Florida Administrative Code › 6 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION › 6A - State Board of Education › Chapter 6A-6 - SPECIAL PROGRAMS I › Section 6A-6.03411 - Definitions, ESE Policies and Procedures, and ESE Administrators

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Definitions. As used in Rules
				6A-6.03011 -.0361, F.A.C.,
				regarding the education of exceptional students, the following definitions
				apply:
(a) Accommodations. Accommodations are
				changes that are made in how the student accesses information and demonstrates
				performance.
(b) Assistive
				technology device. Assistive technology device means 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 the
				functional capabilities of a student with a disability. The term does not
				include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of
				that device.
(c) Assistive
				technology service. Assistive technology service means any service that
				directly assists a student with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or
				use of an assistive technology device. The term includes:
1. The evaluation of the needs of a student
				with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the student in the
				student's customary environment;
2.
				Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive
				technology devices by students with disabilities;
3. Selecting, designing, fitting,
				customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive
				technology devices;
4. Coordinating
				and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology
				devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation
				plans and programs;
5. Training or
				technical assistance for a student with a disability or, if appropriate, that
				student's family; and,
6. Training
				or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing
				education or rehabilitation services), employers, or other individuals who
				provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the
				major life functions of that student.
(d) Behavioral intervention plan (BIP).
				Behavioral intervention plan means a plan for a student which uses positive
				behavior interventions, supports and other strategies to address challenging
				behaviors and enables the student to learn socially appropriate and responsible
				behavior in school and/or educational settings.
(e) Charter school. Charter school means a
				school that is a public school created under Florida's charter school law,
				Section 1002.33, F.S.
(f) Child/student with a disability.
1. Student with a disability means a student,
				including a child aged three (3) through five (5), who has been evaluated in
				accordance with Rules
				6A-6.03011 through
				6A-6.0361, F.A.C., and
				determined to have a disability as defined under Rules 6A-6.03011-.03027,
				F.A.C., but does not include students who are gifted as defined under Rules
				6A-6.03019 -6.030191, F.A.C.;
				and,
2. Who, by reason thereof,
				needs special education and related services. If it is determined, through an
				appropriate evaluation, that a student has a disability but only needs a
				related service and not special education, the student is not a student with a
				disability under Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C. If, however, the related
				service required by the student is considered special education rather than a
				related service under Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C., the student would be a
				student with a disability under this subsection.
(g) Consent. Consent means that:
1. The parent has been fully informed of all
				information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in his or her
				native language, or other mode of communication;
2. The parent understands and agrees in
				writing to the carrying out of the activity for which his or her consent is
				sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any)
				that will be released and to whom; and,
3. The parent understands that the granting
				of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at
				anytime. If a parent revokes consent, that revocation is not retroactive (i.e.,
				it does not negate an action that has occurred after the consent was given and
				before the consent was revoked).
(h) Day; business day; school day. Day means
				calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day or school day. Business
				day means Monday through Friday, except for Federal and State holidays (unless
				holidays are specifically included in the designation of business day). School
				day means any day, including a partial day, that students are in attendance at
				school for instructional purposes. School day has the same meaning for all
				students in school, including students with and without disabilities.
(i) Early intervention. Early intervention
				means developmental services that are designed to meet the developmental needs
				of an infant or toddler with a disability in any one (1) or more of the
				following areas:
1. Physical
				development;
2. Cognitive
				development;
3. Communication
				development;
4. Social or emotional
				development; or
5. Adaptive
				development.
(j)
				Educational plan (EP). EP is a plan that is developed for students identified
				solely as gifted and is developed pursuant to Rule
				6A-6.030191, F.A.C.
(k) Elementary school. Elementary school
				means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public
				elementary charter school, that provides elementary education as determined
				under Florida law.
(l) Evaluation.
				Evaluation means procedures used in accordance with Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361,
				F.A.C., to determine whether a student has a disability or is gifted and the
				nature and extent of the ESE that the student needs.
(m) Exceptional student. Exceptional student
				means any student who has been determined eligible for a special program in
				accordance with these rules. The term includes students who are gifted and
				students with disabilities as defined in these rules.
