Legal Aspects of Special Education

   before 1975

   nNo law concerning education of children with special needs

   nNo obligatory services for children with special needs

   nSome rich school districts provided services, others did not

   

   

   1975

   Public Law 94-142 – Education for All Handicapped Children Act (currently IDEA)

   nMany institutions closed down immediately after 1975

   nFAPE – Free Appropriate Public Education

   nLRE – Least Restrictive Environment

   nDescribes the process of identifiying children with disabilities

   Process of Identification

   nBefore refferal (child in a regular classroom or kindergarden)

   Any teacher or parent of the child can ask for Intervention team or Pre-refferal team
   examination

   If 3x advice is given to regular teachers without positive results, child is reffered to 
   testing (Psychological, Educational)

   

   

   Testing – Multifactor Evaluation

   nMust be completed by a team (minimum 3 people, sometimes up to 12)

   n3 tests must be conducted

   -IQ

   -Educational Evaluation

   -Adaptive Behavior (Adaptive Behavior Rating Scale)

   Members of MFE

   -Psychologist

   -Special Teacher (Intervention Specialist)

   -Regular School Teacher

   -Partents

   -Member of School Board (defends the child if parents are not present)

   

   Due dates

   -MFE must be conducted within 30 days after refferal

   -IEP meeting must be held within 30 days after MFE

   -IEP must be implemented within 30 days after IPE meeting

   Parents can disagree any time during this process – new MFE team must be appointed from
   another district.