Transcript Special Education Process

Special Education
Process-Part II
Evaluation, Diagnosis,
Classification, and
Placement of students
with Disabilities
Overview of the
Multidisciplinary Team
Once the CST has tried
everything possible and
the issues still exist, a
referral is made to the
team that will be
responsible for the formal
assessment.
Overview of the Multidisciplinary
Team
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This team is called the
multidisciplinary team (MDT). Since
this referral by the CST is for a formal
assessment it will require another
referral form to be filled out.
Review of Special Education
Process-Part I-Determination of a
Suspected Disability
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Step 1-Initial Referral
Step II-Gathering Available School
Records
Step III-Initial Child Study Team Meeting
Step IV-Parent Intake
Step V- Pre-Referral Strategy Plans
Step VI-Determination of a Suspected
Disability
Overview of the Multidisciplinary
Team
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. A formal referral to the MDT is
nothing more than a form starting
the special education process.
A referral for more formal
individualized evaluation and
possible special education services is
initiated by a written request by the
CST.
Overview of the Multidisciplinary
Team
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you should understand
that other people other than the
CST have the right under due
process to initiate a formal referral
for a child with a suspected
disability.
Referral to the MDT
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Depending on state regulations,
these could include:
The child’s parent and advocate or
person in parental relationship
A classroom teacher
Any professional staff member of the
public or private school district
A judicial officer- A representative of
the court
Referral to the MDT
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A student on his or her own behalf if
he/she is 18 years of age or older, or
an emancipated minor- a person
under the age of 18 years of age who
has been given “certain adult rights”
by the court.
The Chief School Officer of the State
or his designee responsible for
welfare, education or health of
children.
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Initial Referral to the MDT From the School Staff
To: Chairperson of the MDT
From: Bill Wethers
School: Harrison High
Date:5/15/00
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Name/Title: Chairperson of the Child Study Team
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The following student is being referred to the CSE
for suspicion of a disability:
Student Name: Rosa Carlarzo
Sex: F
Grade:
5
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Parent/Guardian Name: Livia/Carlos
Address: 12 High Court
City:
Birchwood Glen
State: NY
Zip: 15789
Telephone: (914) 456-9867
Date
of Birth: 3/2/90
Current Program Placement: Regular mainstream
Teacher (Elem): Mrs. Buglia
Guidance
Counselor (Secondary):
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Reasons for Referral: Describe the specific reason and/or
needs that indicate the suspicion of a disability. Specify
reason why referral is considered appropriate and
necessary.
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Rosa is being referred for a formal assessment as the result
of suspected learning disability. The school has attempted
a variety of pre-referral strategies but have been unable to
change Rosa’s level of impaired performance. Rosa
exhibits severe problems in processing information,
retaining information and expressing her ideas on paper.
While she is a bright girl, and articulates appropriately,
her written expression is well below average. Rosa also
needs a great deal of attention, encouragement and
monitoring in the classroom. She is not a self starter and
tends to avoid academic tasks.
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Describe recent attempts to remediate the pupil’s
performance prior to referral, including regular education
interventions such as remedial reading and math, teaching
modifications, behavior modifications, speech
improvement, parent conferences, etc. and the results of
those interventions.
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The referral is considered necessary at this time because
Rosa continues to do poorly in school despite classroom
modifications, parent training and conferences, portfolio
assessment, observation, remedial reading and math
intervention, and changes in teaching strategies and
management. The results of these intervention strategies
have been unsuccessful and have even added to Rosa’s
sense of frustration and lack of confidence.
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Do you have a signed Parent Assessment Plan ?
__X_yes___no (If yes send copy attached)
Is there an attendance problem?
Yes__X__No____
Language Spoken at home? English
Did student repeat a grade? Yes___No__X_If yes,
when?
Is an interpreter needed? Yes___No_X__Deaf:
Is a bilingual assessment needed? Yes___no__X_
If yes, what language
Language spoken at home: English
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Is student eligible to receive ESL(English as
a Second Language)
services?yes____no__X_
If yes, how many years receiving ESL
services? __NA__ If yes, determine how
student’s educational, cultural and
experiential background were considered to
determine if these factors are contributing
to the student’s learning or behavior
problems
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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TEST SCORES WITHIN LAST YEAR
(i.e. Standardized Achievement, Regents Competency etc)
TEST NAME
AREA MEASURED
PERCENTILE SCORE
COMMENT
1-Wechsler Ind. Achievement Test
Basic Reading
Screening
2- Wechsler Ind. Achievement Test
Reading Comp.
