The Evaluation Report

A GuideSummer 2012

First Page

• Date of Report:– The Date of Report is the date all of the information is compiled and the

report is written. The date must be no more than 60 calendar days from

receipt of written parental consent for evaluation.

• Date Report Provided to Parent:– The date the report is given to the parents, NOT the date of a meeting to

review the report, unless the parent has not seen the report until the meeting– Reports should be provided to parents prior to meeting for review. – Date provided to parent should be the same as the Date of Report.

Reason For Referral

• Who referred• What is/are specific concerns (basic reading,

behavior, social skills, etc.)• Statement similar to:– (The school and parent team) referred student

due observed delays in _____ compared to his same grade peers. The evaluation will determine student’s eligibility for special education programs and services as well as his/her educational needs.

Reason For Referral

• Justify why the evaluation is necessary– Briefly reference pre-referral supports (what and

response?)– Address any issues that have to do with• Visual and/or hearing impairment• Behaviors that impede learning• Limited English proficiency • Communication Needs

Information from Parent

• Any out of district evaluations should be summarized here– Diagnoses, – Behaviors of concern, – Scores on psycho-ed tests, – Rating scale results, – Etc.

• On (date), (evaluator) evaluated student and found…

Information from Parent

• “The LEA will develop a form and/or process for collecting parent input. This information may be provided in writing, via phone, through conversation, etc.

• If unable to get input from the parents, attempts made to obtain the information must be documented within this section.”

Information from Parent

• This should NOT be collected at the meeting where the ER is reviewed, but during the process.

• Using a standard form is the easiest way. • If there is no information, list the THREE

attempts to get information from the parent. Detail what the attempts were to reach parents (phone, email, certified mail) and the dates.

Observations

• This should include observations from different areas within the school, classroom teachers, related service providers (Speech/ Language, etc.), school counselors, administrators, etc.

• Observations should comment on areas of strength (computer skills, social skills, etc.) as well as areas of need (time on task, social skills, etc.).

Observations

• An emailed statement from each teacher and service provider asking for observations on– Academic skill– Behavioral and social skill – Other relevant issues

Recommendations by Teachers

• What strategies & instructional supports have worked for the student?

• What other strategies, supports, SDIs might be helpful for the student (student appears to enjoy computer time, and thus, an incentive plan that uses computer time as a reward might be considered).

Physical Condition

• Aspects of student’s life that impact current educational performance – Are there any disabilities diagnosed by outside

agencies? (cite report)– Any confirmed life events that impact education

(medical conditions, social or behavior concerns). (cite source)

• Comment on proficiency with English language and impact of that skill on learning.

Assessments

• This section should include results of assessments of the student’s performance within the general education curriculum, including curriculum-based and performance-based assessments. This information should be based on specific data related to the student’s suspected disability and be as comprehensive as possible across varied settings, with the identification of as many variables of learning as possible.

Assessments

• Of the 5 parts in this section of the ER, this one should be the longest and most in depth.

• The general purpose of this part is to document the student’s performance levels and change over time in all areas of possible disability.

• LDSD is thick with assessment data, so should this part of the ER!!!

Assessments

Data We Already Have• PSSA• 4Sight• DIBELS• DRA• Benchmarks• Common Assessments• FBAs

Jeff’s Assessment Data• Cognitive • Achievement

Assessments

• Organize assessment information in a logical manner – Reading & Writing– Math– Behavior

• Synthesize information rather than just listed scores– Use district experts when possible (reading

specialists, classroom & special education teachers, etc.)

Standard Conditions

• If the assessment was conducted under standard conditions, state that the evaluation was conducted under standard conditions.

Determining Factors

• The point of this box (which should be checked No) is to demonstrate that any academic delay is not due to lack of instruction. When writing about reading and math, make the point that the student was taught with solid instruction and intervention. List the tools used for both (reading & math series or texts, intervention programs, etc.).

Determining Factors

• For Reading, list the research based interventions that have been used to supplement the curriculum and the specific area in which those interventions focus (example, student received Rewards program, a research based program that focuses on basic reading skills.). Also list the text or series used to teach reading, if applicable.

• For Math, same as reading.• This section must be done for all students, not just

SLD students.

Summary/Interpretation

• Summarize all of the above in the three areas: – Achievement – Functional Performance– Behavioral Information

• Save for some recommendations, all this information should come directly from earlier in the report.

