Initial Evaluation Process

Referral

Information obtained from screenings and general education interventions will assist teams in making decisions about referrals for an initial evaluation. The initial evaluation begins when a referral for an evaluation is made and applies to all children beginning at age 3. Referrals for an initial evaluation may come from a variety of sources such as Child Find, Part C (BabyNet), the school OnTrack Team, parents, guardians, and adult students. A parent/guardian/adult student may request an evaluation at any time. A referral for an initial evaluation is made when it is suspected that a child may be a child with a disability. Upon referral for an initial evaluation, regardless of the source, Greenville County Schools must first provide the parents/guardians/adult students with the Parent Handbook to Special Education (Procedural Safeguards).

Evaluation Planning

The first step in the initial referral process begins with the Evaluation Planning Meeting. At the Evaluation Planning Meeting the Evaluation Planning Document will be completed. In the school setting the Evaluation Planning meeting may occur as an extension to OnTrack meeting. The Parent Invitation to the OnTrack Meeting will serve as the written notice to the parent for this meeting. If the parent/guardian/adult student is not in attendance at the OnTrack meeting, a Notice of Meeting for the Evaluation Planning Meeting will be sent to the parent/guardian/adult student with at least two varied contact methods. The purpose of this meeting is for school professionals and the parent/guardian/adult student to review the existing data, considering all information currently available including evaluations and information provided by the parents, current classroom data, local and/or state assessment data, classroom observations by teachers and related services providers; and the student’s response to evidence based interventions, if implemented. The purpose of the existing data review is to identify what additional data, if any, are needed to determine:

• If the child is a child with a disability


• Whether the child needs special education and related services;


• The educational needs of the child;


• The present levels of academic achievement and functional performance of the child.

After the team has reviewed the existing data, there must be a determination of what data, if any, will be collected during the evaluation. Following the Evaluation Planning Meeting, the parent/guardian/adult student will be provided with Prior Written Notice (PWN) identifying the proposals and/or refusals related to the evaluation, and reflecting a description for each evaluation procedure, assessment, record or report the district used for the proposed action.

Consent for Evaluation

Per Federal law, Greenville County Schools must obtain informed consent from the parent/guardian/adult student prior to conducting the initial evaluation. (34 CFR § 300.300(a)) The following must be ensured in determining that informed consent has been obtained (34 CFR § 300.300.9):

1. The parent/guardian/adult student has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is being sought, in his or her native language, or other mode of communication.


2. The parent/guardian/adult student understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which his or her consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any) that will be released and to whom.


3. The parent/guardian/adult student understands that the granting of the consent is voluntary on the part of the parent/guardian/adult student and may be revoked at any time.


4. If a parent/guardian/adult student revokes consent, the revocation is not retroactive (i.e., it does not negate an action that has occurred after the consent was given and before the consent was revoked).

Consent for evaluation does not mean the parent/guardian/adult student has consented to the initial provision of special education and related services.

If the parent/guardian/adult student does not respond to the District’s request for Consent for Evaluation, the District must make reasonable attempts to obtain consent from the parent/guardian/adult student to conduct the initial evaluation. In Greenville County Schools, at least two contacts by two different methods (telephone calls, home visits or visits to place of employment, electronic mail, letters, etc.) should be made. Documentation of all communication attempts to obtain the written Consent for Evaluation and the results of those attempts should be maintained in the Contact Log. The Consent for Evaluation document indicates all areas of evaluation and provides information specific to each area.

If the parent/guardian/adult student does not respond or refuses to provide consent to the District’s request for the initial evaluation, the District may pursue the initial evaluation by utilizing mediation or by requesting a due process hearing; however, the District is not required to do so and does not violate its FAPE obligation if it declines to pursue the evaluation. If consent is not obtained for an evaluation, a PWN is sent to the parent/guardian/adult student indicating consent to evaluate was not granted by the parent/guardian/adult student. The purpose of the PWN is to clearly state that the parent/guardian/adult student has refused consent for the evaluation, and that the District stands ready to evaluate should the parent/guardian/adult student agree to an evaluation.

Furthermore, under the disciplinary protections afforded by the IDEA, the District will not be deemed to have knowledge of the child’s disability if the parent/guardian/adult student has not permitted an evaluation or refused services; or if the child has been evaluated and determined not to have a disability.

Timeline for Completing Initial Evaluation

Consistent with South Carolina and federal regulations (34 CFR § 300.301(c), Greenville County Schools (GCS) follows the 60 calendar day timeline for conducting the initial evaluation. The timeline for conducting the evaluation starts upon receipt by the school or program of written parental consent to conduct the evaluation and ends with the verification that all the required information has been gathered in order to make an eligibility determination. Once the evaluation is completed, the District has 15 business days in which to determine eligibility. To reiterate, the evaluation is completed when each evaluator has administered all test instruments, scored the protocols, written the report, and the primary evaluator has emailed the complete report to the school’s Special Education Contact Teacher and Special Education Specialist. For students who transfer from GCS to another school district within the state and were in the process of an evaluation, GCS will coordinate with the receiving district as necessary and as expeditiously as possible to share information to ensure prompt completion of a full evaluation.

