Making Special Education Work
Presented by
Governor’s Office – State of Washington
Office of the Education Ombudsman
Governor’s Office.

The Office of the Education Ombudsman (OEO) is an agency within the Governor’s Office created in 2006 by the state
Legislature. It is not part of the public education system.
OEO offers free conflict resolution services to public school students, their families and their schools.
Call us toll free! 1-866-297-259, Visit us at: www.waparentslearn.org

• Education Ombudsmen are trained mediators and problemsolvers.
•They have extensive knowledge of education laws, policies, conflict resolution techniques, family involvement, teaching/learning and are culturally competent.
•They are neutral, third parties who bring families and school officials together to resolve a problem in the best interest of the student.
•They advocate for fair and equitable education processes for students.
•They help families navigate the public education system.
Call us toll free! 1-866-297-259, Visit us at: www.waparentslearn.org

Where did Special Education Come From?
“Washington State institutions shall be free to residents age 6-21 years who are feeble-minded, idiotic, or epileptic or who are physically defective, and free of loathsome and contagious diseases….
…to such an extent that by reason of defective intellect are unfitted for companionship with other children and rendered unable to acquire an education or training in the common schools….
…may be segregated and admitted pursuant to the rules of the Department…..”
RCW 72.28.020, chapter 173

• Developmental Disabilities Act
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA)
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973
• Americans with Disabilities Act

Relationship between Civil Rights Law and the IDEA

• Zero Reject
• Comprehensive Evaluation
• Individualized Education
• Free Appropriate Public Education
• Least Restrictive Environment
• Parent Participation

• Not just a label
• Educational Impact of the Disability
• Interpretation of scores
• Expert
• Comprehensive

Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a student's educational performance. Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
(TBI was added as a separate category of disability in 1990 under P.L.
101-476. )

(IEE)
• Second Opinion
• By a professional outside the school system
• Paid for at public expense

Individualized Education Plan
(IEP)
•Strengths of the Child
•Concerns of the Parent
•Results of Evaluation (Current Level of Performance)
•Academic, developmental and functional needs of the child
•ANY BEHAVIOR that impedes the child’s learning or that of others
•Strategies to address behavior, including POSITIVE behavioral interventions, strategies and supports
•Limited English proficiency
•Braille
•Language and Modes of Communication
•Assistive Technology DEVICES and SERVICES
•Goals (and Objectives)
•Evaluative Criteria

• Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible student, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction:
(i) To address the unique needs of the student that result from the student's disability; and
(ii) To ensure access of the student to the general curriculum, so that the student can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all students.

• Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a student eligible for special education to benefit from special education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early identification and assessment of disabilities in students, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also include school health services and school nurse services, social work services in schools, and parent counseling and training.

• Social work services in schools includes:
(i) Preparing a social or developmental history on a student eligible for special education;
(ii) Group and individual counseling with the student and family;
(iii) Working in partnership with parents and others on those problems in a student's living situation (home, school, and community) that affect the student's adjustment in school;
(iv) Mobilizing school and community resources to enable the student to learn as effectively as possible in his or her educational program; and
(v) Assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.

Making Decisions
(Or how do I know when we disagree?)
• IEP teams work by CONSENSUS, not by majority vote
• Parents are equal participants with educational personnel in decision making – IEP teams must make decisions in meetings
• Administrators cannot “veto” IEP team decisions, especially when they were not present at the IEP meeting
• School districts have an obligation to provide services to eligible students – parents must exercise their right to due process if they disagree
• School districts must provide a Notice of Refusal and explain why something a parent has asked for cannot or will not be provided to the student, AND
• Prior Written Notice before conducting evaluation, implementing a program or services or before stopping or changing existing services or placement

Least Restrictive
Environment
• LRE – isn’t this a “continuum”??
• School districts place in conflict access to the general education setting and an appropriate education
• 504 modifications can be in the IEP and both general and special education settings must be addressed as part of the IEP
• Behavior that interferes with learning
• Placement in a school as close to the child’s home as possible or in the school the child would attend if not a child with a disability

A school district must ENSURE that one or both of the parents of a student eligible for special education are present at each
IEP team meeting or are afforded the opportunity to
participate as a person knowledgeable about the child during evaluation, to determine a child’s needs, in deciding services, and determining placement.
• Notifying parents of the meeting early enough to ensure that they will have an opportunity to attend; and
• Scheduling the meeting at a mutually agreed on time and place indicating the purpose, time, and location of the meeting and who will be in attendance.
• Informing parents about the participation of other individuals on the IEP team who have knowledge or special expertise about the student.
• Included in the development of a transition plan.

• If neither parent can attend an IEP team meeting, the school district must use other methods to ensure parent participation, including video or telephone conference calls.
• A meeting may be conducted without a parent in attendance if the school district is unable to convince the parents that they should attend. In this case, the public agency must keep a record of its attempts to arrange a mutually agreed on time and place.
• The school district must take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the parent understands the proceedings of the IEP team meeting, including arranging for an interpreter for parents with deafness or whose native language is other than English.
• The school district must give the parent a copy of the student's IEP at no cost to the parent.
• Parents must be included in the evaluation process and allowed to contribute to an evaluation

• Governor’s Office of the Education
Ombudsman
• Special Education Ombudsman
• Sound Options Mediation
• Citizen’s Complaint – OSPI
• Office of Civil Rights Complaint

•Any parent/legal guardian or student who is experiencing a problem or conflict with a public school or school district.
•Anyone who has questions about public education, family involvement, how to communicate better with schools, etc.
Education Ombudsmen have access to a phone language line and can get immediate translation for over 100 languages.
Call toll-free: 1-866-297-2527
Website: www.waparentslearn.org