Glossary |
| Here are definitions of some of the terms you may hear when discussing your child's education. Be sure to ask your child's exceptional education teacher to clarify any term you don't understand. |
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| A different way of doing something that takes into account a person's disability. Accommodations are changes in how a student is taught or tested. They do not change the requirements of a course or the standards the student must meet. |
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| A statement in an IEP of what a student needs to learn and should be able to learn within one year. |
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| An assessment that is used for a student with a disability when a standard state or districtwide assessment is not appropriate for that student. Students working toward special diplomas take alternate assessments. |
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| A way of collecting information about what a student knows and can do and what a student still needs to learn. |
Assistive Technology Device |
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| Equipment that is used to help students with disabilities maintain or increase their ability to function. |
Assistive Technology Service |
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| A service that directly helps a child with a disability in the selecting, obtaining, or using an assistive technology device. |
Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) |
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| A plan that helps a student with a disability to decrease his or her problem behaviors. |
Community Based Instruction (CBI) |
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| Instruction that takes place in locations in the community and is designed to help students to perform skills such as grocery shopping and using public transportation. |
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| Parents' agreement to let the school take an action that affects their child's education. |
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| Skills in taking care of one’s own personal needs as independently as possible. Examples include dressing for work, renting an apartment, and buying a bus pass. |
Developmentally Delayed (DD) |
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| Program for children ages birth to six only. A child with a developmental delay is developing more slowly than his or her peers either mentally, emotionally, or physically. |
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| A condition that makes it hard for a student to learn or do things in the same ways as most other students. |
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| A decision made at an IEP meeting for a student who is eligible for more than one ESE program but no longer meets eligibility criteria in one of the programs. |
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| A decision made at an IEP meeting to dismiss a student from all ESE services because the student no longer needs those services. |
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| Refers to a student who meets the requirements for and is in need of ESE programs and services. |
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| A meeting at which the parents and a group of school staff members decide if a student is eligible for ESE services. This decision is based on evaluation reports and other information. |
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| Skills necessary to get and keep a job. These are not technical skills but social and verbal skills that would help a person work well with others, communicate with others, follow directions, and be on time. |
Exceptional Student Education (ESE) |
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| Name given in Florida to educational programs and services for students with special learning needs (including those who have disabilities and those who are gifted). It is sometimes called special education. |
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| A disability or special learning need. Giftedness is also an exceptionality. |
Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) |
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| The words used in the federal law (IDEA) to describe the right of a student with a disability to special services that will met his or her individual learning needs at no cost to his parents. |
Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) |
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The process of gathering data about problem behaviors of students with disabilities. The purpose of an FBA is to develop an individualized Behavior Intervention Plan.
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Homebound or Hospitalized |
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An ESE program in Florida. A student in this program must be taught at home or in a hospital for an extended period of time because of a severe illness, injury or health problem.
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Individual Educational Plan (IEP) |
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| A written plan that describes the individual learning needs of a student with disabilities and the ESE services, supports, aids, and accommodations and modifications that will be provided to that student. |
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) |
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| The most important United States law regarding the education of students with disabilities. |
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) |
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| The school setting (placement) that allows a child with a disability to be educated to the greatest extent possible with children who do not have disabilities. |
Manifestation Determination Review |
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An IEP meeting at which the team decides if a child’s misbehavior is a result of his or her disability.
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| A process in which parents and school personnel try to settle disagreements with the help of an objective person who has been trained to resolve conflicts. |
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| A change in the requirements of a course or the standards a student must meet. A change in what the student is taught or tested on. |
On-the-Job Training (OJT) |
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| Instruction that provides students with realistic work experiences in order to help them acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to hold a job. |
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| Rules outlined in IDEA that give parents the rights to participate, have notice, and give consent. The procedural safeguards also determine how parents and schools can resolve disputes through mediation, due process, or complaint procedures. |
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| An evaluation that takes place after a student has already been receiving ESE services. Reevaluation decisions are made by the IEP team. |
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| Special help given to a student with a disability in addition to classroom teaching. Related services help a student benefit from instruction. Examples of related services include special transportation, social work services, physical and occupational therapy, and the services of readers for the blind. |
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| A set of objectives that describe what Florida’s students are expected to know and be able to do at certain stages of their school career. |
Sunshine State Standards for Special Diploma |
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| A set of objectives for students with disabilities in Florida who are unable to master the Sunshine State Standards. |
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| The shift of rights from the parent of a student with a disability to the student when the student reaches the “age of majority”. |
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| An IEP meeting for a student age 14 or older. A major purpose of this meeting is to help plan a young person’s move into adult life. |
