The Ready Seat. IEP Guide.
IEP Glossary
Last reviewed September 6, 2026. Definitions cite the IDEA regulations at 34 CFR Part 300 and the Section 504 regulations at 34 CFR Part 104. State terms vary. Educational information, not legal advice.
School teams speak in acronyms. This glossary defines the 36 terms parents hear most in special education meetings, in plain English, with the federal regulation cited so you can read the rule yourself. Federal rules set the floor; your state may add rights or use different labels, which you will find in the procedural safeguards notice your district must give you (34 CFR 300.504).
The laws and the core ideas
IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
The federal law that requires public schools to find, evaluate, and serve children with disabilities who need special education, from birth through age 21. Its regulations for school-age children are at 34 CFR Part 300, which is the source for most terms on this page. About 7.5 million students, roughly 15 percent of public school enrollment, are served under IDEA each year according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
The written plan a school must develop for each eligible child. It must include present levels of performance, measurable annual goals, how progress will be measured and reported, the special education and related services the school will provide, the extent the child will not participate with nondisabled peers, accommodations for state tests, and the dates, frequency, location, and duration of services (34 CFR 300.320).
FAPE (free appropriate public education)
The core guarantee of IDEA: special education and related services provided at public expense, meeting state standards, and delivered in conformity with an IEP (34 CFR 300.17). In Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District (2017), the Supreme Court held that an IEP must be reasonably calculated to enable a child to make progress appropriate in light of the child’s circumstances.
LRE (least restrictive environment)
The requirement that children with disabilities be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate, and that removal to separate classes or schools happen only when the nature or severity of the disability means education in regular classes with supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily (34 CFR 300.114).
Section 504 and the 504 plan
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law that prohibits disability discrimination by programs receiving federal funds, including public schools. A 504 plan documents the accommodations and services a student with a disability needs to access education. Its regulations are at 34 CFR Part 104, and a student qualifies with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (34 CFR 104.3).
Child Find
The affirmative duty of every state and district to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who may need special education, including children in private schools and children who are homeless or highly mobile (34 CFR 300.111). Child Find is why a school cannot simply wait for a parent to ask.
Procedural safeguards notice
The written explanation of parents’ rights under IDEA that a district must give at least once a year, and also upon initial referral or request for evaluation, upon the first state complaint or due process complaint in a year, upon a disciplinary removal that changes placement, and upon request (34 CFR 300.504).
Getting evaluated and found eligible
Referral
A request that a child be evaluated for special education. Either a parent or a public agency may initiate a request for an initial evaluation (34 CFR 300.301(b)). A referral in writing creates a dated record.
Initial evaluation
The full and individual evaluation a district must conduct before providing special education for the first time, using a variety of assessment tools and strategies and assessing the child in all areas related to the suspected disability (34 CFR 300.301, 300.304). It must be completed within 60 days of parental consent or within the state’s timeline (34 CFR 300.301(c)(1)).
Parental consent
Informed, written agreement, given voluntarily, that can be revoked at any time. A district must obtain parental consent before an initial evaluation and, separately, before the initial provision of special education services (34 CFR 300.300). Consent for evaluation is not consent for services.
Eligibility and the 13 categories
After the evaluation, a team of qualified professionals and the parent decide whether the child is a child with a disability who needs special education (34 CFR 300.306). IDEA lists 13 disability categories: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and visual impairment including blindness (34 CFR 300.8). Parents must receive a copy of the evaluation report and the eligibility documentation at no cost.
Specific learning disability (SLD)
A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, which may show up as difficulty listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing math (34 CFR 300.8(c)(10)). States may use a response-to-intervention process or other research-based procedures to identify it (34 CFR 300.307).
Other health impairment (OHI)
Limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, due to chronic or acute health problems that adversely affect educational performance (34 CFR 300.8(c)(9)). It is the category under which conditions such as ADHD are often served.
Response to intervention (RTI)
A tiered approach in which a school provides increasingly intensive instruction and measures the response. Federal rules allow RTI data in identifying a specific learning disability (34 CFR 300.307), but the U.S. Department of Education has stated that RTI may not be used to delay or deny an evaluation for a child suspected of having a disability (OSEP Memo 11-07, January 2011).
Reevaluation (triennial)
A new evaluation that must occur at least once every three years unless the parent and district agree it is unnecessary, and not more than once a year unless both agree (34 CFR 300.303). A parent or teacher can request a reevaluation sooner if conditions warrant it.
Independent educational evaluation (IEE)
An evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the district. If a parent disagrees with the district’s evaluation, the parent may request an IEE at public expense, and the district must then either pay for it or file a due process complaint to defend its own evaluation, without unnecessary delay (34 CFR 300.502).
