All referrals & evaluations:
- Check only those areas to assess that the team agrees on during the pre-evaluation meeting.
- Boxes on the referral form should match the consent to evaluate form unless otherwise documented in a Written Notice.
- Vision and hearing boxes are for evaluations to be conducted by specialists in this area and are not for the screenings completed by the school nurse.
- Once consent to evaluate is obtained from the parent, the district has 75 calendar days to complete the evaluation and have an IEP in place if the student is eligible for special education.
- Parents are provided with a Written Notice regarding the evaluation to be conducted.
Consent to Evaluate: Pre-evaluation meetings are the preferred method for obtaining parental consent for evaluation. Sending home consent with students or via mail is not best practice.
If you are having difficulties getting consent from the parents, contact your Pupil Services Program Coordinator for guidance.
Initial Referral: Once a referral is made, a case manager is designated at the school site. The case manager enters the student into the database and completes the referral section (refer to database manual for how to enter information into the database).
Initial AND Reevaluation (a.k.a. 3-year reevaluation):
- Hold a pre-evaluation meeting for the purpose of evaluation planning. Determine with the team what areas need to be assessed to determine eligibility, placement and program (i.e. the IEP).
- A parent signs consent for evaluation. Once the signature is obtained, the district has 75 calendar days to complete the evaluation and have an IEP in place. “Day 1” is the day the school receives the signed consent form. When received, district personnel writes the date received at the bottom of the form as documentation.
- Always consult with the school psychologist and any relevant related service providers before proposing assessments for an evaluation. If they are not present at the meeting, document on the Written Notice and the pre-evaluation planning sheet who was consulted.
- A Written Notice must be given to the parent stating that the evaluation will be conducted and what areas will be assessed.
- If the student fails a hearing or vision screening, contact your school psychologist.
Evaluation Summary and Eligibility Report (ESER)
The eligibility meeting date is the date that the team meets to determine if a student is eligible for special education services. An IEP must be developed and implemented within 30 days of this date, but still within the 75 calendar day timeline.
Eligibility criteria are strictly established under federal and state statute. All components of the evaluation are documented in the ESER. A meeting is held with the team, including the parents, to determine eligibility, educational needs and recommendations. Any member of the team who does not agree may indicate disagreement on the signature page and submit an explanation of their position (document a team member disagreed in the “Other Factors” section of the Written Notice). Copies of the ESER are to be given to the parent along with any other reports generated by the evaluation. Originals are submitted to district office.
DNQ: Does Not Qualify means that the student is not eligible for services. This is only on an initial referral. When a student is evaluated and “does not qualify” the ESER must still be filled out, meeting held, and signatures obtained. A Written Notice is required. The parents must be invited with at least 10 days prior notice or another date can be established by mutual consent (e.g. parent agrees to waive 10 day notice). The parents can choose to participate via phone. A copy of paperwork must be provided to parents with the originals sent to district office.
Parent Disagrees with Evaluation Results: Discuss the parent’s concerns and problem-solve as a team to see how the concerns can be addressed at the school level. Document any solutions in the Written Notice and follow through with the established plan in a timely manner.
If the parent continues to have concerns, notify the appropriate Program Coordinator or Pupil Services Director immediately with the concerns and what solutions have been explored with the parent. At this time, you should refer the parent to the Notice of Procedural Safeguards. If the parents wish to pursue an independent educational evaluation (IEE), they will need to make their request in writing to the Pupil Services Director.
Determining Educational Needs and Recommendations:
Needs on the ESER must be listed in priority order. Needs must be specific enough for the IEP to be developed from them. For instance, if there are specific content area needs, such as reading, writing, math, these should be listed separately so that recommendations can be made for each. Listing “academic skills” does not provide enough information to the development of the PLAAFP, goals and objectives, and other areas of the IEP.
Recommendations must be aligned to the specific need and may be a little more general than the needs statements. For example, for a need of “Reading fluency” a recommendation may be, “Small group or individual instruction including use of research – based reading program”. This recommendation does not tie any teacher to one particular type of instruction or program, but allows the current case manager to create appropriate goals to match the needs. For a need of “Focus in the classroom,” the recommendation may be “Classroom accommodations to reduce distractions**”. This leads one to refer to the accommodations section of the IEP.
**Be cautious that most of the needs and recommendations reflect the need for specialized instruction. That is, if all needs have recommendations for only accommodations, then there is no need for special education.