Vol. 1, No. 2 • Summer 1997

Special Education: A Glossary of Terms
by Jenifer Montsinger

Many of the children in North Carolina's foster care system experience developmental and academic delays of one sort or another. Until the specific problem is identified and appropriate remedial services provided, most of these children have difficulty keeping up with their peers. The goal of North Carolina's system of special education is to provide the services that will make it possible for these children to succeed in school. For many foster parents, special education is an unknown and sometimes confusing world. We hope that the following glossary of terms will help clear up some of the confusion.

Special Education: Specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of the exceptional child. May include instruction provided in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals, and in residential facilities and other settings.
Exceptional Children: Children with special needs, including those who are autistic, academically gifted, deaf-blind, hearing-impaired, mentally handicapped, multi-handicapped, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired, pregnant, behaviorally-emotionally handicapped, specific learning disabled, speech-language impaired, traumatic brain injured, and visually impaired.
Referrals for service: Any person or agency who thinks a child may need special education services should request (preferably in writing) the school teacher or principal to have the child tested. The request should include detailed information about the child's specific problem and current strengths and weaknesses. If the child is not enrolled in a public school, the referral should be given to the local superintendent of schools.

Evaluation Procedures:

1. Written permission for the evaluation must be obtained from the child's guardian or, if the child is in the custody of an agency, from the "surrogate parent" (see below).
2. Testing and evaluation materials to be used must be culturally and racially sensitive and given in the child's own native language or other mode of communication.
3. The tests must allow for impaired vision, hearing, manual, or speaking skills so these impairments do not lower test scores.
4. A full, individualized evaluation must be completed.
5. The evaluation must be done by a multidisciplinary team of trained specialists including those with knowledge in the area of the child's suspected disability or special need.

Surrogate Parent: Under federal and state laws, the education agency has the responsibility to appoint a surrogate parent for a child with special needs for the following reasons: When no parent can be identified; When the education agency cannot determine the whereabouts of a parent; When the special needs child is a ward of the state (i.e., in DSS custody). A surrogate parent represents the best interest of the child with special needs in all matters relating to his/her identification, evaluation, educational placement, and the provision of a free, appropriate public education. Many school systems encourage the child's foster parent to serve as his surrogate parent, while others prohibit the foster parent from serving. If you live in North Carolina and want to learn about the process in your school system, contact the office of Exceptional Children's Services at the North Carolina State Board of Education (919/715-1565).

IEP, GEP, and WEP: After the evaluation process is completed, a decision must be made to determine if a child needs special education and related services. This decision must be made by a group of persons knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement choices.

1. IEP: If the child is determined to have a disability and needs special education and related services, an Individual Education Program (IEP) must be developed within 30 days of that determination. An IEP is a written plan for the special education and/or related services that will be provided to a particular child. Each child's IEP must be reviewed annually and revised at more frequent intervals as needed.
2. GEP: For students identified as academically gifted, Group Education Plans (GEP) are to be written. For students whose needs are not adequately addressed by the GEP, an individual component shall be written annually to describe the special instructional program that is to be used for a group of two or more academically gifted students with the same academic needs.
3. WEP: A Written Education Program (WEP) is to be developed for each pregnant school girl in need of special education services. Pregnant students with special education needs are those who, because of their pregnancy, require special education and/or related services other than those which can be provided through regular education services.

Related Services: These services include transportation and such developmental, corrective and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with special needs to benefit from special education. These services include speech pathology, audiology, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, and recreation.
Least Restrictive Environment: As much as possible, children with special needs must participate with children who have not been identified as having special needs in nonacademic, academic, and extracurricular activities such as meals, recess, counseling, athletics, special interest groups, and clubs. Special classes, separate schooling, and other removal of special needs children from the regular educational environment must occur only when the nature or the severity of the special need is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Placement and Service Delivery: Placement and service delivery are the end results of referral, identification, evaluation, and the development of the IEP. The school system must ensure that placement is: based on the child's IEP; made within 90 days of the date the school-based committee received the referral; as close as possible to the child's home; and reviewed at least annually to ensure that it is appropriate.

Jenifer Montsinger is a Social Work Supervisor for Orange County Department of Social Services.

Copyright � 2000 Jordan Institute for Families