Current through March 20, 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 student has participated in a
process that assesses the student's response to scientific, research based
interventions described in section 2 of this rule, in which case the time frame
is twenty (20) instructional days.
(2) 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.
(3) When the parent of a
student repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the student for the
evaluation.
(4) 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.
