September 2010 In Spanish | en español Evaluation is an essential beginning step in the special education process for a child with a disability. Before a child can receive special education and related services for the first time, a full and individual initial evaluation of the child must be conducted to see if the child has a disability and is eligible for special education. Informed parent consent must be obtained before this evaluation may … [Read more...]
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PDFScheduling the IEP Meeting and Notifying Parents
September 2010This info in Spanish | Esta información en español Here are the particulars of what IDEA requires public agencies to do when scheduling any IEP meeting. IDEA’s provisions involve both common sense and courtesy, and are intended to ensure that parents have every opportunity to attend the meeting and contribute. In a nutshell, the school and parents have to agree when and where they are going to meet.IDEA's exact wordsNotifying parents … [Read more...]
Placement and School Discipline
September 2010 This article takes a not-so-brief look at how a student placement can be affected by disciplinary actions at school. Table of Contents Background Limitations of this discussion School codes of conduct Overview of IDEA's discipline procedures Authority of school personnel What's a change of placement? Case by case determinations Parent notification Manifestation determination Authority of … [Read more...]
General Authority of School Personnel
September 2010At the beginning of the school year, students often receive guidelines of expected standards of behavior, dress, academic integrity, and attendance, as well as the consequences of violating those standards. IDEA addresses the extent to which schools may take disciplinary action when a child with disabilities violates a local code of student conduct. These codes vary from place to place, so it may be important for you to get a copy of … [Read more...]
Questions and Answers about IDEA: Parent Participation
Questions and Answers on IDEA (QA2) April 2009 | Links updated, May 2013 PDF version How does IDEA ensure that families have meaningful opportunities to participate? That will be the focus of this Q&A—the solid foundation IDEA provides for parental involvement. Topics covered are: The Power of Parent Participation Parental Rights to Participate, Summarized Parent Notification Parent Consent Resources of More Information We’ve … [Read more...]
Right to Receive a Complete Explanation of IDEA’s Procedural Safeguards
December 2010 In Spanish | En español At least one time a year, the parents of a child with a disability must receive from the school system a complete explanation of all the procedural safeguards available to them, as parents, under IDEA. This explanation is called the "Procedural Safeguards Notice." In this page, we'll examine the purpose and contents of this notice, the times that parents will receive it, and other aspects of this important safeguard. … [Read more...]
Parental Right to Participate in Meetings
December 2010 In Spanish | En español The right to participate in meetings related to their child is one of the most important and powerful of parent rights. Parents have the right to participate in meetings with respect to the: their child's identification, their child's evaluation, their child's educational placement, and provision of FAPE (free appropriate public education) to their child. This includes the right to participate … [Read more...]
Right to Receive Prior Written Notice
December 2010 In Spanish | En español Parental rights under IDEA include the right to receive prior written notice from the school each time that the school proposes to take (or refuses to take) certain actions with respect to your child. Specifically, the school must provide parents with prior written notice each time that it: proposes to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of your child; proposes to initiate … [Read more...]
Module 9: Introduction to Evaluation under IDEA
by Theresa Rebhorn and Lisa KüpperNICHCY | National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities March 2007 **Este módulo está disponible en español: Introducción a la Evaluación bajo IDEA Evaluating children for the presence of a disability is a very important process in IDEA. This module introduces basic principles and requirements that schools must follow for evaluation, including: the purposes of evaluation, parent notification and … [Read more...]
Module 10: Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
by Lisa Küpper and Theresa Rebhorn NICHCY | National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities March 2007 **Este módulo está disponible en español: Evaluación Inicial y la Reevaluación Module 10 builds atop the introduction presented in Module 9 and looks at the specific requirements of IDEA regarding: the initial evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability, how the results are applied to determining the child's eligibility … [Read more...]