Inside the IEP
Present levels (PLAAFP)
The statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the disability affects involvement and progress in the general curriculum (34 CFR 300.320(a)(1)). Present levels are the baseline every goal should be measured against.
Measurable annual goals
Academic and functional goals designed to meet the child’s needs that result from the disability and to enable progress in the general curriculum (34 CFR 300.320(a)(2)). Each goal must come with a description of how progress will be measured and when reports will be provided (34 CFR 300.320(a)(3)).
Accommodations
Changes to how a student learns or is tested that do not change what is being taught or measured, such as extended time, a quiet room, or text read aloud. The IEP must state any accommodations needed to measure the child’s performance on state and district assessments (34 CFR 300.320(a)(6)).
Modifications
Changes to what a student is expected to learn or demonstrate, such as fewer problems, simplified content, or alternate standards. Modifications change the curriculum itself, which can affect diplomas and assessments, so the distinction from accommodations matters.
Related services
Transportation and the developmental, corrective, and supportive services a child needs to benefit from special education, including speech-language pathology, audiology, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, counseling, orientation and mobility, school health services, and social work services (34 CFR 300.34).
Supplementary aids and services
Aids, services, and other supports provided in regular education classes or other settings so a child with a disability can be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate (34 CFR 300.42). They are the tools that make the least restrictive environment work.
Extended school year (ESY)
Special education and related services provided beyond the normal school year, at no cost to parents, when the IEP team decides they are necessary for the child to receive FAPE. A district may not limit ESY to particular categories of disability or unilaterally cap its type, amount, or duration (34 CFR 300.106).
Transition services
Beginning no later than the first IEP in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if the team decides, the IEP must include measurable postsecondary goals and the transition services needed to reach them (34 CFR 300.320(b)).
Progress reports
The periodic reports on the child’s progress toward annual goals that the IEP must specify, such as quarterly reports issued with report cards (34 CFR 300.320(a)(3)(ii)). Progress reports are the data that show whether a goal is working.
The team and the meeting
IEP team
The group that develops the IEP: the parents; at least one regular education teacher if the child participates in regular education; at least one special education teacher; a representative of the district who is qualified to provide or supervise special education and knowledgeable about the general curriculum and district resources; someone who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results; others with knowledge or special expertise, at the parent’s or district’s discretion; and the child whenever appropriate (34 CFR 300.321).
LEA representative
The district’s member of the IEP team, who must be qualified to provide or supervise specially designed instruction, knowledgeable about the general education curriculum, and knowledgeable about the availability of district resources (34 CFR 300.321(a)(4)). In practice this is the person who can commit the district to services.
Annual review
The IEP team’s required review of the IEP, periodically but not less than once a year, to determine whether the annual goals are being achieved and to revise the IEP as needed (34 CFR 300.324(b)(1)).
Parent participation
Districts must take steps to ensure parents are present at IEP meetings, including notifying them early enough and scheduling at a mutually agreed time and place, and must use interpreters or other means so parents can understand the proceedings (34 CFR 300.322).
Prior written notice (PWN)
The written notice a district must provide a reasonable time before it proposes or refuses to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or provision of FAPE to the child. It must describe the action, explain why, describe each evaluation or record relied on, and state that the parents have procedural safeguards (34 CFR 300.503).
Educational records
The records a school keeps about a student. Under IDEA and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, parents may inspect and review them, and the district must comply without unnecessary delay, before any IEP meeting or hearing, and in no case more than 45 days after the request (34 CFR 300.613; 34 CFR 99.10).
When there is a disagreement
Mediation
A voluntary process in which a qualified, impartial mediator helps parents and the district resolve a dispute. It is free to parents, cannot be used to deny or delay a due process hearing, and any agreement is written and enforceable (34 CFR 300.506).
State complaint
A written complaint to the state education agency alleging that a district violated IDEA. It must be filed within one year of the alleged violation, and the state must resolve it within 60 days unless exceptional circumstances exist (34 CFR 300.151 to 300.153).
Due process complaint
The formal request for an impartial hearing about the identification, evaluation, placement, or provision of FAPE. It generally must be filed within two years of when the parent knew or should have known about the issue, unless the state sets a different limit (34 CFR 300.507). A resolution meeting must be held within 15 days of the complaint (34 CFR 300.510).
Stay put
The rule that, while a due process proceeding is pending, the child remains in the current educational placement unless the parents and the district agree otherwise (34 CFR 300.518).
Manifestation determination
The review required within 10 school days of any decision to change a child’s placement for disciplinary reasons, to decide whether the conduct was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the child’s disability, or was the direct result of the district’s failure to implement the IEP (34 CFR 300.530(e)).