Glossary of Terms

  • Glossary of Terms for Children with Disabilities

ACCES/VR – (Adult Career and Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation) -(formerly VESID) – Is a part of the New York State Education Department and assists individuals with disabilities to achieve and maintain employment and to support independent living through training, education rehabilitation and career development. 

Academic Instructional Support (AIS) - Remedial instruction within the areas of reading, written expression, and/or math delivered to disabled and non-disabled students.

Accommodation Plan - A recommended plan determined for a student which ensures eligibility to district programs based upon defined learning challenges, evaluations, and projected documentation as stated by the 504 Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Aging Out - The closure and transitioning out of preschool special education students who will be turning 5 years of age by December 1st or students who will be 21 years of age by the end of the academic year and leaving secondary level education programs.

Annual Review - A formal meeting, conducted at least once a year (within 365 days) by the CSE (Committee on Special Education) regarding the status of each student with a disability for the purpose of recommending, modifying, or terminating special education services.

Adaptive Physical Education (APE) - A specially designed program of developmental activities, games, sports and rhythms suited to the interests, capacities, and limitations of students with disabilities who may not safely or successfully engage in unrestricted participation in the activities of the regular physical education program

Assistive Technology Service - Means any service that directly assists a student with a disability with the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. The term includes evaluation, leasing/purchasing, selecting, coordinating, and training for the professionals and paraprofessionals working with that student.

Assistive Technology Device - Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the mobility, communications, and the range and effectiveness of educational experiences of children with disabilities.

Behavioral Intervention Plan- A plan that is based on results of the functional behavioral assessment and, at a minimum, includes a description of the problem behavior, global and specific hypotheses as to why the problem behavior occurs, and intervention strategies that include positive behavioral supports and services to address the behavior.

CDOS (Career Development and Occupational Studies) – Students with disabilities can earn a NYS Career Development and Occupational Studies Credential (CDOS). This credential recognizes each student’s preparation and skills for post- school employment.

Case Management - Facilitating communication and service provision among multiple service providers for students with special needs.

Co-Teaching in an Integrated Setting (ICT) - This service offers a learning environment that includes a general education teacher working collaboratively with a special education teacher to deliver the curriculum in the general education setting in a team-teaching situation.

Collaboration - Working jointly toward a common goal.

Compliance - Acting in accordance with state/federal regulations and law.

Consultant Teacher Services - These services are provided to a student with a disability who attends a regular education program on a full-time basis. Such services may be provided either directly to the student, through individual or group instruction within the general education classroom, to permit the student to benefit from the regular education program; or indirectly through the provision of consultant to the regular education teacher(s) to assist in adjusting the learning environment and/or modifying instructional methods to meet student’s needs.

Continuum of Services - An array of settings and services that may be used individually or in combination from least restrictive to most restrictive. Refer to Part 200 Regulations of the Commissioner of Education (200.6).

Committee on Preschool Special Education - CPSE

Committee on Special Education - CSE

Disability - An inability to successfully participate in general educational/instructional activities without modification, adaptation, staff, equipment or physical support.

Due Process - Procedures to ensure parent/student rights. Refer to Part 200 Regulations of the Commissioner of Education (200.5).

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts - FERPA

Free and Appropriate Public Education – FAPE

Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) - A process that determines why a student engages in a behavior and how the behavior relates to the environment. A hypothesis is formed as a basis for a Behavioral Intervention Plan. A Behavior Intervention Plan is based on an FBA and must include a description of the problem behavior, global and specific hypotheses as to why problem behavior occurs, and specifies interventions.

Goals - Desired results towards which instruction is directed as indicated on Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).

Inclusion - Inclusion refers to a special needs student placed within age appropriate general education program primarily for social/emotional exposure and whose disability as stated on the IEP requires significant modification and/or adaptation of his/her general class curriculum as it relates to their cognitive, social/emotional, physical and management needs.

Individual Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) - Under the Individuals with Disability Education Improvement Act (IDEIA, 2004) children with disabilities include children with mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairments, visual impairments including blindness, serious emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, or specific learning disabilities; and who by reason thereof need special education and related services. Under Article 89 of the Education Law, children with disabilities include those who, because of mental, physical or emotional reasons can only receive appropriate educational opportunities from a program of special education (Educ. Law 4401 (1)).

Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) - A written plan developed, reviewed, and revised, which describes the strengths and weaknesses of the student and specifies the special education program and services to be provided to meet the unique educational need(s) of a student with a disability

Instructional Support Team (IST) - Multidisciplinary team that reviews student’s academic, social/emotional, physical, and management needs with planned follow up.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) - The placement of students with disabilities in special classes, separate school, or other removal from the general educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that even with the use of supplementary aids and services, education cannot be satisfactorily achieved.

Manifestation Determination/Nexus - Term Nexus has been replaced by Manifestation Determination. It is a process that determines the relationship between a student’s behavior and his or her disability subject to disciplinary action. It considers whether the IEP is appropriate and has been implemented, the student’s ability to understand consequences, and the student’s ability to control behavior.

