacher concern
Student study team
Referral to Special Education
Obtain parent permission for assessment
Assessment
Hold IEP evaluation meeting
If eligible & parents consent, student is identified as having disability
Goals, services, accommodations, etc. developed and written into IEP
Special Education services begin

26. Appropriate Evaluation of Disability to Determine Eligibility for Special Education
Assessment conducted in all areas of suspected disability
By a team of evaluators knowledgeable and trained in the use of the tests and other evaluation materials they use
Employing a variety of sound evaluation materials and procedures selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory
Includes reviewing previously collected data
Additional assessment may be conducted without subjecting a child to unnecessary tests and assessments
Including the gathering of relevant information from a variety of sources. Eligibility may not be determined based on any single test
Based on information that is useful instructionally in planning for the child’s education
An appropriate evaluation provides information to be used to determine the child’s eligibility for special education and related services and the educational needs of the child

27. Student Study Team
Usually made up of at least one teacher, administrator, special education teacher, intervention teacher
Does not include parents
Meets regularly (at least monthly)
Agenda lists students teachers or parents have asked the SST to discuss concerns, current instructional program, consider change to instructional program or referral to special education

28. Referral to Special Education
Typically made by Student Study Team
Written parent consent for assessment required before testing

29. Categories of Eligibility
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Deaf-Blindness
Developmental Delay
Hearing Impairment, Including Deafness
Intellectual Disability
Multiple Disabilities
Other Health Impairment
Orthopedic Impairment
Serious Emotional Disability
Specific Learning Disability
Speech or Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment, Including Blindness

30. Least Restrictive Environment and Continuum of Services

31. Special Education Settings, Placements, and Services
“Placement” can refer to a place but can also refer to types of instruction or special education services
IDEA requires school districts to provide students with a “continuum of services” that ranges from “less restrictive” to “more restrictive”
How restrictive a service, setting, or placement is depends on how much time the students spends with “nondisabled peers”
IDEA requires students receives services in their LRE

32. Continuum of Special Education Services

33. Considerations for Determination of LRE
Can the disabled child be satisfactorily educated in the general classroom with the use of supplementary aids & services? Factors in this question include:
(a) What steps have been taken to accommodate the child in the general education classroom, including the consideration of a continuum of placement and support services;
(b) A comparison of academic benefits the child will receive in the general education classroom with those that he will receive in the special education classroom;
(c) The child’s overall educational experience in general education, including nonacademic benefits; and
(d) The effect of the presence of the disabled child on the general education classroom.

34. Other Notes on LRE
A student with disabilities does not have to fail in a less restrictive setting before the IEP Team recommends a more restrictive setting, nor is it required that a student demonstrate achievement at a specific performance level as a prerequisite for placement in a general education class.
A student with a disability should not be removed from an age- appropriate general education classroom solely because of needed modifications to the general educational curriculum.
A student with disabilities is never to be placed in a particular educational setting based solely upon the student’s disabling condition, or on the staff, space and/or services currently available at a school.

35. Parent and Student Participation in Decision Making

36. Parent and Student Participation in Decision Making
This principle reinforces the belief that the education of children with disabilities is made more effective by strengthening the role of parents in the special education process. IDEA requires that parents (and students, as appropriate) participate in each step of the special education process. Students must be invited to participate in IEP meetings where transition services are to be discussed. Parent involvement includes:
Equal partnership in the decision-making process
The right to receive notice of meetings
The right to give consent for certain activities such as evaluations, changes in placement; and release of information to others

37. Procedural Safeguards

38. Procedural Safeguards
Procedural Safeguards — Procedural safeguards are a set of activities whose purpose is to ensure that:
The rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected.
All information needed to make decisions about the provision of a free appropriate public education to the student is provided to parents of children with disabilities and to the student when appropriate.
Procedures (mediation and due process) are in place to resolve disagreements between parties.

39. Procedural Safeguards
Some procedural safeguards under IDEA include the right of parents to:
Inspect and review their child’s educational records.
Obtain an independent educational evaluation (IEE).
Be given written prior notice on matters regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of their child.
Request mediation and an impartial due process hearing.
Be given a full explanation of all of the procedural safeguards under IDEA and State complaint procedures.
Appeal the initial hearing decision to the State Education Agency (SEA) if the SEA did not conduct the hearing; (also the right of the public agency).
Have child remain in his/her present educational placement, unless the parent and the public agency agree otherwise, while administrative or judicial proceedings are pending.
Bring a civil action in an appropriate State or Federal court to appeal a final hearing decision; (also the right of the public agency).
Request reasonable attorney’s fees from a court for actions or proceedings brought under the IDEA under certain circumstances.
Give or refuse consent before their child is evaluated or reevaluated.
Participate in (and in some cases to appeal) discipline decisions regarding students with disabilities.

40. Adaptations

41. Adaptations Adaptations Accommodations Modifications
Change how information is presented or how learning is expressed
Modifications
Change what information is presented or how learning is expressed

42. Adaptations = Accommodations + Modifications
Changes in course/test presentation, location, timing, student response or the other attribute which are necessary to provide access for a student with a disability to participate and which do not fundamentally alter or lower the standard or expectations (or invalidate the test or course)
Modifications
Changes in course/test presentation, location, timing, student response or the other attribute which are necessary to provide access for a student with a disability to participate but which fundamentally alter and/or lower the standard or expectations of the test or course

43. IDEA, 504, and ADA

44. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
A federal Anti-Discrimination Law.
Protects ALL people with a disability that impairs one or more major life activity (learning is one).
Prohibits discrimination in ANY program that receives federal dollars.
Provides accommodations to remove discriminatory barriers.
In education, a “504 Plan” removes barriers to learning and opportunities.
Source: Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund

45. Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
A civil rights law to prohibit discrimination solely on the basis of disability in employment, public services, and accommodations.
Protects: Any individual with a disability who:
has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities; or
has a record of such impairment; or
is regarded as having such an impairment.
 Note: the person must be qualified for the program, service, or job.
Source: Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund

46. IEP Goals and Objectives

47. IEP Goals
SPECIFIC: clear descriptions of the knowledge and skills that will be taught and how the child’s progress will be measured.
MEASURABLE: you can count or observe it.
ACTION WORDS: “child will be able to . . .”
REALISTIC / RELEVANT: to child’s unique needs that result from the disability.
TIME-LIMITED: what does the child need to know and be able to do after year of special education? Monitored at regular intervals.
Source: Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund

48. IEP Goals and Objectives
Describes what the student will be able to do in one year (goal) and the intermediate steps necessary to achieve the goal (objectives)
Goal:
Given first grade material, Jay will read a passage orally at wpm with only random errors.
Objectives:
Given vowels, consonants, digraphs, and 5 common diphthongs, Jay will say the correct sounds at 30 sounds per minute with no more than 2 errors.
Given the 200 most common sight vocabulary words, Jay will read them aloud at 110 wpm with no more than 10 errors.
Given first grade material, Jay will read a passage orally at wpm with no more than 5 errors.
Source: Bateman and Herr, 2006