Texas requires its school districts to provide special education to its students in need. Assistance in regular classrooms and through instructions in special classrooms for part or all of the school day cater to students' special needs. Instruction in the home or hospital is acceptable in some situations, such as cases in which a student is afflicted by a chronic illness. Individual needs determine a student's qualification for home or hospital instruction. Texas requires that students residing in a hospital or specialized facility receive instruction within that facility when outside instruction is not feasible. Special needs instruction is allowed outside the public system in certain situations.
Individualized education programs created by parents, school staff and even the children themselves form the backbone of special education programs. They dictate the student's special needs and the services provided by the school district. IEPs may include special considerations for the student, time spent in normal classroom instruction, time spent receiving specialized instruction, testing requirements, special materials needed by the student and planning for transition into a normal, adult life. Annual review ensures that the student is making adequate progress.
Federal regulations guide the majority of Texas special education programs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulates state education programs to ensure proper treatment and educational standards for special needs children. States have some leeway to implement these programs in their own manner; however, federal oversight ensures proper implementation of special education programs and accommodation of special needs children.
Texas law guarantees that students with special needs have multiple options for high school graduation. If a student is unable to both meet the minimum curriculum requirements and pass exit level examinations, he may be able to graduate by meeting minimum curriculum requirements and only participating in state and district examinations. The need to pass district and state assessments are determined by the Admission, Review, and Dismissal committee.
Some students are able to graduate by meeting minimum requirements for general educations, meeting curriculum requirements applicable to the student's capabilities (determined by the ARD committee) and completing the requirements of the IEP. Requirements frequently include the ability to demonstrate life-skills facilitating self-sufficiency and employment possibility either through obtaining employment or through the demonstration of these skills. Students also meet this requirement through obtaining access to services not provided by the school district and which public education is not obligated to provide.
Assessments, such as the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, can be modified to fit the needs of individual students. This includes changes needed by visually or hearing impaired students, or the creation of an alternate assessment in cases where the child has cognitive disabilities which impair his ability to participate in standard assessments.
Students with special education needs qualify placement in another school district if their own cannot cater to their individual needs. Placement requires that the school or facility can provide free, public education to the student. The Texas Education Agency requires that the individual facility holds a license from the Texas Department of Mental Health and Retardation, Texas Department of Human Services, Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services or the Texas Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. License requirements depend on the individual needs of the student.
Requirements for residential placement help ensure proper instruction of the special needs student. Evaluators must establish a time-line to help estimate the student's re-entry into the public school system at the time of enrollment into a residential program. The school district oversees the education of special needs students in a residential program on an individual basis, ensuring that the student's needs are being met, and that the facilities meet health and safety standards, and that the residential instruction is necessary and appropriate to the student's needs.