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Special Education Director For Hutto ISD Presents:

A Parent Guide to the Special Education Evaluation Process

Parents are crucial part in the decision making process and development of a child's Individualized Educational Plan and everything that leads to this event. Parents have the right to be part of every step in the process including, receiving documentation and relevant data when making evaluation decisions such as giving consent or requesting an evaluation for special education services.

This topic was chosen because of my background in special education and my experience with the difficulties parents face when tying to request an evaluation for special education or give their consent when a request for an evaluation is presented to them.  This presentation aims to give information about the events that take place before an evaluation is requested and to inform parents about their rights when it comes to making decisions about evaluations.

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This presentation will focus on delivering essential information on specific laws that define parent and student rights on free and appropriate education for all including those students who might have a disability. We will look at the processes towards requesting evaluations and what is defined as parental rights when trying to make a request. We will also learn about the specific steps that lead a school to refer a student for an evaluation which includes defining RTI processes and implementations guidelines.

This is an important and emerging issue in the educational field because parents have the right to seek the best education for their children. Many times, parents are not aware of the process for requesting interventions or evaluations for their students and this causes the identification process  at schools to take longer than necessary. Informed parents can ensure that schools are doing their best efforts to provide the correct and necessary interventions for their children's needs.

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3) Learning Disabilities Association of America

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3) Learning Disabilities Association of America

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The Learning Disabilities Association of America streamlines information regarding parent rights to an evaluation of a child for special education services.

Here you can find:
-Frequently asked questions
-Information about parental rights
- A sample letter for an evaluation request
- RTI information (what it is, how its used, and what information does it provide to schools when recommending for a special education evaluation)
- Timeline of evaluations
- A description of what a complete evaluation should include.

Click on this link for more information: https://ldaamerica.org/advocacy/lda-position-papers/right-to-an-evaluation-of-a-child-for-special-education-services/

Reference
Right to an Evaluation of a Child for Special Education Services. (2013). Retrieved from Learning Disabilities Association of America:https://ldaamerica.org/advocacy/lda-position-papers/right-to-an-evaluation-of-a-child-for-special-education-services/

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4) A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education.

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4) A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education.

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This article analyses the efforts of RTI implementation and how its results are used to drive special education referrals. One important thing to note about this article is that they evaluated their efforts across multiple years. They found that RTI efforts positively impact students as it allows for the general education setting to make appropriate adjustments to a child's education based on their needs.

This article brings important information to light as RTI is and can be an intervention used to demonstrate to parents the current efforts the school is implementing in order to meet student needs without the need of a special education evaluation.

The article informs the current state of issues related to Special Education Evaluations By:

Providing reliable results and data from a tired approach that targets educational needs of students.

Describes types of evaluations and interventions (Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III) that can be used when a student is struggling at school without needing to refer them for a special education evaluation until all efforts have been exhausted.

Illustrates how effective interventions diminish the need for special education services.

Allows for all stakeholders of the child's education including parents to make decisions on the child's educational needs.

Can serve as a guide for parents to understand the needs of their child and the efforts tried by the school before they are referred for a special education evaluation.

Can help parents give an informed consent.

Article can be found here:
https://www-sciencedirect-com.easydb.angelo.edu/science/article/pii/S0022440506001038?via%3Dihub

Reference
VanDerHeyden, A., Witt, J., & Gilbertson, D. (2007). A multi-year evaluation of the effects of a Response to Intervention (RTI) model on identification of children for special education. Journal of School Psychology, 45(2), 225–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.11.004

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5) Readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B Procedural Safeguards: An Update.

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5) Readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B Procedural Safeguards: An Update.

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I found this article's information was very important to this topic due to its focus on the Procedural Safeguards and their readability. The Procedural Safe is a document that lists all of the parental rights about special education. IDEA mandates that procedural safeguards are distributed annually to parents and prior to any evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment to ensure that they are knowledgeable about their rights when it comes to special education.

