The document discusses the history and implementation of special education in the United States. It began with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 which mandated special education programs. This was later replaced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which entitles students to a free and appropriate public education. The IDEA requires schools to evaluate students, develop Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), and provide services and accommodations in the least restrictive environment. The document provides details on evaluating and classifying students, developing IEPs, determining placements, and the categories of disabilities covered under special education.

1. SPECIAL EDUCATION IN UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA (USA)

2. Education for All Handicapped Children Act
(EHA) Special education programs in the
United States were made mandatory in 1975
when the United States Congress passed the
in response to discriminatory treatment by
public educational agencies against students
with disabilities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act(IDEA).

3. Provide support services per IEP for
students with identified disabilities,
enabling them opportunities for
success in high school.
Satisfy legal mandates set by state and
FeDeral law (per IDEA) regarding
identified students with disabilities.

4. • Assist students to choose
opportunities for success and
development of self advocacy.
• Commit to continued
enrichment of skills and
knowledge by special
education personnel.
• Adapt as needed to serve an
expanding and identified
special education population.
• Expand inclusionary
opportunities as appropriate.

5. IDEA entitles every student to a free and appropriate public
education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment(LRE). To
ensure a FAPE,
1. a team of professionals from the local educational agency meet
2. Parents become part of the multidisciplinary team, along with
the local educational agency professionals, and collaborate with
team members to make decisions on educational placement.
These choices are recorded in a written Individualized Education
Program(IEP).
3. The school is required to develop and implement an IEP that
meets the standards of federal and state educational agencies.
Parents have the option of refusing Special Education services
for their child.

6. Under IDEA, students with disabilities are entitled to receive special educational
services through their local school district from age 3 to age 18 or 21. To receive
special education services, a student must demonstrate a disability in one of 13
specific categories, including :
autism
developmental disability
specific learning disability
intellectual impairment
emotional and/or behavioral disability
speech and language disability
deaf-blind
visual impairment
hearing impairment
orthopedic or physical impairment, other health impaired
(including attention deficit disorder)
multiple disabilities
traumatic brain injury

7. Implementation through Cooperative Federalism
Special education programs at the district level are
structured upon a cooperative federalism model and
therefore governed by both state and federal law. The
Court explains:
IDEA is frequently described as a model of cooperative federalism.
It leaves to the States the primary responsibility for developing and executing
educational programs for handicapped children, [but] imposes significant
requirements to be followed in the discharge of that responsibility.

8. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)
A Free Appropriate Public Education means special
education and related services that:
 Are provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without charge,
 Meet state requirements and the requirements of
federal regulations
 Include an appropriate preschool, elementary school,
or secondary school education in the State involved,
and
 Comply with a lawful Individual Education Plan

9. Maintenance of Effort
The purpose of federal special education funding is to
maintain or improve the quality of special education
services. This purpose would be undercut if additional
federal dollars were "supplanted" by merely reducing
the level of state or local funding for special education.
For this reason, like many other such programs, the
federal law and regulations contain accounting
guidelines, requiring "maintenance of effort”.

10. The state says that federal funds provided to the local education
agency :
1. Shall be used only to pay the excess cost of providing special
education and related services to children with disabilities;
2. Shall be used to supplement State, local and other Federal
funds and not to supplant such funds; and
3. Shall not be used …to reduce the level of expenditures for
the education of children with disabilities made by the local
education agency from local funds below the level of those
expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.

11. Qualifying Students for Special Education
• By federal law, no student is too disabled to qualify for
a free, appropriate education. Whether it is useful and
appropriate to attempt to educate the most severely
disabled children, such as children who are in a
persistent vegetative state or in a coma, is debated.
• While many severely disabled children can learn at
least simple tasks, such as pushing a buzzer when they
want attention or using a brain implant if they are
unable to move their hands, some children may be
incapable of learning

12. The Referral
Parents who suspect or know that their child has a
problem making adequate school progress should
request an from their local school district. The
request, called a "referral for evaluation," should be
initiated in writing.
The referral should be addressed to the principal of
the local public school or the special education
coordinator for the district, and should provide the
child's name, date of birth, address, current school
placement (if applicable), and the suspected area of
disability or special need.
 Referrals can also be made by general education
teachers or guidance counselors.

13. The Evaluation
After the referral process, the district will begin the evaluation.
• The law requires a comprehensive and nondiscriminatory
school evaluation involving all areas of suspected disability.
• Testing must be in the native language of the child (if feasible).
• Testing must be administered one-to-one, not in a group.
• Teachers also document any interventions they have already
been using in the classroom.
• In addition to testing, an observation of the child either in
school or in a comparable situation is required for an initial
evaluation, and often at later stages as well.
• To insure objectivity and cross-referencing, this observation
must be conducted by a Person other than the child's
classroom teacher.

14. • The observation need not be done exclusively
in the child's classroom, especially when the
child's suspected area of disability may
become manifest in larger settings, such as
the lunchroom, hallways or gym.
• For children over twelve years of age,
vocational testing is required. This
requirement is in keeping with the spirit of
the IDEA 1997 Amendments that encourage
preparation of children for useful
employment.
• The privately obtained evaluative material
and reports.

