Demystifying Special Education Services: Basics for Non-School Practitioners
by Policy and Advocacy in Schools Staff
July 6, 2004 -- Practitioners whose clients include children, adolescents and families facing problems in school often report frustration about their own interactions with schools. Many of these psychologists recommend special education (SPED) services for children yet they do not fully understand the SPED process, including how students qualify for services.
This article provides basic information about SPED services in question-and-answer format.
What are special education services?
Special education (SPED) services are provided to students with a disability and are defined by federal law -- the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) -- as specific educational instruction created to meet an eligible student’s unique needs [IDEA 97 300.26(a)]. Special education services are provided through a continuum that may include instruction in the general education classroom provided with supplementary aids, services integrated directly into the general education classroom, or specialized instruction in a specialized classroom, specialized school, or home instruction.
Who decides if a student is eligible to receive SPED services?
Schools are responsible for determining a student’s eligibility for SPED services. The decision is made by a committee -- usually called the Individual Education Planning team, or IEP -- consisting of several school staff members and a parent or guardian. The staff members typically include a teacher, administrator, and assessment specialist.
The regulations that implement IDEA specify the IEP team’s composition as well as the eligibility criteria for SPED services. All IEP team members must reach consensus that a child is eligible to receive SPED services.
Why is my recommendation that a child receive SPED services sometimes not accepted?
This situation typically involves psychologists who have submitted reports to schools recommending SPED services on behalf of their clients. Again, it is the responsibility of the entire IEP team to review all information and determine if a student is eligible for SPED services. No one individual in either the public or private sector is allowed to make the decision to place a child in special education.
What is involved in determining whether a student is eligible to receive special education (SPED) services?
The federal regulations to implement IDEA generally define thirteen categories of disability (identified in the next question-and-answer) associated with a student’s eligibility for SPED services. Specific criteria for SPED services eligibility are established by each state, consistent with the general parameters set forth in IDEA.
There are two steps in determining a student’s eligibility for SPED services. The first is establishing that a student meets the federal and state regulatory criteria for one or more of the disabilities included under IDEA. If a student meets at least one, the IEP team then determines whether or not an “educational need” exists. Meeting these two conditions establishes that a student qualifies for SPED services.
What are the categories of disability used to determine SPED eligibility?
There are thirteen specific “handicapping conditions,” or disabilities, associated with a student’s eligibility for SPED services. The categories of disability included in IDEA include:
- mental retardation;
- hearing impairment;
- deafness;
- speech or language impairment;
- visual impairment, including blindness;
- serious emotional disturbance;
- orthopedic impairment;
- autism;
- traumatic brain injury;
- other health impairment;
- specific learning disability;
- deaf-blindness;
- multiple disabilities. [IDEA 97 300.7 (c)(1-13)]
More information about each of these handicapping conditions is available online at: http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/newsdig
/nd21txt.htm#attachmentA.
What does the term “educational need” mean?
In determining if there is an educational need, the IEP team evaluates the individual student to assess whether the disability negatively affects the student’s progress in the general curriculum, also called “adverse impact.” Therefore, not only does a student have to meet specific criteria for one of the handicapping conditions, but there must also be a determination of adverse impact. Most often this involves academic failure by the student.
