Annotated Evaluation Report

ANNOTATED EVALUATION REPORT

EVALUATION REPORT (ER) Format

**********************************************************School Age

[ ] Initial Referral (Complete all following components excluding Reevaluation Only section)

[ ] Reevaluation (Complete Demographic component, Reason for Referral and Reevaluation Only sections first. Complete all other components only if additional data is determined as needed under the Reevaluation component.)

Demographics

Student Name: Date Of Report:

School District:

School:

Student Birth Date: Grade:

Current Educational Program:

Other Demographic Data, As Needed:

Annotation: Demographics

School districts are to include the demographic information listed above. Districts may include additional information that they find useful.

Reason(s) For Referral:

Annotation: Reason for Referral

The purpose of the evaluation is to determine: 1) if the child has a disability and 2) if the child needs specially designed instruction.

Information should be provided as to who initiated the referral (e.g., teacher, parent), and for what reasons. The evaluation team must articulate the referral questions that was used to design an individualized evaluation. The more precisely the questions are posed; the more accurately the body of the Evaluation Report(ER) will address the questions.

The IEP team must consider the following special factors before developing the IEP: visual impairment; hearing impairment; behaviors that impede learning or that of others; limited English proficiency; communication needs; assistive technology devices and/or services; and transition services. The information needed to make the special determinations should be collected during the evaluation, and could be addressed in the Reasons for Referral.

EDUCATIONAL LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE AND EDUCATIONAL NEEDS OF THE CHILD:

Annotation: Educational Levels of Performance and Educational Needs of the Child

This section includes the student’s:

current functioning
strengths
progress in the general curriculum
response to the instructional program, and
results of the instructional evaluation.

The extent to which the student displays difficulties that cannot be adequately met in a regular education program should also be identified in this section. Areas in which the student performs well in the regular education program should be articulated, as well as the student’s instructional or functioning level in comparison to the expectations of the regular class program.

All assessments conducted should be reported, including the psychological evaluation, instructional or ecological evaluations, vocational evaluations, observations, functional behavioral assessments, teacher and parent reports, and the evaluations of other specialists (e.g., speech and language, OT, PT, etc.). The most effective procedure for writing this section is to address thematically the questions posed in the referral. This practice is preferred to a style of reporting results by assessment procedure (i.e., test by test) or even by assessment personnel. Working in this manner, all results should be reported including academic performance, vocational skills, cognitive abilities, developmental levels, emotional and behavioral status, preferences, interests, special abilities, physical/motor functioning. Organizing the findings into themes will facilitate the evaluation team in addressing final conclusions and recommendations.

The ER should list the student's relative strengths in academic, vocational, and emotional/behavioral areas, when applicable. The student's preferences and interests must be addressed if the student is aged 16 or older for transition planning purposes, or if the IEP team determines that transition planning should be done for a student younger than age 16. Addressing the student's strengths is particularly useful in designing effective instructional strategies.

EVALUATION DATA RESULTS OF DIRECT INTERVENTION -The team will include information on the following areas that impact the student’s ability to access the general curriculum:

· Physical, social or cultural background information relevant to the child’s disability and need for special education.

Annotation: Physical, Social or Cultural Background Information

This section should include information about the student's physical, social or cultural background, and other aspects of the student's life that impact on the student’s current educational status. Historical information that has no relevance to the recommendations regarding eligibility or programming should not be included.

Current classroom based assessments and observations by teachers and related service providers.

Annotation: Current Classroom Based Observations

The purpose of the observation is to produce data useful in answering the referral questions. The observations should be planned with this outcome in mind.

This section includes information from observations in instructional settings, in or outside the classroom, which may be related to the student's strengths, needs, and areas for specially designed instruction. Observational information is as important as testing information if the observation documents specific skills that the student is capable of performing, or specific skills that the student needs. Observations need to be structured and occur when the student is engaged. Observations may also include more than one subject or class, and determine task comprehension, task completion, time spent on task, classroom environment and level of peer interaction.