15. Classification
 Once all the evaluative material is presented and
reviewed at the meeting, the IEP team must first
determine whether the child is eligible for special
education services.
 An eligible child will require special education
intervention in order to enable him/her to receive the
benefits of instruction and an education. If the team
finds the child eligible for special education, they must
then classify the child in one of 13 categories.

16. The following are the students in the U.S. and outlying areas aged 6 through 21 who
received special education in the 2006-2007 school year.
DISABILITY Students Percentage
Learning disability (LD) 2,710,476 44.6%
Speech or language impairment (SI) 1,160,904 19.1%
Other health impairment (OHI) 599,494 9.9%
Mental retardation (MR) (now known as
523,240 8.6%
Intellectually Disabled)
Emotional disturbance (ED) 458,881 7.5%
Autism 224,594 3.7%
Multiple disabilities 134,189 2.2%
Developmental delay 83,931 1.4%
Hearing impairment (HI) 72,559 1.2%
Orthopedic impairment (OI) 61,866 1.0%
Visual impairment (VI) 26,352 0.4%
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) 23,932 0.4%
Deaf & blindness 1,472 0.0%
The IDEA allows, but does not require, school districts to add the classifications
of Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Pervasive Developmental
Disorder (PDD) at their discretion.

17. Developing the Individual Education Program (IEP)
The Individual Education Program is developed by a team
(sometimes referred to as the Committee on Special Education)
that must include at least one parent and the professionals who
work with the student.
Teachers and a representative from the school administration are
generally required to attend these meetings. Parents may
additionally include anyone they choose, for any reason they
choose.
Parents must be notified of the meeting in writing. The
notification must indicate the purpose, time and location of the
meeting and list the people who will be in attendance, including
the name and position of each person. If parents are unable to
attend at the appointed time, the meeting should be rescheduled
to accommodate the needs of the family.

18. The Individual Education Program
The IEP must include:
1. A statement of the child's present levels of educational
performance, which describes the effects of the child's
disability on all affected areas of the child's academic
and non-academic school performance.
2. A statement of annual goals including short-term
objectives.
3. A statement of the specific special education and related
services to be provided to the child and the extent to
which the child will participate in regular education
programs.
4. The projected dates for the initiation of services

19. Determining the appropriate placement
After the IEP meeting the parents must be given written notice of
exactly where and how the services will be provided for their child.
Most often, the suggested program will be located within the public
school system in the district. When a student's disability is such that
his or her needs cannot be met in the district, the school district
may suggest a placement in an out-of-district program. These
programs can include a Day Treatment Program, a Non-public
Special Education School, a Residential School or Home Instruction.
In all cases, parents should visit the sites that are recommended to
observe the program to determine if the program is appropriate for
their child.

20. Procedural safeguards
Procedural safeguards are procedures in special education
explained to a parent or guardian in order for them to be informed
throughout the special education process. Typically they are
presented at a team meeting, but can be provided sooner. They
include:
Notice of procedural safeguards
Required content
Parental participation in process
Right to participate in all meetings, including identification,
evaluation, placement, and all discussions regarding the
educational plan.
Parent right to review all educational records
Parent right to an independent evaluation
Prior written notice

21. Prior written notice when a school proposes to initiate a
service, conduct an evaluation, change a placement, or
modify an IEP; or when the school refuses to provide a
parent-requested service, identification, evaluation or change
of placement or IEP
Content of prior written notice
Right to submit a complain
Mediation
Voluntary mediation to be provided by SEA at no cost to
parents
Impartial due process hearing

22. Impartial hearing/mediation
Parents may disagree with the program recommendation
of the school district. In that event, parents may reject
the district's recommendations by notifying the school
district in a clear and concise manner of the reasons for
the rejection of the IEP recommendation. This notice
must be given in writing within 30 days of receipt of the
program recommendation

23. The IDEA provides for two methods of
resolving disputes between parents and
school districts. These include:
1. Mediation
2. Impartial Hearing

24. Student conduct and discipline
A student that has engaged in behavior that is in
violating of student conduct codes that is punished with
a suspension or change in placement exceeding 10 days
must be given a Manifestation Determination Hearing.
The purpose of this hearing is to determine whether the
bad behavior is caused by the disability. If it is, then the
school district will attempt to change the student's
program to address the problem or move the student
into a more restrictive environment

25. Diagnosis
Diagnosis is a term that is more
appropriately applied to medical classification
systems, and individual professional's impression
of a person's difficulties.

26. Least Restrictive Environment
The least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate requires that all
students in special education be educated with typical peers to
the greatest extent possible, while still providing FAPE. The LRE
requirement is intended to prevent unnecessary segregation of
students with disabilities, and is based on Congress' finding
students with disabilities tend to have more success when they
remain or have access to typical peers.
School Systems must allow one of the following persons;
Special Education Professional
Psychologist or a Behavioral Specialist
.

27. African-Americans in Special Education
The studies found that grossly disproportionate numbers
of minority students are identified as eligible for services,
and too often placed in isolated and restrictive educational
settings. When compared with their white counterparts,
African-American children were almost three times more
likely to be labeled "mentally retarded," according to a
paper by Thomas B. Parrish, managing research scientist at
the American Institutes of Research.

28. Bilingual Special Education
This bilingual population is distributed
throughout the United States with heavier
concentrations in the southwest and
northeast. The highest concentration is in
the large urban areas.