PECT Special Education cheat sheet

IDEA's six core principles: zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, free appropriate public education (FAPE), least restrictive environment (LRE), procedural safeguards, and parent/student participation.

Referral-to-eligibility timeline under IDEA: initial evaluation completed within 60 calendar days of parental consent, unless the state sets a different explicit timeframe.

Child Find is the district's affirmative duty to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with suspected disabilities, including private-school and homeless children, at no cost to families.

Related services are developmental, corrective, and supportive services (speech, OT, PT, counseling, transportation) required for the child to benefit from special education; they are not special education themselves.

FAPE standard from Board of Education v. Rowley (1982): instruction and services reasonably calculated to enable educational benefit, not the maximum possible program.

Procedural safeguards include prior written notice, parental consent, access to records, independent educational evaluation (IEE), mediation, and due process hearings.

Confidentiality rules: education records are protected under FERPA; parents may inspect records within 45 days of request, and disclosure requires consent except for enumerated exceptions.

Continuum of alternative placements runs from general education with supports to resource rooms, separate classes, separate schools, homebound, and hospital settings; placement is determined annually by the IEP team.

Disproportionality: states must monitor significant overrepresentation of racial/ethnic groups in identification, placement, and discipline, and districts with significant disproportionality must reserve 15% of IDEA Part B funds for early intervening services.

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

SLD eligibility commonly uses a severe discrepancy or response to intervention (RTI) model; RTI requires documented scientific, research-based interventions and progress data before referral.

Intellectual disability requires significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning (typically IQ about 70 or below) with concurrent deficits in adaptive behavior, manifesting during the developmental period.

Emotional disturbance requires one or more characteristics (inability to learn not explained by other factors, relationship problems, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness/depression, physical symptoms) over a long period to a marked degree.

Other health impairment covers limited strength, vitality, or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems such as ADHD, asthma, diabetes, or sickle cell anemia that adversely affects educational performance.

Autism eligibility focuses on qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication plus restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities that adversely affect educational performance.

Evaluation must use multiple measures, be administered in the child's native language, be validated for the purpose used, and may not rely on any single measure as the sole criterion.

Reevaluation occurs at least every three years unless parents and district agree it is unnecessary; the IEP team reviews existing data to decide what additional data are needed.

IEP required components: present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals, description of progress measurement, special education and related services, least restrictive environment explanation, accommodations, and transition planning beginning by age 16.

Specially designed instruction (SDI) means adapting content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child and ensure access to the general curriculum.

Measurable annual goals must state a target behavior, conditions, and criterion for acceptable performance, and be linked to present levels of performance.

Accommodations change how a student accesses content (extended time, read-aloud, graphic organizers); modifications change what the student is expected to learn or demonstrate.

Explicit instruction sequence: modeling, guided practice with feedback, independent practice, and cumulative review; it is the most evidence-supported approach for students with learning disabilities.

Systematic phonics instruction is more effective than whole-language approaches for students with word-reading difficulties; phonemic awareness precedes phonics in the typical sequence.

Progress monitoring uses brief, frequent probes (e.g., curriculum-based measurement) graphed against a goal line to judge response to intervention and adjust instruction.

Universal design for learning (UDL) provides multiple means of representation, engagement, and action/expression to reduce barriers before individual accommodations are needed.

Transition planning by age 16 (or earlier if state requires) must include measurable postsecondary goals in education/training and employment, and where appropriate independent living, based on age-appropriate transition assessments.

Assistive technology includes any item or equipment that increases, maintains, or improves functional capabilities; the IEP team must consider AT needs for every student.

Positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) is a tiered framework: universal supports for all, targeted group interventions, and intensive individual supports.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) identifies antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to build a behavior intervention plan (BIP); an FBA is required after certain disciplinary removals.

Manifestation determination review is required when a disciplinary change of placement exceeds 10 consecutive school days or constitutes a pattern; the team asks whether the behavior was caused by or directly related to the disability or a failure to implement the IEP.

Ten-day rule: a student with a disability may be removed for up to 10 school days per year for any violation without it counting as a change of placement, but services must continue after the 10th day.

Special circumstances allow removal to an interim alternative educational setting for up to 45 school days for weapons, illegal drugs, or serious bodily injury, regardless of manifestation.

Restraint and seclusion are not disciplinary tools; they are permitted only when necessary to prevent imminent physical harm and must be documented and reported to parents.

Least restrictive environment presumes education with nondisabled peers and requires justification in the IEP when a student is removed from the general education setting.

Bullying of students with disabilities may constitute a denial of FAPE; districts must investigate and respond when harassment interferes with the student's education.

Positive reinforcement and antecedent-based strategies (clear expectations, routines, visual supports, choice) are preferred over punitive consequences for changing behavior.