In addition, this section includes results of the assessment of the student’s functioning in the curriculum, including curriculum-based or performance-based assessments. For students with behavioral concerns, this may include a systematic observation of the student’s behavior in the classroom or area in which the student is displaying difficulty. This information should be databased information related to the child’s suspected disability or identified disability. The information should be as comprehensive as possible across varied settings with the identification of as many variables of learning as possible. For example: Does the student demonstrate inappropriate behaviors only in those instructional areas where there are discrepancies, or are they demonstrated across all areas regardless of level of competency in the area? Does the student demonstrate partial competency in areas of academic discrepancies resulting from fragmented acquisition of skills (some phonological awareness, but no alphabetic principle)?

This section should report a description of direct interventions that may have been implemented in the regular classroom, as well as the outcomes of the interventions.

For all students, current classroom-based assessments and observations, and observations by teachers and related services providers must be conducted. For a student who is suspected of having a specific learning disability, regulations also require that at least one team member other than the child’s regular teacher observe the child’s academic performance in the regular classroom. Any member of the evaluation team may conduct this observation.

EVALUATIONS AND INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE PARENTS OF THE CHILD:

Annotation: Evaluation and Information Provided by the Parents

Input from the parents should relate to, and offer information that would be helpful in answering, the referral questions.

An important part of the ER is the input that has been provided by (not about) the parents or persons with whom the student lives, as well as the results of any independent educational evaluations that have been completed. The extent to which observed school performance is or is not demonstrated in the home or community has diagnostic significance. This is especially pertinent to the evaluation of the student's adaptive behavior. Similarly, the parents' information may lead to improved ideas about effective instructional and behavioral strategies. Information from the parents should be clearly indicated in the ER, with phrases such as "as reported by the parents...” If unable to get input from the parents, describe attempts made to obtain the information.

IF AN ASSESSMENT IS NOT CONDUCTED UNDER STANDARD CONDITIONS, DESCRIBE THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT VARIED FROM STANDARD CONDITIONS:

Annotation: Assessment Not Conducted Under Standard Conditions

Describe non-standard conditions that existed as part of the assessment. Otherwise, make the statement that the evaluation was conducted under standard conditions.

If an assessment is not conducted under standard conditions, a description of the extent to which it varied from standard conditions must be included. Such deviations might include the qualifications of the person administering the test or the method of test administration. Were tests selected appropriately and properly validated for the student? Were sub-sections of the test given instead of the full assessment? Was the student ill?

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS/INTERPRETATION OF ASSESSMENT RESULTS:

Aptitude and achievement levels.
Involvement in and progress in the general education curriculum.
Relevant functional and developmental evaluation (ecological evaluation, if appropriate).
Vocational Technical Education Assessment Results (when appropriate).
Interests, Preferences, Aptitudes (when appropriate).
Functional Behavioral Assessment Results (if appropriate).

Annotation: Summary of Findings/Interpretation of Assessment Results

This section is an analysis of the data collected, thus far, in the evaluation process for the student. In this section, the rationale for the determination of eligibility is explained. The evaluation team answers the referral questions posed at the beginning of the evaluation process. The summary and interpretations should focus on answering these questions.

For a child suspected of having a specific learning disability, the documentation of the team’s determination of eligibility must include a statement of: 1) whether the child has a specific learning disability; 2) the basis for making the determination; 3) the relevant behavior noted during the observation of the child; 4) the relationship of that behavior to the child’s academic functioning; 5) the educationally relevant medical findings, if any; 6) whether there is a severe discrepancy between achievement and ability that is not correctable without special education and related services; and 7) the determination of the team concerning the effects of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Annotation: For a Child Suspected of Having a Specific Learning Disability

These seven statements must be documented ONLY for students thought to have a specific learning disability.

The evaluation team, in determining that a student has a specific learning disability, must document its determination by including statements that address the issues above. In its documentation, the team may want to identify the specific area in which the disability exists (i.e., oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, or mathematical reasoning).

