Evaluations
The Road to Services for Your Child
|
The first step is usually a parent or teacher requesting an in house assessment team meeting. The team may decide the to try some minor interventions. There hould be a written record tracking the trial interventions, over what period of time, which ones were successful, and which ones were not successful. Careful documentation can better identify individual problem areas. Trial and error without careful documentation is not productive for the child or the teacher, as it can delay the identification of possible special education needs. It is wise to agree on the timeframe for the trial interventions. |
 |
If the trial period is not productive, it is time to refer your child for a full educational evaluation. You, a teacher, or another person can do this. If you make the request do so in writing. The evaluation is conducted by district personnel. |
|
Parents, teachers, or administrators can make the initial recommendation for a full educational evaluation. This assessment should be conducted by a "multidisciplinary team" made up of several individuals with expertise in different areas, one of whom has expertise in the area of suspected disability. There can be no one-test assessment, or all tests conducted by just one person. In other words, there is no "one person, one test" evaluation. |
|
Children are to be educated in the same setting as their nondisabled peers to the maximum extent possible, with any necessary supports and services needed in that setting as well as any delivered outside that setting. |
|
The law requires a full continuum of placement settings to meet all needs. In other words, districts are required to offer more than the old style system which offered only the regular ed classroom or a catchall room for those who could not succeed in the regular ed classroom with no services. Such a system was deemed unacceptable years ago. |
|
If parents disagree with a district's evaluation they have the right to ask for an independent evaluation at public expense. Such a request should always be in writing. Parents can choose the independent evaluators as long as they meet, at the least, the criteria for district evaluators. |
What are those tests really measuring?
The labels placed on diagnostic tests can be rather misleading. For instance, parents usually think "Comprehension" measured a child's reading comprehension. That test actually measures, among other things, how well a child comprehends the world he lives in and social interactions.
I am most grateful to "Bob" for the following definitions, offered in parent friendly language. I had searched for 3 years for such understandable definitions, and with his help, I can now put this up for reference.
If diagnosticians out there have some additional input for lay persons to understand this web of diagnostics I would be most grateful. It is certainly a confusing area for parents in general. Here is another article on evaluations, including an explanation of the WISC test, a composite explanation of input from diagnosticians, teachers, and others involved in special education.
Your school district may want to review your child's evaluation as the first part of an IEP meeting. You have the right to have those tests explained to you in language you understand. Also, in order to be prepared for the meeting, you may need time at home to go over the evaluation results carefully, draw your own conclusions, and formulate your own recommendations. These steps are important if you are to be on an equal, fully informed footing with other team members.
If you have not been given an opportunity to carefully review this information, you could request that the meeting be tabled until you have had time to review the information and formulate your own conclusions and recommendations.
Information at this site should not be construed as legal advice.