Evaluation

When a student is suspected of having a disability for the first time, a referral is made to special education.  The parent/guardians are notified about the start of an evaluation, and the evaluation is officially starting using the Notice of Start of Initial Evaluation or Notice of Reevaluation.  A reevaluation will follow at least every three years to determine that the student continues to meet eligibility criteria and require special education services. 

Review the Existing Data

• The Individual Education Plan (IEP) team meets to discuss current information about the student and determine if they need more information in order to determine if the student is eligible.  
  The main question answered at this meeting is "Do we need to get more information through additional assessments?"  MMSD requires that a meeting be held to review existing data, but in some cases, that meeting can be waived. Contact an Asst Director for approval on this
• Determine if Additional Assessment is Needed - Yes or No (within 15 days of Notice of Evaluation)
  • If Yes - get parent signature and proceed with MMSD approved diagnostic assessments  - see Test Kit Request Form. During a reevaluation, if the parent does not respond to the school district's request for written consent to administer assessments, the school district is permitted to proceed with the assessments or other evaluation materials after three good faith attempts to get signed consent.
  •   If No - complete the form: RE-4 No Need for Additional Assessment, and move to next step, determine eligibility 

Determine Eligibility (within 60 days of determination of need for additional assessment. see exceptions)

The final step in the evaluation is determining eligibility. Through a series of tests and observations, an IEP team determines if the student meets criteria to be determined eligible for special education. Eligibility criteria checklists are used to determine if a student has a disability in one or more of the eleven disability areas. The WI Department of Public Instruction has provided the eligibility criteria for the state of WI, which can be found below.

DPI Eligibility Criteria Worksheets

• Autism 
• Intellectual Disability
• Emotional Behavioral Disability
• Hearing Impairment
• Significant Learning Disability. Initial Eligibility Checklist    Reevaluation Checklist.  MMSD SLD Guidelines
• Significant Developmental Delay
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Other Health Impairment
• Speech/Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment

• Dismissal from special ed ~ return to general ed
  • During the reevaluation process to determine continued need for special education, a team may determine that the goals have been met, and a student no longer meets eligibility criteria. If the student no longer meets eligibility criteria or the disability remains, but there is no need for special education... the team will determine them to be dismissed from special education.  This information is documented on the eligibility checklists and the ER-4 Notice of IEP Team Findings that Child is not a Child with a Disability. 

Develop annual Individualized Education Plan (IEP)  for both initials and reevaluations where students are found eligible.  For an initial reevaluation, the parent may agree (with signature) or disagree to initial placement in special education. For a reevaluation, a new annual IEP is developed and continuing placement is offered with the concerns and outcomes from the evaluation addressed in the IEP.   The IEP and placement must be offered to the family within 30 calendar days from the eligibility determination date.