Assessment Basics under IDEA

By Shannyn Riba, Esq

Standardized tests (assessments) are the part of the IEP process that parents most often have difficulty understanding. Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions that parents have regarding assessments and their use at IEP team meetings:

What are a school district’s obligations with respect to ensuring that students with special needs are assessed?

IDEA requires that local education agencies ensure that a “child is assessed in all areas of suspected disability.” 20 USC § 1414 (b)(3)(B). Such areas of disability may include health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities.

If the district does not believe that the student has a disability in a particular area, it is not required to conduct an evaluation in that area; however, the district must give parents an explanation of their rights. If parents disagree with the District’s opinion, they may initiate a due process hearing and/or an independent evaluation.

IDEA further requires that Districts ensure that both the assessments and the evaluation materials used to assess a child are “administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel.” 20 USC § 1414 (b)(3)(A)(iv). See below for a discussion of the meaning of “trained and knowledgeable personnel.”

What does IDEA mean by “trained and knowledgeable personnel”?

IDEA’s evaluation procedures require state and local education agencies to ensure that tests and other evaluation procedures are administered by trained personnel.

These agencies must establish policies and maintain standards consistent with any applicable professional state certification and/or licensing. The standards for any entry-level employees in each profession must be based on the “highest” entry-level academic degree requirement.

Some tests performed in the course of assessments require that the test administrator have graduate training.

It is sometimes permissible for a district to permit bachelor’s level special education teachers to administer such tests, but only if the teachers were appropriately trained and supervised by someone with appropriate training.

Finally, Testing must be complete and properly analyzed. If necessary, the District must provide properly trained interpreters during an assessment.

What qualifies as an “evaluation” under IDEA?

Mere screening to determine instructional strategies is not an “evaluation” under IDEA. IDEA provides that: “The screening of a student by a teacher or specialist to determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation shall not be considered to be an evaluation for eligibility for special education and related services.” 20 USC § 1414 (a)(1)(E).

Thus, for example, a teacher’s simple opinion based on classroom observation that a student needs to be seated close to the front of the room in order to maintain proper behavior is not an “evaluation” under IDEA.

What data does the District have to consider when conducting an evaluation?

A School District MUST review all existing evaluation data, including data not produced by the District, during any evaluation of a student’s special needs. IDEA requires that an IEP team review certain existing data on a child. 20 USC 1414 (c)(1)(A).

The data the IEP team must review includes: “(i) evaluations and information provided by the parents of the child; (ii) current classroom-based, local, or State assessments, and classroom-based observations; and (iii) observations by teachers and related services providers.”

This section requires Districts to consider information about a student provided not only by the District personnel, but also by a family’s private evaluator or doctor. It also obligates Districts to consider observations made by a family’s privately paid service provider.

Can the District change my child’s eligibility without conducting an evaluation ?

No. A formal evaluation is required before a change in eligibility occurs. Except for students who are no longer eligible due to age or graduation from a secondary school with a regular diploma, a District “shall evaluate a child with a disability…before determining that the child is no longer a child with a disability.” 20 USC 1414 (c)(5).

This section requires Districts to conduct or consider formal evaluations of a student before removing a student’s special education eligibility.

Your Comments and Questions are Welcome