Special Education Procedures

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you" (NIV, 1973/2011, Psalm 32:8).

"Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!" (NIV, 1973/2011, Proverbs 15:22-23).

RtI Process

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a regular education initiative and is considered to be best-practice for all students. RtI is not a special education (SPED) initiative, however, current federal guidelines recommend that RtI be the first line of defense for all students before considering the need for SPED identification and services (Gartland & Strosnider, 2020; Zirkel, 2017; Zirkel 2018). Some states, including Illinois, require RtI data to be a major component in the SPED decision-making process for some eligible categories of SPED, including but not limited to Specific Learning Disability (ISBE, 2022).

RtI is a multi-Tiered program to respond to student progress and maximize students’ success (Gartland & Strosnider, 2020). Tier 1, the first level of response, encompasses all students, the general education curriculum, and the periodic benchmark assessments. Tier 2 consists of creating small groups to provide research and evidence-based strategies and interventions. In Tier 2, students are progress monitored (more frequently assessed) to collect additional data points to monitor the progress of the students during the intervention progress. Tier 3 comprises those students who still struggle to succeed with the small group evidence-based strategies and interventions that have been put into place. Even more intensive strategies and interventions will be put in place for students at the Tier 3 level. Even more frequent progress monitoring assessments will be conducted to collect information and monitor results.

All students are given benchmark assessments three to five times each school year (each season or quarter). These assessments can be used to pinpoint an academic area that needs to be addressed with certain students. This might prompt the school’s Title 1, Interventionist, or classroom teacher to contact parents or guardians and discuss participation in small group (Tier 2) interventions for that academic area.

At other times, when the classroom teacher first starts noticing that a student is struggling with an academic subject or behavior, they will start by trying alternative strategies to assist the student in becoming more successful. As a part of the school-wide RtI process, students will receive interventions and supports to meet their specific needs. Early in this process, the classroom teacher will begin communicating concerns that they have with the parents or guardians and discuss what accommodations they might be attempting and whether or not they are successful.

An RtI meeting could be requested by the classroom teacher at the Tier 2 level to review the data collected so far and develop additional strategies and interventions that could be attempted. It is recommended that interventions be research and evidence-based and be in place for a length of time that allows staff to collect at least six data points on a student's progress with each intervention before changes are made.

RtI meetings could be held every six to eight weeks to check on progress and determine what next steps could be put into place. If a student continues to struggle despite small group interventions, the RtI team will layer on additional support and more intensive interventions (Tier 3). If the student continues to struggle despite the interventions at Tiers 1, 2, and 3 levels have been put into place for an adequate length of time, then the RtI team will refer the student for a SPED evaluation.

Special Education Eligibility

An important point is that parents or guardians can request a special education evaluation at any time for their child (ISBE, 2021). Once a parental request has been made, school staff will set up a meeting to discuss the request and review the student’s progress. Federal regulations specify that the RtI process cannot unnecessarily delay a SPED evaluation (Zirkel, 2017; Zirkel, 2018). However, in those states that require RtI, The Tier 2 and 3 intervention steps must also be considered in the SPED evaluation process (ISBE, 2022).

The first set in the SPED eligibility process is the Domain meeting. This meeting will be called by the school to review documentation that is already available on the student’s progress, and determine what information needs to be collected, and what assessments need to be administered to develop a full, meaningful picture of the student’s abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. There are seven domain areas considered: academics, physical (gross motor and fine motor), health, communication, functional performance, cognitive, and social/emotional status. During this meeting, parents or guardians will be asked to sign a consent for the evaluation their student.

Once parents or guardians have consented for the evaluation the student will be given individual assessments to determine skill and ability levels based on the domains identified at the domain meeting. Assessments could be administered by a psychologist, a speech/language pathologist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a teacher, or other qualified personnel. When the evaluation has been completed, the staff will analyze the result for a formal report, and set up another meeting to review the evaluation results. A draft of the reports and a possible Individualized Education Program (IEP), if applicable, will be sent to parents or guardians at least three days before the meeting.