Interestingly enough, this article describes how their analysis of the Procedural Safeguards using an online software called Readability Studio found that all documents were written at an 11th grade reading level or above. Additionally, seventy-four percent of the analyzed documents were written at a graduate reading level.

The article informs the current state of issues related to Special Education Evaluations By:

Illustrating the level of reading skills needed by a parent to fully understand their rights when it comes to special education programing.

Highlighting the gaps that districts need to address in order to provide accessible information to parents regarding their children's education.

Addressing the potential disconnects between parents and the child's educational team and the possible negative impacts of such disconnects.

Reiterates section 34 CFR §300.503 of IDEA part B which states that  “the notice must be written in language understandable to the general public” (IDEA, 2004).

Article Link:
https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.easydb.angelo.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=0bad80ad-3ccb-4fb9-8fa9-b50feccc6bed%40sessionmgr4006

References
Gray, S., Zraick, R., & Atcherson, S. (2019). Readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part B procedural safeguards: An update. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 50(3), 373–384. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_LSHSS-18-0057

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. (2004).

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6)  Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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6)  Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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Source of law: Constitutional law (Federal adopted by congress).
Citation: U.S. Const. amend. XIV § 1
Link to full text of law: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=43

The law and its the legal requirements:

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Ended segregation when the court ruled that it deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment (Brown v. Board of Education, 1954).

It has helped the Supreme Court to rule that students have a “legitimate entitlement to a public education as a property right.” (Goss v. Lopez, 1975)

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7) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004.

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7) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004.

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Source of law: Statutory Law (Federal adopted by congress)
Citation:  20 U.S.C. § 1400- 1419

Link to full text of law: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title20/chapter33&edition=prelim

The law and its the legal requirements (most relevant to this topic):

§ 1412-"A free appropriate public education is available to all children with disabilities residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school"

§ 1414-"Consistent with subparagraph (D), either a parent of a child, or a State educational agency, other State agency, or local educational agency may initiate a request for an initial evaluation to determine if the child is a child with a disability."

§ 1415-"The local educational agency, in providing for the education of children with disabilities within its jurisdiction, has in effect policies, procedures, and programs that are consistent with the State policies and procedures established under section 1412 of this title"

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8) Free Appropriate Public Education for Students With Disabilities 504 (FAPE).

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8) Free Appropriate Public Education for Students With Disabilities 504 (FAPE).

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Source of law: Statutory Law (Federal adopted by congress)
Citation: 34 CFR § 300

Link to full text of law:https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-III/part-300

The law and its the legal requirements (most relevant to this topic:

§300.1

"Ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services..."

" Ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected"

§300.300

"The public agency proposing to conduct an initial evaluation to determine if a child qualifies as a child with a disability under § 300.8 must, after providing notice consistent with §§ 300.503 and 300.504, obtain informed consent, consistent with § 300.9, from the parent of the child before conducting the evaluation.

§300.503

“the notice must be written in language understandable to the general public”

§300.504

"A copy of the procedural safeguards available to the parents of a child with a disability must be given to the parents only one time a school year, except that a copy also must be given to the parents

Upon initial referral or parent request for evaluation

Upon request by a parent.

§ 309

"The parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in his or her native language, or through another mode of communication"

The parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which his or her consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any) that will be released and to whom"

" The parent understands that the granting of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time."

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9) Full Individual and Initial Evaluation.

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9) Full Individual and Initial Evaluation.

