Current through September 18, 2024
Authority: IC 20-19-2-8; IC 20-19-2-16
Affected: IC 20-19-2; IC 20-35
Sec. 4.
(a) Either a
parent of a student or a public agency may initiate a request for an
educational evaluation to determine if a student is eligible for special
education and related services under this article. If a parent makes a request
for an evaluation after revoking consent for special education and related
services in accordance with
511
IAC 7-42-15, the public agency must treat the parent's
request for evaluation as a request for an initial evaluation, and the
evaluation must be conducted in accordance with this section.
(b) If a student is suspected of having a
specific learning disability because the student has not made adequate progress
after an appropriate period of time when provided with appropriate instruction
described in
511 IAC
7-41-12(a)(3)(G), the public agency
must initiate a request for an educational evaluation.
(c) If a request is made to conduct an
educational evaluation, the public agency must, before conducting the
evaluation, do the following:
(1) Provide the
parent of the student with written notice as specified in subsection
(e).
(2) Obtain parental consent as
defined in
511 IAC
7-32-17.
(d) A parent's request for an evaluation must
be made to licensed personnel, which is defined in
511 IAC
7-32-58 to mean persons employed by the public agency
who are:
(1) teachers;
(2) school counselors;
(3) school psychologists;
(4) school social workers;
(5) building principals; and
(6) other administrators.
A parent's request for an evaluation may be made verbally or
in writing. After a parent makes a request, the public agency has ten (10)
instructional days to provide the parent with written notice as specified in
subsection (e).
(e) Written notice provided to the parent
regarding an educational evaluation must include the following:
(1) A statement that the public agency is
proposing or refusing to conduct the educational evaluation that includes a
description of each:
(A) evaluation
procedure;
(B)
assessment;
(C) record;
or
(D) report;
the public agency used as a basis for proposing or refusing
to conduct the educational evaluation.
(2) A description of other factors relevant
to the public agency's proposal or refusal to conduct the educational
evaluation.
(3) If the public
agency:
(A) is proposing to conduct the
educational evaluation, a description of any evaluation procedures the agency
proposes to conduct; or
(B) refuses
to conduct the educational evaluation, an explanation of the parent's right to
contest the agency's decision by requesting:
(i) mediation in
511 IAC 7-45-2;
or
(ii) a due process hearing in
511 IAC
7-45-3.
(4) If a public agency is proposing to
conduct an educational evaluation, the following:
(A) The timeline for conducting the
educational evaluation and convening the CCC meeting.
(B) An explanation of how to request one (1)
or both of the following:
(i) A copy of the
educational evaluation report, at no cost to the parent, prior to the CCC
meeting.
(ii) A meeting with an
individual who can explain the results of the educational evaluation prior to
the CCC meeting.
(5) A statement that a parent of a student
with a disability has protection under the procedural safeguards described in
511 IAC
7-37-1. A copy of the notice of procedural safeguards
must be provided to the parent with the written notice described in this
section.
(6) A list of sources for
parents to contact to obtain assistance with understanding the provisions of
this article.
(f) The
written notice required under subsection (e) must be as follows:
(1) Written in language understandable to the
general public.
(2) Provided in the
native language of the parent or other mode of communication used by the
parent, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so. If the native language or
other mode of communication of the parent is not a written language, the public
agency must take steps to ensure that:
(A)
the notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent in his or her
native language or other mode of communication;
(B) the parent understands the content of the
notice; and
(C) there is written
evidence that the requirements in clauses (A) and (B) have been met.
(g) A parent may
challenge the public agency's refusal to conduct an initial evaluation by
requesting:
(1) mediation in
511 IAC 7-45-2;
or
(2) a due process hearing in
511 IAC
7-45-3.
(h) After receiving the written notice
described in subsections (e) and (f), the parent of the student must provide
consent, as defined in
511 IAC
7-32-17, to licensed personnel before the public
agency can conduct the initial educational evaluation. The parent may also, at
the same time the parent provides consent for the educational evaluation,
request one (1) or both of the following:
(1)
A copy of the educational evaluation report, at no cost to the parent, prior to
the CCC meeting.
(2) A meeting with
an individual who can explain the results of the educational evaluation prior
to the CCC meeting.
(i)
Parental consent is not required for the following:
(1) To review existing data as part of an
educational evaluation.
(2) To
administer a test or other evaluation that is administered to all students
unless, before administration of the test or evaluation, consent is required
from parents of all students.
(3)
To screen students if a teacher or a specialist is using the information to
determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum
implementation.
(4) To collect
progress monitoring data when a student participates in a process that assesses
the student's response to scientific, research based interventions as described
in section 2 of this rule.
(j) The public agency must make reasonable
efforts to obtain parental consent, as defined in
511 IAC
7-32-17, for the initial educational evaluation. To
document reasonable efforts, the public agency must keep a record of its
attempts to obtain parental consent, including the following:
(1) Detailed records of:
(A) telephone calls made or attempted;
and
(B) the results of the
calls.
(2) Copies of:
(A) correspondence sent to the parent;
and
(B) any responses
received.
(3) Detailed
records of:
(A) visits made to the parent's
home or place of employment; and
(B) the results of those visits.
(k) Parental consent
for an initial educational evaluation must not be construed as consent for
initial provision of special education and related services.
(l) For initial educational evaluations only,
if the student is a ward of the state and is not residing with the student's
parent, the public agency is not required to obtain consent as defined in
511 IAC
7-32-17, from the parent for an initial evaluation to
determine whether the student is a student with a disability if:
(1) despite reasonable efforts to do so, the
public agency cannot discover the whereabouts of the parent of the
student;
(2) the rights of the
parents of the student have been terminated in accordance with state law;
or
(3) the rights of the parent to
make educational decisions have been subrogated by a judge in accordance with
state law and consent for an initial evaluation has been given by an individual
appointed by the judge to represent the student.
(m) If the parent of a student enrolled in
public school or seeking to be enrolled in public school does not provide
consent for an initial educational evaluation under subsection (i), or the
parent fails to respond to a request to provide consent, the public agency may,
but is not required to, pursue the initial educational evaluation of the
student by:
(1) utilizing mediation in
511 IAC 7-45-2;
or
(2) requesting a due process
hearing in
511 IAC
7-45-3.
The public agency does not violate its obligations under this
rule if it declines to pursue the educational evaluation.
(n) If a parent of a student who
is parentally-placed in a nonpublic school, including a home school, does not
provide consent for the initial evaluation or the reevaluation, or the parent
fails to respond to a public agency's efforts to obtain consent, the public
agency:
(1) may not pursue the initial
educational evaluation of the student by:
(A)
utilizing mediation in
511 IAC 7-45-2;
or
(B) requesting a due process
hearing in
511 IAC
7-45-3; and
(2) is not required to consider the student
as eligible for special education and related services under 511 IAC 7-34.