Screening
3- Wechsler Ind. Achievement Test
Numerical Operations
Screening
4- Wechsler Ind. Achievement Test
Oral Expression
Screening
5- Wechsler Ind. Achievement Test
Written Expression
Screening
6-KBIT-Kauffman Brief Intelligence Test
Intelligence
22
18
12
67
11
67
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Has school staff informed parent/guardian of referral to
CSE? Yes_X__No___
By whom? School Psychologist
What was the reaction of the parent/guardian to the
referral? Positive
To be Completed by School Nurse-Medical Report
Summary
Any medication? Yes___No_X__If yes, specify:
Health Problems? Yes___No_X__If Yes Specify:
Schorliosis Screening: Positive____Negative__X__
Date of Last: Physical: 8/99 Vision results: Normal
Hearing Results: Normal
Referral to the MDT from the School
Staff
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Relevant Medical information: None
Nurse Teacher signature:
Principal’s signature
To Be Completed By The Appropriate Administrator
Date received:
Signature:
Chairperson:
Date Notice and Consent Sent to Parent/Guardian:
Parent Consent for Initial Evaluation Rec’d:
Date Agreement To withdraw Referral Received:
Projected Eligibility Meeting Date:
If eligible, projected date of implementation of services:
Projected Eligibility Board of education meting date:
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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While specific state regulations may
differ on the membership of the MDT,
the members are usually drawn from
individuals and professionals within
the school and community.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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You should also be aware that the
law mandates that an individual who
is an expert in the field of the
suspected disability must be a
member of the MDT. For instance, in
the case of a suspected learning
disability you will be considered the
expert on the team in this area.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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School Psychologist: The role of the school
psychologist on the MDT involves the
administration of individual intelligence
tests, projective tests, personality
inventories, and the observation of the
student in a variety of settings.
School Nurse: The role of the school nurse
is to review all medical records, screen for
vision and hearing, consults with outside
physicians, and may refer to outside
physicians if necessary.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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Classroom Teacher: Works with the local school
based Child Study Team to implement pre-referral
strategies, plans and implements, along with the
special education team, classroom strategies that
create an appropriate working environment for
the student.
School Social Worker: The social worker’s role on
the MDT is to gather and provide information
concerning the family system. This may be
accomplished through interviews, observations,
conferences etc.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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Special Education Teacher: The role of this
individual includes consultation to parents and
classroom teachers about pre-referral
recommendations, administers educational and
perceptual tests, may be called upon to observe
the student in a variety of settings, may be
involved in the screening of students with
suspected disabilities, writes IEP’s including goals
and objectives and recommends intervention
strategies to teachers and parents.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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Educational diagnostician: Administers
a series of evaluations including normreferenced and criterion referenced tests,
observes the student in a variety of
settings, makes educational
recommendations that get applied to the
IEP as goals and objectives.
Special education supervisor:
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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Physical Therapist: The physical therapist is called
upon to evaluate a child who may be experiencing
problems in gross motor functioning, living and
self help skills, and vocational skills necessary for
the student to be able to function in certain
settings. This professional may be used to screen,
evaluate, provide direct services or consult with
the teacher, parent or school.
Behavioral consultant: This individual works
closely with the team in providing direct services
or consultation on issues involving behavioral and
classroom management techniques and
programs.
Membership of the Multidisciplinary
Team (MDT)
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Speech/Language clinician: This professional will be
involved in screening for speech and language
developmental problems, be asked to provide a full
evaluation on a suspected language disability, provide
direct services, and consult with staff and parents.
Audiologist: This professional will be called upon to
evaluate a student’s hearing for possible impairments and
as a result of the findings may refer the student for medical
consultation or treatment. The audiologist may also assist
in helping students and parents obtain equipment i.e.
hearing aids that may impact on the child’s ability to
function in school.
Membership of the MDT
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Occupational Therapist: The occupational therapist is called upon to
evaluate a child who may be experiencing problems in fine motors
skills and living and self help skills, This professional may be used to
screen, evaluate, provide direct services, consult with the teacher,
parent or school and assist in obtaining the appropriate assistive
technology or equipment for the student.
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Guidance Counselor: This individual may be involved in providing
aptitude test information, provide counseling services, work with the
team on consolidating, changing, or developing a student’s class
schedule, and assist the Child Study Team in developing pre-referral
strategies.
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Parents: The parents plays an extremely important role on the MDT in
providing input for the IEP, working closely with members of the team,
and carry out, assist, or initiate academic or management programs
within the child’s home.
Objectives of the MDT
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Only when the parents have been
informed of their rights, a release is
obtained, and the assessment plan is
signed, can assessment begin. The
MDT has several evaluation options
from which to choose depending
upon the specializations of the
members of the MDT.
