AT - Assistive Technology

An assistive technology device is, “any item, piece of equipment, or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a student with a disability.” Assistive technology addresses communication needs, reading access, written expression, visual needs, hearing, fine motor, gross motor and any other relevant needs of the student.

AUD - Audiology

Identification of children with hearing loss.

Determination of range, nature and degree of hearing loss.

AUT or A - Autism

Developmental disability significantly affecting a child’s social interaction and verbal and nonverbal communication that adversely affects learning and educational performance.

BIP - Behavioral Intervention Plan

Based on the Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA), the information will be used in a way that helps the child develop new, appropriate replacement behaviors that are efficient and effective at getting the child what he wants in a more appropriate manner.

CBTP - Community Based Transition Program

Provides services for student’s ages 18 to 21 within the community to develop life skills, job skills and recreational skills.

CC - Cross Categorical

The primary responsibility of a special education teacher is to make lessons accessible to students with specialized needs. While some special education preparation programs produce teachers with narrow licensures, qualifying them to handle only specific disabilities with a limited disability severity, others provide teaching candidates with licenses that enable them to service students with a broad range of needs. Cross categorical teachers are teachers who hold this license and, as such, are qualified to educate students with varying needs.

CCEE - Common Core Essential Elements

Alternate state standards

CESA - Cooperative Educational Service Agency

An agency that provides special education and other services to schools.

COS - Continuum of Services

Each public agency must ensure that a continuum of placement is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services.

COUN - Counseling Services

Services provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors or other qualified personnel.

DAS - Direct Adult Support

The supplementary service of adult support or supervision is one IEP team determined service that may be needed to allow the student to progress in the general education curriculum, toward IEP goals, and to participate with other students in the school setting.

DB - Deaf/Blind

Provides services for students ages 3 to 21 who experience visual and hearing impairments.

DHH - Deaf and Hard of Hearing

This program focuses on the student’s language and communication needs. Students are afforded the opportunity for direct communication with peers and professional personnel in the student’s language and communication mode. Academic level and full range of needs including opportunities for direct instruction in the student’s language and communication mode. Services provided for students age 3 thru 21 who experience hearing impairments.

DLM - Dynamic Learning Map

The DLM assessment measures the academic progress of students with significant cognitive disabilities in the subject areas of ELA and Mathematics at grades 3-11, Science at grades 4 and 8-11, and in Social Studies at grades 4, 8, and 10. This is an online assessment delivered via the computer; however, some students may need their teacher to present the items to them. The teacher will then enter the student’s response into the online platform. This test is used when the student uses Alternate Achievement Standards: Essential Elements.

DPI - Department of Public Instruction

State agency that oversees Local Education Agency (LEA).

EBD - Emotional Behavior Disability

The student exhibits social, emotional or behavioral functioning that so departs from generally accepted, age appropriate ethnic or cultural norms that it adversely affects a child's academic progress, social relationships, personal adjustment, classroom adjustment, self-care or vocational skills.

EBSC - Emotional Behavioral Special Class

This program focuses on the significant need for positive behavioral and specific skill acquisition in identifying and understanding negative emotions, coping skills, developing and maintaining positive social relationships and self-regulation necessary to be successful in a general education classroom.

EEC - Environmental Educational Code

Educational Environment Code reflects the extent to which students with disabilities are educated with their non-disabled peers and defines the major instructional setting.

EC - Early Childhood Special Class

Provides services in our RUSD facilities for students ages 3 to 5 who experience developmental delays.

EI - Educational Interpreter

Oral transliteration services, sign language and interpreting services, transcription services, and special interpreting services for children who are deaf-blind.

ESY - Extended School Year services

The determination of ESY eligibility should be based on empirical and qualitative data collected by the IEP Team for individual skills. The IEP Team must take into

account not only retrospective data, but also predictive data on regression and recoupment abilities.

FAPE - Free Appropriate Public Education

FAPE is defined as special education and related services that are provided at no charge under public supervision and direction, meet the standards of the State Education Agency, include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education, and are provided in conformity with an IEP.

