EVALUATION PROCEDURES

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EVALUATION PROCEDURES

Authorities: 34 CFR Part 300; Texas Education Code; 19 TAC Chapter 89

	FEDERAL AND STATE REQUIREMENTS
Practice	The local education agency (LEA) must comply with the REVIEW OF EXISTING EVALUATION DATA framework.
Practice	The LEA must comply with the PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE framework.
Practice	The LEA must comply with the CONSENT frameworks.
Practice	In Texas, the group of qualified professionals that determines whether the child is a child with a disability and the educational needs of the child is the child's ADMISSION, REVIEW, AND DISMISSAL COMMITTEE. Citations: 89.1040(b) 89.1050(a)(5) 300.306(a)(1)
	GROUP OF QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS
Document	The group that collects or reviews evaluation data in connection with the determination of a child's eligibility for special education and related services must include, but is not limited to the following: Citations: 89.1040(b)
Document	A licensed specialist in school psychology, an educational diagnostician, or other appropriately certified or licensed practitioner with experience and training in the area of the disability; or Citations: 89.1040(b)(1)
Document	A licensed or certified professional for a specific eligibility category as specified in the applicable EVALUATION frameworks. Citations: 89.1040(b)(2)
	INITIAL EVALUATIONS
Practice	The LEA must conduct a full individual and initial EVALUATION before the initial provision of special education and related services to the child with a disability. Citations: 300.301(a)
Practice	The initial evaluation must consist of procedures to determine: Citations: 300.301(c)(2)
Practice	Whether the child is a child with a disability; and Citations: 300.301(c)(2)(i) 300.8(a)(1)
Practice	The educational needs of the child. Citations: 300.301(c)(2)(ii)
	TIMELINE FOR CONDUCTING INITIAL EVALUATIONS
Practice	A written report of an initial evaluation must be completed as follows: Citations: 89.1011(c) TEC 29.004(a)(1)
Practice	Not later than the 45th school day following the date on which the local educational agency receives written consent for the evaluation from the child's parent; or Citations: 89.1011(c)(1)
Practice	For children under five years of age by September 1 of the school year and not enrolled in public school and for children enrolled in a private or home school setting, not later than the 45th school day following the date on which the LEA receives written consent for the evaluation from the child's parent; but Citations: 89.1011(c)(2)
Practice	If, the LEA received consent for the evaluation from the child's parent at least 35 but less than 45 school days before the last instructional day of the school year: Citations: 89.1011(e) TEC 29.004(a-1)
Practice	The evaluation report must be provided to the parent not later than June 30 of that year; or Citations: 89.1011(e) TEC 29.004(a-1)
Practice	If the child was absent from school three or more days between the time that the LEA received written consent and the last instructional day of the school year, the evaluation report must be completed not later than the 45th school day following the date on which the LEA received written consent plus the number of school days the child was absent. Citations: 89.1011(e) 89.1011(c)(1) TEC 29.004(a)(1)
Practice	If the child was in the process of being evaluated for special education eligibility by an LEA and enrolls in another LEA before the previous LEA completed the initial evaluation, the new LEA must coordinate with the previous LEA as necessary and as expeditiously as possible to ensure a prompt completion of the evaluation according to the CHILDREN WHO TRANSFER OR RECENTLY REGISTERED framework. Citations: 89.1011(f) 300.301(e) 300.301(d)(2) 300.304(c)(5)
Practice	School day does not include a day that falls after the last instructional day of the spring school term and before the first instructional day of the subsequent fall term. Citations: 89.1011(g) TEC 29.004(a-2)
Practice	The child is considered absent for the school day if the child is not in attendance at the school's official attendance taking time or at the alternate attendance taking time set for that child. Citations: 89.1011(h)
	REEVALUATIONS
Practice	The LEA must ensure that a reevaluation of each child with a disability is conducted: Citations: 300.303(a)
Practice	If the LEA determines the educational or related services needs, including improved academic achievement and functional performance, of the child warrant a reevaluation; Citations: 300.303(a)(1)
Practice	If a reevaluation is requested by the child's parents or teacher; or Citations: 300.303(a)(2)
Practice	Before determining that the child is no longer a child with a disability. Citations: 300.305(e)
Document	A reevaluation must occur: Citations: 300.303(b)
Document	Not more frequently than once a year, unless the parent and the LEA agree otherwise; and Citations: 300.303(b)(1)
Document	At least once every three years, unless the parent and the LEA agree that a reevaluation is unnecessary. Citations: 300.303(b)(2)
Practice	An evaluation must be included as part of the SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE for a child graduating under certain conditions. Citations: 89.1070(h)-86th Leg. 300.305(e)(1) 300.305(e)(3)
Practice	An evaluation is not required before the termination of the child's eligibility due to exceeding the age eligibility for a free appropriate public education under state law. Citations: 300.305(e)(2) 300.305(e)(1)
Practice	The scope of a reevaluation for the child with a visual impairment must be determined by a multidisciplinary team that includes a certified orientation and mobility specialist. Citations: 89.1040(c)(12)(E)
	EVALUATION PROCEDURES
Document	In conducting the evaluation, the LEA must use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining: Citations: 300.304(b)(1)
Document	Whether the child is a child with a disability; and Citations: 300.304(b)(1)(i) 300.8
Document	The content of the child's individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum, or for the preschool child, to participate in appropriate activities. Citations: 300.304(b)(1)(ii)
Practice	In conducting the evaluation, the LEA must: Citations: 300.304(b)
Practice	Not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether the child is a child with a disability and for determining an appropriate educational program for the child; and Citations: 300.304(b)(2)
Practice	Use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors. Citations: 300.304(b)(3)
Practice	The LEA must ensure that: Citations: 300.304(c)
Practice	Assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess the child are: Citations: 300.304(c)(1)
Practice	Selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis; Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(i)
Practice	Provided and administered: Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(ii) TEC 29.004(b)
Practice	In the child's native language or other mode of communication; and Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(ii) TEC 29.004(b)
Practice	In the form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally, unless it is not feasible to so provide or administer; Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(ii)
Practice	Used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable; Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(iii)
Practice	Administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(iv)
Practice	Administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the assessments; Citations: 300.304(c)(1)(v)
Practice	Assessments and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely those that are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient; Citations: 300.304(c)(2)
Practice	Assessments are selected and administered so as to best ensure that if an assessment is administered to a child with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the assessment results accurately reflect the child's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the child's impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (unless those are the skills the test purports to measure); Citations: 300.304(c)(3)
Practice	The child is assessed in all areas of suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities; Citations: 300.304(c)(4)
Practice	The evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child's special education and related services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the child has been classified; Citations: 300.304(c)(6)
Practice	Assessment tools and strategies that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child are provided; and Citations: 300.304(c)(7)
Practice	It implements assessment procedures that differentiate between language proficiency and disability. Citations: 89.1230

