Special Education Introduction and Overview

IDEA is the federal law that governs how all states provide special education and related services to children with disabilities from birth to age 21. According to IDEA, a student may qualify for special education if they have a disability in one or more of the following categories:

Here are a couple of wonderful resources for learning about IDEA now and referencing in the future: 

• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: Special Education Team Homepage (Eligibility criteria for each of the disability categories can be found through this website.)

• MMSD Special Education Staff Only Webpage 

All of these sites are important and awesome resources for finding answers to questions about Special Education/IDEA. Nurses are most often assigned to IEP teams when Other Health Impairment (OHI) is being considered as a disability area. For more information specifically about Other Health Impairment, check out the OHI webpage from the Department of Public Instruction.

To qualify for Special Education services, a student must have an evaluation to determine whether they have a disability that meets the criteria specified in the law, and because of that disability, needs special education (disability affects ability to learn). The evaluation is completed by a team of individuals that include a special education teacher, a regular education teacher, Local Education Agency representative (LEA rep) who can authorize school district services, and other school personnel (such as Psychologist, Nurse, Social Worker, PT, OT, or Speech and Language Clinician) as needed. Parents are also key members of the team and can request to have others present as well.

If a child is determined to have one of the identified disabilities and in need of special education, it is also necessary to determine whether "related services" (i.e. health/school nurse) are needed. Nursing, as a related service, would be required if the student needed nursing services to benefit from special education. If, as a result of the disability, the child only needs related services (nurse, OT, PT) and does not need special education, the child would not qualify for services through IDEA. In that case however, the student would most likely qualify for services through Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

If a student qualifies for Special Education, they must have a written Individualized Education Program (IEP). The plan must include the following and more:

• Student's current level of performance & how the disability interferes with their ability to learn;

• Specific measurable goals including how they will be measured;

• Listing of any related services;

• Identification of any supplementary aids, program modifications or other accommodations needed;

• The extent to which the student will not participate with their non-disabled peers in the regular classroom.

Following a Special Education Evaluation, and if the student qualifies, then a re-evaluation is completed at least every 3 years. Each year, the student's IEP team reconvenes to review the student's Present Level of Performance and the IEP goals.

IDEIA & Section 504 Teams: The School Nurse as an Essential Team Member. NASN Position Statement, January 2018