Special Education Process

Step 1:  Referral

    Your child can be referred in three different ways. 

• You can refer your child.
• School personnel can refer your child. 
• Your child's need can be discovered during a district wide screening referred to as child find.  The sole purpose of child find is to discover children whose needs might otherwise be overlooked in the general classroom and by parents.

Step 2:  GEIT (General Education Intervention Team)

• The primary purpose of GEIT is to provide a group problem solving process that supports and helps students, teachers and parents.
• After a referral the GEIT Coordinator for your child's school will invite you, your child's general education teacher, and possibly a special education teacher or psychologist to a meeting.        
• The GEIT team, of which you as a parent are a part, discusses your child's current performance and makes suggestions as to possible interventions and accommodations that could be tried before your child is evaluated for special education.        
• The GEIT team then agrees to reconvene after enough time has passed for the agreed upon interventions and accommodations to be evaluated.        
• The GEIT then meets a second time to determine if the interventions and accommodations were successful. If they were successful then there is no need for your child to receive services. 
• If they were not successful, the team may either recommend trying different interventions and accommodations or recommend evaluation for eligibility for either Section 504 services under The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or under Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act to receive special education services.    

GEIT for Gifted

All students suspected of needing gifted education services are referred through the GEIT process in each school building.  Prior to any individual gifted screening, students must be referred to the GEIT.  The only exception is during the systematic screening of fourth grade.  The GEIT process is followed when students are identified in third grade screening needing a full evaluation (see information on Grade Level Screening). 

During the GEIT process, the team must collect data about the student to help determine meeting eligibility standards and showing that the student possesses a need for services.  In order to help establish a need for services, the general education teacher(s) completes the General Education Documentation of Classroom Interventions in addition to any other pertinent GEIT documents. 

The team decides one of the following:  

1. The teacher may be provided recommendations for interventions within the classroom with the GEIT team monitoring the student progress.
2. It may be determined that the student needs an individual screening to determine if a full evaluation is warranted.  At this stage, parental consent is needed to collect additional data.  Several sources of data may be considered:  gifted screening assessments, curriculum based assessments, informal academic inventories.
3. No further steps need be taken.

Step 3:  Evaluation

Appropriate school personnel will proceed with your written consent to evaluate the current functioning level of your child. The team may consider eligibility for either Section 504 or for special education.  The appropriate school personnel will complete the necessary evaluations to establish eligibility.  These staff members may consist of: 

• School psychologist will perform evaluations concerning intellectual, emotional, academic, or social functioning.        
• Speech pathologist evaluates disabilities related to speech or language impairments.      
• Occupational therapists may evaluate fine motor skills        
• Physical therapists may evaluate gross motor skills  
• English Language Learner (ELL) teachers evaluate current levels of English language acquisition.

Step 4 is a consideration of eligibility under Section 504 (Step 4a) or under IDEA (special ed) (Step 4b).  See details below:

Step 4a Eligibility and  Section 504 meeting

• These meeting members consist of personnel who know the student and parents are invited.  The school personnel usually consist of the classroom teacher and LEA (an administrator who ensures the school can and will implement the plan).        
• They determine whether or not the student is eligible under Section 504.          
• To be eligible the student must meet a have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity or is regarded as disabled by others.   
• If it is determined that the student is NOT eligible under Section 504, the team may consider a special education eligibility or may consider continuation of a GEIT plan. 

Step 4b: Eligibility and  Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting

• These meeting members consist of parents, special education personnel, interpreter of evaluation results, classroom teacher and LEA (an administrator who ensures the school can and will implement the plan).        
• They determine whether or not special education services are a necessary intervention. 
• To be eligible the student must meet a two-prong test.  First, is there an educational impact due to the student’s disability and also meet the state’s requirements for one or more of the following disabilities:
   

• If it is determined that the student is NOT eligible for special education, the team may consider a 504 eligibility or may consider continuation of a GEIT plan. 

Step 5:  Individualized Education Plan

• This is a program designed to help your child succeed in the school setting with his/her disability. 
• As a parent it is your right and responsibility to be part of writing this program.
• A plan is written and approved annually.
• The plan itself contains information relating to your child's current level of functioning,  goals and objectives to be accomplished, and services to be rendered, during the year that the IEP is effective.
• This group determines the least restrictive environment that will meet the student's needs.   

Step 6:  The Services

 Special education services can be offered in a variety of ways.  The IEP team makes the determinations of services for an individual student based on that student’s needs.  We provide a continuum of services which range from the least restrictive environment (in which the student is receiving their education in the general education classroom) to the most restrictive placement (in which the student receives all their education in a special education setting).  If the student is included in the general education setting, the team considers what supplemental supports (i.e. training, assistive technology or other supports) or accommodations the student may need in order to be successful.

Services will be provided by an appropriate team member depending on the service needed.  The services may be provided by special education staff such as a sp ed teacher, a sp ed paraprofessional, a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) or an SLP Assistant, an Occupational Therapist or OT Assistant, a Physical Therapist or PT Assistant, a vision or hearing consulting teachers, a gifted education consulting teacher, a sign language interpreter or Brailler, or an early childhood teacher.  Other personnel may consult with the IEP team.  These members include WCS social workers, behavior intervention specialists, and WCS autism consultants.

Step 7:  Monitoring Your Child's Progress  You will receive IEP progress reports on a regular basis (quarterly) of your child's progress toward the goal. 

Step 8:  IEP meeting and reevaluation

• Every year you will be expected to be part of a team that determines your child's needs for the next year.
• Once your child has received special education services, he/she will be evaluated every three years to determine the least restrictive environment or discontinuation of service. 

Special Education Services

Student Support Services