Glossary of Terms
Age of Majority:
The age when the procedural safeguards and other rights afforded to the parent or parents of a student with a disability transfer to the student. In Virginia, the age of majority is 18.
Child with a Disability:
A child evaluated and determined as a result of this evaluation, to have autism, deaf-blindness, a developmental delay, a hearing impairment including deafness, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, an orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, an emotional disturbance, a specific learning disability, a speech or language impairment, a traumatic brain injury, or a visual impairment including blindness, who by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
Evaluation:
Procedures used to determine whether a child has a disability and the nature and extent of the special education and related services that the child needs.
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE):
Special education and related services that:
1. Are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge;
2. Meet the standards of the Virginia Board of Education;
3. Include preschool, elementary school, middle school or secondary school education in the state; and
Are provided in conformity with an individualized education program that meets the requirements of the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia
Home-based Instruction:
Services that are delivered in the home setting (or other agreed upon setting) in accordance with the child’s individualized education program.
Homebound Instruction:
Academic instruction provided to students who are confined at home or in a health care facility for periods that would prevent normal school attendance based upon certification of need by a licensed physician or licensed clinical psychologist. For a child with a disability, the IEP must determine the delivery of services, including the number of hours of services.
Individualized Education Program (IEP):
A written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a team meeting. The IEP specifies the individual educational needs of the child and what special education and related services are necessary to meet the needs.
Initial Placement:
The first local educational agency placement in either a public school, state-operated program, or private school program for the purpose of providing special education or related services.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE):
To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and that special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Level I Services:
The provision of special education and related services to children with disabilities for less than 50% of their instructional school day (excluding intermission for meals). The time that a child receives special education services is calculated on the basis of special education services described in the individualized education program, rather than the location of services.
Level II Services:
The provision of special education and related services to children with disabilities for 50% or more of the instructional school day (excluding intermission for meals). The time that a child receives special education services is calculated on the basis of special education services described in the individualized education program, rather than the location of services.
Local Educational Agency (LEA):
A local school division governed by a local school board, a state-operated program that is funded and administered by the Commonwealth of Virginia, or the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind at Staunton
Special Education:
Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent or parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in a classroom, in the home, in hospitals, in institutions, and in other settings and instruction in physical education. The term includes each of the following if it meets the requirements of the definition of special education: speech-language pathology services; vocational education; and travel training.
Specially Designed Instruction:
Adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction:
1. To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability; and
2. To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards that apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the local educational agency.
Surrogate Parent:
A person appointed to ensure that children are afforded the protection of procedural safeguards and the provision of a free appropriate public education.