2002 US Code
Title 20 - EDUCATION
CHAPTER 33 - EDUCATION OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
SUBCHAPTER I - GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 1401 - Definitions

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§1401. Definitions

Except as otherwise provided, as used in this chapter:

(1) Assistive technology device

The term “assistive technology device” means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

(2) Assistive technology service

The term “assistive technology service” means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. Such term includes—

(A) the evaluation of the needs of such child, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child's customary environment;

(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by such child;

(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive technology devices;

(D) coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs;

(E) training or technical assistance for such child, or, where appropriate, the family of such child; and

(F) training or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing education and rehabilitation services), employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of such child.

(3) Child with a disability (A) In general

The term “child with a disability” means a child—

(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (hereinafter referred to as “emotional disturbance”), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and

(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

(B) Child aged 3 through 9

The term “child with a disability” for a child aged 3 through 9 may, at the discretion of the State and the local educational agency, include a child—

(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and

(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

(4) Educational service agency

The term “educational service agency”—

(A) means a regional public multiservice agency—

(i) authorized by State law to develop, manage, and provide services or programs to local educational agencies; and

(ii) recognized as an administrative agency for purposes of the provision of special education and related services provided within public elementary and secondary schools of the State; and

(B) includes any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction over a public elementary or secondary school.

(5) Elementary school

The term “elementary school” means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that provides elementary education, as determined under State law.

(6) Equipment

The term “equipment” includes—

(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any necessary enclosures or structures to house such machinery, utilities, or equipment; and

(B) all other items necessary for the functioning of a particular facility as a facility for the provision of educational services, including items such as instructional equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published, and audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books, periodicals, documents, and other related materials.

(7) Excess costs

The term “excess costs” means those costs that are in excess of the average annual per-student expenditure in a local educational agency during the preceding school year for an elementary or secondary school student, as may be appropriate, and which shall be computed after deducting—

(A) amounts received—

(i) under subchapter II of this chapter;

(ii) under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 [20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.]; or

(iii) under part A of title VII of that Act [20 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.]; and

(B) any State or local funds expended for programs that would qualify for assistance under any of those parts.

(8) Free appropriate public education

The term “free appropriate public education” means special education and related services that—

(A) have been provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge;

(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;

(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or secondary school education in the State involved; and

(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized education program required under section 1414(d) of this title.

(9) Indian

The term “Indian” means an individual who is a member of an Indian tribe.

(10) Indian tribe

The term “Indian tribe” means any Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional village corporation (as defined in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act [43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.]).

(11) Individualized education program

The term “individualized education program” or “IEP” means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 1414(d) of this title.

(12) Individualized family service plan

The term “individualized family service plan” has the meaning given such term in section 1436 of this title.

(13) Infant or toddler with a disability

The term “infant or toddler with a disability” has the meaning given such term in section 1432 of this title.

(14) Institution of higher education

The term “institution of higher education”—

(A) has the meaning given that term in section 1141(a) 1 of this title; and

(B) also includes any community college receiving funding from the Secretary of the Interior under the Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978 [25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.].

(15) Local educational agency

(A) The term “local educational agency” means a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or for such combination of school districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary or secondary schools.

(B) The term includes—

(i) an educational service agency, as defined in paragraph (4); and

(ii) any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction of a public elementary or secondary school.

(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but only to the extent that such inclusion makes the school eligible for programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to the school in another provision of law and the school does not have a student population that is smaller than the student population of the local educational agency receiving assistance under this chapter with the smallest student population, except that the school shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(16) Native language

The term “native language”, when used with reference to an individual of limited English proficiency, means the language normally used by the individual, or in the case of a child, the language normally used by the parents of the child.

(17) Nonprofit

The term “nonprofit”, as applied to a school, agency, organization, or institution, means a school, agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

(18) Outlying area

The term “outlying area” means the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

(19) Parent

The term “parent”—

(A) includes a legal guardian; and

(B) except as used in sections 1415(b)(2) and 1439(a)(5) of this title, includes an individual assigned under either of those sections to be a surrogate parent.

(20) Parent organization

The term “parent organization” has the meaning given that term in section 1482(g) of this title.

