Special Education Referral Process

1. Recognition

Teacher, administrator, school counselor, and/or parent identify a concern:

  1. Is the student struggling with cognitive, emotional, social, psychological, or physical deficiency?
  2. Is the issue reoccurring or new?
  3. Is the issue age appropriate?
  1. Eligibility
  1. Observation

Teacher, school administrators, school counselor, etc. continue to observe student for changes/new developments in the classroom environment.

  1. Early Intervention

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  1. Create an intervention assistance team comprised of English Language teacher, homeroom teacher, and other subject teachers, the parents/guardians, an administrator, and the school psychologist.
  1. Homeroom teacher continues to observe and provide any pertinent background information about the problem.
  1. Intervention assistance team works together in order to find and develop possible solutions.

Responsive to Intervention (RTI)

  1. Special Education Evaluation
  1. Referral for Special Education Evaluation

References
Special Education Referral Process. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2019, from http://www.projectidealonline.org/v/special-education-referral-process/.


Gorski, D. (n.d.). What is RTI? Retrieved November 10, 2019, from http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/what/whatisrti.


Response to Intervention Strategies: A Guide for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved November 10, 2019, from https://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/response-to-intervention/effective-rti-strategies-for-teachers/.

  1. Individualized Education Program

Parents, school administrators, teachers, or anyone directly responsible for the child's education may initiate the referral process for special education evaluation if the child does not progress following Tier 3 of RTI.

Tier 2 Targeted Instruction Strategies:
-Small groups of students
-2-3 times per week - 30 minute sessions
-Break information into shorter bits
-Opportunities for practice

Tier 3 Individual Instruction Strategies:
-Individualized according to learning styles
-Students taught in very small groups or one on one
-Work on memory skills, ask and answer questions, and provide feedback
-Students who are not successful are screened for special education

Tier 1 Whole Class Strategies:
-State the objective
-Use groups
-Use similarities and differences
-Use graphic organizers
-Provide Feedback
-Ensure to present information in various formats to accommodate kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learners

Nondiscriminatory evaluations should be administered by a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds and expertise. Tests should include information pertaining to intelligence, behavior, achievement, disability, and medical issues.

School psychologists can administer IQ, achievement and behavior tests.

Special educators can provide informal observations and some behavior and/or achievement evaluations.

General educators can provide issues faced by a student

Parents or guardians provide background information on a student in external environments.

Medical Professionals

Individuals who took part in the evaluation process will meet to determine whether a student is eligible for special education services.

Ensure the following information is provided in the IEP:

  1. Student Profile
  2. Effective dates of the IEP
  3. List of "special instruction factors"
  4. Frequency of evaluations and reports of achievements such as benchmark pages
  5. A Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) if needed
  1. Implementation and Reevaluation

Team members must meet frequently to discuss the IEP and its effectiveness.

In the annual meeting IEP team members must discuss the positives and negatives of implementation.

Discuss what strategies should be followed up with in the coming months or year.

The IEP is signed by members of the IEP team.

Amy Greiner