Module 17: Introduction to Procedural Safeguards

by Theresa Rebhorn and Lisa Küpper
NICHCY | National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
August 2007

Editor’s note | January 2018 | NICHCY no longer exists, and most of its materials have moved here, to the Center for Parent Information and Resources. While the date of publication for this training module was August 2007, the information provided about procedural safeguards is still accurate. The procedural safeguards covered in the law (IDEA) have not changed since this module was written. What’s most likely out of date as of January 2018 will be the many references to resources of further information or assistance on the subject of procedural safeguards.

**Este módulo está disponible en español: Introducción a las Garantías Procesales

Procedural safeguards are an integral part of IDEA’s requirements. They represent guarantees for parents and their child with disabilities, as well as offer both school and parents a variety of options for resolving any disagreements. Module 17 provides an introduction to these safeguards, including:

• parent access to student records,
• parent rights to ask that those records be amended,
• parent rights to participate in groups and meetings where decisions are made about their child’s education,
• parent notification requirements (prior written notice and the procedural safeguards notice), and
• selected other safeguards (e.g., independent educational evaluation, surrogate parents, age of majority).

The module  is available in English and Spanish, as you’ll see below. It includes:

• a slideshow presentation in English;
• a slideshow presentation in Spanish;
• a Trainer’s Guide explaining the content to be presented;
• handouts for participants in English and in Spanish; and
• supplemental resources for trainers.

Please help yourself below, and download the components you need to learn on your own and/or to introduce others to IDEA’s procedural safeguards.

Just looking for a quick summary of these rights?
You’re in luck. We are pleased to offer an entire section of our website where these parental rights are explained, one by one. Enter this series of short explanations at:

• Parental Rights under IDEA

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Component #1: The Slideshows | Las Diapositivas **
In English and in Spanish

The English and Spanish sets of these 28 slides are to help you frame training on the procedural safeguards listed above.

English Slideshow
(Stored in a ZIP folder)

Spanish Slideshow **
(Saved as a Powerpoint Show. If you don’t have Powerpoint, download the free Viewer.)

PDF for Spanish Trainers | This file shows trainers how the slideshows in Spanish work. (Be sure to download the trainer’s guide to the content—immediately below—which explains the content of each slide.)

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Component #2: Trainer’s Guide to the Content

This guide to Module 17 is in English but should also be downloaded if you’re training in Spanish. That’s because here is where you’ll find the full explanation of each slide’s content. It also offers much additional info so that trainers can adapt training sessions to a length or detail suitable to the given audience.

PDF | Complete Guide

Word | Complete Guide (Accessible Word file)

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Component #3: Handouts for Participants | Folletos para Participants **
In English and in Spanish

The handouts for Module 17 are included in a packet of handouts designed to cover the entire umbrella topic of Theme E, Procedural Safeguards under IDEA 2004. If you’ve downloaded the handouts for Theme E already (for example, as part of training on Modules 18 or 19), you have the handouts you need for Module 17. If you haven’t downloaded any handouts for Theme E yet, here they are in 2 different formats and 2 different languages.

Handouts in English

PDF | English Handouts for Theme E

Word | English Handouts for Theme E (Accessible Word file)

Handouts in Spanish | Folletos en Español **

PDF | Folletos para Tema E

Word | Los Folletos para Tema E (en archivo accesible)

Note about the Spanish Translations:
In preparing the handouts in Spanish, NICHCY has chosen to use a certain vocabulary set for the terminology most frequently used in IDEA. IDEA itself is extremely and purposefully consistent about its terminology, and we felt it critical to do the same in Spanish. However, we fully recognize that there are many ways to say the same thing, and Spanish is rich with alternatives from country to country, region to region. So we’ve also prepared a glossary of the terminology used in IDEA, how we’ve rendered that terminology in Spanish, and other ways of rendering it that families may also hear. Share this with participants as you see fit or use it to guide your own translations. The glossary of terminology is available in two formats, PDF and Word:

• PDF | Glossary of English-Spanish Terminology
• Word | Glossary of English-Spanish Terminology

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Component #4: Resources for Trainers
English only

Module 17 also includes a brief Resources for Trainers document that provides extra info on FERPA and on the Department of Education’s discussion of the impact of the changes made in IDEA’s requirements to provide parents with the procedural safeguards notice. If either of these interest you, here’s the Resources for Trainers document, in 2 different formats:

• PDF | Theme E Resources for Trainers
• Word version | Theme E Resources for Trainers

There! You’re ready to roll with Module 17.

Please remember that these materials are designed to be a  thorough and authoritative source of info on specific procedural safeguards under IDEA 2004. That’s why they are so detailed. As a trainer, you are free to adapt the info we’ve offered to serve the purposes and needs of your audiences and the amount of time you have to spend with them.

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Quick-Jump Menu to Other Modules
1: Top 10 Basics of Special Education
2: Key Changes in IDEA
5: Disproportionality and Overrepresentation
6: Early Intervening Services and Response to Intervention
7:Highly Qualified Teachers (withdrawn with the reauthorization of NCLB as the ESSA in 2015)
8: NIMAS
9: Introduction to Evaluation under IDEA
10: Initial Evaluation and Reevaluation
11: Identification of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities
12: The IEP Team
13: Content of the IEP
14: Meetings of the IEP Team
15: LRE Decision Making
16: Children Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools
17: Introduction to Procedural Safeguards (you’re already here)
18: Options for Dispute Resolution
19: Key Issues in Discipline

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