Comprehensive Dictionary of Special Education Acronyms

© Forte Law Group, November 2017 Comprehensive Dictionary of Special Education Acronyms.
By Jeffrey L. Forte, Connecticut Special Education Lawyer and Certified Child Advocate

A
AAC        Augmentative/Alternative Communication
ABA        Applied Behavior Analysis
ABC        Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence
ABS         Adaptive Behavior Scale
ADA        Americans with Disabilities Act
ADD       Attention Deficit Disorder
ADHD    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADLs       Activities of Daily Living
ADR        Alternative Dispute Resolution
AE           Age Equivalent
AEM       Accessible Educational Materials
AIM        Accessible Instructional Materials
ALD        Assistive Listening Device
AP           Advanced Placement
APE         Adapted Physical Education
APR        Annual Performance Report
APS         Approve Private School
AS           Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism Spectrum
ASD        Autism Spectrum Disorder
ASL         American Sign Language
AT           Assistive Technology
AYP         Adequate Yearly Progress

 

B
BASC      Behavior Rating Scale for Children (test)
BCaBA Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst
BCBA      Board Certified Behavior Analyst
BCBA-D Board Certified Behavior Analyst-Doctoral
BD          Behavior Disorder
BEC         Basic Education Calendar
BESB      Connecticut Bureau of Education and Services for the Blind
BIP          Behavioral Intervention Plan
BOE        Board of Education
BYOD     Bring Your Own Device
 

C
CA           Chronological Age
CAP         Corrective Action Plan
CAPD      Central Auditory Processing Disorder
CAPT      Connecticut Academic Performance Test
CBA        Curriculum-Based Assessment
CBA        Child Development Association
CC           Closed Captioning
CCSS       Common Core State Standards
CDC        Center for Disease Control and Prevention
CDT        Classroom Diagnostic Tools
CF            Cystic Fibrosis
CFR         Code of Federal Regulations
CGA        Connecticut General Assembly
CGS         Connecticut General Statutes
CMT       Connecticut Mastery Test
COP        Community of Practice
COPAA   Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates
CP           Cerebral Palsy
CPAC      Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center
CSDE      Connecticut State Department of Education
CST         Child Study Team
CTAA      Connecticut Alternative Assessment
CTAPP    Connecticut Tech Act Project
CTEDTECH  Connecticut Commission for Educational Technology

 

D
DB          Deaf/Blind
DCF         Department of Children and Families
DD          Developmental Disability
DDS        Department of Developmental Services
DIS          Designated Instruction and Services
DMHAS Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services
DOE        Department of Education
DORS     Connecticut Department of Rehabilitation Services
DS           Down Syndrome
DSM-V   Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
DSS         Department of Social Services

 

E
EBR        Educational Benefit Review
ECE         Early Childhood Education
ECSE       Early Childhood Special Education
ED           Emotional Disability
ED           U.S. Department of Education
EDGAR Education Department General Administrative Regulations
EHA        Education of the Handicapped Act (now IDEA)
EHDI      Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
EI            Early Intervention
EIS          Early Intervention Services
ELL          English Language Learner (previously ESL)
ER           Evaluation Report
ESD         Extended School Day
ESQ         Esquire/Attorney/Lawyer
ESSA       Every Student Succeeds Act
ESY         Extended School Year
ETV         Educational and Training Voucher
EVT         Expressive Vocabulary Test

 

F
FAPE       Free Appropriate Public Education
FAS         Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
FC            Facilitated Communication
FERPA    Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FBA         Functional Behavioral Assessment
FLG         Forte Law Group, a Special Education & Child Advocacy Law Firm (that’s us!)
FOIA       Freedom of Information Act

 

G
GAD       Guardian Ad Litem
GE           General Education or Grade Equivalent
GED        General Equivalency Diploma
GLE         Grade Level Expectations
GORT-4  Gray Oral Reading Test, 4th Edition
GT           Gifted and Talented

 

H
HI            Hearing Impaired
HO          Hearing Officer
HOH       Hard of Hearing
HQT        Highly Qualified Teacher

 

I
IA            Instructional Assistant
ID            Intellectual Disability (to replace MR)
IDEA       Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
IDEIA     Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004)
IEE          Independent Educational Evaluation
IEP          Individualized Education Program
IFC          Intensive Foster Care
IFSP        Individualized Family Service Plan
IHE         Institute of Higher Education
IQ            Intelligence Quotient
ITP          Individual Transition Plan

 

J
JD            Judicial District or Juris Doctorate
JF             Jeffrey Forte, Special Education Lawyer & Certified Child Advocate (that’s me!)

