Identifying Students with Suspected Disabilities (Child Find)

The district identifies students with disabilities in a variety of ways. Some ways include:

• Preschool Screenings
• Parental Led Individualized Outside Testing with a physician
• Parental requests for a referral
• School staff members who request a referral
• Referrals from state agencies (such as DCFS)

Requesting an Evaluation

If you have concerns about your child’s development, or have academic or behavioral concerns that are affecting their progress at school, please contact either your child’s building principal, or Cheri Heinz, Special Education Director (815-568-7407 or [email protected]).

Requests should be made in writing which identify the specific nature of your concerns, along with how these are impacting your child in school and school related activities. Within 14 school days, someone from the district will reach out to you to arrange a meeting to discuss your concerns and determine if a special education evaluation is warranted.

Conducting the Evaluation

Students with suspected disabilities are evaluated by a team of qualified individuals in all areas of the child’s suspected disability. The domains covered in the evaluation process are: academic performance, general intelligence, communication status, health (which includes hearing/vision), motor abilities, social/emotional status. The team, along with the parents, discuss each of these domains to determine what data, or information, is currently known about the child, and what additional information is required to complete the evaluation. Parents are an important part of the evaluation process, alongside the school professionals - which may include: school psychologist, director of special education, building administrator, classroom teacher, special education teacher, OT, PT, SLP, and social worker. In order to complete the evaluation, the district must obtain consent from the parent before it can begin. The district has 60 school days in which to conduct the evaluation. The purpose of the meeting will be to summarize, interpret, and document the evaluation results, to determine eligibility for special education and related services. A child eligible for special education programs and services is one whose disability significantly impacts their educational performance in the classroom. Once the student qualifies for services, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) will then be developed by the team. Once a child is eligible for special education services, reevaluations are required every 3 years to determine continued eligibility.

IEP Process

The first steps in this process are the referral and evaluation of a student to determine eligibility for special education and related services. The next step is to develop the Individualized Education Program that will enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general education curriculum.

The IEP includes:

• Present levels of academic, developmental, and functional performance which includes strengths, parental concerns, and the adverse effects of their disability on involvement and progress in the general education setting.
• Accommodations and/or modifications
• Annual goals (which will be monitored and updated 3 times per year)
• Appropriate special education services and related services

The child’s IEP will be reviewed annually and progress will be shared again at this time. Any changes will be written into the new annual IEP. If changes are needed before the annual review, amendments can be made at any time.