(n) Exceptional student education (ESE). ESE
				means specially designed instruction and related services that are provided to
				meet the unique needs of exceptional students who meet the eligibility criteria
				described in Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C.
(o) Extended school year services. Extended
				school year services means special education and related services that are
				provided to a student with a disability beyond the normal school year of the
				school district; in accordance with the student's IEP; at no cost to the
				parents of the student; and meet the standards of the Florida Department of
				Education.
(p) Free appropriate
				public education (FAPE). FAPE means special education or specially designed
				instruction and related services for students ages three (3) through twenty-one
				(21) and for students who are gifted and in kindergarten through grade twelve
				that:
1. Are provided at public expense, under
				public supervision and direction, and without charge to the parent;
2. Meet the standards of the Florida
				Department of Education, including the requirements of Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361,
				F.A.C.;
3. Include an appropriate
				preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State; and,
4. Are provided in conformity with
				an individual educational plan (IEP) that meets the requirements of Rule
				6A-6.03028, F.A.C., an
				educational plan (EP) for students who are gifted that meet the requirements of
				Rule 6A-6.030191, F.A.C., or an individual family support plan (IFSP) (if used
				as an IEP) for children ages three (3) through (5) in accordance with Rule
				6A-6.03029,
				F.A.C.
(q) Functional
				behavioral assessment (FBA). A FBA is a systematic process for defining a
				student's specific behavior and determining the reason why (function or
				purpose) the behavior is occurring. The FBA process includes examination of the
				contextual variables (antecedents and consequences) of the behavior,
				environmental components, and other information related to the behavior. The
				purpose of conducting an FBA is to determine whether a behavioral intervention
				plan should be developed.
(r)
				General curriculum. The general curriculum is a curriculum or course of study
				that is available to all students and is based upon state educational standards
				that address the state and school district requirements for a standard
				diploma.
(s) Homeless student or
				youth. Homeless student or youth means an individual who lacks a fixed,
				regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes:
1. Students and youths who are sharing the
				housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
				similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds
				due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency
				or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster
				care placement;
2. Students and
				youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place
				not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for
				human beings;
3. Students and
				youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
				substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and,
4. Migratory students who qualify as homeless
				for the purposes of Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C., because they are living in
				circumstances described in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this
				subsection.
(t)
				Include/including. Include or including means that the items named are not all
				of the possible items that are covered, whether like or unlike the ones
				named.
(u) Individual educational
				plan (IEP). IEP means a written statement for a student with a disability that
				is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361,
				F.A.C.
(v) Individual educational
				plan (IEP) team. IEP team means a group of individuals as described in Rules
				6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C., that is responsible for developing, reviewing, or
				revising an IEP for a student with a disability.
(w) Individualized family support plan
				(IFSP). IFSP is a written plan identifying the specific concerns and priorities
				of a family related to enhancing their child's development and the resources to
				provide early intervention services to an infant or toddler with a
				disability.
(x) Infant or toddler
				with a disability. Infant or toddler with a disability means a child under
				three (3) years of age who needs early intervention services because the child
				is experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic
				instruments and procedures in one or more of the areas of cognitive
				development, physical development, communication development, social or
				emotional development, and adaptive development; or has a diagnosed physical or
				mental condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental
				delay.
(y) Limited English
				proficient. Limited English proficient, when used in reference to an
				individual, means an individual who was not born in the United States and whose
				native language is a language other than English; an individual who comes from
				a home environment where a language other than English is spoken in the home;
				or an individual who is an American Indian or Alaskan native and who comes from
				an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact
				on his or her level of English language proficiency; and who, by reason
				thereof, has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or listening to
				the English language that would deny such individual the opportunity to learn
				successfully in classrooms where the language of instruction is
				English.
(z) Modifications.
				Modifications are changes in what a student is expected to learn and may
				include changes to content, requirements, and expected level of mastery.
(aa) Native language. Native
				language, when used with respect to an individual who is limited English
				proficient, means the language normally used by that individual, or, in the
				case of a student, the language normally used by the parents of the student,
				and in all direct contact with a student (including evaluation of the student),
				the language normally used by the student in the home or learning environment.
