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Professional Judgment
Professional judgment is reasoned decision-making based on training, observation, student need, context, and the practitioner’s role. It is not a mood. It is not a personality trait. It should be explainable.
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Service Substitution
Service substitution means a service, support, provider, timing, or method is changed from what was expected or written. The key question is whether the student’s need is still being addressed and whether the change is documented clearly.
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Decision Rationale
A decision rationale is the reason a team made a decision. In plain language, it answers: Why are we doing this, and why does it make sense for this student?
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Implementation Drift
Implementation drift is what happens when daily practice slowly moves away from the written plan. It may start small: a skipped support, an informal substitution, a vague handoff, or a routine everyone assumes someone else owns.
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Assigned Adult Support
Assigned adult support means an adult is specifically responsible for supporting a student, routine, safety need, access need, or implementation requirement. It is different from adults being generally present in the area. Assigned means someone owns the support.
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Protective Advocacy
Protective advocacy means speaking up in a way that protects the student, the family, and the institution from preventable gaps, drift, or risk. It is not advocacy as a performance. It is advocacy as early warning, clear reasoning, and documented follow-through.