Parent Information and FAQ: Special Education

If you have a concern with your child’s educational program or progress in school, the first step would be to contact your child’s teacher. Your teacher will likely bring your concerns to the Child Study Team. Every school in the district has a Child Study Team which focuses on at-risk students who are referred by a teacher or a parent. The Child Study Team consists of a group of teachers and professionals which typically includes the building principal, guidance counselor, reading specialist, speech–language pathologist, special education teacher and/or other personnel in the building. The team meets weekly and will discuss the student’s needs and determine what interventions will be put in place and/or if testing is needed to determine eligibility for special education.

Your child will be evaluated using a combination of formal standardized assessments, rating scales, observation, informal assessments, parent and teacher input. The areas in which your child will be assessed vary depending on the reasons for referral. Professionals involved in the conducting and completion of the evaluation may include a school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, behavior specialist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, hearing therapist, vision therapist, and/or the teacher. Information supplied by the parents is also considered in the evaluation process.

The District must request your consent to evaluate your child. This request is
contained on the Permission to Evaluate-Consent Form. The information on this form must include the specific reasons your child has been referred and the types of assessments that will be used to evaluate your child. Included with the Permission to Evaluate (PTE)-Consent Form is a Parent Input form requesting information regarding your child. The District cannot proceed with the evaluation process without written parental consent.

If a child has been receiving special education services and the IEP team decides that additional information is needed, a Permission to Reevaluate-Consent Form is sent. This form also states the types of assessments to be administered in the reevaluation process. Unlike when a student is being evaluated to determine eligibility and need for special education, the District can proceed with the reevaluation process without written parental consent prior to commencing the reevaluation process after several attempts to secure consent occur.

Once the School District receives your written permission for the evaluation, the evaluation report must be completed and a copy given to you within 60 calendar days. The 60 calendar day timeline does not apply during the summer break. The 60 calendar day timeline begins on the day that the District receives the signed Permission to Evaluate-Consent Form.

Based on the results of the formal and informal assessments, parent and teacher input, and a review of records, the certified school psychologist or speech/language pathologist will make a determination whether your child is eligible and in need of specially designed instruction through special education. If your child is determined to be eligible, an Individualized Educational Program team will convene within 30 calendar days to generate an Individualized Education Program (IEP). As a parent you are an important member of that team. Your child’s program will be developed based specifically on the recommendations of the evaluation or reevaluation report. The program, and where and how it will be provided, is an IEP team decision.

Following the development of your child’s IEP, a Notice of Recommended
Educational Placement/Prior Written Notice (NOREP) will be issued which states your child’s placement. The NOREP contains information about your decision to approve or disapprove the recommended educational program and placement, the time to return the completed form to the District and information about your legal rights.

You have the right to agree or disagree with your child’s program and placement. With an initial placement, if you disagree with the NOREP, special education services will not begin. If your child has been receiving special education services and you disagree with the program offered through the IEP and NOREP, unless the parent files for Mediation or Due Process with the Office for Dispute Resolution. 

All schools offer special education supports and services for students in the following categories: learning, social-emotional, behavioral, speech-language, sensory, and motor. These services may be implemented in the general education classroom with support from special education teachers and/or in special education classrooms for some portion of the day. Based on the student’s IEP, accommodations and/or modifications may occur in the general education and/or special education classrooms. Certain buildings host classrooms providing specific programming that is not available in all buildings.

When IEP team members believe that a student is no longer in need of special education supports, a reevaluation is completed. The results of this reevaluation may show that the student continues to be eligible, or that is the student continues to have a disability, but no longer requires the intervention of a special educator. If the student’s needs are for accommodations only, the student will be served by a 504 plan and the student will exit special education. The reevaluation may also show that the student no longer has a disability and that student will also exit special education. Finally, the reevaluation may show that the student continues to be eligible and in need of special education and another IEP will be developed. Regardless of the outcome of the reevaluation, when a student is being exited from special education, the parent is sent a NOREP for approval or disapproval.

