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Running Head: EXPLORING DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAW 1

Exploring Different Kinds of Law

Part 2: Special Education Law and Policies

Laura A. Krcelic

American College of Education

EL 5753 Law and Policy

Dr. Maria Orlando


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Exploring Different Kinds of Law Part 2: Special Education Law and Policies

In order to ensure the achievement of all students in every school, districts are required to

manage their schools according to set standards. The goal of the policies set forth are to provide

a safe and secure learning environment for every student to meet their potential. A key area of

focus in policy development and district compliance is in the area of Special Education.

Supervisors of Special Education ensures the needs of identified students with disabilities are

receiving their appropriate accommodations based on the guidelines for least restrictive

environment and the Individualized Education Plans (IEP’s). The state of Ohio provides a

specific set of guidelines to ensure the needs of those students are meet on every level within the

school building.

Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities

The Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities is a state

document that is intended to regulate education procedures for students with disabilities. Within

this document, an educator is able to find information pertaining to confidentiality,

Individualized Education Program (IEP), transportation concerns, preschool eligibility, and free

appropriate public education guidelines along with other areas of interest. The following is an

overview of the identified areas of the document guidelines.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a necessary area of discussion in education as it is in fields such as

medicine. It is vital that, as educators, we are able to recognize the importance of maintaining

confidentiality in terms of our student’s health and progress. In this section of the policy outline,

the role of informing parents and guardians the intended use of data and information collected by

the school district. Especially when it comes to English-Language Learners (ELL), the
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information pertaining to their child is presented in their native language in order to ensure

comprehension. Parents also have the right to inspect and review education records under this

rule. During IEP or conferencing, families have the ability to request verification of how their

child’s needs are being meet and the progress being made.

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)

According to the Ohio Department of Education (2014), “each school district shall adopt

and implement written policies and procedures… that ensure an individualized education

program [IEP] is developed and implemented for each child with a disability” (page 117). The

development of this plan for students identified with a disability is at no cost to the parents.

Schools are expected to manage the IEP through written reports, data collection, and parent

questionnaires and conferences to ensure the child’s needs are directly being met. It is the

responsibility of the district to ensure that the IEP accommodations are being met in the

classrooms. A vital part of this plan is ensuring that there are measurable annual goals to ensure

that the student is demonstrating progress based on the provided accommodations.

Transportation Concerns

The transportation is per IEP goals established for the children with identified disabilities.

When considering transportation of student with disabilities, it is necessary to consider the safety

and well-being of the child. Based on the unique needs of the student, the receive the appropriate

accommodations that may be reimbursed per the Ohio Department of Education depending on

the circumstance. The role of the school district is to establish the standards for travel, including

standard travel time based on factors such as age, conditions of disability, and geography.

Drivers and aides need to be informed of the needs of the child as it relates to their

transportation.
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Preschool Eligibility

School districts collaborate with interagency partners, such as Head Start programs, to

ensure that free appropriate public education (FAPE) is available for all students between the

ages of 3 and 5 within that district. In order for a preschool age child to be identified for the use

of special education services, districts need to use a variety of data sources for analysis rather

than one score. These can be done through structured observations in multiple settings and

activities, parent or guardian information, evaluations, etc. For preschool age children, they are

assessed within one of the following areas: adaptive behavior, cognition, communication,

hearing, vision, sensory/motor function and social-emotional functioning.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) guidelines

According to the Ohio Department of Education (2014), “each school district shall make

a FAPE available to all children between the ages of three and twenty-one, inclusive, including

children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school” (page 42). Starting

at age 3, school districts are accountable for ensuring that children at age 3 have the opportunity

to attend public school that meets their direct needs. Districts are accountable to ensure that

children with identified disabilities are advancing grade levels. Services are provided by the

district in all contents and special subjects that allow students to be successful through FAPE and

IDEA.

Interview with the Supervisor of Special Education

In Warren City School District, there are five buildings dividing the district. This

includes four pre-school through eighth grade buildings and one high school which addresses

students in grades nine through twelve. In order to meet the needs of the large student

population, there is a supervisor of special education in each of the buildings and a director of
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special education at the Board of Education. At Jefferson pK-8 building in Warren City Schools,

the Supervisor of Special Education is Mesa Morlan. Throughout this interview we addressed

various topics from least restrictive environment to teacher perspective on the requirements of

special education.