PRESENT LEVELS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

• Use information from Assessments section as a base– Buttress with other academic-related info from

other sections (parent input, observations, etc.)

PRESENT LEVELS OF FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE

• Functional performance is related to activities of daily living, such as hygiene, dressing, basic consumer skills, community-based instruction, etc.

• Information included here does not have to indicate a deficit.

• A statement can be included that the student's functional performance in all areas is age appropriate.

PRESENT LEVELS OF FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE

• For students with SLD, this section may have limited information; however for students with ID, “life skills” should be detailed here relative to delay.

• Students with ED and/or OHI could have functional delays as well.

BEHAVIORAL INFORMATION

• This section should summarize evaluation data gathered related to student behavior, including social and emotional levels of functioning in various environments.

• Results of a functional behavioral assessment would be included in this section.

• Observations of behavior concerns/delays would also be included here.

How does all of the above differ b/w SLD, OHI, ED, ID, or other?

• Not much…• Required to complete a Comprehensive

Evaluation, so should document– Achievement,– Functional performance– Behavior for all students evaluated

• So YES, ED evaluations should have an academic contribution

CONCLUSIONS

• Disability?• Which one? – Make sure comes from the IDEA

IDEA Disabilities

• mental retardation, • deafness or hearing

impairment, • speech or language

impairments, • visual impairments

including blindness,• serious emotional

disturbance,

• orthopedic impairments,

• autism, • traumatic brain injury, • other health

impairments, • specific learning

disability.

Recommendations

• This section should include recommendations regarding modifications, specially designed instruction, and related services that should be included in the student's IEP.

Recommendations

• What strategies, instructional supports, SDIs have worked for the student? For example: student derived great benefit from the Read 180 program as is demonstrated in his reading progress monitoring data and 4Sight growth.

• What other strategies, supports, SDIs might be helpful for the student (student appears to enjoy computer time, and thus, an incentive plan that uses computer time as a reward might be considered).

Recommendations: Tips

• Use the experts around you (reading & math specialists, sp ed teacher, coaches, etc.)

• Focus on programming, NOT placement

DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY

• The Specific Learning Disability (SLD) component would be used ONLY if the evaluation team is considering the student to be eligible for special education under the specific learning disability category.

• All ten items in this component must be completed. • Refer to PA Guidelines for Identifying Students with

Specific Learning Disabilities) available at www.pattan.net for additional information on this process.

What’s the Point of this Part?

#1 Student does not achieve adequately…

• Is student delayed in any of the following: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading fluency skills, reading comprehension, mathematics calculation, and mathematics problem-solving.

• Reference achievement scores from Assessment section

• Come away from #1 with one or more areas of delay (if SLD)

#2 Process(es) used to determine eligibility.

• LDSD uses a cognitive/ achievement discrepancy approach (box 2)

• List cognitive and achievement scores for at least the areas of discrepancy (Jeff’s report)

#3 Instructional strategies used and the student-centered data collected

• Show that the student was taught reading, math, writing, etc.

• Cite data from Assessments section (lack of enough growth)

#4 Educationally relevant medical findings

• Describe any evidence that medical issues could account for the deficits in the student’s academic performance.

• Information provided by the family, school vision and hearing screening results and information from outside sources can be discussed here.

#5 Effects of the student’s environment…

• Describe any evidence that an aspect of the student’s environment, culture or economic background is negatively impacting his/her academic achievement.

#6 Student’s instruction was delivered by qualified personnel

• Document that regular education was delivered by qualified personnel. This should be evidenced by State certifications and trainings completed in intervention strategies or core curriculum. If the student is in an ESL program, document that the ESL curriculum was being delivered by a qualified teacher.

#7 Repeated assessments of achievement

• Cite Assessments section of ER• Show that student did not respond “enough”

to instruction

# 8 Observation in the student’s learning environment

• Cite observation section of ER• Show that academic delay (#1 above) is not

due to behavior (off task – that might be OHI, not SLD)

#9 Other data

• Any other information the evaluation team collects, as well as information from outside sources, such as evaluations completed outside of school, would be added.

• Cite Parent input section of ER

#10 Delays not the result of…

• If student does not present with any, provide statement of such to rule out

• If student does present with one or more, in that section, detail why the delay would exist anyway (if SLD).