FASC - Functional Adaptive Special Class

These are programs that utilize the alternate curriculum aligned to the Essential Elements of the Common Core State Standards. When an IEP team has determined that a student cannot access the general curriculum, and requires the alternate curriculum, IEP teams will develop the goals and objectives, services for skills needed in each of the four core subject areas identified in CCEE and then the location where the services will be provided.

FBA - Functional Behavioral Assessment

A “Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) “is a method for identifying the underlying cause of a behavior; root cause

Homebound - Homebound schooling

When the child’s IEP Team decides it is appropriate, the school teaches a child at home. The IEP Team’s decision must be based on the child’s disability related needs.

ID - Intellectual Disability (formerly Cognitive Disability)

Intellectual disability means significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects the child's educational performance.

IEP - Individualized Education Plan

The IEP is a written plan. A written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed and revised in accordance with DPI. This is done at a minimum of one time per year.

IEP Team - Individualized Education Program Team

Group of school staff, parents, and others that either the school staff or parents choose to include.

LEA or LEA Rep - LOCAL EDUCATION AGENCY

A representative of the local educational agency (school/district) who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, special education, is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum and is knowledgeable about and authorized by the local educational agency to commit the available resources of the local educational agency.

LRE - Least Restrictive Environment

The IEP team makes two separate determinations: what the child should be learning and where a child should learn. The intersection of those two determinations is that particular child's least restrictive environment (where instruction takes place).

MDR - Manifestation Determination Review

The process used to determine whether the behavior that resulted in the proposed disciplinary change of placement is a manifestation or result of the student’s disability. Manifestation determinations are only required when the proposed disciplinary action is to change the student’s current placement.

NUR - Nursing Services

Health services provided by a qualified school nurse.

OLR - Online Registration

Online Registration for parents/guardians to register for Racine Unified School District.

O & M - Orientation and Mobility

(Visual impairment) Services provided by a qualified Orientation and Mobility specialist to blind or visually impaired students to enable students to attain orientation to and safe movement within their environments.

OHI - Other Health Impairment

Having limited strength, vitality or alertness due to chronic or acute health problems.

OI - Orthopedic Impairment

Severe orthopedic impairment that affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes but is not limited to impairments caused by congenital anomaly.

OT - Occupational Therapy

(Fine motor/sensory skills) Services provided by a qualified occupational therapist, including improving, developing or restoring functions impaired or lost through illness, injury or deprivation; improving ability to perform tasks for independent function; preventing, through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of function.

PPP - Parent Placed Private

Parentally-placed private school children with disabilities are children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools or facilities.

PSO - Preschool Options

Special education services are itinerant and can be provided in the child’s home, child care center, Headstart program or at an RUSD school. Determination of where services are provided is based on where the child currently spends most of their time during the day. Provides services in the community for students ages 3 to 5 who experience developmental delays.

PSYCH - Psychological Services

Administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment procedures; interpreting assessment results; obtaining, integrating, and interpreting information about child behavior and conditions relating to learning; consulting with other staff members in planning to meet the needs of children as indicated; assisting in developing intervention strategies.

PT - Physical Therapy

Services provided by a qualified Physical Therapist provided to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education. School physical therapy focuses on a child's ability to move as independently as possible in the school environment. The school physical therapist evaluates the child's ability to move throughout the school and to participate in classroom activities.

PTP - Postsecondary Transition Plan

It is a federal mandate requiring youth age 16 and older to have an IEP with a postsecondary transition plan. In Wisconsin, transition requirements begin no later than in the first individualized education program (IEP) that will be in effect when the child is 14 and updated annually thereafter. A postsecondary transition plan must include measurable postsecondary goals for students based on age-appropriate transition assessments related to training/education, employment and, independent living skills (if appropriate) and a description of transition services including courses of study needed to assist the students in reaching their goals.

RAE - Racine Alternative Education

RAE provides credit recovery for high school juniors and seniors who are credit deficient through the Keith R. Mack Credit Recovery Program. RAE offers courses such as math, English, social studies and art through traditional face-to-face classes, GEDII and virtual options.

