What Families Need to Know About Special Education

What makes it “special” education is that an eligible child’s instruction is specially designed to meet their individual needs. It supplies the support necessary to help children with exceptionalities reach their potential. The focus of special education is access to the same general education curriculum (coursework) and environments as their same-age peers. Special education also includes Gifted and Talented programming for students who perform--or have the capacity to perform--at higher levels compared to same-age peers. For our purpose of describing special education, we will address students who have—or thought to have—a disability. For more information on gifted students, please visit PaTTAN's page on Gifted Education

A child’s public, charter, or approved private school or intermediate unit (IU), known as their Local Education Agency, or LEA, will follow federal regulations on determining eligibility to receive special education services. A child’s learning strengths and needs will be determined by a Special Education Evaluation, then eligibility is determined.

Once a child is found to be eligible to receive special education, they are legally entitled to certain services, under IDEA 2004 and the PA School Code. A team is identified to create a unique program designed to meet a child’s individual needs. For more information on the special education evaluation process and eligibility, see PaTTAN’s Special Education for School-Age Children in Pennsylvania: A Guide for Families

If the evaluation finds a child to be not eligible for special education,

• the family may get an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) from an outside qualified examiner and provide it to the school
• the family may initiate its right to resolve the disagreement through the Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) channels
• the student may qualify for a 504 Plan, a civil rights act that is regulated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), not the IDEA. To learn more about 504 service plans versus an IEP, visit Understood.org's The Difference Between IEPs and 504 Plans. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-difference-between-ieps-and-504-plans.

A personalized special education plan will be developed for a child by a team of educational staff, the parent(s), the student, as appropriate, and possibly outside agency representatives. Specially designed instruction (SDI) and supplementary aids and services, meant to help access the general education curriculum and environments, are considered, selected, and documented in an Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP, which changes with your child’s needs and achievement of goals, will drive their supported education as long as they are receiving special education services. For more information on the Individualized Education Program process, please refer to the PaTTAN IEP Information page, https://www.pattan.net/Supports/IEP-Information which contains the Annotated IEP Checklist.

PA public schools and Intermediate Units (IUs), or LEAs, are legally responsible for providing special education to your child. Various staff and related service providers are required to carry out what is written in your child’s IEP. Services extend to extracurricular activities and may extend to Extended School Year (ESY), https://www.pattan.net/Publications/Extended-School-Year-Services-in-Pennsylvania if eligible, as agreed upon by your child’s IEP team. This is regulated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Bureau of Special Education (BSE), which works with stakeholders to make sure your child has access to what they need to help them be successful in school.

Special education is a service, not a place. A child’s needs may impact the ‘what’ and ‘how’ they receive their instruction, but it doesn’t necessarily change the ‘where.’ IDEA law says a student has the right to receive their education in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), meaning learning alongside their same-age peers who do not have disabilities, as is appropriate. Research proves that inclusive education benefits schools, educators, families, classmates, the community, and, particularly, children with disabilities. Strategies as Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Educational placement is an IEP team decision, based on the child’s individual requirements. The team determines where supports and services can and should be delivered, to provide the most benefit to the child. Per IDEA, the IEP team should begin with the consideration of the general education setting, or the “LRE,” with the use of supplementary aids and services, as the educational placement for a child. Services, however, can be delivered in typical environments (e.g., classrooms, school clubs, field trips, sports), in a more restrictive environment (e.g., a life skills class or resource room), or a combination of environments.