The Kansas Special Education Process Handbook is a crucial resource for anyone involved in the special education process. Chapter 3 of this handbook focuses on Initial Evaluation and Eligibility, providing detailed guidelines and steps to ensure that children who may need special education services are identified and assessed appropriately.
The process begins with "Child Find," a system designed to identify children who may require special education services. This includes early childhood screenings for children from birth to age 5 and General Education Interventions (GEI) for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The information gathered from these screenings and interventions helps teams decide whether a child should be referred for an initial evaluation.
An initial evaluation involves using various assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information. The goal is to determine if the child is eligible for special education services. This eligibility is based on a two-pronged test: (1) whether the child has an exceptionality (disability or giftedness), and (2) whether the child needs special education and related services due to this exceptionality.
The evaluation process is comprehensive and includes the following steps:
- Referral for Initial Evaluation: Referrals can come from early childhood screenings, the Part C Infant-Toddler Program, GEI teams, parents, or self-referrals by adult students.
- Prior Written Notice and Request for Consent: The school must provide parents with written notice and request their consent before conducting an evaluation.
- The Evaluation Team: A team of qualified professionals, including the child's parents, conducts the evaluation.
- Timeline for Conducting the Initial Evaluation: The evaluation must be completed within 60 school days from the receipt of written parental consent.
- Conducting the Evaluation: The evaluation must include a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather comprehensive information about the child's needs.
- Eligibility Determination and Documentation: The team reviews the evaluation data to determine if the child is eligible for special education services. This decision is documented in an evaluation report.
- Prior Written Notice for Identification: The school must provide parents with written notice of the eligibility determination.
- Independent Educational Evaluation: If parents disagree with the school's evaluation, they have the right to request an independent educational evaluation at public expense.
For more detailed information on the Kansas Special Education Process, please follow this link.
