Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Decision in ENDREW F. v. DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT

According to Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, the Supreme Court today issued its opinion in ENDREW F. v. DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 15–827, which was to how much educational benefit an IEP must provide to a student with a disability under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In a unanimous decision, the Court held that "a school must offer an IEP reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances." Not the enlightenment parent attorneys would have liked, but some welcome guidance in the nearly 20 page decision, including that a student must be offered an educational program that provides more than de minimis progress from year to year, and not so low that children with disabilities should receive instruction that aims so low that it would be tantamount to sitting idly. The Court vacated the decision of the 10th Circuit below, and remanded the case back to that court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court's opinion. So what does that mean? More litigation.




















Saturday, March 4, 2017

Acronyms

SPECIAL EDUCATION ACRONYMS 
SPECIAL EDUCATION ACRONYMS 
Ever get lost with all the acronyms schools throw around at IEP meetings, print this list out and put it in your IEP notebook - the notebook that you should have for your child, and which you take with you to every IEP meeting, RED meeting, pre-MET meeting (ah, more acronyms). For discussion and explanation of some of these terms, visit our website Kirsch-Goodwin & Kirsch, PLLC.  

A Autism
AAC Arizona Administrative Code (State regulations)
ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
ADAAA Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act
ADD Attention Deficit Disorder
ADE Arizona Department of Education
ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
AHCCCS Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
AIMS Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (now replaced by AZ Merit)
AIMS-A Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards—Alternative
APR Annual Performance Report
ARS Arizona Revised Statutes (State laws)
ASAT Alternative State Achievement Test
ASBA Arizona School Boards Association
ASD Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASDB Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
ASVAB Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
AT Assistive Technology
AYP Adequate Yearly Progress
AzEIP Arizona Early Intervention Program
AZ LEARNS Arizona Leading Education through the Accountability and
Results Notification System
AZ READS Arizona Readiness, Early Diagnosis and Intervention,
Accountability, Development of Teacher Expertise, Support
BHS Behavioral Health Services
BIP Behavior Intervention Plan
CAI Computer Assisted Instruction
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CFT Child Family Team
CP Cerebral Palsy
CPS Child Protective Services
CST Child Study Team
CTE Career and Technical Education
DD Developmental Delay
DDD Division of Developmental Disabilities
DES Department of Economic Security
DHS Department of Health Services
DSM-V Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-V (the most current version)
ED Emotional Disability
EDP Emotional Disability, Private School
ELL English Language Learners
ESS Exceptional Student Services
ESY Extended School Year
FAPE Free Appropriate Public Education
FBA Functional Behavioral Assessment
FERPA Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
HI Hearing Impairment
IAEP Interim Alternative Educational Program
IAES Interim Alternative Educational Setting
ID Intellectual Disability
IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IEE Independent Educational Evaluation
IEP Individualized Education Program
IFSP Individualized Family Service Plan
IQ Intelligence Quotient
LD Learning Disability
LEA Local Education Agency (including charter schools)
LEP Limited English Proficient
LRE Least Restrictive Environment
MD Multiple Disabilities
MDSSI Multiple Disabilities with Severe Sensory Impairment
MET Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team
MIID Mild Intellectual Disability
MIPS Medicaid in the Public Schools
MOID Moderate Intellectual Disability
MSW Master of Social Work
NCLB No Child Left Behind
OCR Office of Civil Rights
OJT On-the-Job Training
OI Orthopedic Impairment
OHI Other Health Impairment
O and M (O&M) Orientation and Mobility
OSEP Office of Special Education Programs
OSERS Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
OT Occupational Therapy
OTR Occupational Therapist, Registered
PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
PEA Public Education Agency (including charter schools)
PHLOTE Primary Home Language Other Than English
PIN Parent Information Network
PINS Parent Information Network Specialist
PLAAFP Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance
PMD Progress Monitoring Data
PSD Preschool Severe Delay
PSN Procedural Safeguard’s Notice (Parent’s Rights)
PT Physical Therapy
PWN Prior Written Notice
RBHA Regional Behavioral Health Authority
RED Review of Existing Data
RTC Residential Treatment Center
RTI Response to Intervention
SAIS Student Accountability Information System
SEA State Education Agency
SELP Survey of English Language Proficiency
SI Sensory Integration
SLD Specific Learning Disability
SLI Speech Language Impairment
SLP Speech Language Pathologist
SLT Speech Language Technician
SSDI Supplemental Security Disability Income
SSI Supplemental Security Income
SST Student Study Team
TA Technical Assistance
TBI Traumatic Brain Injury
USC United States Code
USDOE United States Department of Education
VI Visual Impairment
VMI Visual Motor Integration
VR Vocational Rehabilitation



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