IEPs/Special Education

Working Together Series

The Working Together Series includes 5 interactive self-directed courses. These courses provide families and educators with a number of strategies for working together and through conflict. Anyone supporting children or youth with disabilities may benefit from this series. The setting in which collaborative problem solving and conflict resolution takes place within this series is typically the school or IEP meeting.

Produced by CADRE, the series includes a webinar that briefly introduces the Working Together Series, a companion Facilitator Guide, and other supplemental resources. The full series is available in English and in Spanish (Trabajando Juntos).

To learn more about the 5 courses in the series, view the introductory webinar, or access the series in Spanish, read our abstract here.

OSEP Policy Letter on Adapted Physical Education

May 12, 2021 | Useful to state and local education administrators and staff, parents of children with disabilities, and Parent Centers.   This Policy Letter from OSEP (OSEP Policy 21-01) is in response to correspondence asking for clarification about requirements related to the provision of physical education, including adapted physical education (APE), to children with […]

Consideración de LRE en las Decisiones de Colocación

El ambiente menos restrictivo, o LRE, como se le llama más comúnmente por sus siglas en inglés, es una de varias partes vitales en el desarrollo del IEP de un niño y juega un papel crítico, influyendo en dónde pasa el tiempo el niño en la escuela y cómo se brindan los servicios y las relaciones que el niño desarrolla en la escuela y la comunidad. De hecho, LRE es un elemento fundamental en la construcción de un IEP apropiado que puede mejorar los resultados para un niño, en la escuela y en la vida.

OSEP English to Korean Glossary of Terms

BEHOLD: The 2022 Korean-English Glossary of Common IDEA Terms is yours to consult! This A-Z resource is a valuable tool to Parent Centers, community-based and family-focused organizations and health centers, schools, and others who serve Korean-American families, especially those that have children with disabilities. Creating the Korean-English glossary has taken the intense commitment and labor of the Community Inclusion & Development Alliance (CIDA), in collaboration with the Open Doors for Multicultural Families, and with support from OSEP and the Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR). The glossary is intended to provide accurate and reliable Korean translations of commonly used terms in special education.

Connect with the Korean glossary of special education terms A-Z as well as learn more about how it was created (and by whom!).

Buzz | “Bread and Butter” Topics of Parent Centers (& Parents)

What concerns and questions do newcomer families often tend to have when they learn that their child has a disability? These, shall we say, are the bread-and-butter of topics that Parent Centers so often address. This Buzz connects you with easy-to-share introductions to and explanations of what many newcomer families need to know. New Parent Center staffers may also find these materials a useful crash course in basic topics related to children with disabilities.

Sharing Information about State Assessments with Families of Children with Disabilities

CPIR joins with the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) as the first action step in a collaboration to develop and share user-friendly information about state assessments with families of children with disabilities. This webinar focuses on NCEO’s new (and quite amazing!) resource, the Participation Communications Toolkit. The highly customizable toolkit is designed for stakeholders to use in discussing and making decisions about how children with disabilities will participate in state assessments. The webinar highlights the role that Parent Centers can play in supporting the family’s role as one of the primary decision makers about their child’s participation. It’s also available in Spanish.

Webinar | Return to School: Development and Implementation of IEPs

This webinar focuses on important guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, issued on September 30th and entitled Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of IEPs in the LRE. The guidance stresses the importance of revisiting the needs of students with disabilities as they return to classrooms. Have the needs and learning difficulties of individual students changed, given the impact of COVID-19, remote learning, and isolation? Do goals in the IEP need to be changed, do the services and supports to be provided need to be adjusted? Presenters from OSEP explore these and other questions, including compensatory services and addressing the school-related health needs of returning students.

Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of IEPs in the Least Restrictive Environment

Adding to its Return to School Roadmap series, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education issues this Q&A document, which highlights certain IDEA requirements related to the development and implementation of IEPs and other information that states, school systems, regular and special education teachers, related services providers, and parents should consider as students with disabilities return to school in Fall 2021.

The 41-page document is the Department’s response to the requests it received from a diverse group of stakeholders, asking that the Department issue new guidance interpreting requirements of the IDEA in light of the many challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic and as more schools and programs are returning to in-person services. Read more about the Q&A, see its Table of Contents, and access it (and other documents in the Roadmap series) in our abstract of this Featured Resource.

Revisando el IEP

Esta información en inglés | This information in English Información precisa y actualizada a partir de 2021   IDEA contiene provisiones para el crecimiento y necesidades variables de los niños. Por lo menos una vez al año, en todo caso, una reunión deberá ser programada con Ud. como padre, con el fin de revisar el […]

Modifying an IEP or 504 for Distance or Hybrid Learning

(2020) | Useful to Parent Centers for sharing with families and schools Also available in Spanish. As the year begins with distance or hybrid learning at most schools, many parents are worried that pre-pandemic IEP plans may leave students with disabilities without vital services. Luckily, IEP or 504 plans aren’t set in stone. If a […]