Special Education Law: Roles and Responsibilities Anchorage School District Special Education Department

Definitions

Appropriate Education

Relevant Case Law: District v. Rowley, 1981-82 EHLR 553:656, 458 U.S. 176, 102 S. Ct.3034 (1982)

"...providing personalized instruction with sufficient support services to permit the child to benefit educationally from that instruction. Such instruction and services must be provided at public expense, meet the state’s educational standards, must approximate the grade levels used in the state’s regular education, and must comport with the child’s IEP..." (Rowley, 458 U.S. at 203-04).

Remember: A student need not fail in the regular classroom prior to considering a more restrictive placement. Conversely, IDEA does not require that a student demonstrate achievement of a specific performance level as a prerequisite for placement into a regular classroom.

Placement Decision

How and Who Makes a Placement Decision?

• The IEP team makes placement decisions.
• The least restrictive environment mandate governs selection of the appropriate placement.
• Unless the IEP necessitates other placement, the child should be educated in the school s/he would attend if s/he were not disabled, or, in any event, the child should be educated as close as possible to home.

Special Education

Specially designed instruction offered at no cost to the parents designed to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, hospitals and institutions and in other settings.

Specifically Designed Instruction

Adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction -

(i) To address the unique needs of a child that result from the child’s disability; and
(ii) To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.

 

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