Referral Process

1. Referral Process Procedures for school teams to address struggling students

2. Introduction • The purpose of this training is to provide information to school teams about their responsibility whenever there is a referral to SAT and what is necessary for special education testing and evaluation.

3. Topics of Discussion • Procedural Information- what SAT is ,what forms to use, how often to review, who to invite, ideas to organize your SAT, what to do about parent referrals • SAT requirements needed to make a referral to evaluation for special education • Policy 2510- this is the policy that outlines SAT

4. SAT=School Assistance Team SAT is in Policy 2510. Each school is required to designate a school team to address students that are experiencing difficulty, whether it is academically or behaviorally. • Policy 2510 is a general education policy so SAT is a general education function. Students in SAT are not in special education. SAT is not a vehicle to get students in Special Education, it is about assisting students with concerns.

5. When does SAT interact with special education? • The only time SAT interacts with special education is if a school team has completed all the requirements and is requesting evaluations to determine if a student meets the criteria for eligibility for special education.

6. Who is responsible for SAT? • SAT is a regular education function and the person responsible at the school level for organizing and overseeing SAT is the administrator of the building. They can appoint a designee.

7. What is SAT? • Every school is required to have a mechanism in place to address students that are failing, experiencing academic difficulty or are having behavioral concerns. The team must meet to address the needs of the student with parental input. Students in SAT can get accommodations on state testing. • Documentation of interventions is required and additional documentation is necessary should there be a referral for special education testing.

8. SAT membership • Administrator or designee • Teachers with current knowledge of student • Other support staff that could add to the meeting ( speech therapist, special education teacher, etc.) • Psychologist- must be invited to the last SAT meeting if there is a referral for evaluation being considered. • Parents –MUST BE INVITED- there must be documentation that the parents were invited

9. Have Appropriate Members at meetings • Inform support staff in advance about the meeting (team members, classroom teacher, etc.) • Discuss the meeting information with them in advance • Try to come to an agreement or at least have some ideas in mind before the meeting, this will cut down on the amount of time needed.

10. Ideas from some schools • Several middle schools have their teams conduct the SAT meetings with the team leader chairing the meeting • This allows for the entire team to be available to discuss concerns

11. ElementarySchools • Some elementary schools have SAT meetings during their grade level meetings • Each school has to find the way to hold SAT meetings that fit with their particular school. • Teachers should not be cancelling classes to attend meetings.

12. How many meetings should you have? • There is no set amount of meetings you should have. Each student has different needs. The needs of the student would determine how often a team meets. • The team should meet often enough to review and document if the plan is working and if it is not they need to write up a new plan. The plan should be reviewed at least every 45 days. • Plans should be followed and revamped for a reasonable amount of time. Students certainly would not be expected to improve if the time frame is not reasonable.

13. What if you met often and developed new plans but the student is still not making progress ? • If the team has met often and has documentation that they have developed different plans and they have data to support that the plan was followed and the student is still not making progress then it MAY be appropriate to refer for evaluation to rule out a disability.

14. Ruling out factors • Students should not be referred for evaluation if they have not been attending school. • This is one of the first indicators of poor performance in school but not an indicator of a disability. The attendance should be addressed through the proper channels.

15. SPL Documentation • Each team is required to submit documentation of student participation in SPL ( Support for Personalized Learning both in achievement and behavioral areas it that is the area of concern) • Students that are being sent on for further testing from the special education department must have documentation of how the intensive instruction was delivered, who delivered it ,progress monitoring data every two weeks and attendance in the group. This is required.

16. Last SAT meeting before evaluation is requested • If the team is ready to move forward in requesting an evaluation from the Special Education Department they need to schedule a SAT meeting and INVITE the school psychologist that is assigned to their school. The psychologist can be invited at anytime during the procedure but MUST attend this meeting. To save time it would be great to call and review the case with them PRIOR to the meeting.

17. Last meeting prior to evaluation • At that last meeting the team should explain everything they have tried and have the documentation ready explaining why they feel an evaluation is needed. • The psychologist will gather all the data needed from the team and get permission from the parents. The team must have all the documentation available at that meeting. If the team does not have all the documentation the psychologist cannot move forward with the referral.

