1. The Special Education Process
Presented by Doreen Babis, Supervisor of Special Services
and
Judith Koebli, Speech Language Pathologist

2. Child Find
Every Local Education Agency (LEA) has an obligation to establish procedures to ensure that all children with disabilities are properly identified and evaluated to determine whether they are entitled to receive special education services.

3. Preschool Eligibility for Special Education
3-5 year olds with an identified disabling condition adversely affecting learning/development
AND must establish relevant impact and need for special education
Developmental delay of 33% in one developmental area
Or 25% delay in two developmental areas
Intellectual
Communication
Social/emotional
Adaptive
Physical
Gross/fine motor Sensory (vision/hearing)

4. Pre-K Eligibility Child must demonstrate a need for special education
Curricular modifications
Specialized instructional strategies
Supplementary aids (
Not just a need for a related service
Speech therapy
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy

5. Prereferral Intervention and Referral Services Request for assistance
Collect information
Notify parents
Problem solve
Action plan
Support and evaluate
Problem resolved or referral to CST

6. Referral
First step in special education process
Written request from parent, teacher, principal, or guidance counselor
CST conducts a planning meeting within 20 days of referral

7. Primary Purposes of Evaluations
To determine if the student is a child with a disability as defined in section 1401(3) of the IDEA, and
To determine the educational needs of the child

8. Identification Initial Planning/Identification meeting
CST members, parents, teachers
Speech Only?
Are assessments warranted? Suspected disability?
Parental consent required
90 day timeline

9. Who Attends the Meeting?
Parent
Case Manager
Social Worker
School Psychologist
Learning Consultant
Student (optional)
General Education Teacher (classroom teacher)
Special Education Teacher (if warranted)
Related Service members (if warranted)
Others

10. Eligibility Classifications
Does the disablity adversely affect the student’s educational performance and does it require special education and related services?
Classifications
Auditory impairment Specific Learning Disability
Autistic Traumatic Brain Injury
Intellectually disabled Social maladjustment
Communication impaired Other Health Impaired
Emotionally disturbed Orthopedically Impaired
Multiply disabled Deaf/Blindness
Preschool disabled Visually Impaired

11. Specific Learning Disability
Must be a discrepancy between ability and achievement in one or more of these areas:
Basic Reading Skills
Comprehension
Oral Expression
Listening Comprehension
Mathematical Calculations
Problem Solving
Written Expression
Reading Fluency

12. School Age Eligibility Criteria for Speech Tx.
Articulation
Delayed based upon Iowa-Nebraska norms
Norms state at what age 90% of the population have master a specific phoneme
Fluency
Dysfluent 5% of the time or more
Voice
Need script from an ENT

13. Negative Impact upon Education
Speech pattern is influencing spelling
Student writes how they speak
Intelligibility is reduced
Adults and peers can not understand the student’s speech
Student avoids speaking in class
Won’t raise hand/volunteer
Apprehensive or refuses to speak in front of peers
Speech pattern negatively impact social interactions.
Peers have difficulty understanding student
Peers do not interact with student in a positive way.

14. Eligibility based upon Language Skills
Student scores 1.5 standard deviations below the mean on two standardized language tests.
One of the two language tests must look at both receptive and expressive language skills
The second test is usually focused upon a specific language weakness the child demonstrates.
Negative impact on education
Poor grammar impacts on students ability to write clearly and/or correctly
Student has difficulty expressing his thoughts in a cohesive and/or grammatically correct way
Student avoids participating in class discussions, or answering questions

15. Referral Process Classroom Teacher Parent
Completes & Mails referral form to Supervisor of Special Services
Writes a letter of request for an evaluation to Supervisor of Special Services
Case manager contacts parents and teacher(s) to meet to discuss student concerns
Director of Special Services assigns case to a case manager
Meeting must take place within 20 days from the date referral was received.
If evaluation is found to be warranted, areas needed to be tested is decided
Evaluations must be completed within 90 days. This includes, if eligible, the IEP to be in place
Parents receive copies of written reports 10 days prior to eligibility meeting

16. INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP)
The IEP is a written plan that describes in detail the student’s special education program.
The IEP is implemented for one year at which point an annual review of the IEP is conducted.
A reevaluation to determine eligibility for special education and related services occurs every 3 years.

17. Parental Rights
PRISE
Mediation Due Process

18. Time-Lines
Meeting must take place within 20 days from the date referral was received
Evaluations must be completed within 90 days. This includes, if eligible, the IEP to be in place
Parents receive copies of written reports 10 days prior to eligibility meeting
Annual reviews, for classified students, 1x year by anniversary date of last IEP
Every 3 years, for classified students, a re-evaluation must be considered
Re-evaluations must be completed within 60 days

19. Frequently Asked Questions
What are the guidelines for how a disorder (or diagnosis) impacts education?
What if it is not impacting education?
Do they not get picked up for services then?

20. Articulation and Language Concerns?
For a child referred for articulation issues and during their planning meeting or evaluation, teachers state that there are learning/language issues, can the SLP test for language at that time, or does there need to be a referral to the Child Study Team for an evaluation?

21. Answer
To the team.
Whenever there are language concerns a referral must go to the entire CST.
The philosophy is that if there are language concerns, then other areas of learning may be affected.
SLP may not test language independent of the team.

22. When is Parental consent required?
Prior to conducting any assessment as part of an initial evaluation

23. When is Parental consent required?
Prior to conducting any assessment as part of an initial evaluation
Prior to implementation of the initial IEP resulting from above

24. When is Parental consent required?
Prior to conducting any assessment as part of an initial evaluation
Prior to implementation of the initial IEP resulting from above
Prior to conducting any assessment as part of a re-evaluation, except if the BOE can demonstrate that it had taken reasonable measures to obtain consent and the parent failed to respond
Prior to the release of student records according to NJAC6:3-6. section 6A:14-2.3(a)

25. What can the district do if the parent Refuses to give consent?
If a parent refuses to provide consent for an initial evaluation, the district can request a due process hearing according to NJAC.6A:14-2.7(b)
If a parent refuses to consent to implement an initial IEP, the district may not request a due process hearing. 6A:14-2.3(b)

26. What are the considerations for placement in the Least Restrictive Environment?
Whether the student can be educated satisfactorily in a regular classroom with supplementary aids and services;
A comparison of the benefits provided in a regular class and the benefits provided in a special education class;
The potentially beneficial or harmful effects which a placement may have on the student with disabilities or the other students in the class. section 6A: (a)8

27. Thank You ?