The Process of Child Study Teams and Special Education Diagnosis

Garner Fall 2013

The Process of Special Education Eligibility

Warning

signs noticed

Parent or General Ed teacher makes a CST referral Child Study Team examines instructional interventions/opportunities Screening Multi-disciplinary Team
Assessment Collaboration

IEP Committee

Child Study Team

General

Education Teacher

Administrator School Counselor/School Psychologist Special Education Teacher Reading Specialist School Nurse Speech-Language Pathologist Social worker

Pre-referral Procedures
Examine

overview of learning needs of student (including teacher report) Look at all levels of information (records, parents, test scores, prior teacher info) Review of instructional strategies that could be used to address student issue Time given to implement new strategies and collect data
Hearing Review

and vision tests GENED classroom management change/teacher change

Program

Screening

Intellectual screening (IQ tests can only be given by psych examiner) Language screening (given by SLP) Behavioral screening (often inventories given to parents and teachers) LD Screenings (reading/writing/listening) Classroom Observations

Multi-Disciplinary Team
Formal

tests or assessments given by trained professionals Multiple assessment procedures used Assessments selected to target areas of academic need Includes similar members to CST but limited to professionals working directly with student in question MUST include childs general education teacher and a special education teacher Clinicians

Some notes about evaluation

Consent Pre-referral information Assessment options

Academic

achievement

Intellectual/psychological Perceptual Oral

Language Therapy Therapy

Occupational Physical

Types of Assessment
Norm-Referenced
Give

Tests

comparison to others in a particular pop.

Standardized Testing
MEAP

Informal Assessment
Incorporated

into classroom activities

Criterion-Referenced
Academic

skill mastery based

Ecological Assessment
Observe

how student interacts in environments

Types of Assessment

Interviews Observations Curriculum-based measurement

Tests

on curriculum

Portfolio Assessment Authentic or Performance-Based Assessment Task Analysis

Areas of Assessment
IQ

Language
Syntax, Oral

semantics, morphology, phonology, pragmatics language

language

Written

Perceptual ability Academic Achievement

Reading Writing Math Behavioral

(spelling, composition, handwriting) concerns

Diagnosis of SLD

Exclusion factors
Mental

retardation emotional problems problems

Primary

Hearing/Vision Poor

Teaching Confusion

Cultural

Motivation

Assessing Student Performance

Ecological
Varied

Assessment

settings

Dynamic Assessment
What

can child do with prompts/cues?

Curriculum-Based Measurement
Specific

weaknesses and strengths

Task Analysis
Break

down learning tasks

Learning Style

Eligibility Procedures
Required
Parents At At

members of the IEP committee

least one general educator least one special educator representative (principal, teacher consultant)

LEA

Other members
A

person to interpret assessment results individuals working with student advocates

Other

Student The

child (when appropriate)

IEP Committe
Review

evaluation information

Determine appropriate disability classification Determine Least Restrictive Environment Determine IEP goals based on determined needs Review annually the IEP goals and status of student Evaluate effectiveness of programs/services Maintain communication with parents Re-evaluate every three years

Notes to remember
Document,

document, document

Make all attempts to get parent at meeting Evaluations and IEPs expire Diagnosis will differ from state to state, district to district Diagnosis can be appealed by parents. Parents can refuse to sign diagnosis papers IEP team MUST consider Least Restrictive Environment

Developing an IEP
Look

at assessment information
academic needs

Target Goals

should reflect end of year achievement/benchmarks or objective list steps to that goal should fit within the regular workings of the general education classroom goals so that everyday classroom activities can be used as data must be collected on a regular basis to demonstrate improvement over time

Goals Write Data