The Hawaiʻi State Department of Educación (HIDOE) provides services to children ages 3 through 21, residing in Hawaiʻi, who are eligible for educación especial and related services. Special education is specially designed instruction, related services, and other supplementary aids to meet your child’s unique needs—at no cost to parent(s).

descripción general

Special education refers to a range of services provided your child with disabilities to improve their educational outcomes. It is specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of your child with disabilities. Special education may include, but is not limited to, academic services, speech-language services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, counseling services, and parent education. In addition, special education services are provided at no cost to parent(s). Find out if Special Education Is it for your child? (PDF).

Special education services are made available to any student — ages 3 through 21 — who demonstrates a need for specially designed instruction after an eligibility determination. An evaluation will determine the nature and extent of the student’s needs. Evaluations are separate assessments that may include: academic performance, communication skills, general intelligence, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, and motor abilities. If your child is eligible for educación especial, services are provided through an Individualized Educación Programa (IEP).

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Educación Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) and state regulations require the HIDOE to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE), which includes a continuum of services for your child who is eligible for educación especial and related services.

Evaluación y elegibilidad

Special education is intended for students who have disabilities that cause difficulty in learning and need specialized instruction.

Evaluación is defined as the procedures used to determine if your child has a disability and the nature and extent of the need for educación especial and related services. Este process helps identify learners who are eligible for educación especial and related services by determining the presence of a disability and the need for special education services. There are specific timelines that teams must follow for the evaluation process.

Appropriate referrals for educación especial begins after supportive instructional practices have occurred and the student needs far more than the classroom teacher can provide through general education support. For example, a student who has significant academic and/or behavioral challenges and continues to display a lack of progress despite increasing levels of intervention.

Determination of Disability for Educación especial

Los equipos deben:

• Realizar una evaluación
• Complete la prueba de tres pasos
• Consider your child’s educational progress and the interaction between the disability
• Determine the educational impact of that disability
• Decide the need for educación especial

Este important distinction highlights that the disability label alone does not prompt a determination of eligibility for educación especial. In the context of educación especial eligibility, the disability label has no standing without reference to impaired educational progress as a result of the disability.

Prueba de tres puntas 

Each prong must be met before the team can determine that if your child is eligible for educación especial.

• Punto 1: Discapacidad – ¿Su hijo tiene alguna discapacidad?
• Punto 2: Efecto adverso – Is the disability adversely affecting your child’s involvement and progress in general education?
• Punto 3: Necesidad – Does your child need educación especial and related services due to their disability?

Individualized Educación Programa

An Individualized Educación Programa (IEP) is a written statement about the educational program for your child with a disability. It serves as a management tool to ensure that your child receives the needed educación especial and related services. It can also serve as an evaluation tool when used to determine the extent of their progress toward accomplishing projected goals.

Each PEI includes:

• A statement of your child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance
• Una declaración de objetivos anuales, incluidos los objetivos instructivos a corto plazo.
• A statement of the specific educación especial and related services to be provided
• The extent that your child will be able to participate in regular educational programs
• The projected dates for initiation of services and the anticipated duration of the services
• Appropriate objective criteria and evaluation procedures and schedules for determining, on at least an annual basis, whether the objectives are being achieved

Beginning at age 14 (or younger if determined appropriate by the PEI team), the PEI shall include a statement of the transition service needs of your child—under the applicable components of the their PEI—that focuses on their courses of study (such as participation in a vocational educational program).

Beginning not later than the first PEI to be in effect when your child turns 16 (or younger if determined appropriate by the PEI team), the PEI must include:

• Metas postsecundarias mensurables y apropiadas basadas en una evaluación de transición apropiada para la edad
• The transition services (including courses of study) needed to assist the student in reaching those goals
• Evaluaciones de transición apropiadas para la edad basadas en las necesidades individuales de su hijo que se utilizarán para determinar objetivos postsecundarios mensurables apropiados
• Beginning no later than one year before your child reaches the age of majority under state law, (18 years of age in Hawaiʻi), their PEI must include a statement that the student has been informed of his/her rights under Part B of IDEA, if any, that will transfer to your child on reaching the age of majority

La siguiente participants need to be present at an PEI meeting (PDF):

• A representative of the public agency, other than your child’s teacher, who is qualified to provide, or supervise the provision of, educación especial
• The child’s teacher
• Uno o ambos padres/tutores legales
• Su hijo, si corresponde
• Otras personas a discreción del padre o la agencia.

PEI Meetings

PEI meetings need to be held at least annually. Depending on the needs and progress of your child, meetings to review and revise may be held more frequently.

While PEI meetings are usually initiated and conducted by the escuela, it is appropriate for parents to request an PEI meeting when you believe your child is not progressing satisfactorily or you feel there is a problem with the current PEI.