Blacklick Valley School District
Special Education Department
DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY
As a parent, you are uniquely qualified to know your child's learning strengths and weaknesses. School professionals will utilize your knowledge in designing a special education program for your child's benefit
Your child may be eligible for special education if your child:
1. Has a physical, sensory, mental or emotional disability (these include mental retardation, emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, a hearing impairment, deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities) and
2. Needs special education as determined by an evaluation team.
Your child must meet both qualifications in order to be eligible for special education. In Pennsylvania, all children eligible for special education have the right to a free and appropriate public education.
Note: Children who have disabilities which substantially limit their participation in or access to school programs, but who do not need special education, may qualify for reasonable accommodations in the regular classroom under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other Pennsylvania education regulations. The rules - called Chapter 15 - that apply are different from those for students needing special education who qualify by meeting the two-part criteria listed above.
INDICATIONS OF PHYSICAL, SENSORY, MENTAL, OR EMOTIONAL DISABILITY
Some indications that your child may be a child with a disability in order to meet the first part of the two-part definition are:
Exhibition of an emotional disturbance over a long period of time which affects your child's ability to learn.
Consistent problems in getting along with others
Difficulty communicating
Lack of interest or ability in age-appropriate activities
Resistance to change
Difficulty seeing or hearing that interferes with the ability to communicate
Health problems that affect educational performance
Difficulty performing tasks that require reading, writing, or mathematics
Your child may need specially designed instruction that isn't normally needed by other children in the general education classroom to make progress in school. This need for special education is the second part of the two-part decision to qualify a child for special education services.
SCREENING
Your child's school has a screening process in place that identifies students who may need special education. This process includes:
A review of the student's records including attendance and report cards,
A review of the student's vision and hearing,
An assessment of the student's functioning in the curriculum including curriculum-based and performance-based assessment for students with academic concerns,
A systematic observation of the student's behavior in the classroom or area in which the student is displaying difficulty.
For students with academic or behavior concerns, an intervention must be developed based on the results of the screening. The student's response to the intervention is looked at closely and if screening activities have produced little or no improvement within 60 school days, the student will be formally referred for evaluation for special education. You may request that the evaluation take place without going through these screening activities.
THE EVALUATION
The evaluation process gathers the information that will be used to determine if your child needs special education and, if so, the types of programs and services needed. Your child may be evaluated by a school psychologist. Other evaluations may include tests by a hearing specialist for a child with a hearing problem, or an evaluation from a doctor for a child with a health concern. The evaluation must also include input from a therapist if certain related services, such as physical or occupational therapy, are needed.
A child may be referred for the first evaluation in several ways:
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You may ask your school to evaluate your child for special education at any time. This can be done by sending a letter to the principal of your child's school. A "Permission to Evaluate" form will be sent to you.
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The school may also contact you and must ask permission to have your child evaluated. You must consent in writing to your child's evaluation. School officials cannot proceed without your permission. If permission is not received and the school continues to find that an evaluation is necessary, they may ask for a due process hearing and get approval from an impartial hearing officer to evaluate your child. More information about due precess hearings is found under the section titled "What if I Disagree With School Officials About My Child's Education Program".
A reevaluation is conducted at least every three years unless your child is disabled due to mental retardation, in which case reevaluations are conducted at least every two years. When additional data is needed to complete a reevaluation to determine whether your child continues to be a child with a disability and needs special education, then the school must seek your permission to perform the addition evaluation. If the school district has made what it believes are "reasonable attempts" but failed to receive your permission, it may proceed with the reevaluation. Each school district decides what "reasonable attempts" are. Such attempts may consist of:
Also, if the school determines that no additional data is needed, they will notify you of this determination. You and your school district my agree in writing that the three-year reevaluation is not necessary. This is not an option of your child has mental retardation.
All evaluations needed to determine your child's need for special education will be provided by your child's school district at no charge. Results of the evaluations will be made available for your review. You my also get evaluation reports from professionals outside the school system and send them to your child's school. The results of these outside evaluations will be considered in determining of your child has a disability and needs special education. If you wish for the school district to pay for these outside evaluations, you may make that request in writing. If the school district refuses, they must initiate a special education due process hearing.
ALLOWING FOR DIFFERENCES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND
Evaluations must take into account the child's English language skills and ethnic background so that the testing and evaluation will not be unfair for a child of a different race of culture. Tests must be given in the language or form that is most likely to give accurate information unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. Evaluations must also take into account the child's disability to be sure the results are reliable. Fir example, a child with a severe visual impairment should not be given a written test with small print.
The types of tests that are used in the evaluation process depend upon the educational challenges your child is experiencing. In most cases, your child may be given several tests to help find strengths and needs. Someone other than your child's general classroom teacher may also observe your child in class. Information that you share must also be included in the evaluation.
WHAT THE EVALUATION WILL TELL YOU
The evaluation will include information about your child's skills, social behavior, learning problems, learning strengths, and educational needs.
All evaluations and reevaluations must include a review of the testing and assessments that were conducted, information from the parents, classroom observations, and the observations of teachers and related service personnel. The evaluation or reevaluation must also tell you what additions or changes are needed to help your child meet goals which will be described in your child's Individualized Education Program (IEP), and to take part in and progress in the general curriculum (the skills and knowledge taught in a specific school district).
An evaluation team reviews all materials and writes a report called an Evaluation Report (ER) that tells if your child has one or more disabilities and if your child needs special education. It may recommend the type of programs and services your child needs. The ER may state that your child is not eligible and does not need special education services. You will receive a written notice of this determination and have the right to dispute it at a hearing.
The entire evaluation process must be completed within 60 calendar days (not including summer vacation) from the date you give permission by signing the "Permission to Evaluate" form given to you by your school district. A copy of the ER must be given to your and a summary of the report will be communicated to you at least 10 days before the IEP meeting. A parent may waive this 10-day provision.
If your child is being evaluated for a learning disability, parents (as members of the evaluation team) will be given an opportunity to sign the report. Next to your signature you will indicate whether or not you agree with the report. If you do no, you may submit a statement of your own conclusions. This is sometimes called a dissenting opinion, which will become part of the final ER. A copy of the final ER must be given to the parents.
Additional information may be obtained in the booklet "Pennsylvania Guide to Special Education For School Aged Children". This booklet is available by contacting the Blacklick Valley School District Special Education Office using the email links below.
Nichole Kolarik, Special Education Director
Renee Williamson, Administrative Assistant