(21) Parent training and information center

The term “parent training and information center” means a center assisted under section 1482 or 1483 of this title.

(22) Related services

The term “related services” means transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services (including speech-language pathology and audiology services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, social work services, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, and medical services, except that such medical services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, and includes the early identification and assessment of disabling conditions in children.

(23) Secondary school

The term “secondary school” means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that provides secondary education, as determined under State law, except that it does not include any education beyond grade 12.

(24) Secretary

The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Education.

(25) Special education

The term “special education” means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including—

(A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and

(B) instruction in physical education.

(26) Specific learning disability (A) In general

The term “specific learning disability” means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

(B) Disorders included

Such term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

(C) Disorders not included

Such term does not include a learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

(27) State

The term “State” means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying areas.

(28) State educational agency

The term “State educational agency” means the State board of education or other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or, if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency designated by the Governor or by State law.

(29) Supplementary aids and services

The term “supplementary aids and services” means,2 aids, services, and other supports that are provided in regular education classes or other education-related settings to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with section 1412(a)(5) of this title.

(30) Transition services

The term “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a disability that—

(A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation;

(B) is based upon the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests; and

(C) includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.

(Pub. L. 91–230, title VI, §602, as added Pub. L. 105–17, title I, §101, June 4, 1997, 111 Stat. 42; amended Pub. L. 105–244, title IX, §901(d), Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1828.)

References in Text

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, referred to in par. (7)(A)(ii), (iii), is Pub. L. 89–10, Apr. 11, 1965, 79 Stat. 27, as amended. Part A of title I and part A of title VII of the Act are classified generally to part A (§6311 et seq.) of subchapter I and part A (§7401 et seq.) of subchapter VII, respectively, of chapter 70 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 6301 of this title and Tables.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, referred to in par. (10), is Pub. L. 92–203, Dec. 18, 1971, 85 Stat. 688, as amended, which is classified generally to chapter 33 (§1601 et seq.) of Title 43, Public Lands. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1601 of Title 43 and Tables.

Section 1141(a) of this title, referred to in par. (14)(A), was repealed by Pub. L. 105–244, §3, title I, §101(b), title VII, §702, Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1585, 1616, 1803, effective Oct. 1, 1998. However, the term “institution of higher education” is defined in section 1001 of this title.

The Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978, referred to in par. (14)(B), is Pub. L. 95–471, Oct. 17, 1978, 92 Stat. 1325, as amended, which is classified principally to chapter 20 (§1801 et seq.) of Title 25, Indians. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1801 of Title 25 and Tables.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 1401, Pub. L. 91–230, title VI, §602, Apr. 13, 1970, 84 Stat. 175; Pub. L. 94–142, §4(a), Nov. 29, 1975, 89 Stat. 775; Pub. L. 98–199, §§2, 3(b), Dec. 2, 1983, 97 Stat. 1357, 1358; Pub. L. 99–457, title IV, §402, Oct. 8, 1986, 100 Stat. 1172; Pub. L. 100–630, title I, §101(a), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3289; Pub. L. 101–476, title I, §101, title IX, §901(b)(10)–(20), Oct. 30, 1990, 104 Stat. 1103, 1142, 1143; Pub. L. 102–73, title VIII, §802(d)(1), July 25, 1991, 105 Stat. 361; Pub. L. 102–119, §§3, 25(a)(1), (b), Oct. 7, 1991, 105 Stat. 587, 605, 607; Pub. L. 103–382, title III, §391(f)(1), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4023, related to definitions of terms used in this chapter, prior to the general amendment of subchapters I to IV of this chapter by Pub. L. 105–17.

Amendments

1998—Par. (14)(B). Pub. L. 105–244 substituted “Tribally Controlled College or University Assistance Act of 1978” for “Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978”.

Effective Date of 1998 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 105–244 effective Oct. 1, 1998, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 105–244, see section 3 of Pub. L. 105–244, set out as a note under section 1001 of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 1003, 1087ee, 1087ii, 1412, 1414, 1418, 5802, 6063, 6103, 6311, 6362, 7221g, 7801 of this title; title 10 section 2164; title 42 sections 290ff–2, 1396n, 9832, 9859, 12511.

1 See References in Text note below.

2 So in original. The comma probably should not appear.