RAL - Racine Alternative Learning

Alternative programming in RUSD is available for students to achieve success when traditional settings have not been productive for them. It serves students who have met certain State/District criteria and have been identified as students who would benefit from an alternative educational plan for success.

RCC - Residential Care Center

A facility operated by a child welfare agency licensed for the care and maintenance of children residing in that facility.

RCJ - Racine County Jail

Housed at the RCJ, this program provides educational services to adults or juveniles who have been waived from the juvenile justice system into the adult justice system and are pre-trial, post-adjudicated or sentenced.

ReEval - Reevaluation

Reevaluations should focus on existing documentation such as progress records, previous IEPs, etc. Additional testing is not automatically required but conducted only if existing information is insufficient to document continued special education needs. Please see the evaluations page for more information.

REF (initial) - Initial Referral for Special Education Services

Under Child Find obligation, any licensed school staff member who reasonably believes a student has a disability, is required to make a special education referral. Parents/guardians, or any other person who reasonably believes that a child is a child with a disability may refer the child to an LEA for an initial special education evaluation. All referrals must be in writing and must include the child's name and the reasons why the person believes the child is a child with a disability. If the special education referral does not clearly state the areas of concern, the case manager will contact the person initiating the referral to seek clarification and respond as appropriate. Please see the evaluations page for more information.

Rel. Serv. - Related Services

Supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services; interpreting services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, school health services, school nursing services designed to enable a child with a disability to receive a free appropriate public education.

SDD - Significant Developmental Delay

Children, ages 3-9 years of age or below compulsory school attendance age, who are experiencing significant delays in the areas of physical, cognition, communication, social-emotional or adaptive development.

SDPE - Specially Designed Physical Education (Adaptive Physical Education)

SDPE is provided to students who cannot participate in the Regular Physical Education curriculum even with modifications, adaptations and staff support.

SEO - Special Education Options

Full-time specialized therapeutic behavioral classrooms (middle, high only - ages 12+ upon availability)

SLD - Specific Learning Disability

Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or perform mathematical calculations, including Wisconsin’s Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) Rule 3 conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia. The term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, motor disabilities, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage.

SPED - Special Education

The special teaching your child gets to meet his or her needs as a child with a disability. Specially designed instruction, regardless of where the instruction is conducted, that is provided at no cost to the child or the child’s parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.

SP or SPL - Speech and Language

Provides services for students ages 3 to 21 who experience speech and language delays. Identification of children with speech/language impairments; diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or language impairments; referral for medical or other professional attention; provision of speech and language services for habilitation or prevention of communicative impairments; counseling and guidance of parents, children, and teachers regarding speech and language impairments.

SW or SSW - Social Worker

Preparing a social or developmental history on a child with a disability; group and individual counseling with the child and family; working in partnership with parents and others on those problems in a child’s living situation that affect the child’s adjustment in school; mobilizing school and community resources to enable the child to learn; assisting in developing positive behavioral intervention strategies.

TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury

An acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that affects a child’s educational performance.

TEP - Transitional Education Program

TEP provides educational services to high school students who are returning to the community from an out-of-county placement (treatment, state/local incarceration, foster program) and who are under current court supervision.

TPA - Turning Point Academy

TPA is a redirection program designed to meet the educational needs of “at-risk” students through therapeutic intervention services, behavior and academic prevention and intervention programs.

TRANSITION - Transition

Preparing a child for life after high school, which is a required part of every child’s IEP starting at age 14. Transition planning also includes children moving from Birth to Three Programs to a school’s Early Childhood Special Education. Also included are students moving from one grade to the next, school to school, or one class to the next class in school.

VI - Visually Impaired

In the case of a student (ages 3-21) who is blind or visually impaired, there is provision for instruction in Braille and in the use of Braille, unless the IEP Team determines that instruction in or the use of Braille is not appropriate for the student. This is determined by evaluation of the student’s current and future reading and writing skills and need for instruction in or the use of Braille.