Chapter 2: Special Education Procedures and Services
Chapter-At-A-Glance
Learning Objectives
Instructor’s Resources
Media Resources
Roles of professionals
educating students with
disabilities, including
role of the general
education teacher
Key Terms & Concepts
o Inclusion facilitator/itinerant teacher
o job coach
o intervention specialist
o self-determination
Activities # 1, 2, 3, 4
o National Clearing House for
Professionals in Special Education:
http://cecp.air.org/teams/stratpart/ncpse.
asp
Parents roles and
concerns
Key Terms & Concepts
o Self-determination
Activities #6, 7
o http://nichcy.org/
o Beach Center on Families and Disability
http://www.beachcenter.org/default.asp
x?JScript=1
o Multidisciplinary team
o Parent’s rights
o Individualized education program
o Initiation, frequency, duration of
o Evaluation
o Transition plan
and settings in which
those services are
provided
o Related services
o Supplementary aids and services
Activities # 5
ory/placement-overview/
Instructor’s Overview and Outline
This chapter provides readers with an understanding of the range of professionals who are involved in
working with students with disabilities. It also helps readers learn about their role in considering whether
a student is eligible for special education assistance, carrying out students’ educational programs, and
A. Who are the professionals in special education?
2. Special education teachers
4. Parents and students
B. How do you decide whether a student need might be a disability?
1. Analyze unmet needs
a. What are specific examples of unmet needs?
2. Communicate your observations and try your own interventions
a. Contact the parents
e. Reflect on your understanding of and responses to the student
C. How do students obtain special services?
1. Initial consideration of student problems
2. The special education referral and assessment process
3. Decision making for special services
4. Monitoring special education services
a. Annual reviews
b. Three-year reevaluations
c. Additional reviews
d. Due process
D. What is an Individualized Education Program?
1. Required components of an IEP
a. Present level of performance
2. The value of IEPs
E. What services do students with disabilities receive?
2. Student placement and educational environments
a. General education classes
b. Resource programs
F. Wrapping it up
1. Back to the cases
2. Summary
Learning Objectives
1. Analyze roles of professionals who educate students with disabilities.
3. Name components of IEPs.
5. Discuss parent roles and concerns.
6. Examine role of general education teachers.
Key Terms and Concepts
Annual goals
Annual review
Due process
Inclusion facilitator
Individualized education program (IEP)
Intervention assistance team
Intervention specialist
Itinerant teacher
Transition specialist
Universal screening
Activities and Discussion Questions
1. Why do some schools use the term intervention specialist rather than special education teacher?
What does this say about the history of the field of special education? Have small group or whole-
2. Provide Handout 2-1 to students. Below are ways you might use this handout.
• Activity One: Ask students to complete the matrix as homework. At the next class meeting,
divide students into small groups, assigning an IEP team member to each group. Provide groups
3. Discuss with students the importance of prereferral/Response to Intervention procedures. Discuss a
4. Guest speaker: If a local school uses a Response to Intervention (RtI) model, invite a member of the
5. Some preK–12 students referred for screening or assessment are determined to not be eligible for
special education. However, general education teachers sometimes worry that these students “should
6. Ask students to share their perceptions about why IDEA contains so many protections for
parents/families related to the process of identifying students and planning and delivering their special
7. Guest speaker: Ask a hearing officer or local special education director with due process hearing
8. Ask students to bring to class IEP forms from local school districts. Small groups of students could
compare and contrast forms (unless a standard form is used in the state) and identify each required
9. Handout 2-2 could be used as a large-group or small-group activity to give students the experience of
10. Guest speaker: If possible, invite a parent (and student) to share his/her experiences participating in
11. Arrange a class debate on the proposition that the intent of the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
is or should be to do away with the continuum of educational placements in favor of having all
children in the general education classroom at all times (with supports and services provided only in
that setting).
Web Links
Instructor Resources:
Web-Based Content Resources:
Additional Readings
Bradley, R., Sanielson, L., & Doolittle, J. (2007). Responsiveness to intervention: 1997 to 2007. Teaching
Exceptional Children, 39(5), 8–12. NOTE: This issue of Teaching Exceptional Children
(volume 39, issue 5) is a special issue dedicated to the topic of Responsiveness to Intervention
(RTI or RtI).
Byrd, E. S. (2011). Educating and involving parents in the Response to Intervention process. Teaching
Exceptional Children, 43(3), 32–39.
Hauge, J. M., & Babkie, A. M. (2006). Develop collaborative special educator-paraprofessional teams:
One para’s view. Intervention in School & Clinic, 42, 51–53.
Horner, R., Cazrr, E., Halle, J., McGee, G., Odom, S., & Wolery, M. (2005). The Use of Single-Subject
Research to Identify Evidence-Based Practice in Special Education. Exceptional Children, 71(2),
165-179.