Special Education: Evaluation and Eligibility

If your school district agrees to your request for an evaluation, they will ask you to sign a consent form. This form gives the school permission to begin the comprehensive evaluation process for your child. A comprehensive evaluation means the school will use several different assessments to gather a complete picture of your child’s strengths and needs. That is why it is called “comprehensive” (meaning full and thorough) and a “process” because it involves more than just one test, and there is a set timeline.

Here is what you can expect next:

Step 1: Planning the Evaluation

After you give written consent, the school has 60 days to plan and complete the evaluation process. This process will be noted in an official form. You will be part of a team that meets to plan what areas will be checked, and how. This may include:

• Academic Performance.
• Cognitive Abilities (thinking and learning skills).
• Communication Skills.
• Motor Skills (ability to move large muscle groups).
• Sensory (vision, hearing abilities).
• Social/Emotional/Behavioral.
• Functional Performance (ability to complete tasks, participate in routines).
• Other (as needed).

These skill areas will be checked through various assessments. Explore the Outreach Center’s Evaluation Guidelines, or Assessment Series to get familiar with evaluations common for deaf or hard of hearing learners.

You can ask for specialized professionals to be involved on your child’s evaluation team if they are not already. These professionals understand:

• Deafness and hearing conditions.
• Sign language or your child’s preferred way of communicating.
• How hearing conditions can affect learning and development.

Evaluations must be done in your child’s primary language and communication mode, whether that is spoken language, sign language, or a mix of both. The team might observe your child, do testing, and gather input from you and others who know your child well.

Step 2: Reviewing the Evaluation Results

Once the testing is done, you will be invited to a meeting to review the Evaluation Team Report (ETR).

At this meeting, the team (including you) will:

• Go over the evaluation results.
• Highlight areas of need, and strengths.
• Decide if your child qualifies for special education services. To qualify for services, all these three items must be met.
• Your child has a disability under the IDEA categories, such as deafness;
• and that disability negatively impacts their education;
• and special education services are needed for your child to learn, due to that disability.

The school may determine that your child qualifies for a 504 Plan instead of special education. 504 Plans can address some access needs but does not include specially designed instruction. If the school determines that your child does not qualify for specially designed instruction, they will explain why in writing. If you disagree with their decision, you do have options to try and resolve the disagreement. Please find the relevant information under “Dispute Resolution” in the Evaluation Road Map.

Step 3: Planning for Service Delivery

If it is decided that your child does qualify, then the initial comprehensive evaluation and eligibility process is complete. Now, you and the team can use the results from the ETR to identify needs, and plan supports and services to address those needs. Those services will be documented in an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The team will also consider where services will be delivered.

Continue to the “Special Education: Services and IEP” section of this guide to learn about the next steps of the journey.

For a deeper dive, see OCECD’s resource for Understanding Evaluation and Eligibility process.

Go back to our getting started page if you are looking to request an evaluation and eligibility for special education.