A team may determine that a child has a specific learning disability if:

1)The child does not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels in one or more of the areas which follow, if provided with learning experiences appropriate for the child’s age and ability levels: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, and mathematical reasoning; and

2)The child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in one or more of the areas listed above.

The team may not identify a child as having a specific learning disability if the severe discrepancy between ability and achievement is primarily the result of a visual, hearing, or motor impairment; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

CONCLUSIONS

_____ Student is a child with a disability. Disability category: ______

(If appropriate) Secondary Disability category: ______

_____ Student is in need of specially designed instruction

Annotation: Conclusion That the Student is a Child With a Disability

If the evaluation team concludes that the student meets the two-pronged criteria as a child with a disability, the disability and, when appropriate, the secondary disability, are noted, as well as the need for specially designed instruction.

A child with a disability (§300.7) is a student with mental retardation, a hearing impairment including deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness or multiple disability and needs special education and related services.

If no “secondary disability” has been identified, write “None” in the space.

Recommendations regarding special education and related services needed to enable the child to meet goals and to participate as appropriate in the general curriculum:

______

Annotation: Recommendation Regarding Special Education

Special education is recommended when the specialized instruction and related services as available through special education, (e.g. accommodations) are necessary to provide the student with FAPE. In this section, describe the types of special education and related services recommended for the student.

OR

______Student is not a child with a disability, or is a child with a disability but does

not need specially designed instruction.

Annotation: Conclusion That the Student is Not a Child with a Disability

If the evaluation team concludes that the student does not meet the two-pronged criteria as a child with a disability, this conclusion is checked.

COMPLETE FOR REEVALUATIONS ONLY:

DATE IEP TEAM* REVIEWED EXISTING EVALUATION DATA: ______

Annotation: Date IEP Team* Reviewed Existing Evaluation Data

The date requested in this section would be either the date on which the IEP team met to review data, or the date on which team members completed their individual reviews of the child’s existing evaluation data.

The asterisk refers to the Chapter 14 requirement that as part of any reevaluation, the IEP team (including the school psychologist when evaluating a child with autism, emotional disturbance, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, other heath impairment, specific learning disability and traumatic brain injury) must review existing evaluation data, including data provided by the parents, and where appropriate, data from evaluations conducted by other agencies.

The IEP team, including the school psychologist for certain disabilities, may conduct its review without a meeting. (There is no requirement for a meeting at any point in the evaluation or reevaluation process.) They may choose to have each team member individually review the child’s existing evaluation data, including portfolios, work samples, etc. or they may have met as a team to review the data. Indicate the date the last team member reviewed the evaluation data.

INFORMATION REVIEWED:

Existing evaluation data
Evaluations and information provided by the parents
Current classroom based assessments and observations
Observations by teachers and service providers
Whether any additions or modifications to the special education and related services are needed to enable the child to meet the measurable annual goals in the IEP and to participate as appropriate in the general curriculum

*IEP Team must include a school psychologist when evaluating a child with Autism, Emotional Disturbance, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Annotation: Information Reviewed

Existing evaluation data includes evaluations and information provided by the parents, current classroom-based assessments and observations, and observations by teachers and related services providers. On the basis of that review and input from the parents, this team identifies: what additional data, if any are needed to determine whether the child has a particular category of disability or, in the case of a reevaluation, whether the child continues to have such a disability; the present levels of performance and educational needs of the child; whether the child needs special education and related services, or in the case of a reevaluation, whether the child continues to need special education and related services; and whether any additions or modifications to the special education and related services are needed to enable the child to meet the measurable annual goals in the IEP and to participate, as appropriate, in the general curriculum.

In addition, for students age 14 years and older, and for those students determined by the IEP team to be eligible for transition services, the team needs to consider if additional evaluation data are needed to develop course of study, post-school outcomes, needed transition services, etc. Data that might be collected include student interest inventories, career education information, formal and informal pre-vocational and vocational assessments, and observation of work-based learning. Since some of these surveys/assessments are routinely given to all students, the collection of such data may not require reevaluation.

Whether additional data are needed as part of a reevaluation must be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the needs of the child and the information available regarding the child.