				For an individual with deafness or blindness, or for an individual with no
				written language, the mode of communication is that normally used by the
				individual (such as sign language, Braille, or oral communication).
(bb) Parent.
1. Parent means:
a. A biological or adoptive parent of a
				student;
b. A foster
				parent;
c. A guardian generally
				authorized to act as the student's parent, or authorized to make educational
				decisions for the student (but not the state if the student is a ward of the
				State);
d. An individual acting in
				the place of a biological or adoptive parent (including a grandparent,
				stepparent, or other relative) with whom the student lives, or an individual
				who is legally responsible for the student's welfare; or
e. A surrogate parent who has been appointed
				in accordance with Rules 6A-6.03011-.0361, F.A.C.
2. The biological or adoptive parent, when
				attempting to act as the parent under this section and when more than one (1)
				party is qualified under paragraph (a) of this subsection, to act as a parent,
				must be presumed to be the parent for purposes of this section unless the
				biological or adoptive parent does not have legal authority to make educational
				decisions for the student. However, if a judicial decree or order identifies a
				specific person or persons under sub-subparagraphs (bb)1.a. through 1.d. of
				this subsection, to act as the "parent" of a student or to make educational
				decisions on behalf of a student, then such person or persons shall be
				determined to be the "parent" for purposes of this
				subsection.
(cc)
				Personally identifiable. Personally identifiable means information that
				contains:
1. The name of the student, the
				student's parent, or other family member;
2. The address of the student;
3. A personal identifier, such as the
				student's social security number or student number; or
4. A list of personal characteristics or
				other information that would make it possible to identify the student with
				reasonable certainty.
(dd) Related services.
1. General. Related services means
				transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive
				services as are required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from
				special education, and includes speech-language pathology and audiology
				services, interpreting services, psychological services, physical and
				occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early
				identification and assessment of disabilities in students, counseling services,
				including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and
				medical services for diagnostic or evaluation purposes. Related services also
				include school health services and school nurse services, social work services
				in schools, and parent counseling and training.
2. Exception; services that apply to students
				with surgically implanted devices, including cochlear implants. Related
				services do not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, the
				optimization of that device's functioning (e.g., mapping), maintenance of that
				device, or the replacement of that device. However, nothing in this section
				limits the right of a student with a surgically implanted device (e.g.,
				cochlear implant) to receive related services (as listed in paragraph (a) of
				this subsection) that are determined by the IEP Team to be necessary for the
				student to receive FAPE; limits the responsibility of a school district to
				appropriately monitor and maintain medical devices that are needed to maintain
				the health and safety of the student, including breathing, nutrition, or
				operation of other bodily functions, while the student is transported to and
				from school or is at school; or prevents the routine checking of an external
				component of a surgically-implanted device to make sure it is functioning
				properly.
3. Individual related
				services terms defined. The terms used in this definition are defined as
				follows:
a. Audiology includes identification
				of students with hearing loss; determination of the range, nature, and degree
				of hearing loss, including referral for medical or other professional attention
				for the habilitation of hearing; provision of habilitative activities, such as
				language habilitation, auditory training, speech reading (lip-reading), hearing
				evaluation, and speech conservation; creation and administration of programs
				for prevention of hearing loss; counseling and guidance of students, parents,
				and teachers regarding hearing loss; and determination of children's needs for
				group and individual amplification, selecting and fitting an appropriate aid,
				and evaluating the effectiveness of amplification.
b. Counseling services means services
				provided by qualified social workers, psychologists, certified school
				counselors, or other qualified personnel.
c. Early identification and assessment of
				disabilities in students means the implementation of a formal plan for
				identifying a disability as early as possible in a student's life.
d. Interpreting services include the
				following, when used with respect to students who are deaf or hard of hearing:
				Oral transliteration services, cued language transliteration services, sign
				language transliteration and interpreting services, such as communication
				access real-time translation (CART), C-Print, and TypeWell; and special
				interpreting services for students who are deaf-blind.
e. Medical services means services provided
				by a licensed physician to determine a student's medically related disability
				that results in the student's need for special education and related
				services.