Mediation - An opportunity to resolve issues on conflicts in a non-adversarial manner. Mediation is voluntary and does not deny or delay a parent’s right to an impartial hearing. Refer to Part 200 Regulations of the Commissioner of Education (200.5H).

Modification - Adaptation made to the learning environment, instructional delivery and/or performance expectations which allow students with disabilities opportunities to demonstrate acquisition of information/skills.

Objective - A specific, observable, measurable demonstration of acquired skills toward which instruction is directed as indicated on Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).

Occupational Therapy - Means the functional evaluation of the student and the planning and use of a program of purposeful activities to develop or maintain adaptive skills, designed to achieve maximal physical and mental functioning of the student in his or her daily life tasks.

Office for People with Developmental Disabilities- (OPWDD) – A New  York State agency responsible for coordinating support and services for people with developmental disabilities, including Intellectual Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and other Neurological Impairments. The agency will determine if the person has a developmental disability that is eligible for OPWDD funded services.

Parent - Natural parents, court-appointed guardians, foster parents, or other individuals serving in a parental capacity.

Physical Therapy - Service which addresses a student’s identified needs in one or more of the following areas: range of motion, strength, muscle tone, posture, gait, balance, reflex integration, and gross motor coordination as they affect his/her educational performance.

Psychological Evaluation Services - A process by which a New York State certified school psychologist or licensed psychologist uses, for purposes of educational planning, a variety of psychological and educational techniques and examinations in the student’s dominant language, to study and describe a student’s developmental, learning, behavioral and other personality characteristics. Services may also include consultation and direct interventions such as counseling, support groups, and the development of behavior management programs.

Pull Out - Educational service provided to the student outside of the classroom on an individual or small group basis.

Push In - Educational service provided to the student within the classroom.

Regents Competency Test (RCT) -Battery of tests in Reading, Writing, Global History, United States History, Mathematics, and science available as a safety net for students who have difficulty earning a 55 or better on the summative Regents Examinations. Students who rely on this safety net are eligible for a local high school diploma.

Related Services -Speech pathology, audiology, psychological services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling services, medical services, parent counseling and/or training, school health services, school social work services, and/or other appropriate developmental or corrective support services designed to support and enhance the child’s performance within the educational environment. The frequency and duration of such service(s) will vary and will be indicated on the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).

Resource Room - This service is supplemental to the regular or special class instruction provided to students with disabilities. Such services must be provided for not less than the equivalent of 180 minutes per week to instructional groups of five or less students with disabilities who have similar educational needs.

Response to Intervention (RTI) -A general education initiative that supports a systematic approach to instruction and intervention, guided by research-based methods and continuous progress monitoring of students’ needs.

Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act of 1973) - No individual with a disability shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity which receives benefits from federal financial assistance.

Service Providers - Appropriate certified, licensed, and/or qualified staff who assist children in achieving the goals/objectives outlined in his/her IEP.

Significant Regression - A student’s inability to maintain developmental levels due to a loss of skill or knowledge during the months of July and August of such severity as to require an inordinate period of review at the beginning of the school year to re-establish and maintain IEP goals and objectives mastered at the end of the previous school year.

Social History - A report of information gathered and prepared by qualified school district personnel pertaining to the interpersonal, familial, and environmental variables which influence a student’s general adaptation to school, including but not limited to: data on family composition, family history, and developmental history of the student, health of the student, family interaction and school adjustment of the student.

Social Work Services - A process that an NYS certified school social worker uses, for purposes of educational planning, interventions to remove barriers to a student’s learning from familial, environmental or interpersonal problems; mobilization of school and community resources to enable the student to benefit from his/her educational program. Services may also include consultation and direct interventions such as counseling, support groups, and the development of behavior management programs.

Special Class - This service is provided on a daily basis to students with disabilities who are grouped based on similar educational needs for the purpose of being provided a special educational program. These classes vary according to the number of students being serviced in each and by the number of service providers supporting their program. Class sizes could vary from as many as 15 students with one teacher to as few as six students with a teacher and an aide, to support educational needs.

Special Education Service - A service designed to employ a variety of techniques, methodologies and/or approaches in the instruction of students with special needs.

Speech Therapy - A service that identifies, evaluates, and treats communication disorders such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, which adversely affects the student’s educational performance

Supplemental Aids and Services - Means aides, services, and other supports that are provided in general education classes or other education-related settings to enable students with disabilities to be educated with non-disabled students to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with the least restrictive environment.

Transitional Support Services - Temporary services provided to a general or special education teacher to aid in the provision of appropriate services to a student with disabilities transferring to a program or service in a less restrictive environment/setting.

Transition Planning - The provision of plans for all identified special education students (ages 3 - 21) to ensure smooth transitions through the continuum of educational settings and post-secondary

 

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