The OSEP Spanish Glossary Project

Between 2010-2011, the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funded the development of an online and print Spanish Glossary. The OSEP Spanish Glossary was developed by SPAN, New Jersey’s Parent Training and Information Center. SPAN also serves as the Parent Technical Assistance Center for Region 1 of the National Parent Center Network.

It is essential that all families participate actively in decisions related to their child’s education. The language and terminology that exists within Early Intervention and Special Education law is very complex and can be difficult to understand even in its original language of English.

It becomes even more difficult to translate terms to other languages, and to find consistency within translation. The OSEP Spanish Glossary aims to make the understanding and translation of Special Education terms from English to Spanish more uniform and comprehensive.

The OSEP Spanish Glossary includes a set of agreed upon translations from English to Spanish of more than 200 education and disability related terms.

The glossary was developed collaboratively and included the perspectives of Parent Centers and families who represent various Spanish speaking backgrounds and home countries. Additionally, each family had children with disabilities receiving either Early Intervention (0-3 years old) or Special Education (3-21 years old) services. Learn more about the Collaborative Development Process, vision, and purpose.

PEAK Parent Center is honored to have served on the Spanish Glossary Review Panel! We are excited about this new resource and look forward to utilizing it to enhance our outreach to families who speak Spanish! Thank you to OSEP and the Region 1 Parent Technical Assistance Center for your leadership as well as your hard and comprehensive work!