Legal Requirements and Changes:
Child Find, Evaluation, Eligibility
Administrative Training
Carie Hurford
Emily McCambridge
This training…
Will Provide:
• Current requirements based
on state and federal law for
Child Find, Evaluation, &
Eligibility
• Clarification but is not
necessarily a Q & A
Will Not Provide:
• Specific Forms for your SIT
What do I want to KNOW when I leave today?
 How can students qualify
for special education?
 Do we have to have SIT?
 Does MTSS remove the
requirement for SIT?
 How does the removal of
“discrepancy model”
change special education
eligibility?
 Can parents override the SIT
process by requesting an
evaluation?
 How many SIT meetings do
we have to have before a
student can be referred for
special education
evaluation?
 Other questions?
Always Required:
• General Education
Intervention (GEI)
• Documentation of GEI
• The 2 Prong Test A
– G Determine whether the
child is a child with an
exceptionality
– A Determine whether the
child needs special education
and related service (Specially
designed instruction that can
not be provided by general
education)
Child Find/General Education
Interventions
• Kansas describes two models of
GEI
– MTSS
– Individual Problem Solving
Approach
• Schools must carry out
interventions and document the
child’s progress within both
models
• The interventions and progress
monitoring data will provide
information about the child’s
needs
Relationship of General Education
Interventions and the Evaluation Process
• General Education Intervention is an integral part
of the evaluation process
– General Education Intervention and Instruction
information is required to answer “Prong 2”
– General Education Intervention and instructional
information is required to rule out Exclusionary
Factors
A
GEI: Using Individual Problem Solving Approach
• Individual Problem Solving through SIT
• Progress Monitoring Data is used to refine
interventions
• SIT teams have charts, meeting notes and
intervention logs that show results from the
steps above
A
Prior to an initial evaluation, the school must have
data based documentation of the following:
•
appropriate instruction
•
repeatedly assessing /progress monitoring
•
provided the assessment results to the child’s parents
•
the assessment results indicate an evaluation
appropriate
Kansas 2012 Eligibility Indicators
A
Instruction & Assessment
Implementation of interventions
Fidelity
Systematic
GEI responsibility - Parent request for
evaluation
• School must respond to request no more than
15 days
– School may honor request and begin evaluation
– School may refuse (must explain)
– Parent may withdraw request for evaluation in
order for GEI to occur
• General education intervention process is
conducted simultaneously
Items needed before a comprehensive
evaluation can be recommended:
•
•
•
•
•
Vision and Hearing screening
Attendance (and retention)
Medical information
Interventions already tried
DATA to make SIT decisions for further
recommendations
Ultimately…
What is the referral question?
-What interventions have we been focusing on?
Specific skills… Specific needs
-Guides assessments
-Helps narrow the focus of comprehensive
evaluation
-What is special education (specialized instruction)
going to do for this student?
In your team….
Evaluation and Eligibility
• Two methods of evaluation
– Response to Intervention
– Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses
Response to Intervention: Evaluation
Option #1
• Building level MTSS meets the specifications of Kansas MTSS
Implementation Guide and MTSS Structuring Guide.
• School-wide data collection system is used for:
– Universal Screening
– Progress Monitoring
– Diagnostic Assessment
• Collaborative teams are effectively functioning
• Interventions are being provided in a systematic way
Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses:
Evaluation Option #2
• When building is implementing a form of MTSS that does not
meet the specifications of the Kansas MTSS Implementation
Guide and Kansas MTSS Structuring Guide
• GEI is implemented using the individual student problem
solving approach
• There is no school-wide universal screening of essential skills
(CBM)
• SIT teams develop intervention plans
More on the Patterns of Strengths and
Weaknesses…
• Does not eliminate
Cognitive Assessments
• Does not eliminate
Achievement
Assessments
• May require more
assessment
Evaluation: Appropriate Testing Practices
• Evaluation teams must decide which tests are
appropriate to use given the referral question and what
types of assessment are needed to answer questions
about an individual student’s need for intervention and
support.
• Eliminating the use of IQ-achievement discrepancy for
eligibility determination does not mean eliminating the
appropriate use of IQ and achievement tests.
• IQ-achievement discrepancy is not the same as the
patterns of strengths and weakness approach.
In your team, discuss where this
required information will come from…
Eligibility Determination
• Eligibility decisions for all exceptionalities should focus on
student achievement within the context of age and/or gradelevel standards.
• Two prong test still applies:
– G Do the data support the presence of an exceptionality?
– A Do the data support the need for specially designed
instruction (special education and related services)?
Eligibility Determination
• Eligibility decisions for all exceptionalities should focus on
student achievement within the context of age and/or gradelevel standards.
• Two prong test still applies:
– G Do the data support the presence of an exceptionality?
– A Do the data support the need for specially designed
instruction (special education and related services)?
Eligibility Determination
G Exceptionality?
Data must indicate a match with a particular category of exceptionality
and the team has ruled out the presence of any exclusionary factors.
A Need?
Data indicates a need for adapted content, methodology, or delivery of
instruction is so great that it cannot be provided in regular education
without the support of special education and specially designed
instruction.
Changes: Eligibility
What do I KNOW?
 How can students qualify
for special education?
 Do we have to have SIT?
 Does MTSS remove the
requirement for SIT?
 How does the removal of
“discrepancy model”
change special education
eligibility?
 Can parents override the SIT
process by requesting an
evaluation?
 How many SIT meetings do
we have to have before a
student can be referred for
special education
evaluation?
 Other questions?
 Are there resources to help
our SIT with:
 Data collection
 Interventions
 Assessments