Initial Evaluation Procedures for Suspected Disability

							          INITIAL EVALUATION FOR SUSPECTED DISABILITY


Referral for Initial Evaluation

When the SBLC/SAT screening decision is to refer a student to Pupil Appraisal
for an individual evaluation, the referral packet of screening information is
completed by the school and given to the Pupil Appraisal contact person
present at the SBLC/SAT committee meeting.


The Referral Packet for students suspected of having a disability
consists of the following forms.

1. Yellow tracking folder
2. SBLC Parent Notice to Discuss Concerns
3. Initial referral to SBLC form
4. Tangipahoa Parish School System Referral to School Building Level
    Committee packet (pages 1-5)
5. School Level Sensory Screening form
6. SAT/SBLC Action Plan Summary Report (in target schools)
7. Speech/Language Screening (pages 1-2), Teacher Concerns for
    Speech/Language and Speech/Language Referral Packet if the student
    failed speech or language screening.
8. OT, PT, APE and Assistive Technology screening forms if there are
    concerns about fine motor, gross motor, self-help skills and/or ability to
    participate in a regular physical education program.
9. Copies of standardized test scores, report card, cume card and LEAP test
    scores.
10. Copies of discipline records if the student is being referred for behavioral
    concerns.
11. Copies of any medical records or information the school has collected.
12. Copies of birth certificate and social security card.

Once a referral for evaluation has been received by the Pupil Appraisal
Contact person, it is given to the designated case manager. The case
manager is determined by each team. It is the responsibility of the case
manager to conduct all mandatory procedures relative to informing the
parent of concerns, obtaining permission for evaluation, logging the referral
in with clerical staff, scheduling meeting dates with all appropriate team
members, notifying team members, school personnel and parents of all
meetings during the course of the evaluation, circulating the report for
corrections/revisions after a determination of eligibility has been made and,
finally, disseminating the evaluation report when completed to parents and
appropriate school personnel.
Case coordinators are assigned on a case by case basis. It is the
responsibility of the case coordinator to ensure that all appropriate evaluation
procedures for the suspected disability are conducted in accordance with the
State of Louisiana Pupil Appraisal Handbook.


Referrals for an initial evaluation of a home-schooled student can be
made by contacting the Child Search Coordinator.

Upon receipt of the referral by Pupil Appraisal for an initial evaluation, the
case manager insures that the following activities occur within ten (10)
business days.

1. An interview with the teacher of enrolled students to clarify referral
    concerns.
2. An interview with the parent (or other referral source) for students not
    enrolled in school to clarify referral concerns.
3. The student’s parents are notified of the initial evaluation concerns and the
    type of evaluation to be conducted (Initial Evaluation Letter of Parent
    Notification/Consent form) and, upon request, are provided advanced
    notice of the dates and places of assessments.
4. A copy of Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Children with Exceptionalities in
    Public Schools, Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Gifted/Talented Children
    in Public Schools or Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Students with
    Exceptionalities Placed by Their Parents in Private Schools is provided to
    the parent along with the Initial Evaluation Letter of Parent
    Notification/Consent form.
4. Informed parent consent is requested to conduct the individual evaluation
    (Permission for Initial Evaluation form).
5. Referral to other agencies for screening/assessment/evaluation services
    when warranted.


Obtaining Parental Consent

It is the responsibility of the case manager to send the Initial Evaluation
Letter of Parent Notification/Consent along with the appropriate Rights
Booklet within 10 days of the receipt of the referral. The case manager
schedules an appointment with this letter to meet with the parent and obtain
written, informed consent for the evaluation. Parent is defined in the
Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Children with Exceptionalities in Public
Schools booklet as “a natural or adoptive parent of a child; a guardian but
not the State if the child is a ward of the State; a person acting in the place
of a parent of a student (such as a grandparent or stepparent with whom the
child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child’s welfare); or a
surrogate parent who has been appointed. NOTE: A foster parent may qualify
as a parent when the natural parent’s authority to make educational
decisions on the child’s behalf has been extinguished under State Law; and
the foster parent has an ongoing, long-term parental relationship with the
child; the foster parent is willing to make the educational decisions required
of parents; and has no interest that would conflict with the interests of the
child.”

If the parent does not keep the scheduled appointment, the case manager
should make other efforts to contact the parent including phone calls,
additional appointment letters, contact through the referring teacher or
school principal or the Child Welfare and Attendance Officer if deemed
necessary. Every reasonable effort should be made to assure that parents
have an opportunity to discuss concerns, have rights explained to them and
have the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding an evaluation
for their child. If all attempts to contact the parent have been exhausted, the
case manager should send a final letter of notification by Certified – Return
Receipt Requested mail. Documentation of all attempts to contact the parent
should be maintained in the student’s yellow tracking folder.

If the parent declines permission for evaluation, the parent’s signature
should be obtained on the Permission for Initial Evaluation form documenting
their refusal. If the parent declines permission for an evaluation verbally, a
documentation of that decision will be made by the case manager and will be
placed in the student’s folder. A copy will also be disseminated to the parent.
The referral folder should then be placed on the Log In shelf in the Special
Education office so that an inactive office file on the student may be created.
The yellow tracking folder with a copy of the referral packet and the signed
Permission for Initial Evaluation letter or other documentation declining the
evaluation should be placed in the student’s cumulative folder at the school.


