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What Is Special Education? A Guide for Educators and Families

It’s a service, not a place.

Students who are blind are provided with braille books. An autistic student uses a visual schedule. A student with a learning disability receives additional reading instruction. These students all receive special education services.

Special education provides services that meet the unique needs of each student. This means that special education can include:

An individualized curriculum that is different than general education peers’
A curriculum that is modified for a student
A combination of both

Here’s a roundup of everything you need to know about special education, plus our best special education articles.

What laws are involved in special education?

The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that explains how states must address special education. The IDEA definition of special education is: specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. It includes physical education, related services (e.g., speech therapy, occupational therapy), vocational education, and travel training. Essentially, special education is how students with disabilities have their needs met in the public education system.

What about state laws?

IDEA sets the standard at the federal level, but the process and system are set up at the state level. So what special education looks like varies from state to state.

Visit your state’s Department of Special Education website or check out the parent resource center (every state has one) for information related to special education aimed at parents.

Find your state’s parent resource center in this list from Center for Parent Information & Resources .

How is special education not a “place”?

Special education can occur in many different settings, from the general education classroom to a hospital or separate school. Where a child receives services depends on their needs as determined by the IEP team, which includes the parents. ADVERTISEMENT

What are the main components of special education? (What do the acronyms stand for?)

Image: Pathfinder Services of ND

FAPE is Free Appropriate Public Education. This essentially means that students with disabilities must be provided with their education at no cost to the parents, just like any other student.

Accommodations and Modifications

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Accommodations and modifications are ways that SDI is delivered and how the curriculum is individualized for a child; ways that the child receives access to the general education curriculum. In short, accommodations change how the material is being presented in a way that helps the child overcome or access through the disability. Modifications change what a child is taught or how the child works at school. So, an accommodation would be: allowing a child to record rather than write their answers, or reading aloud a question rather than having them read it. A modification would be providing a child a text with visuals instead of the general education text, or providing a test with two answer choices instead of four.

Read more: Accommodations vs. Modifications: What’s the difference?

Bookmark: 80+ Accommodations Every Special Ed Teacher Should Bookmark

More IDEA terms are defined at Parent Center Hub .

Which students can receive special education and who decides?

Special education is provided to students who fall under one of 13 disability categories:

Developmental delay
Specific learning disability
Speech impairment
Other health impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Autism spectrum disorder
Vision impairment
Hearing impairment
Deaf-blindness
Emotional disability
Orthopedic impairment
Intellectual disability
Multiple disabilities

In order to receive special education services, a student must be found eligible. This means that they have one of the 13 disabilities and that it impacts them in the school setting. If the child cannot make progress in the general curriculum without SDI, they are eligible for special education services. (If they can make progress but still have an outside diagnosis, they may have a 504 plan in place instead.)

What is in an IEP?

The IEP includes all the information that the team needs to educate a child with a disability. It only addresses the aspects of a child’s disability that impact them throughout the school day. The sections of an IEP are:

Present levels: How the child is currently doing in school and how the disability impacts them in class.
Annual goals: Goals that the child will work on through SDI.
Objectives: Students who take alternate assessments will also have objectives towards their goals.
Measuring and reporting progress: Ways that the child’s progress is going to be measured and how it will be reported to parents.
Specially designed instruction: A statement about how special education and related services will be provided.
Related services include any therapies (speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy).
Supplementary aids and services provide access to participation across academic, extracurricular, and nonacademic settings.
Program modifications for school personnel, which include things that school personnel need to know in order to work with this student (for example, how to use an assisted communication device).
Extent of nonparticipation is the explanation of how much, if any, the child will be outside of general education, and why the team made that decision.
Accommodations that the student will be provided during classroom instruction.
Accommodations that a student will receive during district and state testing.
Service delivery includes when, where, and how long a child will receive SDI (for example, 30 minutes 1x/week in special education).
Transition planning for life after secondary school starts no later than a child’s 16th birthday (and can start earlier).
Age of majority: An IEP must include a statement about how the student understands their rights as they graduate from the IEP.

What happens in an IEP meeting?

There are many different reasons to come together around an IEP, but every year, each student who has an IEP will have an annual review. During an annual review meeting, the team (parent, teachers, a district representative, therapists) discuss the child, their progress, and next steps. Everything in the IEP should be based on data, so it’s important to bring information (e.g., work samples, test data) to review.

Any decision regarding an IEP is a team decision, and team members don’t always agree. If the meeting cannot resolve a concern, schools or parents can follow procedures to reach an agreement.

When does special education start and end?

A child can receive early intervention or special education services if they have a disability diagnosed before age 3 (such as Down syndrome) or if they are at risk of a delay.

What is NOT special education?

There are misconceptions about special education. Some things that special education is not:

A specific program, like Orton-Gillingham
Differentiated instruction
An inclusive classroom

What else should I know?

Here are more of our favorite special education resources:

What Is Inclusion in Education?

27+ Best Autism Resources for Educators

If you’re still using these five words for students with disabilities, it’s time to stop.

