What Rights Do Students Have In Special Education?
Updated: December 1, 2025. Reviewer: Dr. Rose Sebastian, Ed.D.
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Student Rights in Special Education
This is a tricky question. On the one hand, students have a ton of rights– the right to a free and appropriate education, the right to comprehensive assessments, and the right to an education with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent possible, among others. You could look at every bit of special education being about the rights of students.
On the other hand, most of these talking points reflect decisions being made for the student. If the question is about what rights students have to make their own decisions, the answer is few. Special education is premised on the idea that parents are the educational decision makers. That changes a bit as students get older– but still, there is a difference between the students educational rights and their right to make decisions for themselves. Which might not be appropriate for all students or all ages– but it makes this a complicated question to answer.
Student Rights
To Get What Is In The IEP
The IEP is a legally binding document that districts are supposed to implement as written (34 C.F.R. § 300.323(c)(2)). Districts and schools have to provide what is in it. If not, parents have the option to pursue due process.
If the IEP says a student should have occupational therapy and there is no OT for the district, the student is entitled to compensatory services– OT paid for by the district.
If the IEP says extra time on a test, the student is entitled to that.
This basic right– to what is written in the plan– is why the paperwork of IEPs matters so much.
To Get An IEP That Addresses Their Unique Needs
- Students are entitled to comprehensive evaluations in all areas of suspected disability (34 C.F.R. § 300.304(c)(4)). That means that if a student has communication concerns, the team needs to look at that student’s communication skills. That applies to all areas from behaviors to socioemotional to physical therapy.
- Students are entitled to services that address their disability related needs (34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(2)(A)). If a student has communication needs and qualifies for SLP services, they are entitled to get those services. If a student has socioemotional needs and qualifies for counseling (which is pretty informal most places), they are entitled to those services too.
- Students are entitled to the supplementary aids and services that can help them succeed in classes, including assistive technology, accommodations, and, for some students, modifications (34 C.F.R. § 300.320(a)(4)). If the student needs to get extra time on tests to show what they know, they are entitled to that.
Note that the law doesn’t say that students get whatever they need to reach maximum growth. Instead the courts have decided that students get what they need to make reasonable growth. So they might not get music therapy if the district doesn’t want to offer it.
To Get Behavioral Supports
Many students with IEPs struggle with behaviors. They are entitled to behavioral support including:
- Behavior related assessments
- Positive behavior support / intervention plans as needed
- IEP goals and services to build behavioral skills
- Counseling services
- Manifest determination meetings at 10 suspensions to determine if the behaviors are related to the disability and, if so, to determine whether the student is getting all needed behavioral supports
Behavior support is one of the most complicated parts of special education. As a result, we have a lot of pages on it. Students with disabilities are supposed to get evaluations and supports in all areas of need– including behaviors. To learn more about what this means for services and evaluations, check out the page on that. Counseling can, and should, be part of IEPs for students with behaviors. That is a related service and you can learn more about that here. More significant behaviors are often addressed in the IEP through a BSP or BIP. To learn more about them, visit the BSP and BIP page. To learn what those should look like in an IEP, check out the BSPs in the IEP page. Sometimes behaviors are significant enough that suspensions get involved. Students with disabilities have rights in regards to expulsion and suspensions– get out the manifest determination page to learn more.
To Help Plan Their Own Transitions
By the time they are 16, students need to be actively involved in planning their transition for life after high school and to attend their IEP meetings where transitions are discussed.
To learn what this section looks like in an IEP and how to know if it is good, check out our page on the transition part of an IEP. To learn what types of supports students with disabilities are supposed to get in preparing for life after high school, check out our page in what you get with an IEP. And, finally, to see what IDEA says about transition planning, go to 34 C.F.R. § 300.320(b).
To Attend Classes, To The Maximum Extent Possible, With Non-Disabled Peers
Least Restrictive Environment means that students have the right to be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent possible. For some students, that is no interaction. They might be eligible for district funded alternative placements at schools that meet their unique needs. For most students, that means at least 80% of their day in general education settings.
To learn more about what is meant by least restrictive environment and how it has been battled over in the courts, check out our LRE page. And to see what the LRE part of the IEP– often called the placement part– looks like in your state, check out our page on placement sections of IEPs. And, finally, to see what IDEA has to say on placement, go to 34 C.F.R. § 300.114.