If the timeline for completing initial evaluations exceeds 60 calendar days, IEP teams should adhere to the following process. Regardless of the reason for the missed timeline the following procedures apply.

• At the Initial Eligibility/IEP team meeting, the IEP team must discuss and determine whether the delay constitutes a denial of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for the student. If there is a denial of FAPE, the team must determine whether compensatory services are needed to close the gap between where the student is and where the student would have been but for the delay. If compensatory services are necessary, develop and implement a compensatory services plan. This discussion should be documented in the Prior Written Notice (PWN).


• If the team did not have the discussion regarding a potential denial of FAPE at the Initial Eligibility/IEP meeting or any subsequent meetings, schedule an IEP team meeting as soon as possible to have that discussion to determine whether the delay constitutes a denial of FAPE for the student. If there is a denial of FAPE, the team must determine whether compensatory services are needed to close the gap between where the student is and where the student would have been but for the delay. If compensatory services are to be provided, develop, and implement a compensatory services plan. This discussion should be documented in the PWN.

Initial Evaluation

An initial evaluation involves the use of a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining if the student is eligible for special education services. During the evaluation process the student is comprehensively assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability using technically sound assessment instruments that will provide relevant information that directly assists in determining the educational needs of the child whether or not the needs are commonly linked to a disability category. This may include, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social/emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities. Assessments and other evaluation materials are selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory; and provided and administered in the child’s native language, or other mode of communication, unless it is not feasible to do so. For students with limited English proficiency, assessments and procedures used in the evaluation must ensure that they measure the extent to which the child has a disability and needs special education, rather than measuring the child’s English language skills. For students with impaired sensory, manual, or communication skills, additional assessments are selected and administered to ensure assessment results accurately reflect the child’s aptitude or achievement level rather than reflect the child’s impairment. No single instrument or assessment is used as the sole criteria for the determination of eligibility. Assessments are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel in accordance with instructions provided by the test producer.

Eligibility Determination

Once the evaluation is completed and the evaluation report is complete, the Case Manager contacts the parent/guardian/adult student and schedules the Eligibility Meeting. The Case Manager will send a Notice of Meeting indicating the purpose of the meeting to the parent/guardian/adult student. Participants in the meeting should include the parent, general education teacher, special education teacher, evaluators, and an LEA (Administrator).

The Eligibility Determination Meeting consists of three parts:

• Presentation of evaluation report by Evaluator(s): During this portion of the Eligibility Determination Meeting, the Evaluator(s) shares the results of the evaluation with the team. All members of the team should have the opportunity to read the evaluation as the evaluator reviews the test results.


• Discussion of the Disability Criteria Worksheet(s): The evaluator will facilitate the team’s discussion of each disability category assessed in the evaluation. During the discussion, the evaluator will complete the Disability Criteria Worksheet for each disability considered.


• Eligibility Determination: The third component of the Eligibility Determination Meeting is the completion of the Eligibility Determination. The primary evaluator facilitates the discussion and completion of the Eligibility Determination.

The team must ensure that the child meets the definition of one of the categories of disability under the IDEA, and, as a result of that disability, needs special education and related services. This is often referred to as the two-pronged test (34 CFR § 300.8). If, based on the Disability Criteria Worksheet(s), the student does not meet criteria for one or more disabilities, the student is not eligible for special education and related services. If, the Disability Criteria Worksheet(s) indicate the student does meet criteria for one or more disability areas, then the team determines whether or not the severity of the disability indicates the need for special education and related services. If the team determines that the student meets criteria for one or more disability areas AND the severity if the disability indicates the need for special education and related services, then the team must state the adverse effect on educational performance. If the team determines the student meets criteria for one or more disability areas AND the severity of the disability does not indicate a need for special education and related services, the student is not eligible for Special Education.

Federal and state regulations are very clear with regard to the fact that a student must NOT be determined to be a student with a disability if the determinant factor is:

• Lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including the essential components of reading instruction (defined in §1208(3)) of the ESEA as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary development, and reading fluency including oral reading skills, and reading comprehension strategies);


• Lack of appropriate instruction in math; or


• Limited English proficiency; and


• The child does not otherwise meet the eligibility criteria as a child with a disability (34 CFR § 300.306(b)).

Following the completion of the Eligibility Determination, the document is signed by each team member.

In the case of a student who is found to have a disability, but does not need special education and related services, a referral for a 504 evaluation may be considered.

If the Eligibility Determination Meeting is not immediately followed by an IEP team meeting, the Case Manager will provide parent/guardian/adult student with Prior Written Notice regarding decisions made in the Eligibility Determination Meeting. If an IEP meeting is held immediately following the Eligibility Determination Meeting, the Case Manager will provide one Prior Written Notice following the conclusion of both meetings regarding the decisions made during the Eligibility Determination Meeting and the IEP meeting, along with information related to the Consent for the Initial Provision of Services.