New Ways To Empower Students Who Have Learning Differences or Dyslexia

How Teachers Can Support Twice-Exceptional Students

The IEP From A to Z: How To Create Meaningful and Measurable Goals and Objectives by Diane Twachtman-Cullen and Jennifer Twachtman-Bassett

10 Critical Components for Success in the Special Education Classroom by Marcia Rohrer and Nannette Samson

Wrightslaw: All About IEPs by Peter Wright, Pamela Wright, and Sandra Webb O’Connor

Do you teach special education? Connect with other teachers on the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

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Special education is a service, not a place. Here’s everything you need to know about it, plus plenty of resources for educators and families.

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What is Special Education?

There is a system of support available for students with learning differences.

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The majority of students with disabilities -- about two-thirds -- are male, according to data from the Pew Research Center on the 2017-18 school year.

For decades, public schools have been required by law to provide a “free and appropriate education” to children with disabilities. The system for making that happen is a complicated web of acronyms and regulations that govern services and support. We call it special education.

Special education refers to a set of federal and state laws and regulations designed to educate millions of children with disabilities and serve as a safety net for those unable to take advantage of the mainstream school curriculum without help.

“The special education laws are a recognition that students with disabilities aren’t able to access an education the way other students can without special supports,” says Ron Hager, managing attorney for education and employment at the National Disability Rights Network. “Special education gives students with disabilities what they need to be successful.”

Special Education by the Numbers

Special education in the United States is governed by the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , sometimes called IDEA. The law states that children with cognitive, physical, emotional and medical conditions are entitled to special services, supports, technologies and individualized planning and goals outside the general education curriculum.

More than 7 million students , or about 14% of those ages 3 to 21 in public schools, were entitled to special services and accommodations to help with learning in the 2019-20 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The percentage of students in special education also varies by state, with differences likely due to inconsistencies in how states determine eligibility , as well as challenges that come with diagnosing disabilities. New York serves the largest percentage of disabled students.

Nationwide, the system helps children with disabilities gain a basic education, acquire life skills and integrate with their peers.

During the pandemic, when schooling moved online, that support continued in many cases, says Lindsay Kubatzky, director of policy and advocacy at the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

“As school systems navigated the pandemic, [special education laws] ensured that educators continued to provide high-quality, tailored education to students with disabilities, regardless of circumstances,” he wrote in an email. “In any learning setting, students are still guaranteed the accommodations and resources they need to be successful. The law protects the rights of students with disabilities even in the most challenging of times.”

However, Hager says there is still a great deal of work ahead.

“During the pandemic, no student really got what they needed,” he says. “Going forward, the special education system is going to make sure there is a closer look given so that students with disabilities are caught up.”

Who Receives Special Education Services?

Among all students receiving special education services that year, 34% had a specific learning disability, generally defined as a difference in the way they think, speak, read, write or spell. Dyslexia , a learning disorder that impacts the ability to read, is perhaps the most commonly known learning disability. But over the years, other key challenges have been identified, such as dysgraphia , which impacts writing, and dyscalculia , which impacts math and related activities.

Another 19% had a speech or language impairment. Autistic children made up about 10% of the nation’s disabled students in the 2017-18 school year, compared to about 1.5% in 2000-01, according to NCES data .

“It used to be that one in 10,000 people had autism, and now it is one in 100,” Hager says. “If you ask five different people why that is, you will get six different answers, including environmental factors. But the fact is, autism and the need for services is much more on people’s radars. And there is an understanding that autism is a spectrum, in which you can be high-functioning but also need special education services, particularly social-emotional services.”

The Special Case of ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder represents a special case when it comes to obtaining support and services at school. ADHD is not identified as one of the 13 federal disability categories that are guaranteed services, though there are ways that children with ADHD can receive help.

When the child has severe ADHD that leads to performing two grades below their level, the disability can be classified as “otherwise health impaired” and the student can be eligible for services under federal law. Less severe cases of ADHD, and other disabilities, can obtain special education services through something called a 504 Plan, which provides accommodations such as preferential seating or extended time on tests.

“Both medically and educationally, our understanding of ADHD continues to improve, but there is still tremendous confusion about what constitutes ADHD,” Elena Silva, director of PK-12 education at New America, a policy organization in Washington, D.C., wrote in an email.

Hager says that students with ADHD are often dismissed as “lazy or disorganized,” when what they actually need is special education supports and accommodations. “Students with ADHD often get shunted aside,” he says.

Obtaining Special Education Services

The first step in receiving special education services is to be identified by a school or district as a student who requires help. A teacher, parent or doctor will document a child’s challenges and make a case for services under the 13 federal disability categories.

Meetings and assessments will take place and a specialized plan known as an Individualized Education Program , or IEP, may be drafted to codify individual goals and accommodations. That plan will be revisited regularly to determine whether the disability classification is still valid and the child is still eligible for special education services.

However, Kubatzky says the system does not always align perfectly with the challenges faced by some students.

“Every student with a disability also presents a unique and individualized set of needs,” he says.

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