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[IHBAB: SPECIAL EDUCATION EVALUATIONS]

A.    Statement of Policy.

The State and Federal special education laws require that the Manchester School District (“District”), as the local education agency (“LEA”), shall find, identify, and evaluate all children suspected to be children with disabilities. The district evaluates children upon referral for special education and reevaluates educationally disabled children at least once every three years or when conditions warrant a reevaluation.  The District is committed to ensuring that each child’s IEP team bases its decision on high quality, reliable and educationally sound special education evaluations.

The availability, steps, timelines, and other procedures for requesting, initiating a referral, or conducting an educational evaluation relative to a determination of whether a child is a child with a disability, are as set forth in the New Hampshire Department of Education Special Education Procedural Safeguards Handbook. A current copy of the handbook may be obtained from the child’s building Special Education Administrator or Principal, the Manchester School District Director of Student Services, or from the New Hampshire Department of Education. This policy establishes the criteria for those evaluations.

B.     Evaluation Criteria. 

The District has established the following criteria for all special education evaluations. These criteria apply to all evaluations conducted by school district personnel, all evaluations the District asks outside contractors to conduct, and all independent educational evaluations (“IEE”) parents expect the school district to review, consider, and/or fund.                                                 

1.      Evaluation Compliance: The evaluation must comply with the relevant provisions of the State and Federal special education laws, including 34 C.F.R. §§ 300.301–300.311, and N.H. Code of Administrative Rules Ed 1107.

2.      Evaluator Credentials: 

a.       The evaluation must be conducted in New Hampshire or a contiguous state, by an evaluator whose principal office is located in New Hampshire, unless there is no qualified evaluator in New Hampshire.

b.      The evaluator must hold a valid license from the State of New Hampshire in the field related to the known or suspected disability. The evaluator must have extensive training and experience in evaluation in the area(s) of concern and be able to interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation results. In instances where no “applicable license” exists, the District must be satisfied that the evaluator has extensive training and experience related to the known or suspected disability.

3.      Test Protocol Requirement: All tests administered will be the current version of the test. The test must be norm-referenced for the individual evaluation appropriate for the age and educational level of the child and measure the same skills, and meet the same standards of technical adequacy for reliability and validity.

4.      Student Educational Record Review: The evaluator must review educational records located in the student’s local public school and other relevant educational records.

5.      Student Observation: In the absence of contrary determination by the child’s IEP team, the evaluator must either: a.) observe the child in one or more educational settings; or b.) make at least one contact with the child’s general education teacher for the purpose of determining how the student is progressing in the general curriculum. In addition, evaluators are encouraged to make additional contacts with other involved general and special education teachers and related service providers. 

6.      Communication and Shared Information between Evaluator and District: The evaluator must be permitted to directly communicate with and is required to provide information to members of the IEP team, the District’s Director of Student Services, or the administrator’s designees. The evaluator should have access to the current evaluation and current IEP, if applicable. The evaluator is also required to release the assessments and results, including parent and teacher questionnaires, to members of the IEP team, the Director of Student Services or the administrator’s designees.
                                                                             
Additionally, the District shall be entitled to inspect and obtain copies of the evaluator’s records directly pertaining to the student being evaluated, including any records created by third parties. However, for the purposes of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), records will not be deemed accessible to any District personnel other than the evaluator, unless and until the District exercises its right to inspect or obtain copies of those records from the evaluator. Accordingly, parents/guardians must authorize a release of information to allow for the sharing of such information as well as the records indicated in section B.4 of this policy.

7.      Evaluation Reports: All evaluation reports will include the appropriate standardization and reporting methods as designed by the test publishers.

8.      Cost and Payment: The cost of the evaluation shall not exceed the usual and customary rate for such evaluations. The District will not pay for the evaluation until it receives the evaluator’s completed report.

9.      Evaluation Criteria Waiver: Unique circumstances may justify deviation or waiver, in whole or in part, from these criteria. If a parent or District staff member is aware of such unique circumstances, they should inform the student’s special education teacher, building or District Special Education Administrator immediately. The District’s Director for Student Services or designee is authorized to grant a waiver.

C.    Information to Provide to Parents.

The Special Education Administrator or designee shall provide a copy of this policy to parents/guardians who indicated they are considering obtaining an IEE, and shall make available upon a parent/guardians request information about where an IEE may be obtained.

D.    Confidentiality.

Evaluators who review student records and observe students in the District’s classrooms must sign a separate agreement governing the terms of such review and observation that maintains the confidentiality of all reviewed materials and observations.

Legal References: 

34 C.F.R. §§ 300.301–300.311

N.H. Code of Administrative Rules Ed 1107

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(a)(4)(B)(i)

NH Department of Education Special Education Procedural Safeguards Handbook

History: 

First Reading Policy Committee: May 15, 2024

Second Reading and BOSC Adoption: May 28, 2024