At the eligibility meeting, the team will review the results, discuss them as a group, and determine whether or not the results qualify the student for SPED eligibility. Staff members will have written up a set potential goals, objectives, and accommodations that could be put in place to support the student's education. During the meeting, the team will determine what services and placement would be appropriate for the student based on their needs, while maintaining the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). LRE refers to the idea that the student will remain with the general education population as much as possible and will only be removed from that environment when necessary to receive the services identified to meet their needs.

Special Education Services

Special education services provide additional instructional support in the areas in which the student qualifies for SPED. These services could include, but not limited to, resource or instructional academic support, speech/language services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work services. The services provided to each student will directly reflect the areas of need as identified through the evaluation. Typically SPED services are layered by starting with minimal services that can be increased as the team deems necessary for the student's success. Unfortunately, when students must leave the classroom on a regular basis to receive specialized services, they will be missing something in the general education classroom. SPED staff and regular education teachers do their best to try to coordinate times when the students will miss as little instructional academic time as possible. However, the regular education teacher will determine how much of the missed classroom activities the student will be required to complete and will work with the student to complete those activities.

Academic SPED support can be delivered at either a resource or an instructional level. Resource level assistance provides academic support in the identified subject, focused on the identified IEP goals, in addition to the classroom curriculum and activities. Students will still earn their grade from the classroom teacher, but will have additional instruction on the subject through SPED. Most academic support starts at the resource level. The SPED teacher will provide specific instruction and practice on the IEP goals. Goals and objectives will by aligned to the standards, but will identify skills and abilities that the student struggles with. These goals will not necessarily match the classroom goals, but will instead focus on those previous goals that the student has not yet mastered. For instance, if the student is achieving below level in the area of reading fluency, then the SPED goals and resource time will focus on instructing the student on reading skills and practice that will help them to increase their reading fluency (phonics, tracking, sight words, etc.).

When the resource level of support does not meet the student's needs, their time might be increased to the instructional level. The instructional level is a more intense level of service in which the student is taught the curriculum in the SPED classroom, by the SPED teacher, for that particular subject. While aiming to continue to meet the grade-level standards whenever possible, the SPED curriculum will be more individualized towards the student's needs in that subject area. Typically, in an instructional setting, the student receives the grade for that subject from the SPED teacher.

Individualized Educational Programs (IEP) are renewed each year. During the annual review meetings, the team will discuss the student's progress and discuss the changes that will be made for the upcoming year. Every three years, the evaluation process will be revisited to ensure that the identified eligibilities are still relevant. Parents or guardians will again be asked to sign a consent for evaluation at a domain meeting that will discuss what updated information must be collected. Then, an eligibility meeting will determine whether or not eligibility will continue, what category(ies) the student is currently eligible for, and if services continue, a new IEP will be written based on the newest evaluation results.

When the student reaches the age of 14 years old, their IEP will start to include transition information that will help the student transition from high school to a post-secondary setting (college, tech school, job/career placement, housing). At age 14-1/2, they are invited to all meetings, but are not required to attend (ISBE, 2021).

Types of Meetings
Meeting	Purpose	Team Members
504 Meeting	Review students' eligibility for services under the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. A plan is written to provide accommodations that will help the student to be successful in the educational environment. Typically reviewed every year.	Parents or Guardians * Classroom Teacher(s)* Administrator Speech Teacher Title 1 or Intervention Teacher Psychologist Social Worker Special Education Teacher
Domain Meeting	Review existing documentation and determine what information must be collected to conduct a thorough evaluation of student’s need for special education services. Parental Consent for Evaluation will be collected.	Parents or Guardians * Parent supporter LEA (Principal/Admin) * Special Education Teacher * Classroom Teacher(s) * Psychologist * Student (age 14-1/2) Speech Teacher Social Worker Title 1 Teacher Occupational Therapist Physical Therapist Other staff members involved
Eligibility Determination Meeting (may include an IEP) Initial (First evaluation) Triennial (3-year re-evaluation)	Review information collected through the formal evaluation process and determine whether or not results indicate that the student is eligible for special education services. If a student is eligible, an IEP could be developed at this time. For initial evaluations, Parental consent for initial services will be collected. If the change in eligibility results in a change of placement, then consent for change of placement will be collected. An eligibility meeting must be held within 60 school days after the consent for evaluation has been signed by parents or guardians.	Parents or Guardians * Parent supporter Special Education Teacher * Classroom Teacher(s) * LEA (Principal/Admin) * Psychologist * Student (age 14-1/2) Speech Teacher Social Worker Occupational Therapist Physical Therapist Title 1 Teacher Other staff members involved
IEP Meeting Annual Review (yearly renewal of IEP)	An Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be developed for the student and will include: > Present levels of Performance, > Goals and Objectives for each identified area, > Accommodations for the classroom, > Modifications of curriculum, > Assessment Procedures & Accommodations, > Services and placement This is a legal document that is required to be followed by all members of the team and teachers involved with the student’s learning process. All parties are involved and are asked to contribute information and considerations in the development of the IEP. For Annual Reviews, the previous IEP will be reviewed, including progress on goals and objectives, and will be updated.	Parents or Guardians * Parent supporter Special Education Teacher * Classroom Teacher(s) * LEA (Principal/Administrator) * Student (age 14-1/2) Speech Teacher Occupational Therapist Physical Therapist Social Worker Psychologist Title 1 Teacher Other staff members
RtI Meeting	Review student progress, discuss possible interventions & strategies to put into place, determine readiness for special education consideration. May be held every 6-8 weeks to review progress and make adjustments to strategies and interventions.	Parents or Guardians * Classroom Teacher(s) * Administrator Speech Teacher Title 1 or Intervention Teacher Psychologist Social Worker Special Education Teacher
* indicates required team member

