AEPA Special Education (NT601) cheat sheet

IDEA disability categories (13): autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech/language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment including blindness.

Specific learning disability exclusionary criterion: a discrepancy determination is not required; states may use RTI response data, but a child must not be identified if the determinant factor is lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math or limited English proficiency.

Intellectual disability requires significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (typically IQ about 70 or below, ±5 measurement error) existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, manifested during the developmental period (before age 18).

Emotional disturbance requires one or more of five characteristics (inability to learn unexplained by other factors, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior/feelings, pervasive unhappiness/depression, physical symptoms/fears) over a long period and to a marked degree adversely affecting educational performance.

Other health impairment means limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems (e.g., asthma, ADHD, diabetes, epilepsy, sickle cell anemia) that adversely affects educational performance.

Autism category excludes children with emotional disturbance; it includes autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, and Asperger syndrome, and adversely affects educational performance.

Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and vision impairments, the combination of which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs not accommodated by programs solely for deaf or blind children.

Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act) covers any student with a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting a major life activity; it provides accommodations and does not require specially designed instruction or an IEP.

Developmental delay (ages 3 through 9, state-defined) may be used as a category when a child experiences physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional, or adaptive developmental delay measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments.

Full and individual initial evaluation: assessments must be selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory, in the child's native language or mode of communication, and validated for the specific purpose used.

IEP team composition: parents; at least one regular education teacher (if the child is or may be in the regular environment); at least one special education teacher/provider; an LEA representative qualified to supervise provision of services and knowledgeable about general curriculum and available resources; an individual who can interpret evaluation results; and, when appropriate, the child.

IEP required contents: present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP), measurable annual goals, description of progress measurement and reporting, statement of special education/supplementary aids and program modifications, explanation of extent of removal from the regular class, and transition services beginning not later than the first IEP in effect at age 16.

IEP timeline: a meeting must be held and the IEP developed within 30 days of a determination of eligibility; initial evaluations must be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent (state timelines may differ).

Three-year reevaluation: a reevaluation is required at least every three years unless the parent and LEA agree it is unnecessary; a reevaluation is not required more than once a year unless the parties agree.

Present levels (PLAAFP) must describe the effect of the disability on involvement and progress in the general education curriculum, and serve as the baseline against which annual goals are written.

Annual goals must be measurable and designed to meet needs resulting from the disability so the child can be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum; short-term objectives are required only for children assessed against alternate achievement standards.

Standardized test interpretation: standard scores have mean 100 and SD 15; a score of 85 is one SD below the mean (about 16th percentile); percentile ranks are not equal-interval and cannot be averaged.

Assessments for eligibility must use a variety of tools and strategies to gather functional, developmental, and academic information, and may not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining disability or appropriate educational program.

Least restrictive environment (LRE): a student with a disability must be educated with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate; removal occurs only when education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

Continuum of placement options, from least to most restrictive: general education class, general class with co-teaching/consultation, resource room, separate class, separate school, homebound/hospital, residential facility.

Supplementary aids and services include modifications to content, methodology, or delivery of instruction and supports such as paraprofessional assistance, assistive technology, and environmental accommodations provided in the general education setting.

Behavior intervention: a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) identifies antecedents, behaviors, and consequences; a behavior intervention plan (BIP) is based on the FBA and includes positive behavioral interventions and supports.

Manifestation determination review is required within 10 school days of any decision to change placement for discipline; the team asks whether the conduct was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the disability, or was the direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the IEP.

Disciplinary removal: a child may be removed to an interim alternative educational setting for not more than 45 school days without regard to manifestation for weapons, illegal drugs, or infliction of serious bodily injury; 10 cumulative school days of removal per year do not constitute a change of placement.

Classroom physical arrangement should support the least restrictive access: clear traffic paths, defined learning zones, preferential seating for students with attention, hearing, or vision needs, and reduced visual clutter to limit distraction.

Positive behavior supports emphasize antecedent-based strategies (schedules, routines, explicit expectations, precorrection) and reinforcement of replacement behaviors rather than aversive consequences.

Transition planning (age 16, or younger if state requires) must include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills.

Explicit instruction sequence: modeling (I do), guided practice (we do), and independent practice (you do), with high rates of opportunities to respond and immediate corrective feedback.

Systematic phonics instruction teaches letter-sound correspondences in a defined sequence and is most effective when it is explicit, cumulative, and delivered in small groups; it is a core component of scientifically based reading instruction.

Five essential components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, standardized, timed probes (e.g., words correct per minute, digits correct) administered frequently to monitor progress and adjust instruction; a common decision rule is four data points below the goal line to prompt instructional change.

Accommodations change how a student accesses material or demonstrates learning (extended time, read-aloud, graphic organizers) without altering content expectations; modifications change what the student is expected to learn or the performance standard.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression so that instruction is accessible to varied learners from the outset.

Applied behavior analysis principles: reinforcement increases behavior, punishment decreases behavior; positive reinforcement adds a stimulus after behavior, negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus after behavior; both increase the target behavior.

Task analysis breaks a complex skill into sequenced component steps; chaining (forward or backward) teaches the steps cumulatively, and prompting hierarchies (verbal, gestural, model, physical) are faded to promote independence.

Assistive technology ranges from low-tech (pencil grips, highlighters, slant boards) to high-tech (speech-generating devices, text-to-speech, screen readers); the IEP team must consider AT needs for every child with a disability.

IDEA disability categories (13): autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech/language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment including blindness.