f. Occupational therapy
				means services provided by a licensed occupational therapist or a licensed
				occupational therapy assistant pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 468, F.S.,
				that include improving, developing or restoring functions impaired or lost
				through illness, injury, or deprivation; improving ability to perform tasks for
				independent functioning if functions are impaired or lost; and preventing,
				through early intervention, initial or further impairment or loss of
				function.
g. Orientation and
				mobility services means services provided to blind or visually impaired
				students by qualified personnel to enable those students to attain systematic
				orientation to and safe movement within their environments in school, home, and
				community and includes teaching students the following, as appropriate:
(I) Spatial and environmental concepts and
				use of information received by the senses (such as sound, temperature and
				vibrations) to establish, maintain or regain orientation and line of travel
				(e.g., using sound at a traffic light to cross the street);
(II) To use the long cane or a service animal
				to supplement visual travel skills or as a tool for safely negotiating the
				environment for students with no available travel vision;
(III) To understand and use remaining vision
				and distance low vision aids; and,
(IV) Other concepts, techniques, and
				tools.
h. Parent
				counseling and training means assisting parents in understanding the special
				needs of their student; providing parents with information about child
				development; and helping parents to acquire the necessary skills that will
				allow them to support the implementation of their student's IEP or
				IFSP.
i. Physical therapy means
				services provided by a qualified physical therapist. Physical therapy must be
				provided in accordance with Chapter 486, F.S.
j. Psychological services includes
				administering psychological and educational tests, and other assessment
				procedures; interpreting assessment results; obtaining, integrating, and
				interpreting information about student behavior and conditions relating to
				learning; consulting with other staff members in planning school programs to
				meet the special educational needs of students as indicated by psychological
				tests, interviews, direct observation, and behavioral evaluations; planning and
				managing a program of psychological services, including psychological
				counseling for students and parents; and assisting in developing positive
				behavioral intervention strategies.
k. Recreation includes assessment of leisure
				function; therapeutic recreation services; recreation programs in schools and
				community agencies; and leisure education.
l. Rehabilitation counseling services means
				services provided by qualified personnel in individual or group sessions that
				focus specifically on career development, employment preparation, achieving
				independence, and integration in the workplace and community of a student with
				a disability. The term also includes vocational rehabilitation services
				provided to a student with a disability by vocational rehabilitation programs
				funded under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,
				29 U.S.C.
				701 et seq.
m. School health services and school nurse
				services means health services that are designed to enable a student with a
				disability to receive FAPE as described in the student's IEP. School nurse
				services are services provided by a qualified school nurse. School health
				services are services that may be provided by either a qualified school nurse
				or other qualified person.
n.
				Social work services in schools includes preparing a social or developmental
				history on a student with a disability; group and individual counseling with
				the student and family; working in partnership with parents and others on those
				problems in a student's living situation (home, school and community) that
				affect the student's adjustment in school; mobilizing school and community
				resources to enable the student to learn as effectively as possible in his or
				her educational program; and assisting in developing positive behavioral
				intervention strategies.
o.
				Speech-language pathology services includes identification of students with
				speech or language impairments; diagnosis and appraisal of specific speech or
				language impairments; referral for medical or other professional attention
				necessary for the habilitation of speech or language impairments; provision of
				speech and language services for the habilitation or prevention of
				communicative impairments; and counseling and guidance of parents, students,
				and teachers regarding speech and language impairments.
p. Transportation includes travel to and from
				school and between schools; travel in and around school buildings; and
				specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts and ramps), if
				required to provide special transportation for a student with a
				disability.
(ee) School district/local education agency.
				As used in Rules 6A-6.03011 -.0361, F.A.C.,
				school district means a public board of education or other public authority
				legally constituted within the State for either administrative control or
				direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary or
				secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other
				political subdivision of the State, or for a combination of school districts or
				counties as are recognized in the State as an administrative agency for its
				public elementary schools or secondary schools. The term also includes any
				other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction
				of a public elementary school or secondary school.
(ff) Scientifically based research.
				Scientifically based research means research that involves the application of
				rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid
				knowledge relevant to education activities and programs, and includes research
				that:
1. Employs systematic, empirical methods
				that draw on observation or experiment;
2. Involves rigorous data analyses that are
				adequate to test the stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions
				drawn;
3. Relies on measurements or
				observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators
				and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across
				studies by the same or different investigators;
4. Is evaluated using experimental or
				quasi-experimental designs;
5.
				Ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and
				clarity to allow for replication; and,
6. Has been accepted by a peer-reviewed
				journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably
				rigorous, objective, and scientific review.
(gg) Secondary school. Secondary school means
				a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public charter
				school that provides secondary education, as determined under Florida law,
				except that it does not include any education beyond grade twelve
				(12).
(hh) Services plan. Services
				plan means a written statement that has been developed and implemented in
				accordance with Rule 6A-6.030281, F.A.C., describes
				the special education and related services that a school district will provide
				to a parentally-placed student with a disability enrolled in a private school
				who has been designated to receive services, including the location of the
				services and any transportation necessary.
(ii) Secretary. Secretary means the U.S.
				Secretary of Education.
(jj)
				Specially designed instruction. Specially designed instruction means adapting,
				as appropriate to the needs of an eligible exceptional student, the content,
				methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the
				student that result from the student's disability or giftedness and to ensure
				access of the student to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the
				educational standards within the jurisdiction of the school district that apply
				to all students.
(kk) Special
				education for students with disabilities.
1.
				Special education means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the
				parents, to meet the unique needs of a student with a disability, including:
a. Instruction conducted in the classroom, in
				the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and,
b. Instruction in physical
				education.
2. Special
				education includes each of the following, if the services otherwise meet the
				requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection:
a. Speech-language pathology services, or any
				other related service, if the service is considered special education rather
				than a related service under State standards;
b. Travel training; and,
c. Career and technical
				education.
3. Individual
				special education terms defined. The terms in this definition are defined as
				follows:
a. At no cost means that all
				specially designed instruction is provided without charge, but does not
				preclude incidental fees that are normally charged to nondisabled students or
				their parents as a part of the regular education program.
b. Physical education means the development
				of physical and motor fitness; fundamental motor skills and patterns; and
				skills in aquatics, dance, and individual and group games and sports (including
				intramural and lifetime sports). The term also includes special physical
				education, adapted physical education, movement education, and motor
				development.
c. Travel training
				means providing instruction, as appropriate, to students with significant
				cognitive disabilities, and any other students with disabilities who require
				this instruction, to enable them to develop an awareness of the environment in
				which they live and learn the skills necessary to move effectively and safely
				from place to place within that environment (e.g., in school, in the home, at
				work, and in the community).
d.
				Career and technical education means organized educational programs that are
				directly related to the preparation of individuals for paid or unpaid
				employment, or for additional preparation for a career not requiring a
				baccalaureate or advanced degree.
(ll) State educational agency (SEA). SEA
				means the Florida Department of Education.
(mm) Supplementary aids and services.
				Supplementary aids and services means aids, services, and other supports that
				are provided in regular education classes, or other education-related settings,
				and in extracurricular and nonacademic settings, to enable students with
				disabilities to be educated with nondisabled students to the maximum extent
				appropriate in accordance with Rules
				6A-6.03011 -.0361,
				F.A.C.
(nn) Transition services.
				Transition services means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a
				disability that:
1. Is designed to be within
				a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and
				functional achievement of the student with a disability to facilitate the
				student's movement from school to post-school activities, including
				postsecondary education, career and technical education, integrated employment
				(including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult
				services, independent living, or community participation; and,
2. Is based on the individual student's
				needs, taking into account the student's strengths, preferences and interests;
				and,
3. Includes:
a. Instruction;
b. Related services;
c. Community experiences;
d. The development of employment and other
				post-school adult living objectives; and,
e. If appropriate, acquisition of daily
				living skills and the provision of a functional vocational evaluation; and,
4. Transition services
				for students with disabilities may be special education, if provided as
				specially designed instruction, or a related service, if required to assist a
				student with a disability to benefit from special
				education.
(oo) Ward of
				the State. Ward of the State means a student who is a foster child, a ward of
				the State or in the custody of a public child welfare agency. However, ward of
				the State does not include a foster child who has a foster parent who meets the
				definition of a parent in this rule.