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PPS/Special Education




What is special education?

Special education means specially designed individualized or group instruction, or special services or programs, to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities.  Special education services and programs are provided at no cost to the parent.



What is PPS?

PPS stands for Pupil Personnel Services. In addition to special education administrators and teachers, Three Village CSD has an extensive support staff that includes guidance counselors, social workers, psychologists, Special Education Instructional Support Teachers (SEIST’s), and behavioral consultants.



What is the Direct Teacher Consult (DTC) Model?

According to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education; Part 200, Students with Disabilities must be educated within their Least Restrictive Environment.  The DTC model allows for a special education teacher and/or teaching assistant to support students in a general education class.  Placement in this program is through the Committee on Special Education (CSE).




What is a psycho-educational evaluation?

A psycho-educational evaluation consists of a battery of tests that provide information on a child's overall abilities, particularly learning style, information processing abilities, and academic achievement in reading, writing, math, language.

In addition to test data, the evaluation may include a classroom observation and questionnaires and rating scales completed by parents, teachers, and the student to identify whether attentional and/or social/emotional issues might be contributing to or resulting from the learning difficulties.





Who is eligible for special education?

Thirteen types of disabilities qualify for special education support, if the disability affects his/her educational performance.  They are: Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance, Hearing Impairment, Intellectual Disability, Learning Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Other Health Impairment, Orthopedic Impairment, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Visual Impairment.



If a parent refuses special education services, is the child still entitled to his/her accommodations?

No. If the recommendation of the CSE is to continue classification and placement, and the parent refuses services, the parent is essentially refusing the IEP and all accommodations.



How does a student drop a program or related service?

Dropping a program or related service is a refusal of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), and in doing so, the child forfeits all accommodations, modifications, and services indicated in the IEP.




Should a student contact the Disability Service Center before or after they get into college?  Is it a good or bad idea to tell the college about a 504 plan?

All colleges have some sort of support for students with disabilities.  It is a good idea to speak with the disability support services with your documentation in hand, before acceptance, in order to find out what level of support you could expect from campus.  If visiting the campus, students may want to speak to students with learning disabilities on campus and ask how helpful the Office for Disability Support Services has been; how easy is it to get extra help with tough classes; and how eager are professors to answer questions after class.  The more answers you get, the better you will be able to decide if you can succeed at each particular.  

Three Village CSD does not share special education records with any post-secondary institution, as these records are confidential.  It is up to the student (age 18 and older) to provide his or her last IEP or 504 Accommodation plan to the secondary institution.