I hope you are all having a great week and enjoy learning about special education law this week.

Unit Introduction and What You Will Learn

Social workers are frequently placed in settings serving students with disabilities and need to understand and interface with special educational services. Knowing special education law, how services are provided to students, and the nuanced needs of these students is essential to school social work and to professionals transitioning into and partnering with schools. Week four is asynchronous with readings from the textbook and Washington’s K-12 education oversight body. Students will engage in forums and a quiz exploring special educational law. There is also a lecture video on implementing services in Washington State.

The agenda is as follows:

• Week four course plan
• General overview of special education
• Referral process for special services
• Positions and roles
• Mandated reporting

The learning objectives for this week include:

• To gain knowledge regarding the legal landscape of disability services within a school setting
• To have an understanding of the obligations schools have to serve students with special needs
• To articulate ethical decision-making

Unit Assignments

Content

• Jarolmen and Bautista-Thomas (2023) Chapter 4: Special Education and School Social Work
• Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. (OSPI, 2023) Notice of Special Education Procedural Safeguards for Students and Their Families
• Watch my lecture

W-04 A-01: Asynchronous Participation and Engagement

The expectation is that each of your replies will be substantive and provide meaningful perspectives, contributing to the forum’s conversation and scholarship. They can relate to the prompts or build on conversations shared by peers. There are three forums for this week, and you are expected to make at least 3 replies across any of the forums and read all of your peers’ replies. These forums include the following:

• Students review real-world due process hearing decisions from OSPI to better understand the legal and policy frameworks guiding special education disputes.
• In School Law and Decision Making, students identify potential ethical dilemmas in school settings and explore how to apply ethical frameworks to guide decision-making.
• The Chapter 4 discussion encourages students to reflect on IDEA 2004’s impact, family involvement, remote learning, and school social work practices, drawing from case examples and self-reflection prompts in the textbook.

Along with your forum replies, you have a quiz this week (see W-04 Quiz Regarding Understanding Special Education Law) based on this week’s Notice of Special Education Procedural Safeguards for Students and Their Families reading.

Unit Resources

You can listen to this week’s podcast episode for the reading Deep Dive on Chapter 4: Protecting Student Rights Through Federal Mandates, or listen to the full series Deep Dive: Jarolmen and Bautista-Thomas (2023).

Students will read the Notice of Special Education Procedural Safeguards for Students and Their Families (OSPI, 2023) and review the website Special Education Due Process Hearing Decisions.

You can find all presentations for this class at https://presentations.jacobrcampbell.com. This week’s slides are Fall 2026 SOWK 587 Week 04 - School and Special Education Laws and Policies.

The Lecture Videos tab in the MyHeritage course has class recordings. This week’s video is at Fall 2026 SOWK 587 Week 04.

To-Do List

• Read chapter 4 and OSPI’s procedural safeguards
• Watch my lecture video
• Complete at least three replies across any of the forums
• Complete the quiz on special education law