Assessment Domains
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Psychologist: responsible for an
intellectual assessment and a
dynamic assessment
Intellectual Assessment Options
 Wechsler Scales of Intelligence
 Stanford Binet Intelligence Test
Psychological Assessments
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Wechsler Scales of Intelligence
Wechsler Preschool and Primary
Scales of Intelligence-WPPSI-III for
ages 2.6-7 years of age
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children-IV-WISC-IV for ages 6-1611
Psychological Assessments
3-Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-WAIS-III for
ages 16-11 on
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This intelligence test is the universal standard
most often used by School Psychologists. This
version of the Wechsler is standardized for
children from age 6 to 16.
The test is divided into two main sections. The
Verbal Scale measures how well children are able
to express themselves verbally and how well they
are able to understand what is being said to them.
The Performance Scale measures the nonverbal
areas of being able to perceive spatial
relationships, such as putting puzzles together and
being able to transfer visual information rapidly.
Psychological Assessment
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Using test interpretation, the three
I.Q. scores and the specific pattern of
strengths and weaknesses indicate
how well the child is able to learn
and whether there are any specific
learning disabilities. This information
is then used to predict at what
academic level the child should be
functioning. In this way, diagnoses of
learning impairments are possible.
Psychological Assessment
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Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale
This intelligence test is a standard tool of
many school psychologists. This test has
been fairly recently revised and now
provides multiple I.Q. scores instead of a
single I.Q. score, as before. In addition to
being able to measure the verbal and
nonverbal areas of a child's development,
the Binet also provides a quantitative
score, measuring the child's mathematical
reasoning, and a memory score, measuring
the child's short term memory.
Psychological Assessment
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The materials in this test are very
appealing to children. The child has
little chance to become bored with
this test since the activities are
changed frequently. The test is
somewhat cumbersome for the
psychologist to administer. For that
reason, many psychologists prefer
the Wechsler scales.
Dynamic Assessment
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Measuring Personality: Often the first
step in understanding personality is
to come up with tools that measure
it.
The tools used by psychologists tend
to fall into two general categories:
Dynamic or Projective Tests
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Objective tests are paper and pencil
type tests that directly ask a person
to answer various questions about
their personality i.e. MMPI
Projective tests examine personality
in a much more indirect way by
assessing a patients reaction to
certain stimuli
Dynamic or Projective Tests
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The Rorschach (or inkblot) test in which students
are asked to describe what they see when
presented with an ambiguous pattern of ink
The Thematic Apperception Test: People are
shown ambiguous pictures and are asked to
construct a story about the events that lead up to
the picture, including detailed discussion about
what the characters in the story are doing and
thinking. The notion is that the person will project
themselves into the story and the things they tell
you about the characters are really about
themselves
Dynamic or Projective Tests
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Figure drawings
Sentence completion tests i.e. When
I grow up I want to be a ____ When
my father comes home I____ Friends
are____
Symptoms that Might Indicate a
Need for a Psychological Evaluation
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High levels of tension and anxiety
exhibited in behavior
Aggressive behavior
Lack of motivation or indications of
low energy levels
Patterns of denial
Oppositional behavior
Psychological Symptoms
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Despondency
Inconsistent academic performance,
ranging from very low to very high
History of inappropriate judgment
Lack of impulse control
Extreme and consistent attention
seeking behavior
Pattern of provocative behavior
Educational Evaluation
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Such an evaluation is frequently
recommended when a child's
academic skill levels (reading, math,
writing, and spelling) are unknown
or inconsistent and when his or her
learning process shows gaps (e.g.,
memory and expression).
Educational Evaluation
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This type of evaluation will:
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will determine strengths and weaknesses in the
child’s academic and processing areas.
Educational Evaluation
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Whatever achievement battery (a
battery is a group of tests) the
special educator chooses, it should
be one that covers enough skill areas
to make an adequate diagnosis of
academic strengths and weaknesses.
Areas Covered in an Educational
Evaluation
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Reading
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Math
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Spelling
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Written Expression
Examples of Tests used in
Educational Evaluations
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Wechsler Individual Achievement
Test-II (WIAT-II)
Woodcock Johnson Achievement
Battery
Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT)
Key Math Test
Test of Written Spelling (TWS)
Test of Written Language (TOWL)
Language Evaluations
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This recommendation usually occurs
when the child is experiencing
significant delays in speech or
language development, problems in
articulation, or problems in receptive
or expressive language.
Perceptual Evaluation
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A perceptual evaluation is suggested when
the team suspects discrepancies in the
child’s ability to receive and process
information.
The evaluation may give us this
information that is very useful when
making practical recommendations to
teachers about how to best-input
information to assist the child's ability to
learn.