Agency personnel may request that a meeting be scheduled to discuss
wraparound services. Prior to the team meeting the parent must sign a Release of Information form allowing the student’s educational team to discuss and exchange information with personnel from outside agency. The agency must also provide a job description of any agency staff that will be providing services to the District student. Furthermore, the agency must provide the District with proof of liability insurance in the amount of at least one million dollars ($1,000,000.00), and a copy of the District student’s treatment plan. After the School District reviews and approves all paperwork, a meeting will be scheduled with the agency, parents, and District personnel to discuss and identify the expected roles of personnel who will provide wraparound services to a District Student in the Wissahickon school buildings. For more information on wraparound personnel, please see District Policy #113.5.

Information about your legal rights is contained in a Procedural Safeguards Notice which is available on the Wissahickon School Website. Additionally, information about your legal rights is available through the Pennsylvania Office of Dispute Resolution at www.odr-pa.org.

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is the document that outlines the special education and related services that the Wissahickon School District will provide for your child at no cost to you. Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document. It is developed for children who have been evaluated and are in need of special education. The development of the IEP must be based on information gathered from a variety of sources, including evaluations, state and district assessments, and current levels of achievement on IEP goals and in the general education curriculum. The IEP provides a written record of decisions made at IEP meetings.

The IEP document is the cornerstone of the special education process and the key to services your child receives. By understanding your child’s IEP and taking an active role in developing it, you can help ensure that your child receives the education and services he or she needs. As a parent, you have the right to have information explained to you in understandable language. You know your child’s strengths and needs, and you should discuss them with the rest of the IEP team. You may want to ask yourself:

• What do I want for my child?
• What can he or she do now? 
• What do we need to do so my child will gain new skills?

Your child’s IEP team must include:

• A parent ( A child’s parent or person acting in that role)
• A Local Education Agent (Administrator or their designee)
• Special Education Teacher
• General Education Teacher (at least one of the child’s current general education teachers who knows the child)
• An individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results such as, but not limited to, a certified school psychologist
• At the discretion of the parent or the District, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate; and whenever appropriate, the child with a disability

Attendance at IEP meetings is required for all professionals listed above with two exceptions:

• A team member may be excused from attendance for whole or part of the IEP meeting if his or her area of curriculum or related services is not being modified or discussed, and the parent and the District agree in writing that the member not attend the meeting (Parental Consent to Excuse Members from Attending the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team Meeting).
• A team member may be excused from attendance for whole or part of the IEP meeting if his or her area of curriculum or related services is being modified or discussed and the team member provides written input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting, and the parent and the District agree in writing that the member not attend the meeting (Parental Consent to Excuse Members from Attending the Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team Meeting).

The purpose of the IEP meeting is to discuss, develop, revise, and document a program to meet your child’s individual learning needs. Annual discussion topics should include:

• Progress or lack of expected progress toward the special education goals
• Progress or lack of expected progress in the general education curriculum 
• New information from evaluations, observations, and curriculum assessments
• Information provided by the parents and the District
• The child’s needs
• Any other matter that is deemed appropriate by any team member

The parent will receive A Notice Of Recommended Educational Placement/Prior Written Notice (NOREP/ PWN) with a finalized IEP. This is your opportunity to agree or disagree with the planned services for your child.

• Accommodations: A change in class work or testing conditions to help students with disabilities have access to learning and demonstrate their knowledge without lowering or changing the standard or the level of the class work or of a test.
• ESY: Extended School Year; Required educational services usually offered during the summer for eligible children. It is not the same as summer school, which school districts may or may not offer to district students.
• IEP: Individualized Education Program
• FAPE: Free appropriate public education, as defined in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its regulations
• LRE: Least Restrictive Environment
• Modifications: A change in class work or testing conditions that lowers or changes the level of difficulty or focus of class work, homework, or of a test. The expectation is modified or changed.
• Pennsylvania Academics Standards: Grade-level learning expectations for all students. Standards are benchmark measures adopted by Pennsylvania that define what students should know and be able to do at specified grades levels beginning in grade 3.
• Pennsylvania Alternate Eligible Content: A framework that represents a reduction in breadth, depth, and level of complexity of the Pennsylvania Eligible Content such that it is appropriate for the students with the most severe cognitive disabilities while still ensuring access to the general education curriculum.
• Supplementary Aids and Services: Any aids, services, or other supports that are provided in general education classes or other education-related settings, including extracurriuclar and nonacademic settings, to enable children with disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the maximum extent appropriate.

