When does the special education evaluation summary meeting happen?

The school district has 90 days to evaluate your child. Be aware, this time period starts from their receipt of your signature on a “consent for evaluation” form. Additionally, the district must hold a special education evaluation summary meeting during this 90-day period. You should expect to receive a letter or emailed invitation to the meeting. Other attendees will be your student’s IEP Team and so, will include teachers and administrators from the school.

Discussion in the meeting

In the special education evaluation summary meeting, specialists such as school psychologists, resource teachers, and district speech pathologists, will test your student. After, they will score and analyze the results. Then, they will summarize their findings. The evaluation summary meeting will include these findings. You can expect the specialists to discuss evaluation outcomes and describe what the results mean. 

If you wish, you can request a draft of the special education evaluation document before the scheduled meeting. However, a draft document will be provided to you at the meeting.

The final determination

A key part of the special education evaluation summary meeting is the IEP team’s response to a series of questions and statements. The team will answer “yes” or “no” to each question determining if the student qualifies for special education services.

The statements and questions that the IEP team will respond to are:

Was the evaluation conducted in the student’s primary language, or in the student’s other mode of communication?

The special education evaluation must be given to the student in the language they usually use. A student should never be labeled as needing special education simply because they do not understand English. For example, tests may be given in Spanish, sign language, or through an interpreter.

The student is eligible for consideration as a student experiencing a disability, and this determination is not based on a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math.  

Has the student been attending school? Does the team believe the student has missed out on academic instruction? If the student has missed out on instruction in reading or math then the school’s general education environment would be responsible for catching the student up to their peers.

A child should never be categorized as needing special education just because they have not been attending school or receiving instruction.

It is the decision of the team that the student meets the criteria for having a disability based on the data provided in this report.  

This statement asks the team to confirm that first, they have discussed the evaluation data. And second, they have based their decision of eligibility on that data. This includes any review of doctors’ diagnoses or outside reports provided by the parent.

It is the decision of the team that the student demonstrates an educational need that requires specially designed instruction.

Specially designed instruction differs from the general education curriculum. Specially designed instruction is tailored to student’s specific disability and educational needs. For example, your student might be in 8^th grade but need specially designed instruction to teach them math at a lower grade level than their peers. 

Not all students with a disability need specially designed instruction. 

The student is eligible for consideration as a student experiencing a disability and this determination is not based on limited English proficiency.

This statement requires the team to formally affirm a disability diagnosis. The diagnosis can take many forms. Some examples are:

• A doctor’s diagnosis (medical diagnosis like hearing loss, or vision impairment)
• A summary from a psychologist (behavioral or cognitive challenges)
• A report from another specialist (learning disability or a speech and language disorder)

This statement also reemphasizes a key concept. A child should never be categorized as disabled simply because they do not speak fluent English.

“Yes” responses

At this point, if the team answered “yes” to all of the questions, they have agreed that your child qualifies for special education. The team will discuss and list the child’s needs in priority order. The order of the needs listed does not dictate the level of services a student will receive. The order simply helps to paint a picture of your child on paper.

For example, putting “communication” needs before “behavioral” needs might indicate to a team that this student, who has difficulty understanding or expressing their needs, may act out in challenging ways to express their frustration.

“No” responses

If the team answered “no” to any of the questions and statements, your child will not qualify for special education services.

At this point, if your student has a disability you may still feel that they need accommodations in order to be successful. In other words, they don’t qualify for special education; but, regardelss, they need help or support. If this is the case, you can contact your child’s school counselor and discuss holding a 504 Plan discussion meeting.

Next, a disability category

The last piece of the evaluation summary meeting process is deciding on a disability category that best describes your student’s challenges and educational needs. There are 13 special education disability categories.

Choosing a category can be simple. For example, if your student only has needs in reading comprehension, the team will use the disability category “Specific Learning Disability”.

Choosing a category can also also be more complicated. For example, if a student’s diagnosis is Autism they might only have a special need in communication. “Autism” or “Speech or Language Impairment” would both be valid disability categories. The team will discuss which category best represents the student’s needs in school.

The disability category chosen by the team in the evaluation summary does not dictate the student’s services in their IEP. Regardless of the disability category, placement and appropriate services must be provided by the school.

What if I don’t agree?

You might not agree with the IEP team members’ (specialists, teachers, administrators, etc…) decisions. When signing the special education evaluation summary document, you can sign and check the box stating that you do not agree with the outcome. Your concerns should be recorded by the team. You also have the right to restate your concerns in an email to the school district’s special education department. Another option is to file a complaint with the district or with the state education department. You also have the right to request an outside evaluation from the district.

Special education service consent

If your child qualifies for special education, the team will ask you to sign a “Consent for Services” form. Signing this form allows the team (including you) to move forward to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Your signature means that you wish your student to receive special education services based on your child’s educational needs.

The IEP will detail what the services will look like. 

Conclusion of the special education evaluation summary meeting

So, the path may have seemed long. But, by going through the qualifying steps, you have made it to the point where an Individualized Education Program can be formed. The IEP meeting may happen right after the Evaluation meeting, or it might be rescheduled for another day.

Stay involved, because your opinions and input in this part of the process are important.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction gives a brief description of what they call the Eligibility Meeting.