| When and for what purposes can parents/caregivers ask for testing from their child's school district? |
- Parents have a legal right to request and obtain an evaluation of their child's learning skills and needs from their child's home school district. This evaluation is available for the asking. The parents do not need to justify the request, other than indicating that they are concerned about their child's learning.
|
| Can a school decline the request for testing? |
- Schools have a legal right to refuse to conduct an evaluation, but they must respond to the parents' request and furnish data to show that the testing is not needed.
|
| What is the best way to decide whether or not to test? |
- Testing is more fruitful if it is requested because of a learning or classroom participation problem, and if it answers specific questions.
- Evidence to support a learning or classroom participation problem can be gathered by:
- Reviewing the child's report card.
- Any student who is "not yet meeting the standards" or "not progressing towards the standards" is a student at risk, especially if the report card is from the second term of the school year or later.
- Asking the teacher to complete a Teacher Vanderbilt Rating Scale.
- Asking the teacher to complete the "Teacher Questionnaire" or "School Questionnaire" produced by a local developmental-behavioral pediatrics or neuropsychology clinic. Such a form may include a teacher's narrative and a summary of academic and behavioral performance as being at or below grade level. A completed form can help the primary care clinician identify learning concerns and can prepare the family for referral to specialist care if needed.
- This form includes the Teacher Vanderbilt Rating Scale, a teacher's narrative, and a summary of academic and behavioral performance as being at or below grade level. Teacher forms produced by a local developmental-behavioral pediatrics clinic may be equally useful.
- After the information is gathered, if the student is not performing successfully, you and the family can decide how to make a referral for testing.
|
| How is the evaluation requested? |
- The evaluation is requested in writing. It should outline the reasons for the testing. The request can be sent to the school principal or to the special education office in the school district.
- You can create a templated letter that includes check boxes for various types of evaluation requested.
- Most children need:
- Psychologic (IQ) testing to obtain a measure of overall intelligence.
- Educational testing for reading, writing, and math.
- Speech/language testing.
- Additional testing may include:
- Behavioral rating scales for children with emotional and behavioral disturbances.
- Occupational therapy for children with subtle motor impairments or problems with handwriting or seating.
- Physical therapy testing for children with an established motor impairment of any kind.
- Adaptive behavior rating scales to assess the child's ability to learn from natural learning opportunities outside of the classroom setting.
- The letter should be signed by both the primary care provider and the child's parents. Parents can write their own letter or sign the provider's templated letter, but the signature of the primary care provider lends greater weight to the request.
|
| What happens after the request? |
- Schools have a certain number of days to respond to a request for testing (different states have different timeframes). They are more likely to follow this procedural safeguard if the request was made in writing.
- The school can decline the request for testing provided that they furnish data to show that testing is not warranted. In this case, the family may request additional guidance from the primary care provider.
- The school may agree to do the testing as requested or may propose more or less testing. The family may request additional guidance if the school proposes more or less testing than requested.
- Once the parents have accepted the proposal, they need to sign it for the evaluation to proceed. In general, the evaluation must be completed within 60 calendar days of signed parent permission. There is some variation between states about how the timeline is calculated, but it should occur within this timeframe. The parents/caregivers should ask when the evaluation will be performed and identify the date set by the school to review the results.
- After the evaluation, the school team meets with the family to review test results and discuss their proposal to address the child's learning problems (eg, IEP accommodation plan).
|
| Does the family need to accept the school's decision? |
- The family can disagree with the school's decision to either propose or not propose services. If possible, the family should try to resolve their differences by communicating with the school team directly. If they are unsuccessful, the legal process for disagreeing is mediated through the state board of education or the State Office of Special Education.
- The family's options depend upon the school's proposal:
- School proposes an IEP. The family has 30 days to consider the IEP, during which time they may ask the primary care provider, developmental-behavioral pediatrician, neuropsychologist, or educational advocate to review it to see whether the educational goals and objective make sense for the student (eg, whether they correspond to the child's impairments). Options include:
- Accept the IEP; services will start immediately.
- Partially accept/partially reject (ie, accept the IEP as written but stipulate modifications that they feel are necessary); accepted services can begin pending a decision about the stipulations.
- Reject the IEP; the State Office of Special Education will automatically be involved; no services will be initiated until the family accepts or partially accepts the IEP. If the child is already receiving services through an IEP, the existing IEP will continue until the school and family come to an agreement about the new IEP.
- School proposes an accommodation plan. Options include:
- Accept the accommodation plan; services will start immediately.
- Reject the accommodation plan.
- School determines that the child is not eligible for services. Options include:
- Accept the decision; no services will be initiated; the child's progress is monitored through general education and the need for reevaluation assessed.
- Reject the decision; the family can discuss the decision with the school, seek a second opinion, and/or consider mediation.
|
| Who can help primary care providers address school-related issues? |
- Depending on their concerns, families can be referred:
- For a developmental-behavioral pediatrics evaluation.
- To a neuropsychologist.
- To an educational advocate.
|
