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. 5.
(a) After a
parent has provided consent, as defined in
511 IAC 7-32-17, for an initial
educational evaluation, the public agency must conduct a comprehensive and
individual educational evaluation in accordance with the requirements of this
rule and 511 IAC 7-41. The educational
evaluation must be conducted by a multidisciplinary team that prepares an
educational evaluation report addressing the necessary components of evaluation
specific to each suspected disability set forth in
511 IAC 7-41. The report is
utilized:
(1) by the student's CCC to
determine eligibility for special education and related services; and
(2) if a student is found to be eligible, to
inform the student's CCC of the student's special education and related service
needs.
(b) The
educational evaluation must be conducted by a multidisciplinary team, which is
a group of qualified professionals who conduct a student's educational
evaluation with input from the student's parent. The qualified professionals
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) At least one (1) teacher licensed in, or
other specialist with knowledge in, the area of suspected disability.
(2) A school psychologist, except for a
student with a suspected:
(A) developmental
delay, in which case the multidisciplinary team shall be at least two (2)
qualified professionals from different disciplines based upon the needs of the
student;
(B) language impairment, a
speech-language pathologist and at least one (1) qualified professional from a
different discipline based upon the needs of the student; or
(C) speech impairment only, a speech-language
pathologist may serve as the sole qualified professional on the
multidisciplinary team.
(3) For a student with a suspected specific
learning disability, the following:
(A) The
student's general education teacher or, if the student does not have a general
education teacher, a general education teacher qualified to teach students of
the same age.
(B) For early
childhood students, an individual who holds an appropriate license to teach
early childhood special education.
(4) For a student who:
(A) is blind or has low vision;
(B) is deaf or hard of hearing; or
(C) has suspected multiple disabilities;
the public agency may request that representatives of the
state operated schools serve as part of the multidisciplinary team only if the
parent has provided written consent, in addition to the written consent to
conduct the initial educational evaluation, for the representative's
participation in the educational evaluation.
(c) As part of the educational
evaluation, the multidisciplinary team must, with or without a meeting, do the
following:
(1) Review existing evaluation
data on the student, including the following:
(A) Evaluations and information provided by
the parents of the student.
(B)
Current classroom, local, and state assessments.
(C) Classroom based observations and
observations by teachers and related services providers.
(2) On the basis of that review, and input
from the student's parents, identify the following:
(A) The suspected disability or
disabilities.
(B) Any additional
data, as described in
511 IAC 7-41, that is required
for the student's CCC to determine:
(i)
eligibility for special education; and
(ii) the special education and related
service needs of the student.
(3) Obtain information for the CCC to use in
making determinations under section 6(b)(1) of this rule.
(d) The initial educational evaluation must
be conducted and the CCC convened within fifty (50) instructional days of the
date the written parental consent is received by licensed personnel in
accordance with section 4(h) of this rule. The time frame does not apply in the
following situations:
(1) When a child is
transitioning from early intervention (Part C) to early childhood special
education (Part B), in which case the evaluation must be completed and the CCC
convened to ensure that the child receives special education services by his or
her third birthday.
(2) When the
parent of a student repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for the
evaluation.
(3) When a student
enrolls in a school of another public agency after the relevant time frame in
subsection (a) has begun, and prior to completion of the evaluation, if the:
(A) subsequent public agency is making
sufficient progress to ensure a prompt completion of the evaluation;
and
(B) parent and subsequent
public agency agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be
completed.
(e)
After an educational evaluation has been completed, the multidisciplinary team
must compile the findings of the multidisciplinary team into an educational
evaluation report.
(f) For a
student with the suspected disability of autism spectrum disorder, the
educational evaluation report must include the results of the multidisciplinary
team's assessments, observations, and collection of information as aligned to
the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder.
(g) For a student with a suspected learning
disability, the educational evaluation report must include the following:
(1) For a student who has participated in a
process that assesses the student's response to scientific, research based
interventions:
(A) documentation of previous
parent notification about:
(i) the:
(AA) amount and nature of the student
performance data that would be collected; and
(BB) general education services that would be
provided;
(ii) strategies
for increasing the student's rate of learning; and
(iii) the parent's right to request an
educational evaluation to determine eligibility for special education and
related services; and
(B)
the:
(i) instructional strategies used;
and
(ii) student centered data
collected.
(2)
A synthesis of the required educational evaluation components in
511 IAC 7-41-12 in relationship
to the following:
(A) Whether the student:
(i) does not achieve adequately for the
student's age or to meet state grade level standards in one (1) or more of the
areas identified in
511 IAC 7-41-12(a)(1)
when provided with learning experiences and
instruction appropriate for the student's age or state grade level standards;
and
(ii) meets either of the
following criteria:
(AA) The student does not
make sufficient progress to meet age or state grade level standards in one (1)
or more of the areas identified in
511 IAC 7-41-12(a)(1)
when using a process based on the student's
response to scientific, research based intervention.
(BB) The student exhibits a pattern of
strengths and weaknesses in performance or achievement, or both, relative to
age, state grade level standards, or intellectual development, that is
determined by the multidisciplinary team to be relevant to the identification
of a specific learning disability. The multidisciplinary team is prohibited
from using a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement to
meet this requirement.
(B) The effects of any of the following
factors on the student's achievement:
(i)
Visual, hearing, or motor disability.
(ii) Intellectual disability.
(iii) Emotional disturbance.
(iv) Cultural factors.
(v) Environmental or economic
disadvantage.
(vi) Limited English
proficiency.
(C) Whether
the multidisciplinary team believes the student has a specific learning
disability and the basis for having that opinion. The opinion of the
multidisciplinary team is utilized by the CCC to determine whether the student
is eligible for special education. Each member of the multidisciplinary team
must certify in writing whether the educational evaluation report reflects the
member's opinion. If the report does not reflect the member's opinion, the
member must submit a separate statement presenting the member's
opinion.
(h) If
a parent requests, under section 4(h)(1) of this rule, a copy of the
educational evaluation report prior to the CCC meeting, the public agency must
ensure that a copy of the educational evaluation report is made available at no
cost to the parent not less than five (5) instructional days prior to the
scheduled CCC meeting.
(i) If a
parent requests, under section 4(h)(2) of this rule, a meeting to have the
results of the educational evaluation explained prior to the scheduled CCC
meeting, the public agency must arrange a meeting with the parent and an
individual who can explain the evaluation results within five (5) instructional
days prior to the scheduled CCC meeting. The meeting shall be scheduled at a
mutually agreed upon date, time, and place. A copy of the educational
evaluation report must be provided at no cost to and reviewed with the parent
at this meeting.
(j) If the parent
does not request a:
(1) copy of the
educational evaluation report; or
(2) meeting to explain the evaluation; prior
to the initial CCC meeting, the public agency must provide a copy of the
educational evaluation report at no cost to the parent at the CCC meeting. If
the student is parentally-placed in a nonpublic school, the public agency shall
also provide a copy of the educational evaluation report at no cost to the
nonpublic school representative.
