Notes: Special Education Process

• Special intervention-individual educational programs must be developed
• Steps in special education process are mandated by IDEA-process helps ensure FAPE

Referral

• Either require or recommend referral efforts
• Some schools choose to use a response to intervention model (RTI)

Initial referral to eligibility determination and IEP

• Provide notice, purpose of the meeting, copy of special education rights to parents, IEP team, including parents convenes for evaluation
• Review existing data and referral
• Determine need for evaluation
• Parents may request mediation and/or due processes hearing
• Obtain informed consent for placement, if not obtained at eligibility meetings, IEP team develops and implements IEP within 30 days from eligibility determination
• Behaviors suggesting referrals
• Not achieving level of age-peers
• Difficulties maintaining appropriate levels of behavior
• Serious social skills
• Overly active
• Difficulty maintaining attention
• Limited ability to do what other similarly aged children can do
• Speech-language deficits
• Suspected health issues
• Legal Requirements
• School districts have an affirmative duty under the Child Find requirements
• Have disabilities and needs special education as a result
• Are suspected of having a disability and need special services
• Referral meeting
• Child’s teacher
• Special education personnel
• Someone representing building administration
• Child's parent/legal guardian
• Recommendations
• Formal assessment to determine eligibility of special services
• Modifications or accommodations in the general education classroom
• No changes in current services
• Teacher's role in the referral process
• Response to intervention (RTI)
• Special education services and interventions that might enable a student to perform at a more optimal level

Assessment

• Legal requirements
• Selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis
• Provide and administered in the language and from most likely to yield accurate information unless not feasible to do so used for purposes for which the assessments are valid and reliable
• Administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel
• Administered in accordance with instructions provided by the producers of such assessments
• Types of assessment
• Norm-referenced test
• Stanford-Binet IQ test
• Wechsler IQ test
• Woodcock-Johnson achievement test
• Test of written language
• Key math diagnostics test
• Gray Oral Reading test
• Criterion-Referenced test
• Provides opportunity to compare a student's performance to a mastery level in a particular area
• Curriculum-based measures
• Interviews
• Observations
• Authentic assessment
• Portfolio assessment
• Ecological assessment
• Determine purpose then they type either formal or informal
• Teacher's role in the assessment process
• Ask questions about the assessment process
• Encourage family participation in school activities
• Provide input
• Observe assessment procedures
• Consider issues of possible bias
• Avoid viewing assessments as a mean of confirming a set of observations or conclusions
• Determining eligibility
• Student must meet the IDEA criteria for disability group

IEP

• Involvement of the student in developing the IEP
• Student's progress in general education curriculum
• Student's functional instruction needs that impact student's progress
• Legal requirements require
• Review existing evaluation data on the child
• On the bias of that review, an input from child’s parents, identify what additional data are need to determine whether the child is with disability
• IEP participants
• Components of IEP
• Actions during each step
• Determining current functioning level
• Determining measurable annual goals
• Measurable goals vs goals that aren’t measurable

Behavior intervention planning

• Schools must develop a procedure, as part of IEP
• Conduct functional behavior assessment
• structured interviews with parents, teachers and sometimes student's and observations
• Functions of behaviors
• Receive attention from others
• Gain a preferred item or activity
• Escape from an unpleasant academic or social demand
• Meet sensory needs
• Functional assessment process (12 steps)

Transitioning planning

• Beginning no later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child is 16, an updated annually therefore after
• Does student take an active role in the transition IEP planning process?
• Do all team members have a clear understanding of the student's strengths, interests, abilities and support needs?
• Has the team clearly defined desired post school outcomes is such areas?
• Employment
• Post-secondary training or education
• Post-secondary living arrangements
• Participation in the community
• Other aspects of life
• Annual goals, short terms leading towards post-secondary outcomes or to guide the teaching process
• Do members have positive and optimistic attitudes about the student's abilities to achieve the state's outcome?
• Doe the team clarify or revise the student's outcomes and the student gains information and experiences?
• Transfer of rights-transfer legal rights of parents to the student's when they reach the age of majority under state law

Least restrictive environment

• Continuum placement options
• Category and significance of the child's disability
• Availability of special education and related services
• Configuration of the service delivery program
• Administrative convenience

Due process

• Examine records
• Secure and independent evaluation
• Be notified before actions are taken with the student
• Consent
• Receive a due process hearing, mediation and resolution
• Due process rights
• Requirement
• Explanation
• reference