Bering Strait School District

Special Education Referral Process

Special Education services are not intended to be a dumping ground for every student who is having trouble in school. They are intended to make available additional resources for students who have a handicapping condition that takes more than the resources available in the regular classroom.

The resources for a student with a handicapping condition may be delivered in a place outside the regular classroom with a special education teacher. The special education teacher may provide services in or out of the regular classroom. Or it is possible that the regular classroom teacher may provide the service as part of his/her regular classroom instruction.

Special education services are expensive and may also be restrictive, so it is important that we refer and place students who truly need the services of special education. Once a classroom teacher has identified that a student in the classroom has some problems they should become very specific as to the problem. A discussion should take place between staff members and the principal whether a student should be referred to special education.

The process that is used in this district follows:

1.  A teacher, parent, or other concerned party identifies a concern(s) which he/she believes in interfering with a student’s learning potential; e.g., academic delays, processing deficits, communication difficulties, behavioral concerns, etc. Those concerns are conveyed to the classroom teacher, and discussed with the parent and the principal by the teacher.

2.  The teacher reviews the cumulative record of the student and checks with the student’s previous teacher(s).

3.  Request a vision and hearing screening if one has not been done within the last calendar year.

4.  The teacher attempts various instructional strategies or program adaptations to accommodate the student’s individual needs (talk/email with other staff who might be able to suggest different strategies, modifications or accommodations to try, special education teachers have various resource manuals that they may part with).

5.  The teacher records all strategies or interventions attempted.

6.  If classroom accommodations and/or instructional adaptations have not provided a satisfactory solution for the problem, the classroom teacher refers the student to the Solutions Team.

7.  The Solutions Team checks classroom teacher’s referral for:

  1. Parent notified?
  2. Appropriate for case discussion?
  3. Enough level one intervention done?

8.  Case Discussion is held and an Intervention Plan is put into place

9.  The Intervention Plan is reviewed on a 2-week basis and adjusted, if necessary. If after several weeks of documented interventions, data does not indicate significant success, the Solutions Team makes a recommendation to refer the student for a special education evaluation.

  1. Solutions Team reviews all academic data on a monthly basis during Prevention Planning meetings. If academic data reveals a concern, the Solutions Team will refer to themselves, starting with level one interventions (teacher level).
  1. Any student identified as Special Ed will be treated as a “subgroup” by the Solutions Team regardless of the number of students in this group. On a quarterly basis the progress of these students will be evaluated by the Solutions Team referring to the IEP goals when necessary.
  1. The Solution Team complete the sped referral form.
  2. The Solution Team documentation of interventions will complete all sections of this form already, except for screening and testing information; parents complete a questionnaire regarding his/her concerns.
  3. The referral is given to the special education teacher, and a copy to special ed coordinator

10.  The special education teacher will:

  1. Have the classroom teacher and Solutions Team submit any data that is needed, i.e., behavior logs, samples of work, attempted strategies and interventions, Terra-Nova and SBA scores, SRI scores, etc.
  1. A Prior Written Notice (PWN) is given to the parents by the special education teacher indicating a referral for special education services has been completed. The parents are also given a copy of their rights.
  1. A Consent for Evaluation form is given to parents by the special education teacher for their signature.

i.  No special education assessment can begin before the signed parent permission form is returned.

  1. A copy of the Consent for Evaluation and the Referral form are faxed to the Special Education office, so that the district office can assist in keeping track of the 45 school-day timeline required from Parent Consent for Evaluation to placement in special education services.
  1. The special education teacher does individual academic testing and classroom observations.
  1. The special education teacher will coordinate with the Special Education Coordinator and make sure the appropriate itinerant staff (School Psychologist and/or Speech Pathologist and/or Physical Therapist and/or Occupational Therapist) are scheduled to be on site to evaluate referred students.

11.  Evaluation Summary and Eligibility Determination meeting held to determine if special education services are needed. Parents, student (if 14 or over), principal, and classroom teacher need to be in attendance.

12.  Consent for Placement – If it is determined that the student is eligible for special education services, a signed parental consent must be obtained before any special education services can be initiated.

13.  IEP meeting – Classroom teacher, principal, special education teacher, and parents and student (if 14 or older) need to be in attendance.