Local Plan   Public Schools   Nonpublic Schools/Agencies   Private Schools   Charter Schools   Your Rights   IEP Forms

Special Education services are provided based on the individual needs of each child, as determined by the IEP team.  Members of the IEP team include:

• A representative of the district
• A special education teacher or specialist
• A general education teacher of the child
• The parents
• The child, if over 16
• Persons who have conducted assessment of the child

 To determine if a student will be eligible for Special Education services, an assessment is conducted, in all areas of suspected disability, by qualified professionals. An assessment report is developed, and parents receive a copy of the report.  The assessment report is shared at the IEP team meeting, and team members determine whether or not the student is eligible.  To be eligible, the student must have one of thirteen qualifying disabilities.  For a list of Special Education disabilities, click here for the Special Education Eligibility Guidelines.

For students who are special education eligible, the first step in determining services is for the team to develop and consider the Present Levels of Performance.   These describe the student’s functional level in all aspects of the educational environment:  academic, social/emotional, motor, etc.  Information used in developing the Present Levels of Performance include reports from parents and teachers as well as results from more formalized assessments and district and statewide achievement testing.

The next step is to develop Annual Goals for the student.  There should be Annual Goals to address any areas which are of concern or below expected performance in the Present Levels.  The Annual Goals describe progress that the team reasonably expects the student to achieve in one year’s time.

After the Goals are set, the team determines the student’s school location, for each subject of the day.  Some students may be placed in a Special Education class for the entire school day, others may be in a Special Education class for one subject or more.  Others will remain in the general education classroom, with services brought into that setting. 

Once the location of the student’s school day is determined, the next step is for the team to describe what accommodations and/or modifications the student will need to be successful in those environments.  Examples might include assistance with note-taking, extra breaks within a period, or large print materials.

The last step is to determine the Special Education Service(s) that the student needs to achieve their goals in the school location(s) that have been selected by the IEP team.  The team needs to consider which professionals are needed to best address the goals, taking into consideration the other professionals who are in the student’s environment.  For example, a child who is in a language-rich Special Education kindergarten program may not need the services of a Speech-Language Pathologist if the classroom teacher is able to work on the language development goals on a daily basis. 

Every student will have a Primary Special Education Service.   The Service Provider is very often also the student’s Case Manager,  who is responsible for coordinating the services on the IEP and communicating progress to parents.  Primary Special Education Services may include:

   Specialized Academic Instruction – Adapting as appropriate to the needs of the child with a disability the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum.

   Intensive Individualized Instruction – Additional support for all or part of the day to meet IEP goals.

  Individual and Small Group Instruction – Instruction delivered one-to-one or in a small group enabling the individual(s) to participate effectively in the total school program (for preschoolers). (30 EC 56441.2, 5 CCR 305.1)

   Language and Speech – Remedial intervention for eligible individuals with difficulty understanding or using spoken language.  If a student needs an additional Related Service  to assist him/her in benefiting from their Special Education program, the team would decide that as well.

Related Services may include (but not limited to):

  Adapted Physical Education

  Specialized Physical Health Care Services

  Health and Nursing – other services

  Assistive Technology Services

  Occupational Therapy (OT)

  Physical Therapy (PT)