A. How does your school implement special education law and policies?

At Jefferson pK-8, areas that teach English Language Arts and Mathematics are in a co-

teaching environment when a student with an IEP is within the class. According to Morlan

(2020), “we utilize a standard binder for reference for all special education guidelines and

maintaining student data per case load”. The Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) meets to refer

students to the IEP originally where once students are identified, IEP teams meet once per year

to renew or the potentially meet more times depending on the student situation. Morlan is

responsible for ensuring that IDEA regulations are being met through observations,

conferencing, and data collection.

B. What process is in place to determine students’ eligibility for special education?

Students are referred for an IEP through the IAT, teacher, or parent referral. This is done

through monitoring of Tier 2 and 3 interventions used for the child. These interventions may be

either targeting academic or behavioral needs. Specific Tier 3 interventions used at Jefferson pK-

8 are Spaulding, Wilson, Reading Recovery, and Zaner Bloser which are used in the younger

grades to remediate literacy concerns. In the upper grades, students are receiving targeted

intervention through Read 180, Math 180, and Study Island in addition to the Intervention

Special (IST) being able to pull small groups for additional instruction.
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C. How does your school ensure compliance with IEPs and implementation of

accommodations? What happens if a teacher claims the accommodations aren’t

working?

Compliance is maintained through the yearly meetings discussing the students’ progress

based on their IEP goals. This allows all stakeholders to attend to ensure necessary updates are

made to the IEPs based on observations and data for whether or not the specific accommodations

are effective. Morlan collects progress monitoring from IST’s every 4 weeks to report home to

parents/guardians. Within this, IST’s log the minutes spent per child working on each of the

goals set for their students on their caseload.

D. How do school staff members feel about least restrictive environment and the IEP

process as a whole? Do they feel the IEP process represents true collaboration

between parents and staff members to best serve students?

Morlan recognizes that teachers could at times be frustrated with the least restrictive

environment requirements, whereas teachers feel that students may require more assistance than

we are able to currently offer. There is not a co-teacher in every content area in the older grades,

such as science and social studies that are not tested, where student accommodations are still

expected to be met within the inclusion environment. It is a struggle for those teachers to

continuously meet the needs of those students in those environments. Overall, the process for

managing and updating the IEPs is good for collaboration where all stakeholders are able to

attend conferencing for updates. In addition, this IEP process follows all federal and state

regulations.
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E. Which aspects of the IEP process most confuse or discourage team members?

Morlan recognizes that there are some areas that can be considered discouraging or

frustrating to the special education team. Once primary area she noted was that the IAT process

may take too long of a time for students to be identified. If some students are identified it may be

too late for effective intervention or students may be overly identified and not require as much

intervention. Many times, students go unidentified due to chronic absenteeism, students are not

producing enough work, or behaviors may prevent identification.

F. What do IEP team members say can be done to better improve the process?

To better improve the IEP process, Morlan noted a few areas that could always use

improvement. One area specifically was allowing for greater collaboration among team

members. Ideally, allowing all content area teachers to discuss student progress would be ideal

for student goal setting. However, due to substitution concerns during the IEP planned meeting

time, it is not possible for all content teachers to be present. Another area that could be improved

is pinpointing interventions to use with each specific student’s. At times, it is difficult to hone in

on the specific intervention needed for each student.

G. Are students’ IEPs effectively implemented at your school? What can be done to

improve implementation?

Overall, Morlan noted that the IEP’s are effectively being implemented within Jefferson pK-

8. IST’s are assigned specific caseloads of students in order to meet their needs specific to

English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The students could be assigned to IST’s based on

behavior concerns, as well, where a teaching aide is assigned to that student. The current struggle

is applying accommodations to all inclusion classrooms, including science and social studies,

where an IST is not present. There is also an issue in the range of services offered at our school.
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Morlan explains that while Jefferson has self-contained cross-cat classrooms and inclusion, there

is a missing middle step of a resource room to further accommodate student needs.

Conclusion

Special education is an area of great interest in modern educational reform. Ensuring that

every student has the potential to succeed is at the front line of conversation. The Ohio

Department of Education provides a clear set of expectations that allow teachers and

administrators to recognize their role in meeting the needs of students with identified disabilities.

Mesa Morlan follows this set of standards at the Jefferson pK-8 building in Warren City Schools

with collaboration of Intervention Specialists (ISTs) to ensure student’s needs are being met and

students are demonstrating growth.


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References

Morlan, M. (n.d.). Warren.

Ohio Department of Education. (2014, July 1). Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of

Children with Disabilities. Retrieved February 20, 2020.

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