Occupational Therapy Evaluation
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The team may consider this evaluation when the
child is exhibiting problems involving fine
motor/upper body functions. Examples of
these would include abnormal movement
patterns, sensory problems (sensitive to sound,
visual changes etc.), and hardship with daily
living activities, organizational problems,
attention span difficulties, equipment analysis,
and interpersonal problems.
Other Evaluations
Psychiatric Evaluation
 Physical Therapy Evaluation
 Neurological Evaluation
 Audiological Evaluation
 Vocational Assessment
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Non Standardized Forms of
Assessment
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Ecological assessment basically involves
directly observing and assessing the child in the
many environments in which he or she routinely
operates.
Non Standardized Forms of
Assessment
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Curriculum-based assessment (CBA) is one
type of direct evaluation. "Tests" of
performance in this case come directly
from the curriculum. For example, a child
may be asked to read from his or her
reading book for one minute. Information
about the accuracy and the speed of
reading can then be obtained and
compared with other students in the class,
building, or district. CBA is quick and
offers specific information about how a
student may differ from peers.
Non Standardized Forms of
Assessment
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Portfolio Assessment: Perhaps the most important
type of assessment for the classroom teacher is the
portfolio assessment.
A portfolio is “a purposeful collection of student
works that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress,
and achievement in one or more areas. The
collection must include student participation in
selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the
criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student
self-reflection.”
Follow –Up Child Study Team
Meeting
 Options
 Referral
to the Committee on
Special Education
 Development of the CSE PacketCase Manager
 Meeting with the teacher/s
Reporting Test Results to Parents
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Assigned members of the MDT will hold a
follow-up meeting with the parent/s to
discuss the results of the comprehensive
assessment
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At that meeting they will also answer any
questions on due process rights and inform
the parent of the procedures of the CSE
meeting that will be held
Reporting Test Results to Parents
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Freedom of Information Act
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Copy of CSE Packet
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Parent Booklet from NY State
Education dept.
Committee on Special Education (Also
know as the IEP Committee, or
Eligibility Committee)
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This committee is usually made up of
mandated members and assigned members
whom the board of education deems
necessary. Most states require that certain
professionals and individuals be core
members.
Committee on Special Education
These usually include:
 an administrator or director of pupil personnel
services or director of special education
 school psychologist
 a medical doctor (does not need to be in
attendance at every meeting but should be present
anytime medical issues are involved i.e. health
related classifications, issues involving medication
etc.), and
 a parent of a disabled child residing within the
district.
Committee on Special Education
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Other professionals may be appointed such as a
guidance counselor, social worker, nurse teacher,
and so on. The child's teacher is usually required
to attend the meeting but at the secondary level,
where a child may have numerous teachers, the
guidance counselor usually represents all the
teachers’ views and comments after consultation
with the child's teachers.
Responsibilities of the CSE
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1-Following appropriate procedures and
taking appropriate action on any child
referred as having a suspected disability.
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2-Determining the suitable classification for
a child with a suspected disability. The
classifications from which the Eligibility
Committee chooses are defined as follows:
Responsibilities of the CSE
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3-Reviewing, at least annually, the status
of each disabled child residing within the
district.
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4-Evaluating the adequacy of programs,
services and facilities for the disabled
children in the district.
Responsibilities of the CSE
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5-Reviewing and evaluating all relevant
information that may appear on each
disabled student.
6-Maintaining ongoing communication
in writing to parents in regards to planning,
modifying, changing, reviewing, placing or
evaluating the program, classification or
educational plan for a disabled child
Responsibilities of the CSE
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7-Advising the Board of Education as to
the status and recommendations for all
disabled children in the district.
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8-Determining the least restrictive
educational setting for any child having
been classified as having a disability.
Annual Review
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An annual review of a disabled child's
classification and educational program by the
CSE. The purpose of this review which includes
the parent and sometimes the student,
recommends the continuation, modification or
termination of classification, placement or IEP
needs and related services for the upcoming
year.
Triennial Evaluation
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A full and comprehensive reexamination of a
disabled child held every three years. This
reexamination may include educational,
psychological, and medical or any evaluation
deemed necessary by the CSE in order to
determine the child's continuing eligibility for
special education.
Aging Out
 Aging
out is the date upon
which the disabled child will
no longer be eligible for
tuition free educational
services.
Adaptive Physical education
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specially designed physical education program
for disabled children who cannot , as a result of
their disability, benefit from the normal school
program. This program is an individually
designed program of games, sports, and
developmental activities that are individually
suited to the needs, interests, capabilities, and
limitations of each disabled child.