What is Special Education?

Special Education means specially designed instruction at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individual children with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met with modification of the regular instruction program, and related services, at no cost to the parent, which may be needed to assist such individuals to benefit from specially designed instruction.

Typically prior to placement in special education, a child’s general education teacher will modify the curriculum for the child. It could be as simple as a change in seating or providing extra time for class work or delivering information verbally, visually or by modeling.

If these modifications do not work, the child can be referred or be tested for special education services.     After referral a local education agency will provide specialists to test your child. The child will be assessed and given a series of tests to discover how they learn. Parents and teachers are interviewed to determine the needs of the whole child. 

   The specialists, teacher, parent and a school designee will meet to determine if a disability is preventing a student from accessing education. 
If a disability is found, the team will use the results of testing to develop a program of instruction that is specially designed to the individual student. This is called an Individualized Education Program. This program will include goals and services. If a disability is not found, the child will not be eligible for special education services. Children who are not eligible for special education but whose testing showed a discrepancy between aptitude and achievement can be eligible for 504 services.

These 504 services could include tutoring services rendered by the general education staff. These services are something that could assist the child in closing the education gap they are experiencing.