Achievement Testing: measures what a child has already learned in areas such as reading, math, and

spelling or written and oral language.

ADL- Activities of Daily Living: daily tasks necessary to care for oneself such as dressing or eating.

APE - Adapted Physical Education: a physical education program designed to meet the special needs of

individual students with disabilities who need modifications to the school's regular physical education

program, or a specially designed physical education program.

Advocate: a person who speaks on behalf of himself/herself or others to protect his/her rights and ensure

access to services to which the individual is entitled.

Annual Goal: a measurable outcome written in the IEP (along with related short-term objectives) for each

area of identified need that the student can reasonably achieve in one year by meeting each of the related

short-term objectives. Progress toward meeting the objectives related to each annual goal must be

documented and shared with parents at least quarterly.

Annual Review: meeting of the IEP Team held at least annually to review a child's progress and to develop

and use an IEP, including goals, objectives and services, to determine appropriate placement for the next year.

Appeal: a written request to change a decision or the act of making a request to change a decision.

Appropriate: able to adequately address/meet identified needs.

Assessment: the process of securing information, which may include results of such tests as a psychological and

/or educational evaluation and family/teacher input and observations, to determine eligibility for special education

services, and to plan for the type and extent of special education to be provided for a child who

qualifies for services.

AT - Assistive Technology: any device, product, or piece of equipment that improves functional capabilities (

such as walking, hearing, seeing, speaking, or learning) of a child or adult with disabilities.

ATS - Assistive Technology Services: assist an individual or family in selecting, acquiring, maintaining, rousing AT

.

ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): is a developmental disorder characterized by abnormal or impaired

development in social-communication skills and restricted and/or repetitive patterns of behavior.

BIP - Behavior Intervention Plan: Positive strategies, program modifications and supplementary aids

/supports that address a student's disruptive behaviors to allow for continued education in the least restrictive

environment (LRE).

Case Manager: a person (frequently the Special Educator for a student who qualifies for an IEP or the Special

/General Educator, Guidance Counselor or other school staff for a student who qualifies for services under

Section 504), who acts as a coordinator for all of the services provided for a student. School psychologists

and school social workers also serve as case managers/liaisons for any students who are supported

in out-of-district placements.

Child Find: a system of identifying children age 3 through 21 years of age who may have a disability and be

in need of special education services.

Cognitive Testing: tests are designed to measure a person's intelligence and mental ability. Some of the

specific areas measured by cognitive ability tests include problem-solving, verbal ability, numerical ability,

reasoning, memory, and general intelligence.

CSE – Committee on Special Education: is a multidisciplinary team, appointed by the Board of Education.

The CSE is responsible for students with disabilities from ages 5-21. The CSE is authorized to identify

students in need of services by determining eligibility, developing an Individualized Education Plan (IEP),

placing the student in the least restrictive environment in which they can succeed and provide appropriate

services to meet the child's educational needs.

CPSE – Committee on Preschool Education: is responsible for identifying and arranging for the delivery of

Special Education services for preschool children with disabilities from ages three to five. The CPSE is

responsible for guiding parents in a process that includes evaluation and, if eligible, the recommendation

for placement in approved programs and services for each preschool student with a disability. The

educational programs and services for preschool children with disabilities are the responsibility of the

school district in which the student resides in accordance with New York State Education law, Article 89.

CCLS – Common Core Learning Standards: A shared set of evidence based national standards developed

through state led initiatives. Common Core is designed to have fewer, simplified standards. They were

created by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers. Officials from 48

states participated in the process to develop the standards over several years.

Consent: written permission from parents, which is required for all evaluations, and for the first IEP to be

supplemented.

Developmental Delay: a delay in the usual steps of growth and development for children from birth

through 18 years old.

Disability: the result of a physical or mental condition that prevents an individual from developing,

achieving or functioning within a normal range.

Due Process Hearing: a formal procedure to resolve a dispute between parents and the school system

about identification, evaluation or educational placement/program of a child.

Early Intervention: services or programs designed to identify and treat developmental problems in children

from birth through 36 months of age.

Education Records: records covered under the definition of education records in part 99 of this title (the

regulations implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974).

Educational Disability: After the existence of a disability has been established, the IEP Team must use and

document using a variety of sources such as achievement tests, teacher and parent input, physical

condition of the child, adaptive behavior, etc. to determine if a child has a disabling condition affecting

learning and is in need of special education and/or related services.

