How is an appropriate IEP education defined?

An appropriate education may be defined in different ways. An appropriate education could consist of education in regular classes, education in regular classes with the use of supplementary services, or special education and related services in separate classrooms for all or portions of the school day. Special education may include specially designed instruction in classrooms, at home, or in private or public institutions, and may be accompanied by such related services as speech therapy, occupational and physical therapy, and psychological counseling and medical diagnostic services necessary to the child's education.

An appropriate education will include:

1. educational services designed to meet the individual educational needs of students with disabilities as adequately as the needs of nondisabled students are met;
2. the education of each student with a disability with nondisabled students, to the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the student with a disability;
3. nondiscriminatory evaluation and placement procedures established to guard against misclassification or inappropriate placement of students, and a periodic reevaluation of students who have been provided special education or related services; and
4. establishment of due process procedures that enable parents and guardians to receive required notices, review their child's records and challenge identification, evaluation and placement decisions and that provide for an impartial hearing with opportunity for participation by parents and representation by counsel, and a review procedure.

Educational Services Must Meet Individual Needs

To be appropriate, educational programs for students with disabilities must be designed to meet their individual needs to the same extent that the needs of nondisabled students are met. An appropriate education may include regular or special education and related aids and services to accommodate the unique needs of individuals with disabilities.

One way for ensuring that programs meet individual needs is the development of an individualized education program (IEP) for each student with a disability. IEPs are required for students participating in special education programs of recipients of funding under the IDEA.

The quality of educational services provided to students with disabilities must equal that provided to nondisabled students. For example, teachers of students with disabilities must meet standards for certification as high as those teachers of nondisabled students meet. Facilities must be comparable and appropriate materials and equipment must be available.

Students with disabilities may not be excluded from participating in nonacademic services and extracurricular activities on the basis of disability. Persons with disabilities must be provided an opportunity to participate in nonacademic services that is equal to that provided to persons without disabilities. These services may include physical education and recreational athletics, transportation, health services, recreational activities, special interest groups or clubs sponsored by the school, referrals to agencies that provide assistance to persons with disabilities and employment of students.

Students With Disabilities Must be Educated With Nondisabled Students

Students with disabilities and students without disabilities must be placed in the same setting, to the maximum extent appropriate to the educational needs of the students with disabilities. A recipient must place a person with a disability in the regular educational environment, unless it is demonstrated by the recipient that the student's needs cannot be met satisfactorily with the use of supplementary aids and services. Students with disabilities must participate with nondisabled students in both academic and nonacademic services, including meals, recess, and physical education, to the maximum extent appropriate to their individual needs.

As necessary, specific supplementary aids must be provided for students with disabilities to ensure an appropriate educational setting. Supplementary aids may include interpreters for students who are deaf, readers for students who are blind, and equipment to make physical accommodations for students with mobility impairments.

A recipient that places an individual with disabilities in another school is responsible for ensuring that the student receives a free appropriate public education as close to his/her home as possible.

If a recipient operates a facility for persons with disabilities, the facility and associated activities must be comparable to other facilities, services, and activities of the recipient.

Evaluation and Placement Must be Nondiscriminatory

Failure to provide persons with disabilities with an appropriate education frequently occurs as a result of misclassification and inappropriate placement. It is unacceptable to base individual placement decisions on presumptions and stereotypes regarding persons with disabilities or on classes of such persons. For example, it would be a violation of the law for a recipient to adopt a policy that every student who is hearing impaired, regardless of the severity of the child's disability, must be placed in a state school for the deaf.

Section 504 requires the use of evaluation and placement procedures that ensure that children are not misclassified, unnecessarily labeled as having a disability, or incorrectly placed, based on inappropriate selection, administration, or interpretation of evaluation materials.

An individual evaluation must be conducted before any action is taken with respect to the initial placement of a child who has a disability, or before any significant change in that placement.

Recipients must establish standards and procedures for initial and continuing evaluations and placement decisions regarding persons who, because of disability, need or are believed to need special education or related services.

These procedures must ensure that tests and other evaluation materials:

• have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used, and are administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by their producer;
• include materials tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely materials that are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient; and
• are selected and administered so as to best ensure that, when a test is administered to a student with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the student's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factor the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the student's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).

Recipients must draw upon a variety of sources in the evaluation and placement process so that the possibility of error is minimized. All significant factors related to the learning process must be considered.

These sources and factors include, for example, aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social and cultural background, and adaptive behavior. Adaptive behavior is the effectiveness with which the individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of his or her age and cultural group.

Information from all sources must be documented and considered by a group of knowledgeable persons, and procedures must ensure that the student is placed with nondisabled students to the greatest extent appropriate.

Periodic reevaluation is required. This may be conducted in accordance with the IDEA regulation, which requires reevaluation at three-year intervals or more frequently if conditions warrant, or if the child's parent or teacher requests a reevaluation.

Recipients Must Have Due Process Procedures for the Review of Identification, Evaluation and Placement Decisions

Public elementary and secondary schools must employ procedural safeguards regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of persons who, because of disability, need or are believed to need special instruction or related services.

Parents must be told about these procedures. In addition, parents or guardians must be notified of any evaluation or placement actions, and must be allowed to examine the student's records. The due process procedures must allow the parents or guardians of students in elementary and secondary schools to challenge evaluation and placement procedures and decisions.

If parents or guardians disagree with the school's decisions, they must be afforded an impartial hearing, with an opportunity for participation and representation by counsel. A review procedure must be available to parents or guardians who disagree with the hearing decision.