Last Updated : Mon, Oct 16, 2023

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34 Code of Federal Regulations § 300.8 Child with a disability.

(a) General.
   (1) Child with a disability means a child evaluated in accordance with §§300.304 through 300.311 as having an intellectual disability, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this part as ‘‘emotional disturbance’’ ), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
   (2)
      (i) Subject to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, if it is determined, through an appropriate evaluation under §§300.304 through 300.311, that a child has one of the disabilities identified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, but only needs a related service and not special education, the child is not a child with a disability under this part.
      (ii) If, consistent with §300.39(a)(2), the related service required by the child is considered special education rather than a related service under State standards, the child would be determined to be a child with a disability under paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

(b) Children aged three through nine experiencing developmental delays. Child with a disability for children aged three through nine (or any subset of that age range, including ages three through five), may, subject to the conditions described in §300.111(b), include a child—
   (1) Who is experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the following areas: Physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development; and
   (2) Who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

(c) Definitions of disability terms. The terms used in this definition of a child with a disability are defined as follows:
   (1)
      (i) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
      (ii) Autism does not apply if a child’s educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (c)(4) of this section.
      (iii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section are satisfied.
   (2) Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
   (3) Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
   (4)
      (i) Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a
child’s educational performance:
         (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
         (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
         (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
         (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
         (E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
      (ii) Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section.
   (5) Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.
   (6) Intellectual disability means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term “intellectual disability” was formerly termed “mental retardation.”
   (7) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as intellectual disability-blindness or intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
   (8) Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
   (9) Other health impairment means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that—
      (i) Is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and
      (ii) Adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
   (10) Specific learning disability—
      (i) General. Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
      (ii) Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of intellectual disability, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
   (11) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.
   (12) Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
   (13) Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.

Last Amended: 82 FR 31912, July 11, 2017
Entered: July 24, 2017

34 Code of Federal Regulations § 300.304 Evaluation procedures.

. . .
(c) Other evaluation procedures. Each public agency must ensure that—
    (1) Assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child under this part—
       (i) Are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis;
       (ii) Are provided and administered in the child’s native language or other mode of communication and in the form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally, and functionally, unless it is clearly not feasible to so provide or administer;
       (iii) Are used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable;
       (iv) Are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and
       (v) Are administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the assessments.
    (2) Assessments and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely those that are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient.
    (3) Assessments are selected and administered so as best to ensure that if an assessment is administered to a child with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the assessment results accurately reflect the child’s aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the child’s impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (unless those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).
    (4) The child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities;
    (5) Assessments of children with disabilities who transfer from one public agency to another public agency in the same school year are coordinated with those children’s prior and subsequent schools, as necessary and as expeditiously as possible, consistent with §300.301(d)(2) and (e), to ensure prompt completion of full evaluations.
    (6) In evaluating each child with a disability under §§300.304 through 300.306, the evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child’s special education and related services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the child has been classified.
    (7) Assessment tools and strategies that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child are provided.

Last Amended: 71 FR 46785, Aug. 14, 2006
Entered: June 8, 2009