When your child reaches age three and if your child requires special education, the responsibility for his/her educational programming will change from the Department of Health and Senior Services to your local school district. We hope that the following information will help to make this transition work smoothly.
During transition the local school district personnel who will work with you and your child are called Child Study Team (CST) members. CST members include a school psychologist, a learning disabilities teacher-consultant, a speech-language specialist, and a school social worker.
Referral
In order to initiate the process to determine eligibility for a special education program and ensure a program can start by the time your child is three, you will need to make a written request for evaluation to your school district at least 120 days before your child's third birthday, as indicated on the time line (pages 5-6). The written request is the referral. The referral is mailed to your district. The referral will be forwarded without delay to the CST for consideration.
Once your school district receives your referral, the CST will convene an identification/ evaluation plan meeting with you within 20 calendar days, at a mutually agreed upon time and place. This meeting may occur in person or through a conference telephone. The meeting should be held at a time and place convenient to you. Your school district will send you an invitation to this meeting and include a copy of The Parental Rights in Special Education (PRISE) booklet. This booklet describes your rights and responsibilities. Your CST will let you know if you need to provide documentation regarding your residence, your child's birth date and medical history.
Identification/Evaluation Plan Meeting
The CST members, including a speech-language specialist, and a general education teacher who is knowledgeable about your child, and you will determine whether an evaluation is warranted. If it is decided an evaluation is needed, you and the CST will determine the nature and scope of the evaluation.
The purpose of the identification/evaluation plan meeting is to review current available information and determine whether an evaluation is warranted. The CST will want to know about your child's current program and will ask some basic questions regarding your child's individual needs and strengths. This review may include information you provide, current assessments, and observations provided by you and/or early intervention staff. The school nurse will review and summarize available health and medical information. On the basis of this record review meeting participants will decide what additional information is needed, if any. The additional information will determine: (1) whether your child has an educational disability which requires special education and related services, (2) your child's present levels of educational performance, (3) the educational needs of your child, and (4) what needs to be done so that your child can participate in the general education curriculum.
An evaluation consists of a group of individual assessments that will help you and the school to understand your child's strengths and needs. Once meeting participants have decided what types of information are indicated, they will decide which assessments will be conducted. Based on the review of information and discussion among the participants, it may be possible to determine that your child is eligible without conducting any further evaluation. During the meeting, an evaluation plan will be developed. If you agree with the plan, you will be asked to provide a signed consent. An evaluation cannot take place until you provide a signed consent. Within fifteen days after the identification/evaluation meeting, you will receive written prior notice explaining the results of the meeting and a copy of the evaluation plan. You will also receive a short procedural safeguards statement, which will inform you of organizations that can help you understand your rights.
To ensure that time lines (pages 5-6) can be met, remember to contact the CST at least 120 days before your child turns three. The district must accept any written referral submitted within 120 days of your child's third birthday. If the district refuses, contact the county supervisor of child study in your county (see resource listing in back of booklet).
The CST wants to know about your child's strengths and his/her needs, in order to determine eligibility for special education for your child. To accomplish this, certain evaluation procedures will be conducted, as determined by you and the team at the Identification/ evaluation plan meeting. While every evaluation plan is different, the evaluation must include a multidisciplinary assessment in all areas of suspected disability. At least two members of the CST must complete an evaluation. You may be present during your child's evaluation.
Functional Assessment
Each of the functional assessment components must be completed by at least one evaluator. Assessment components include:
A minimum of one structured observation in other than a testing session;
An interview with you;
An interview with your child's teacher if your child is in preschool;
A review of interventions documented by your child's teacher and other professionals who worked with your child and one or more informal measures.
Assessments may include the following, based on your child's evaluation plan:
Social Assessment
The social worker conducts interviews to evaluate your child's developmental history and family status. This will involve discussing your child's health developmental and family history, as well as your child's interactions with family and peers. Also discussed will be your child's ability to adapt to the requirements of everyday living. The assessment may include observation of and communication with the child. A home visit may be part of the assessment process.
Educational Assessment
The Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant evaluates your child's academic strengths and weaknesses, including testing of pre-academic developmental readiness, and testing to determine your child's best method of learning. The Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant will individually test your child and may conduct observations and interviews.
Psychological Assessment
The school psychologist assesses the intellectual, social, adaptive, and emotional status of your child. This assessment may consist of individually administered tests of intelligence, personality, and behavior. The focus of the testing is on how these factors may influence your child's participation in developmentally appropriate activities. The assessment may include individual testing and interviews.
Speech/Language Assessment
The speech correctionist or speech/language specialist may assess and analyze your child's
Speech, articulation (clarity of speech), voice quality, fluency, and language development. A
variety of testing methods may be used, including an interview with your family, an
observation of your child, and individual testing.
Other assessments, such as assessments of your child's fine and large movement, health, vision, hearing, ability to concentrate and complete learning tasks, may be included if there are concerns in these areas. Based on the school nurse's review of available health and medical information, the team will give consideration to the need for any health appraisal or specialized medical evaluations.
If your child is not identified 120 days prior to his/her third birthday, then the CST still has 20 days to convene a meeting to determine the nature and scope of the evaluation and obtain your consent to evaluate. The CST has 90 days after consent is received to evaluate your child for eligibility and develop an Individualized Education Program with you. Therefore, your child may not be able to start a program by his/her third birthday.
Eligibility
When the evaluation is completed, you will be invited to an eligibility meeting to discuss the results of the assessments. The meeting must be held at a mutually agreeable time and place. The purpose of the eligibility meeting will be to determine if your child is eligible for special education services. At the eligibility meeting the following team members will be included: you, a CST member who participated in the evaluation, a case manager and a teacher who is knowledgeable about your child's educational performance and/or the district's programs, and a district representative who may also be the CST member. Depending on your child's needs, other personnel may also attend this meeting. If you have an advocate, family member, or friend who knows about your child's needs, he or she can come with you to the meeting. You will receive copies of all evaluation reports.
If the eligibility team determines that your child is disabled, he/she will be classified as eligible for special education and related services. There are thirteen disabilities defined in New Jersey Special Education Code, but all eligible children ages three and five years are identified as Preschool Disabled. This disability is based on an identified disabling condition and/or a measurable developmental impairment.
If you disagree with the evaluations provided by the school system because they are not appropriate, you may request a new or independent evaluation of your child at the school's expense. Your district must pay for an independent evaluation unless they request a hearing to prove that their evaluations are appropriate.
If the CST determines that your child is not eligible for preschool disabled programs and if you disagree, you have the right to appeal this decision. You are entitled to a copy of NJAC 6A:14, New Jersey's Administrative Code for Special Education to review your rights.
If the CST determines that your child is eligible for services, an Individualized Education Program meeting will be held within 30 calendar days of the eligibility meeting. In some cases, if you agree, the meeting to develop the Individualized Education Program (IEP) can be continued and the IEP developed at this time. The general and special education teacher need to be present to proceed to develop your IEP, if they are not present or available, another meeting must be scheduled to develop the IEP and determine placement.
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