Processing an Initial Evaluation

Once parental permission has been obtained, the case manager completes
section 4 of the yellow tracking folder. The activity dates in section 4 must be
within 10 days of the SBLC/SAT decision date. The case manager then
calculates timelines and completes and attaches an Initial Checklist to the
front of the yellow folder. The folder is then sent to the Pupil Appraisal office
for processing by the SER operator.

Once the case manager has received the referral folder back from the
secretarial staff, the case manager conferences with the case coordinator to
determine which team members should be included in the evaluation and
chooses an Eligibility Determination meeting date at least two weeks prior to
the evaluation due date. In choosing this date, the case manager must
consult the online Interactive Calendar at http://my.calendars.net/tpsped
and log in the date of staffing when OTs, PTs, ATs, school nurses, APE
teachers and Speech/Language Diagnosticians are team members to prevent
double booking of any team member. The case manager then completes an
Assignment Sheet for all team members and disseminates it to each member
of the evaluation team including the referring teacher. Appropriate medical
and screening forms should be attached to the Assignment Sheet when
school nurses, OTs, PTs, APE teachers, ATs and Speech and Language
Diagnosticians and/or Speech Pathologists are team members. Eligibility
Determination meeting dates should be planned for Fridays when these team
members are involved in an evaluation.


Eligibility Determination

At least three weeks prior to the Eligibility Determination meeting date, the
case manager completes the Parental Notification of Staffing form giving the
date, time and location of the staffing conference and mails it to the parent.
The case manager is also responsible for ensuring that all evaluation
participants, including the teacher and parent, are provided notice and
encouraged to attend the eligibility determination meeting. At the meeting,
the case manager is responsible for facilitating the meeting as evaluation
participants present their information. At the conclusion of the meeting, the
case manager insures that all participants sign the Determination of
Eligibility/Opportunity for Oral Explanation Evaluation Interpretation Form.


Evaluation Dissemination

Following the Determination of Eligibility meeting, the case manager insures
that all team members submit their written reports to the team member in
charge of integrating the report. Once the report has been integrated and
printed, it is the responsibility of the case manager to disseminate the report
to all team members for proofing and corrections. Once the report has been
proofed, it is placed on the Corrections shelf in the secretarial office for
corrections, logging on SER and copying. The folder is then returned to the
case manager who attaches the parent’s copy of the Determination of
Eligibility/Opportunity for Oral Explanation Evaluation Interpretation Form to
a copy of the evaluation report and mails it to the parent. The case manager
then completes a Special Education IEP Assignment Sheet to the yellow
tracking folder, completing sections E., F. and G. on that folder, encloses the
school’s copy of the report and delivers it to the lead teacher or other
principal designee at the student’s school. The case manager also gives a
copy of the report with an attached Special Education IEP Assignment Sheet
to the designated IEP facilitator. The case manager then places the office file
on the Close Out shelf in the Special Education office for filing.

Private/Parochial/ Home-school initial evaluation IEPs will be
conducted at the public school the student would attend if enrolled in
public school. The teacher who will be conducting the IEP must invite
all IEP committee members needed including the IEP Facilitator and
personnel from the Private/Parochial/Home-school setting.
Cases Closed - Inability to Complete

Any evaluation that is in process in which the student moves out of parish or
a parent withdraws permission to continue the evaluation, the evaluation is
closed as Inability to Complete. The case manager should complete section
4H on the yellow tracking folder giving the date and an explanation of the
reason the evaluation cannot be completed along with a brief summary of the
evaluation procedures which have been completed. The case file should be
given to the clerical staff so that the referral can be terminated on SER and
an inactive office file made. The yellow tracking folder with copies of referral
information and summary of procedures completed should be placed in the
student’s cumulative folder at the school.
                      INITIAL EVALULATION FORMS


The evaluation referral packet should include the following forms:
   Yellow tracking folder
   SBLC Parent Notice to Discuss Concerns
   Initial referral to SBLC form
   Tangipahoa Parish School System Referral to School Building Level
     Committee packet (pages 1-5)
   School Level Sensory Screening Form
   SAT/SBLC Action Plan Summary Report (in target schools)

If the student is also being referred for speech concerns, the packet
    should include:
     Speech/Language Screening (pages 1-2)
     Teacher concerns for Speech/Language
     Speech/Language Referral Packet

If the student exhibits gross motor deficits, the packet should
    include the following forms:
     Physical Therapy Gross Motor Observational Checklist
     Pupil Appraisal Services Adapted Physical Education Screening Form (if
       the student has difficulty participating in regular physical education
       classes)

If the student exhibits fine motor deficits, the packet should include
    the following form:
     Occupational Therapy Fine Motor and Handwriting Concerns Checklist

If the student is suspected to be in need of assistive technology, the
    referral packet should include the following form:
     Tangipahoa Parish Assistive Technology Referral Form

                         CASE MANAGEMENT FORMS

      Initial Evaluation Letter of Parent Notification/Consent
      Permission for Initial Evaluation
      Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Children With Exceptionalities In
       Public Schools
      Louisiana’s Educational Rights of Children With Exceptionalities Placed
       by Their Parents in Private Schools
      Initial Checklist
      Parental Notification of Staffing
      Determination of Eligibility/Opportunity For Oral Explanation Evaluation
       Interpretation Form
      Proofing Form
      IEP Assignment Sheet