Specific learning disability exclusionary criterion: a discrepancy determination is not required; states may use RTI response data, but a child must not be identified if the determinant factor is lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math or limited English proficiency.

Intellectual disability requires significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (typically IQ about 70 or below, ±5 measurement error) existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior, manifested during the developmental period (before age 18).

Emotional disturbance requires one or more of five characteristics (inability to learn unexplained by other factors, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior/feelings, pervasive unhappiness/depression, physical symptoms/fears) over a long period and to a marked degree adversely affecting educational performance.

Other health impairment means limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems (e.g., asthma, ADHD, diabetes, epilepsy, sickle cell anemia) that adversely affects educational performance.

Autism category excludes children with emotional disturbance; it includes autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified, and Asperger syndrome, and adversely affects educational performance.

Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and vision impairments, the combination of which causes severe communication and other developmental and educational needs not accommodated by programs solely for deaf or blind children.

Section 504 (Rehabilitation Act) covers any student with a physical or mental impairment substantially limiting a major life activity; it provides accommodations and does not require specially designed instruction or an IEP.

Developmental delay (ages 3 through 9, state-defined) may be used as a category when a child experiences physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional, or adaptive developmental delay measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments.

Full and individual initial evaluation: assessments must be selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory, in the child's native language or mode of communication, and validated for the specific purpose used.

IEP team composition: parents; at least one regular education teacher (if the child is or may be in the regular environment); at least one special education teacher/provider; an LEA representative qualified to supervise provision of services and knowledgeable about general curriculum and available resources; an individual who can interpret evaluation results; and, when appropriate, the child.

IEP required contents: present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP), measurable annual goals, description of progress measurement and reporting, statement of special education/supplementary aids and program modifications, explanation of extent of removal from the regular class, and transition services beginning not later than the first IEP in effect at age 16.

IEP timeline: a meeting must be held and the IEP developed within 30 days of a determination of eligibility; initial evaluations must be conducted within 60 days of receiving parental consent (state timelines may differ).

Three-year reevaluation: a reevaluation is required at least every three years unless the parent and LEA agree it is unnecessary; a reevaluation is not required more than once a year unless the parties agree.

Present levels (PLAAFP) must describe the effect of the disability on involvement and progress in the general education curriculum, and serve as the baseline against which annual goals are written.

Annual goals must be measurable and designed to meet needs resulting from the disability so the child can be involved in and make progress in the general curriculum; short-term objectives are required only for children assessed against alternate achievement standards.

Standardized test interpretation: standard scores have mean 100 and SD 15; a score of 85 is one SD below the mean (about 16th percentile); percentile ranks are not equal-interval and cannot be averaged.

Assessments for eligibility must use a variety of tools and strategies to gather functional, developmental, and academic information, and may not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining disability or appropriate educational program.

Least restrictive environment (LRE): a student with a disability must be educated with nondisabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate; removal occurs only when education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

Continuum of placement options, from least to most restrictive: general education class, general class with co-teaching/consultation, resource room, separate class, separate school, homebound/hospital, residential facility.

Supplementary aids and services include modifications to content, methodology, or delivery of instruction and supports such as paraprofessional assistance, assistive technology, and environmental accommodations provided in the general education setting.

Behavior intervention: a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) identifies antecedents, behaviors, and consequences; a behavior intervention plan (BIP) is based on the FBA and includes positive behavioral interventions and supports.

Manifestation determination review is required within 10 school days of any decision to change placement for discipline; the team asks whether the conduct was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the disability, or was the direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the IEP.

Disciplinary removal: a child may be removed to an interim alternative educational setting for not more than 45 school days without regard to manifestation for weapons, illegal drugs, or infliction of serious bodily injury; 10 cumulative school days of removal per year do not constitute a change of placement.

Classroom physical arrangement should support the least restrictive access: clear traffic paths, defined learning zones, preferential seating for students with attention, hearing, or vision needs, and reduced visual clutter to limit distraction.

Positive behavior supports emphasize antecedent-based strategies (schedules, routines, explicit expectations, precorrection) and reinforcement of replacement behaviors rather than aversive consequences.

Transition planning (age 16, or younger if state requires) must include appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based on age-appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills.

Explicit instruction sequence: modeling (I do), guided practice (we do), and independent practice (you do), with high rates of opportunities to respond and immediate corrective feedback.

Systematic phonics instruction teaches letter-sound correspondences in a defined sequence and is most effective when it is explicit, cumulative, and delivered in small groups; it is a core component of scientifically based reading instruction.

Five essential components of reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) uses brief, standardized, timed probes (e.g., words correct per minute, digits correct) administered frequently to monitor progress and adjust instruction; a common decision rule is four data points below the goal line to prompt instructional change.

Accommodations change how a student accesses material or demonstrates learning (extended time, read-aloud, graphic organizers) without altering content expectations; modifications change what the student is expected to learn or the performance standard.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression so that instruction is accessible to varied learners from the outset.

Applied behavior analysis principles: reinforcement increases behavior, punishment decreases behavior; positive reinforcement adds a stimulus after behavior, negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus after behavior; both increase the target behavior.

Task analysis breaks a complex skill into sequenced component steps; chaining (forward or backward) teaches the steps cumulatively, and prompting hierarchies (verbal, gestural, model, physical) are faded to promote independence.

Assistive technology ranges from low-tech (pencil grips, highlighters, slant boards) to high-tech (speech-generating devices, text-to-speech, screen readers); the IEP team must consider AT needs for every child with a disability.