Outline of the initial evaluation process for school-age children
- Problem suspected
- Student may be referred by teachers, counselors, principals, parents or outside agencies
- Building Level Team
- Purpose is to brainstorm and develop intervention strategies and collecte data before considering a
referral to SSD
- Participants may include parent, counselor, general education teacher, special education teacher, speech/language pathologist and a school psychologist or examiner
- The Building Level Team process time frame varies from student to student and may be as long as a year. Many students who go to Building Level Teams are not referred for special education evaluation if their needs can be met within the general education setting
- Referral
- Data gathering packet is completed by the Building Level Team and forwarded to the Joint Review Committee to determine whether referral is warranted
- Joint Review Committee reviews the packet for completeness and appropriateness based on Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines
- SSD and partner school district notify parent(s) by letter to inform them whether an evaluation will occur due to suspicion of a disability that requires special education, and a copy of the Procedural Safeguards and Parent Bill of Rights is provided
- If parents feel their child needs to be referred for evaluation and their local school district refuses, parents may request due process
- Review of existing data conference
- If an evaluation will occur, a meeting between parents, teachers, counselor and SSD staff is held to review existing data and discuss areas to be assessed
- Written consent to evaluate is requested from the parents (should occur within 30 days of Joint Review Committee meeting)
- An eligibility conference is usually scheduled within 45 days of this meeting so that a final determination can be made within 60 days of the receipt of consent
- Eligibility conference
- Parents are given a verbal report of the assessments by the school psychologist, the educational examiner, the speech/language pathologist, the resource teacher and any other evaluator involved in the assessment
- Based on Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines, initial eligibility for special education is made if the student meets applicable criteria
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