Eligibility: The IEP Team uses a variety of sources (see Educational Disability) to determine whether a child

has an educational disability and qualifies for special education services according to the guidelines

specified in special education law.

Expressive language: Skills required to produce language for reliable communication with others; speaking

and writing are expressive language skills

Evaluation: includes use of existing information along with tests and procedures used initially to determine

whether a child has a disability and if the child qualifies, the type and extent of special education services needed by the child.

ESY - Extended School Year: a small percentage of special education students qualify for extended school

year. These services are explained to parents at every annual review regardless of whether their child has a

severe or mild disability. ESY is an extension of specific services beyond the 180-day school year provided to

children who meet at least one of the criteria as stated in special education law.

Fine Motor Skills: Functions that require small muscle movements such as writing, tying shoes, and

buttoning a shirt.

FAPE - Free Appropriate Public Education: the right to a free public education which meets the specific educational

needs of a child with a disability as guaranteed by IDEA.

FBA - Functional Behavior Assessment: a systematic collection of data that identifies conditions under

which an inappropriate behavior is likely to occur, the motivation for the behavior and what the behavior

communicates for a student.

Gross Motor Skills: Functions that require large muscle movements such as running, jumping, or swimming.

Home/Hospital Instruction: provided to students who are unable to attend school for a specific time

period due to a medically condition. It is provided to the student to continue academic work and remain

current with classroom instruction while absent from school.

Identification: the process of finding and identifying children needing special education services.

Inclusion: an education philosophy in which a child receives special education services that meet his/her

educational needs to the maximum extent possible within the general education setting and school that

the child would attend if he/she did not have a disability.

Independent Evaluation: an evaluation, such as psychological or educational testing usually arranged and

paid for by parents or their insurance. Team members must consider - although they may not necessarily

agree with - the results of a private evaluation as long as the evaluator meets certain school criteria, such

as specific licensing requirements.

IEP Individualized Educational Program: a written document, reviewed annually, including a child's current

level of performance and needs, long term goals and short-term objectives, which describes the special

education services (including related services, and supplementary aids and services). An IEP will be written

by CSE for any child who qualifies for special education services. The IEP should also include the date

services are to begin, the criteria for evaluation of progress toward each short-term objective (to be

documented at least quarterly) and the extent to which the child will participate in academic and nonacademic general education programs.

IFSP - Individualized Family Service Plan: a written plan for infants and toddlers under 3 years of age,

describing a child' s developmental levels, family information, early intervention services that the child will

be receiving including when and where the services will be provided, and naming the service coordinator

assigned to the child and his/her family. Note: By 24 months of age the IFSP should include a Transition

Plan of steps to be taken to make a smooth transition at 3 years old when the child will no longer be eligible

for services in the early intervention system.

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: a federal law which was reauthorized in 1997 that

guarantees that all children with disabilities are provided with a free, appropriate public education (FAPE)

in the least restrictive environment (LRE), and that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents

are protected.

ICT – Integrated Co-taught Class: are specially designed classes and instruction provided to group of

students with disabilities and without disabilities. These classes are taught by both a special education

teacher and a general education teacher.

IQ - Intelligence Quotient: a measure obtained from psychological testing that indicates a child's potential

for learning.

LRE Least Restrictive Environment: the setting that gives the child as much contact as possible with nondisabled children of the same age while still meeting his/her educational needs.

Mediation: the process of having a trained person, a mediator, try to help parents and the school system

reach an agreement about a child's special education program and services.

Modifications: changes to curriculum, instruction and assessment that significantly alter the expectations

for the student.

Multidisciplinary: describes a team approach involving specialists in more than one area. To get a complete

picture of a child's needs, for example, he/she might be evaluated by a special educator, a (SLP) speech language pathologist and an (OT) occupational therapist.

Nonpublic Placement: Parents may choose to apply for their child with disabilities to attend a nonpublic

school but still access some special education services from the local public school system through the IEP

process.

OT Occupational Therapy: instruction in skills such as coordination and control of fine motor movements to

handle activities of daily living (ADL) provided by an occupational therapist (OT).

OHI - Other Health Impaired: Means having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened

alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational

environment that is due to chronic or acute health problems and adversely affects a student’s educational

performance.

