Special Education Operating Guidelines
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Full and Individual Initial Evaluation
What's Required
Each public agency must conduct a full and individual initial evaluation before the initial provision of special education and related services to a child with a disability under this part 34 CFR 300.301(a).The initial evaluation must consist of procedures to determine if the child is a child with a disability and to determine the educational needs of the child 34 CFR 300.301(c)(2).The initial evaluation must be conducted within 45 school days of receiving parental consent for the evaluation 34 CFR 300.301(c)(1).
What We Do
Conduct an initial full and individual evaluation before the initial provision of special education and related services for a student with a disability.Evaluation instruments must not be culturally or racially discriminatory and must be administered in accordance with standardized procedures in order to prevent inappropriate evaluations for specific cultural groups. A variety of evaluation instruments and strategies are used to gather relevant functional and developmental information about the student, including information provided by the parent. All data is reviewed, interpreted, and compiled into a Full and Individual Initial Evaluation (FIE) Report.
A written report of a full individual and initial evaluation of a student for purposes of special education services shall be completed not later than the 45th school day following the date on which the school district receives written consent for the evaluation, signed by the student's parent or legal guardian. The ARD/IEP committee meeting shall be completed no later than 30 calendar days following completion of the FIE.
The evaluator determines the degree of evaluation needed in each area depending on the eligibility criteria for the suspected disability.
The area of language proficiency is evaluated first to determine the language to be used in further evaluation.
Tests and other evaluation materials include those tailored to evaluate specific areas of educational need and not merely those designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient.
Tests are selected and administered to ensure that the test results of a student who has impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, will accurately reflect the student's aptitude, achievement level, or whatever other factors the test purports to measure. This should not be a reflection of the student's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).
No single procedure should be used as the sole criterion for determining whether the student is a student with a disability or for determining an appropriate educational program for the student.
Evaluation of the student covers all areas related to the suspected disability, including (where appropriate):
health,
vision,
hearing,
social and emotional status,
general intelligence,
academic performance,
communicative status, and
motor abilities.
The evaluation must be sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the student's special education and related service(s) needs. The instruments used and strategies must provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the student.
All evaluation personnel are responsible for adhering to all auditable dates for initial evaluations, re-evaluations, and transfers where the student has been in special education in another district.