Special Education & Support Team Members

Special education meetings can include several individuals that may or may not be known to parents or guardians attending the meeting. The following is a list of possible members that might be included in the meeting, however, depending on the needs of the individual student, additional people may be involved.

Team Members
Staff Position	Description
Classroom Teacher	A classroom teacher is another required member of the team. As the student’s main teacher, they are responsible for implementing the special education accommodations into the general education program, continuing RtI interventions that have been successful, and monitoring how the student progresses with their overall classroom and educational goals. In some situations, such as departmentalized school structures, there may be more than one classroom teacher included in the meeting.
Occupational Therapist	An occupational therapist might be brought in to an educational evaluation if the team has concerns with a students' fine motor skills or sensory needs. Occupational therapy in the educational setting can include handwriting, cutting, manipulating objects, or sensory regulation.
Parents or Guardians	Parents or guardians are always welcome at Special Education meetings and are considered a required member of the team. They provide the team with crucial information regarding the student and are a very important piece of the decision-making process. It is always recommended that parents or guardians attend the meeting in person. If they are not able to attend in person, remote options of phone video attendance can be made available to them. At the very least, all documentation at the meeting will be sent to parents or guardians to review and no eligibility or placement decisions will be finalized without parental written consent. In addition to being present at the meeting and in the decision-making process, parents or guardians have the right to bring any other individuals with them to provide support or relevant information regarding the student. Parents or guardians are also encouraged to bring any documentation from outside sources (i.e. doctor, counseling reports) that would be relevant to the discussion.
Physical Therapist	A physical therapist will be included in an educational evaluation if the team has concerns with a students' gross motor skills or mobility needs. Physical therapy in the educational setting focusing on a student being able to physically access the learning environment (i.e. climb stairs), and participate in physical activity, such as physical education class.
Principal/ Superintendent/ LEA	The principal or superintendent is a required member of the team to not only provide any relative information about the student, but also to be the voice of the Local Educational Agency (LEA), or the school district. At times, decisions discussed at an IEP meeting may need funding or policy adjustments, which must be approved by the LEA. If an administrator is unable to attend the meeting, they must designate another team member to act as LEA.
Psychologist	A psychologist has specialized training in administering academic and intellectual assessments and identifying students with specific learning needs. In the educational setting the psychologist can provide intervention strategies to teachers, as well as completing classroom and student observations and meeting with the student individually to administer standardized and classroom-based assessments.
Social Worker	A social worker is often included in special education evaluations for the purpose of collecting social and health histories of the student which are used to help build a complete picture of the student and their needs. In addition, the social worker can provide students with services to provide counseling and/or to aid them in developing and improving social skills. The social worker may consult with classroom teachers or facilitate group sessions for students to discuss social situations.
Special Education Teacher	The Special Education teacher is a required member of a special education meeting. The special education teacher will write the majority of the draft IEP, present it to the team, and make any changes deemed necessary before finalizing the document. Then, the Special Education teacher will oversee the implementation of the IEP by providing services, work with students on a daily or weekly basis to focus on meeting identified IEP goals, collect data to show progress with goals, consult with other teachers and staff members in regards to how the IEP is implemented in the regular education program, and act as the student’s case manager. The special education teacher is often involved in RtI meetings to assist with intervention/strategy suggestions.
Speech/ Language Pathologist/ Teacher	Sometimes referred to as SLP. The SLP often screens students within their first year of school and initiates services for those students eligible for services. The SLP evaluates the student for age-appropriate speech sounds, language and syntax skills. Regularly scheduled service time will aid students in developing appropriate sound and language skills.
Student	When a student reaches the age of 14-1/2 years old, they will be invited to be a member of the IEP team. At the age of 17 years old, the student and parents or guardians will be informed of the fact that the IEP rights will transfer from the parents or guardians to the student upon the student's 18th birthday. If it is necessary for parents or guardians to retain the rights of their student beyond his or her 18th birthday, then the student can sign those right back over to the parents or another adult.
Title 1 Teacher/ Interventionist	Title 1 Teachers or Reading/Math Interventionists are often a key player in finding research or evidence-based interventions and providing Tier 2 and/or 3 RtI services to students. Title 1 or Interventionists are often responsible for organizing and administering benchmark and progress monitoring assessments and tracking the student results. They often continue providing services for the student, at least in the early stages of the SPED placement.

