Sec. 10-76ff. Procedures for determining if a child requires special education.
Sec. 10-76ff. Procedures for determining if a child requires special education.
(a) Each local and regional board of education shall follow the procedures outlined in
this section in determining if a child requires special education and related services, as
defined in section 10-76a. (1) In conducting an evaluation of the child, the local or
regional board of education shall: (A) Use a variety of assessment tools and strategies
to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information, including information provided by the child's parent or guardian, that may assist in determining (i)
whether the child is a child, (I) who requires special education and related services
pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (C) of subdivision (5) of section 10-76a, (II) whose
disability has an adverse effect on his educational performance, and (III) who, by reason
of such adverse effect requires special education and related services, and (ii) the content
of the child's individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum or, for preschool
children, to participate in appropriate activities; (B) not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability or
determining an appropriate educational program for the child; and (C) use technically
sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral
factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors. (2) Each local and regional
board of education shall ensure that: (A) Assessments and other evaluation materials
used to assess the child are (i) selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory
on a racial or cultural basis, and (ii) provided and administered in the language and
form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do
academically, developmentally and functionally, unless it is not feasible to so provide
or administer; (B) assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child (i)
are used for purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable, (ii)
are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel, and (iii) are administered in
accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of such tests; (C) the child
is assessed in all areas of suspected disability; (D) assessment tools and strategies that
provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational
needs of the child are provided; and (E) assessments of children with disabilities who
transfer from one school district to another school district in the same academic year
are coordinated with such children's prior and subsequent schools, as necessary and
as expeditiously as possible, to ensure prompt completion of full evaluations. (3) In
accordance with section 10-76d and applicable federal law and regulations, upon completion of administration of assessments and other evaluation measures, the determination of whether the child is a child requiring special education and related services shall
be made by a team consisting of qualified professionals and the parent or guardian of
the child and a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation for such determination shall be given to the parent or guardian of the child. (4) The local or regional
board of education shall not determine that a child requires special education and related
services if the dominant factor for determining eligibility is (A) a lack of instruction in
reading, including the essential components of reading instruction, as defined in Section
1208(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or mathematics or
limited English proficiency, or (B) evidence that the child's behavior violates the
school's disciplinary policies or evidence that is derived from the contents of discipline
records.
(b) (1) The planning and placement team, as part of an initial evaluation, if appropriate, and as part of any reevaluations, shall review existing evaluation data on the
child, including evaluations and information provided by the parent or guardian or the
child, classroom-based assessments and observations and teacher and related services
provider observations. On the basis of such review, and input from the child's parent
or guardian, the planning and placement team shall identify what additional data, if any,
is needed to determine: (A) Whether the child has a particular category of disability, or
in the case of a reevaluation, whether the child continues to have such a disability; (B)
the present levels of performance and educational needs of the child; (C) whether the
child needs special education and related services, or in the case of a reevaluation,
whether the child continues to need special education and related services or whether
the child is able to be served within the regular education program with existing supplemental services, available in the school district; and (D) whether any additions or modifications to the special education and related services are needed to enable the child to
meet the measurable annual goals set out in the individualized education program of
the child and to participate, as appropriate, in the general curriculum. (2) The local or
regional board of education shall administer such tests and other evaluation materials
as may be needed to produce the data identified by the planning and placement team
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. (3) If the planning and placement team
decides that no additional data is needed to determine that the child continues to be a
child requiring special education and related services, the local or regional board of
education shall notify the parent or guardian of the child of (A) the decision and the
reasons for it, and (B) the right of the parent or guardian to request an assessment to
determine whether the child continues to be a child requiring special education and
related services. The local or regional board of education shall not be required to conduct
such an assessment unless requested to do so by the parent or guardian of the child. (4)
A local or regional board of education shall evaluate a child identified as requiring special
education and related services, in accordance with this section, prior to determining that
such child no longer requires such special education or related services, except that such
evaluation shall not be required before the termination of a child's eligibility for special
education due to graduation from high school with a regular education diploma, or due
to exceeding the age eligibility for a free appropriate public education pursuant to state
regulations. For a child whose eligibility for special education terminates due to graduation from high school with a regular high school diploma or such child exceeds the
age of eligibility for a free appropriate public education, the local or regional board of
education shall provide the child with a summary of the child's academic achievement
and functional performance, which shall include recommendations on how to assist the
child in meeting the child's postsecondary goals.
(c) The use of the word disability pursuant to this section shall not be the basis for
limiting the services or programs, including regular education, available to such child.
(P.A. 98-168, S. 5, 26; P.A. 06-18, S. 6.)
History: P.A. 98-168 effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 06-18 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring evaluation of academic
information, by adding language re measure and assessment, by replacing provision re native language with provision re
the language and form most likely to yield accurate information, by replacing provision re standardized tests with provision
re assessments and other evaluation materials, by adding Subdiv. (2)(E) re children who transfer between school districts,
by broadening prohibition against using certain factors to determine eligibility by stating that they may not be the dominant
factor and by expanding the description of reading, and amended Subsec. (b) by inserting "present" in Subdiv. (1)(B) and
by providing an exception to the requirement for evaluation of child no longer requiring services in Subdiv. (4), effective
July 1, 2006.