 

K
K              Kindergarten
 

L
LD           Learning Disability
LEA         Local Education Agency
LEP         Limited English Proficient
LGBT      Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
LRE         Least Restrictive Environment

 

M
MA         Medical Assistance or Mental Age
MD         Multiple Disabilities or Muscular Dystrophy
MDR      Manifestation Determination Review
MDT       Multi-Disciplinary Team
MID        Mild Intellectual Disability
MH         Multiple Handicapped
MOU      Memorandum of Understanding
MR         Mental Retardation (replaced by ID)
MS          Multiple Sclerosis
 

N
NCLB      No Child Left Behind Act (Elementary and Secondary Education Act)
NGSS      Next Generation Science Standards Test
NIMAS   National Institute of Mental Health
NPA        Nonpublic Agency
NPS         Nonpublic School (private)

 

O
O&M      Orientation and Mobility
OAH       Office of Administrative Hearings
OEC        Connecticut Office of Early Childhood
OCA        Office of the Child Advocate
OCD        Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCR        Office of Civil Rights
OCS         On-Campus Suspension
ODD       Oppositional Defiant Disorder
OHI         Other Health Impaired
OI            Orthopedically Impaired
OT           Occupational Therapy

 

P
P&A        Protection & Advocacy
PALS       Peer-Assisted Learning System
Para       Paraprofessional
PASS       Plan for Achieving Self-Support
PBS         Positive Behavioral Supports
PBIS        Positive Behavior Interventions and Support
PBSP       Positive Behavior Support Plan
PCA         Personal Care Assistant
PD           Physical Disability
PDD        Pervasive Developmental Disorder
PEAC      Performance Evaluation Advisory Council
PEI          Spanish acronym for IEP (Plan Educativo Individualizado)
PL            Public Law
PLP         Present Level of Performance
PLEP       Present Level of Education Performance
POA        Power of Attorney
PP           Paraprofessional
PPT         Planning Placement Team
PQA        Program Quality Assistance
Pre-K      Pre-Kindergarten
PS            Preschool or Private School
PSN         Procedural Safeguards Notice
PT           Physical Therapy
PTA         Parent-Teacher Association
PTI          Parent Training and Information Center
PTSD      Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
PWN       Prior Written Notice

 

Q

 

R
RAD        Reactive Attachment Disorder
RBT        Registered Behavior Technician
RFP         Request for Proposals
RR           Re-evaluation Report
RS           Related Services
RSP         Resource Specialist Program
RTI          Response to Intervention

 

S
SA           Self-Assessment
SaS          Supplementary Aides and Services
SAT         Scholastic Assessment/Aptitude Test
SB           Spina Bifida
SBAC      Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
SBBH      School Based Behavioral Health
SCTG      School Climate Transformation Grant
SE            Special Education
SEA         State Education Agency
Sec 504  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
SERC       State Education Resource Center of Connecticut
SCC         Self-contained Classroom
SDC         Special Day Class
SDE         State Department of Education
SDI          Specifically Designed Instruction
SED         Serious Emotional Disability
SEPTA    Special Education Parent Teacher Association
SERC       State Education Resource Center
SESP       Special Education Surrogate Parent
SH           Severely Handicapped
SI             Sensory Integration
SIB          Self-Injurious Behavior
SLD         Specific Learning Disability
SLI           Speech/Language Impaired
SLP          Speech Language Pathologist
SPED      Special Education
SPDG      State Personnel Development Grant
SPOA      Specific Power of Attorney
SRBI       Scientific Research-Based Interventions
SSDI        Social Security Disability Income
SS            Scaled Score
SSI           Supplemental Security Income
SSIP        State Systemic Improvement Plan
SST          Student Study Team
STEM     Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
STOs       Short-Term Objectives
SY            School Year

 

T
TAG        Talented and Gifted
TDD        Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf
TBI          Traumatic Brain Injury
TP           Transition Planning
TS            Tourette Syndrome
TScore
TSS          Therapeutic Staff Support
T-TA       Training and Technical Assistance
TTY         Teletypewriter (phone system for the Deaf)

 

U
UDL        Universal Design for Learning
U.S.C.     United States Code

 

V
VI            Visually Impaired/Visual Impairment
Voc Ed Vocational Education
VR           Visiting Resource or Vocational Education

 

W
WAIS      Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale
WIAT      Weschler Individual Achievement Test
WISC-IV  Weschler Intelligence Scale for Childre, 4th Edition
WPN       Written Prior Notice

 

X
X-Axis     In Mathematics, the horizontal axis

 

Y
Y-Axis     in Mathematics, the vertical axis

 

Z
Z-Score

© Forte Law Group, November 2017
For more information, contact Forte Law Group at (203) 257-7999.