Special Education Timelines
Event	Required Time Length
Change of Placement or changes to Eligibility	10 days: When a change of placement is necessary to adequately provide services to a student, parents or guardians will be notified at least 10 days before the change takes place (ISBE, 2021). If parents or guardians would like to give permission for the change to occur sooner (for instance changes made during a scheduled IEP meeting), then they will be asked to sign a 10-day waiver, allowing the change to happen before the 10 days are up.
Determine Need for Evaluation	14 days: Once a request has been made for a special education evaluation, the school will set up a domain meeting within 14 days (ISBE, 2021).
Draft (Prior notice) of document for an IEP meeting	3 school days: The school will make any documents pertaining to a scheduled meeting available to parents or guardians at least 3 days before the scheduled meeting (ISBE, 2021). The method of delivery is based on parent or guardian request, (emailed, sent home with students, mailed, or picked up in the office). This can include a draft of the potential IEP and the results (scores and reports) of recent evaluations that will be discussed at the meeting. It is important to note that NO PLACEMENT OR ELIGIBILITY DECISIONS will be made prior to the meeting and the pages of the IEP that list placement, services, and eligibility will not be completed in the draft version. Nothing in the draft is final, until all parties have reviewed and discussed the IEP during the meeting. Draft documentation is not typically sent for a Domain meeting.
Evaluation process	60 school days: Once parents or guardians have signed the consent for special education evaluation, the evaluation must be concluded within 60 school days, at which point, a decision must be made regarding the student’s eligibility for special education services (ISBE, 2021). If special circumstances arise that block the completion of the evaluation within the 60 school days, an extension notice can be signed by parents or guardians and filed. This extension is only available for specifically outlined situations.
Parental request of meeting	10 days: Meetings must be scheduled and held at a convenient time for all parties within 10 days of the request (ISBE, 2021).
Scheduled Special Education Meeting	10 days: Parents or guardians must be notified at least 10 days prior to a scheduled IEP meeting (ISBE, 2021). If the school and parents or guardians determine that the meeting should be held within the 10 day period, then the parent or guardian will be asked to sign a 10-day waiver, saying that they agree to meet without having 10-day notice.
Transfer of Rights	17 years old: The student will be considered an adult on their 18th birthday. Before their 17th birthday, the IEP team will address the issue of the student rights transferring to the student upon their 18th birthday (ISBE, 2021). Students may sign a consent to allow parents or another adult retain authority over the student's rights (ISBE, 2021).
Transition	14-1/2 years old: The IEP written prior to the year when the student reaches the age of 14-1/2, the IEP must begin to address the possibility of the student's post-secondary (after high school) needs and services (ISBE, 2021). The IEP will include a career and/or independent living goal and will show evidence of the student's consideration of their life after high school.