Personal Identification Information: information includes: the name of the student, the student's parent,

or other family member; the address of the student; and a personal identifier, such as the student's social

security number or student number.

PT - Physical Therapy: services provided by a physical therapist (PT) to address needs in areas of gross

motor development such as strength, flexibility, motion and endurance.

Placement: determined after the IEP has been completed (and often mistakenly referred to only as the

class or school facility where a student in special education goes to be educated); placement encompasses

all aspects of the individualized program for a student with disabilities including: general and special

education, related services, supplementary aids and services, the general educator(s), special educator,

therapists, specialists and other components of the special education program. The classrooms and the

school where the student is educated are just part of the placement for a student with disabilities.

Positive Behavioral Supports: interventions intended to reduce an inappropriate behavior and teach a

student alternative ways to communicate needs.

Pragmatics: Language use to meet various needs or functions (e.g., asking, describing, telling), social

language.

Procedural Safeguards: procedures to protect the rights of children with disabilities and their parents

according to the provisions in the IDEA.

Receptive language: Understanding spoken language through listening or reading.

Re-evaluation: when the IEP team looks at available information to determine what additional tests,

observations, etc. are necessary to document continued eligibility for special education and/or related

services, and to determine what constitutes an appropriate educational program for the student. This must

take place at least every 3 years in New York State.

Referral: the process of requesting a screening to determine if a child should be evaluated to find out if

there is a need for special education services.

Related Services: services (which are written in the IEP) that must be provided for a child who qualifies for

special education in order to benefit from his/her educational program, for example, transportation,

speech, occupational or physical therapy, psychological services, audiology, etc.

Residential Placement: a highly restrictive special education placement requiring 24 hours of special

education intervention every day.

Screening: a review of existing information to decide if a child may have a disability and should be

evaluated to determine if there is a need for special education services.

Section 504: a civil rights law from The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that prohibits any agency that receives

federal money from discriminating against an individual on the basis of disability. The law requires

"reasonable accommodation" of a disability, and Section 504 may be used to access special education

services that a student may not necessarily qualify for under the IDEA.

Self-advocacy: The development of specific skills and understandings that enable students to explain their

disabilities to others and cope positively with the attitudes of peers, parents, teachers and employers.

Self-monitoring: The mental act of knowing when one does/does not understand what one is reading,

learning or doing.

Service Coordinator: also called a Case Manager, the individual selected by an early intervention team and

named in the IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) to coordinate early intervention services and

integrate the family into the process.

Short Term Objectives: specific, measurable steps written in the IEP and implemented to assist in achieving

annual goals. Student progress in meeting the objectives should be reviewed, and progress documented

and shared with parents at least as frequently as parents of nondisabled students.

Special Education: specifically designed instruction, related services, and supplementary aids and services

provided for a child determined to have an educational disability under the IDEA in order to meet the

student's unique educational needs. The 13 disability categories include learning disabilities,

speech/language impairments, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, hearing

impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, deafness, combined

deafness/blindness, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment.

Speech impaired (SI): A disability category for students who have difficulty understanding or using

language that impacts their ability to access the curriculum.

Speech Therapy (ST): a planned program provided by a Speech and Language Therapist/Pathologist (SLP) to

correct or improve problems with communication, language and/or voice disorders.

State Education Agency (SEA): responsible for monitoring local education agencies and for making sure

that they follow state and federal laws. In New York State the SEA is the New York State Education

Department (NYSED).

Students with Disabilities: students who have been evaluated in accordance state procedures and

identified as having temporary or long-term special educational needs arising from cognitive factors;

emotional factors; physical factors; or any combination of these. The student’s ability to meet general

education standards is impaired to a degree whereby the services available in the general education

program alone are inadequate in preparing them to achieve their educational potential. The evaluation will consider

which of the 13 educational disabilities the child may have.

Transition: The change from secondary school to postsecondary programs, work and independent living

typical of young adults; other periods of major change (early childhood to school or from restrictive to

mainstreamed settings).

Triennial Review: at least every 3 years in New York State the IEP team must look at available information to

determine what additional tests, observations, etc. are necessary to document continued eligibility for

special education and/or related services, and to determine what constitutes an appropriate educational

program for a student receiving special education supports.