Evaluation Process

Overview:

The Evaluation Process is conducted when a student will be evaluated to determine special education eligibility.

Best Practice

Hold Preplanning Team meeting prior to meeting with parent to determine areas to assess. All person’s that may be conducting an evaluation should be invited to this meeting. Areas to assess should not be determined by case manager alone.
Hearing and vision screening should be conducted prior to parent consent.
- If student fails vision or hearing screening, contact your psychologist to determine next step.
Evaluation/protocols from outside MSBSD and within the school district must be sent to SSS when evaluation is completed.

Referral TargetsSee More

Pre-evaluation Team Meeting with school staff to determine areas to be evaluated.
Case Manager schedules vision and hearing screening with school nurse.
Evaluation Planning Meeting with parent to discuss areas to evaluate and obtain Consent to Evaluate.
Case Manager completes referral paperwork and notifies building Record Specialist and SSS Record Technician of completion.
Record Technician notifies staff to begin evaluation.

TimelineSee More

Under Alaska regulation 4 AAC 52.115, once consent is obtained, districts have 90 calendar days to evaluate, determine eligibility, and offer services. 4 AAC 52.115 reads.
“(a) No later than 90 calendar days after obtaining parental consent for an initial evaluation or re-evaluation of eligibility the district shall evaluate the referred child, develop an IEP if the child is determined to be eligible and parental consent for services is obtained, and provide the child with special education and related services.
(b) A district remains obligated under AS 14.30.278 to develop an IEP not later than 30 days after the determination of the child’s eligibility.”

For clarity, the district has up to 90 days to determine eligibility AND provide an IEP. If a district determines eligibility earlier, for example in 35 days, the district will then have 30 days from the eligibility determination to develop and to provide an IEP. If the district determines eligibility after 60 days, for example in 70 days, the district may not exceed the 90 days to provide IEP services.

ReferralSee More

A referral for special education is initiated when the team, including parent, suspects that the student may have a disability. The referral is the first part of the Evaluation Process. Detailed instruction for completing a referral is described within each evaluation process.

Initial Referral is for students who are not currently receiving special education services and comes from ChildFind, MTSS referral, or parent request for an evaluation.
- Click for the MTSS process
Re-evaluation Referral occurs due to student’s current special education eligibility that is due for a re-evaluation every 3 years.
Additional Assessment Referral occurs when the student’s team wants to consider additional areas of special education eligibility.

ScreeningVision and Hearing

Students must have a vision and hearing screening conducted by school nurse prior to obtaining parent consent to evaluate.

Vision and hearing screening must not be older than 1 year.

If student does not pass one or both screenings, contact your school psychologist immediately to determine how to proceed.

Vision and hearing screening information is not included on the ESER.

Vision and Hearing on the Consent for Evaluation is for conducting an evaluation in those areas, not for the nurse screening.

If you have vision or hearing concerns for your student, contact your assigned vision or hearing specialist for a special education specific screening.

ParticipantsTeam/Staff

School Psychologist
Case Manager
Related Service Provider(s) as appropriate
General Education Teacher(s) – one is required, additional general education teachers as appropriate
Other team members as appropriate
- Literacy coach
- School Principal
- School Nurse
- Resource Specialist

MeetingEvaluation Planning

For all referrals, team should conduct a Pre-Evaluation Planning Meeting to discuss areas to evaluate. Areas to evaluate should not be determined by the case manager alone. Related service providers will determine if their area will be assessed. For initial or additional assessment, related service providers should conduct a screening to determine if an evaluation is supported. School psychologist along with case manager will determine if academic or behavior/social emotional/adaptive areas will be assessed.

For teams considering conducting an FBA as part of the evaluation process, the school psychologist must be extensively involved in this process. Refer to the FBA section of this manual for additional information.

EvaluateConsent to

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Details

Article ID: 122459

Created

Thu 12/10/20 1:58 PM

Modified

Thu 1/4/24 3:22 PM

Updating...