• Check the invitations
• Know what the meeting is about and respond
• Check the date/time of the meeting
• If the date/time does not work, contact the case manager as soon as possible to reschedule
• Prepare and get organized
• Review last year’s IEP
• Collect updated non-school provider documentation (medical, behavioral health, etc.) that you would like to share with the school team
• Prepare and write down any questions or concerns you may have to bring to the meeting. Depending on your child’s age, ask what (s)he wants to work on this year and include a prioritized list of questions/goals.

Participate

• Share your ideas and make sure you understand your child’s IEP. Ask questions and provide input throughout the meeting.
• Share your prepared list of questions/concerns.

• Wrap it up while it’s still fresh in your mind
• Review the finalized document once received
• Reach out to your child’s case manager if you have any questions
• Review, complete, and return the Notice of Recommended Educational Placement to the Wissahickon School District Special Education Department

“Child Find” is the process where school districts must identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who need special education and related services. Either a parent/guardian or school professionals may refer or request an evaluation. Upon review of the request, the Wissahickon School District will either send a Permission to Evaluate Consent Form for parents’ signature or issue a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement/Prior Written Notice form explaining why the Wissahickon School declined the request.

The Certified School Psychologist meets with your child for several hours over several days. Your child is assessed in all areas related to the child’s suspected disability. The evaluation may consist of cognitive assessments, achievement testing, social/behavioral rating scales, observations, and functional behavioral assessments depending on the child. The evaluation results will be used to decide the child’s eligibility for special education and related services and to make decisions about an appropriate educational program for the child.

The Evaluation Report (ER) will contain information and data regarding your child’s current performance in the classroom setting, teacher observation and feedback, any information you have provided and results and discussion from any test and evaluation instrument utilized by the evaluation team.

The tests and instruments used by psychologists, speech/language therapists, occupational therapists, and others present student results in their own unique ways. A majority of the instruments used by our staff are standardized, norm-referenced measures. This means that they allow the performance of each student to be compared to a group of their same-age peers, and allows the evaluators to make assumptions based on their performance (for example “Below Average”, “Average”, “Above Average”).

Within 30 calendar days after a child is determined eligible, the Individualized Education Program Team (IEP) must meet to write an IEP for the child. The grade level case manager will notify the parent(s) early enough to make sure they have an opportunity to attend.

Within 30 calendar days after a child is determined eligible, the Individualized Education Program Team (IEP) must meet to write an IEP for the child. The grade level case manager will notify the parent(s) early enough to make sure they have an opportunity to attend.

• Standard Score: used by a number of cognitive, academic achievement and speech and language assessments.
• Mean (average) score of 100, with a standard deviation of 15
• This means that the range of “average” scores on the test is between 85-115

Scaled Score: used as a measure of an individual area on a much larger assessment tool. used by a number of cognitive, academic achievement and speech and language assessments.

• Mean score of 10, with a standard deviation of 3
• Average range between 7 – 13

T Scores: used by a number of behavior rating scales and some cognitive measures

• Mean score of 50, with a standard deviation of 10
  • Average range between 40 – 60
  • However, depending on the specific scale/instrument/test high scores could be a strength or weakness, and vice versa with low scores
    • For example, a score of 67 on a scale that measures Anxiety, would indicate that the student could be more anxious than his peers
    • While a score of 67 on a scale that measures self-image, may indicate that a student has a strong positive self-image.

Percentile Ranks: a supplemental score provided by nearly all evaluation tools utilize

• Tests present ranges from 0.01 – 99.9, with an average of 50
• Allows student to be compared to peers (i.e. a student that scores at the 47th percentile rank, has performed better than 47 percent of students that have taken the test in the sample).

Confidence Intervals (95%, 90%, etc.): a range of scores where we can be reasonably certain a student’s “true” score lies

• Because the scores obtained on any standardized, norm-referenced test are an estimate of a student’s ability in the area tested, this allows us to say with a level of confidence that the student’s actual ability falls within this range.