18. Procedures for submitting the referral • Once the last meeting is held the chairperson will prepare the packet of required information and submit it to Knijauna Douglas, Special Education Records Secretary, Central Office. • THE REFERRAL NEEDS TO COME IN WITHIN 5 DAYS OF THE SIGNATURE FOR PARENT PERMISSION.If it comes in any later than 5 days, the school will have to contact the parent and get a new permission signed. Please do not let it sit somewhere in the school---send it in immediately. • Psychologists are on a strict timeline, every day counts ( even Saturday and Sunday along with all holidays) so if it comes in later that the 5 days the school will be required to get the parents to sign a new permission.

19. Follow through with the paperwork • We have parents saying the school said they were referring their child but we do not have the paperwork. Many times it is still on someone’s desk at the school. • It is the school team’s responsibility to submit all the necessary paperwork to our office.

20. What happens next ? • Once the records secretary receives the referral it will be logged and officially assigned for testing. • The school psychologist will come to the school to evaluate the student within 60 days. • An EC ( eligibility meeting) will be scheduled within 20 days of the evaluation.

21. Who has to be at the EC? • Administrator or Designee • Psychologist- required • Supervisor-optional • Special education teacher-required • Parent- must make three attempts to get them to attend and provide all the documentation • Regular education teacher-required • There must be three professionals at the meeting with knowledge about the student

22. What is an EC? • An EC is an Eligibility meeting. • At this meeting the results of the evaluations will be reviewed with parents and staff. • The EC team will review the documents and see if the student meets the criteria under Policy 2419 for eligibility for special education. • Policy 2419 has strict guidelines that must be followed.

23. What happens if the student is eligible for services? • If the student is eligible for services an IEP meeting will be scheduled to develop an individualized plan to meet the student’s needs.

24. IEP membership • Special education teacher-required • Regular education teacher-required • Another professional that has knowledge of the child ( can be Administrator, Title I teacher)-required • CD, OT,PT etc. if applicable • Parents- required if an initial placement

25. What happens if the student is NOT eligible for special education services? • Students that are NOT eligible for special education services but still have concerns are referred back to the school SAT team • A SAT plan needs to be developed to address the needs of the student. • If there are no concerns then the case can be closed. Make sure there is documentation that there are no concerns.

26. Parent Referrals • When a parent comes in and requests testing, the school must start with the SAT process to gather data. If the school has data that the student does not need testing, they need to schedule a meeting, show the data to the parents and then give them Prior Written Notice that they are not recommending testing. • The key here is to have data to present to the parent. If the school team feels there is a problem or concern then they should start with a SAT plan. • Invite the parents and communicate with them. They just want to know that their concerns are being listened to and a plan has been developed.

27. Referrals from doctors • When a parent brings in a prescription from a doctor requesting testing, the school must start with the SAT process to gather data. If the school has data that the student does not need testing, they need to schedule a meeting, show the data to the parents and then give them Prior Written Notice that they are not recommending testing. • The key here is to have data to present to the parent. If the schools feel there is a problem or concern then they should start with a SAT plan to address the concerns.

28. Are SAT plans legally binding? • If a team of professionals write up a plan they are required to adhere to it.

29. Things to remember • Each school is required to have a school team to address student concerns. • Students with concerns should be referred to SAT. • Plans have to be developed to assist struggling students and documentation of interventions is required. There are more documentation requirements if the team is requesting an evaluation from the special education department that align with Policy 2419. • Parents have to be invited and there must be documentation of the attempts to invite. PWN MUST be sent after each meeting to document what was decided in the meeting. • SAT is not a special education process but referrals for testing from the special education department must have gone through SAT and all documentation must be included.

30. What will get you in trouble- • Not acting when students are failing or having academic or behavioral concerns. • Not communicating/inviting parents to SAT meetings. • Not following a SAT plan. • If a student is having any of these concerns please follow the SAT Procedures.