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Source of law: Statutory Law (State adopted by congress)
Citation:  19 TAC §89.1011

Link to full text of law: https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=89&rl=1011

The law and its the legal requirements (most relevant to this topic):

"If a parent submits a written request to a school district's director of special education services or to a district administrative employee for a full individual and initial evaluation of a student, the school district must, not later than the 15th school day after the date the district receives the request"

"Provide the parent with prior written notice of its proposal to conduct an evaluation consistent with 34 Code of Federal Regulations"

"A copy of the procedural safeguards notice"

" An opportunity to give written consent for the evaluation"

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Parent Request for Special Education Evaluation

All Parent Requests for Special Education Evaluations need to be emailed promptly to:  @ SpEd Parent Requests

Taken form HISD internal document

1. All Parent requests should be emailed to ”SpEd Parent Requests” by the principal or designated staff member.

2. Michele Simcik, Coordinator of Special Education, will:

1. Send a letter of acknowledgment to the requesting guardian

2. Send a written request for a Student Support/Success Team (SST) meeting to be scheduled within 15 school days to the principal and/or designee of the student’s campus of enrollment.

3. Document the student & parent information, dates of requests & notifications, and SST meeting dates & outcomes in the Special Education Team Drive shared with the appropriate Special Education District Office personnel.

4. Add the student to Frontline Ed. Special Education & Interventions - ARD Forms.

3. The campus principal, or designated personnel, will organize the Student Support/Success Team (SST/RtI) Meeting or a 504 meeting* inviting the parent, all pertinent staff, and Michele Simcik.

4. The appropriate campus personnel will gather the data necessary and will complete the Referral to Special Education Document prior to the scheduled SST (RtI) meeting.

1. Specific parts of the form can be assigned to appropriate staff through the assign function in Google Docs. (When this is done, the staff member gets an email to complete the section.)

*For Students with a 504 plan, the Referral to Special Education Document needs to be completed within a 504 meeting.

The Parent Request for Special Education Evaluation internal document for district staff was selected to use as local policy as it aligns with all the law requirements stated above. Since this is a document aims to help parents understand the evaluation process, I thought it was beneficial to provide this internal guideline that staff will use to explain the process of how to request an evaluation in Hutto ISD to parents.

Link to policy (may not be viewable due to being an internal document):  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i2us9q72QphcSvquthnnCgNcpK4mn44G_fcLtwOKtto/edit

Child Find
This is the actual information on the schools website. It provides information for parents on how to request an evaluation. I felt it was important to include is in order to be able to see the difference between the information the parents and district staff receive.

Website link:https://www.hipponation.org/Page/1828#:~:text=All%20parents%20can%20request%20testing,called%20to%20discuss%20the%20evaluation.

References

Special Education Child Find. (2021). Retrieved from Hutto Independent School District: https://www.hipponation.org/Page/1828#:~:text=All%20parents%20can%20request%20testing,called%20to%20discuss%20the%20evaluation.

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Citation: Tex. Admin. Code § 241.15
Link:https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac$ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=7&ch=241&rl=15

"communicates productively with all audiences through strong communication skills and understands how to communicate a message in different ways to meet the needs of various audiences"

From all the possible ethical principle, I chose this one because as a director of the Special Education department, I am the instructional leader and it is my duty to ensure that I am communicating in different ways to accommodate for different audiences. Additionally, I felt this was the most relevant principle that aligned to the topic and the purpose of this presentation.

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Wrightslaw is one of my favorite resources for all things special education law. This website gives great explanations and guidance regarding special education law and its implications. Additionally, Wrightslaw does not only help professionals but it is also a good tool for parents. The language is friendly and easy to understand.

Webpage link: https://www.wrightslaw.com/

References
Wrightslaw. (2021). Retrieved from Wrightslaw: https://www.wrightslaw.com/

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13) Recommendations / Best Practices for compliance

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13) Recommendations / Best Practices for compliance

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Here is a list of recommendations and best practices for compliance

Know the law

Participate in professional Development that addresses compliance

Use the Hutto ISD Special Education Manual

Follow district guidelines on ARD/Evaluation procedures.

Create a checklist of steps to complete when preparing to ask for consent for evaluation

Ask questions, your peers are your best resources

Do your own research

Follow the Texas Administration Code for educators

Be thorough and do your due diligence.