This document summarizes a presentation on understanding school records for special education cases. It defines various acronyms used in education and special education classifications. It provides tips for analyzing school records, such as looking for indications of behavioral issues. It also outlines retention requirements for school records in New York state. Contact information is provided for several presenters.

1. November 14-15, 2013

3. Dr. Lauren Ormsby
Ripley Central School
Elizabeth Shost
Lipsitz & Ponterio LLC
Stefanie M. Stewart
Thomas Thomas & Hafer LLP

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MSASAUE: Making sense of the alphabet soup of
acronyms used in education.
Old or scant school records? Reading between the
lines to define special education services.
How to find "golden nuggets" in school records to
help win your case.
Can I use this information? Case law today on the
admissibility of records.
School records requests: What should I expect?

5. Making sense of the alphabet soup of
acronyms used in education

8. 
Academic Intervention Services (AIS)
◦ skill based (elementary)
◦ test preparation (middle and high school).
◦ State recommends based on State assessment
results
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Response to Intervention (RtI)
◦ Not mandatory
◦ schools are required to use a “tiered approach to
instruction.”
◦ Should be part of data used in making
classification determination.

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New York State Alternative Assessment
(NYSAA)
MOD-HSA and ALT-MSA (Maryland)
These assessments are reserved for students
who have the most severe cognitive
impairments.
Many states have a limit to the number of
students in any given school who can take
these assessments (ie. NYS 2% cap).

11. 504
IEP
ADA
IDEA
One umbrella –From bee sting
allergies and broken arms to ADHD
13 classifications
Often used by district to formalize
instructional support plans especially
useful for transient students
Very Specific eligibility requirements
Often used for ADHD or students with
LD that do not fit the criteria
established by the state
More intensive services available

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Alias: Emotionally Disturbed (ED), Emotional
and Behavioral Disorder (EBD).
Key to this classification are: to a marked
degree, pervasive and adversely effects
child’s academic performance
Internal vs. External
Use of term ED is controversial. When
disability is comorbid (ie. Ed and ADHD)
Districts often chose the alternative
classification OHI.

13. 
Things to look for in school records that are
indicative of behavioral problems
◦ Classification of OHI
◦ Inclusion of Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) in the
IEP
◦ Discussion of a Functional Behavior Assessment
(FBA) in Present Level of Expected
Performance(PLEP) section.
◦ BASC-II- Internal ED

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New York State –Board of Cooperative
Educational Services (BOCES)
Variety of general and/or special education
programs.
◦ Alternative Education
◦ Career and Technical Education (CTE, formerly VoTech)
◦ Self-contained classrooms all age levels. Students
receive a IEP diploma

17. 
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Students receive a regular diploma and a
certificate (in some programs an
endorsement)
Limits post-secondary options as the Math
and Science offered not considered “rigorous”
by many colleges.

18. Low IQ scores
High grades in
major content
areas
Possible special
class setting.
OHI but presence
of BIP or
behavioral goal
on IEP
Behavioral issues
may be more
significant than
ADHD
NYSAA indicated
or IEP identified
as diploma type
More significant
disability

19. Acronym Chart

20. Defendant

27. Parent Assessment or Background Information

28. Teachers' Comments

29. Plaintiff

30. Rochester School Records

31. 
Record retention establishes minimum
retention requirements. Individual School
Boards may elect to create a retention policy
that is longer than requirement.

32. 6 years after student graduates/would have
graduated or 6 years after student attains age
21, whichever is shorter:
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Student information sheet
Most recent year’s IEP
Evaluation record
Summary record

33. 
6 years
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Attendance record
Copy of high school transcript
Student progress notes
Referral form
Individual evaluations
Health record
IEP’s (except most recent)
Parent communication
Agency communication
Attendance/staff reports
Behavior/staff changes records
Test papers
Psychologist notes and protocols
Other special education records (ie. Behavior Intervention plan)

37. 
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Literature on lead exposure
NYS and MD retention documentation
Special Education Procedural Timeline
Graphic Organizers
Continuum of Services

39. 
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http://www.childadvocate.net
http://www.ncld.org
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/publica
tions/policy/schoolagecontinuum.html
Lidsky, T.I. & Schneider, J.S. (2005). Autism
and autistic symptoms associated with
childhood lead poisoning. The Journal of
Applied Research, 5(1).

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Dr. Lauren Ormsby , Director of Special Education
Ripley Central School
716-736-2631 Ext. 252
lormsby@ripley.wnyric.org
Elizabeth Shost
Lipsitz & Ponterio, LLC
716.849.0701
shostlaw@lipsitzponterio.com
Stefanie Stewart
Thomas Thomas & Hafer LLP
410.653.0460
sstewart@tthlaw.com