SES 4.2 Special Education Placement Process

Starts with a Referral Can be from a parent Or school – Teacher – Counselor – Universal screening

MDT The team is responsible for determining if a student has a disability Does the students meet the criteria The process flows as listed below depending on who initiates the evaluation

Members of MDT Team Parent(s) Someone to interpret the testing results Lea Regular education teacher Special education teacher

MDT Process Procedural Safeguards Must have valid assessments Team process

Procedural Safeguards Educational independent evaluation Prior written notice in native language Parent consent Access to educational records Opportunity to complain or initiate due process Pendency during due process * Payment for private school if team decides Mediation State level appeals Civil action Attorney’s fees State complaint process

Valid assessment Appropriate to determine if there is a disability- later used to determine progress Racially neutral In appropriate language Technically sound Tailored to assess appropriate and specific needs

Team process The decision is not made by a single person It follows four processes – Reviews existing data to determine if additional data is needed – The team gathers additional data to make sure they have everything the need to make the decision – The team makes a decision if the child has a disability – The team prepares report ( sometimes not done quite in that Manner, much of it done before meeting)

Data teams There are many types of data teams – Schoolwide – used to make decisions about instruction, curriculum and planning- now used for Getting results and School Improvement Plans – Problem solving Teams- these teams work on a problem with a small group of students, ESL, IEP – Child Study IST Teams MDT – Multi disciplinary IEP teams

Communicating with Parents Have a shared goal and purpose – Easier said than done – Make sure everyone understands the process This goes for staff and parents – Staff sometimes view it as what they need to do to get rid of a child – Parents feel they need to get all they can- like free food

Communicating with Parents Articulate the role of everyone. Regular ed person Special ed person Meeting facilitator decide who before the start of the meeting Large teams are difficult, sometimes everyone feels they need to say something

Communicating with Parents Try and balance structure and flexibility – Written agendas help, but be willing to stray, but try and stay on the agenda – Try to keep it on track Can we discuss this later, lets try and finish this part then that We will get to that Listen to and respect everyone’s contribution – Make sure minority opinions are heard

Communicating with Parents Use objective data to guide decisions – Avoid opinions based on nothing, try to use data as much as possible Work to ensure confidentiality – Difficult to regain trust once broken Regularly evaluate team outcomes

Communicating with Parents Communicate with parents frequently- – Communicate early, do not let the first communication be when a child is having problems or being referred for testing – Provide frequent and accurate information Communicate the child’s strengths as well as needs – Do not have meetings in which you admire the problem, sometimes venting, very difficult to sit through

Communicating with Parents Translate Assessment information – Primary language – Explain what it means- use a graph Be aware of cultural differences and its impact on testing – Be sure you are aware of the differences

Communicating with Parents Schedule meetings to facilitate parent attendance Explain purpose of activity and the tests Use non technical language Maintain a solution based approach

Records FERPA- Federal Educational Record Privacy Act – Parents can view and challenge all records regarding their child – In some places even private ones- Debatable

Records Some of these records include – Permission not needed if you do it for everybody like Screenings – Vision – Hearing – Universal academic screenings

Records Permission is needed if you do not do it for everybody -any that is devised to get specific diagnostic information) -attempt to verify information

Records Who gets the records? Teaches that need to know the information can have access to a student records This usually means all of the teachers Many times managed from a central place Can’t be released to outside agencies with out permission or a subpoena