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Referral is a formal, ongoing process for reviewing information related to learners who possibly have disabilities and show potential signs of needing special education services. The referral process includes district review of screening and other information on referred students, and the district's decision about whether to conduct a formal special education evaluation.
| Quick Links: Length of Time for Pre-referral Interventions Procedures for Receiving Referrals Student Support Teams Infant and Toddler Referral Limited English Speaking Families |
Items to Demonstrate Compliance
Before a student is referred for a special education assessment, the district must conduct and document at least two instructional strategies, alternatives, or interventions while the pupil is in the regular classroom. The student’s teacher must provide the documentation. A special education assessment team may waive this requirement when they determine the student’s need for the assessment is urgent. This section may not be used to deny a student’s right to a special education assessment.
MN. Statute 125A.56(a)
Once the presenting problem is identified by general education staff, it is necessary to conduct pre-referral interventions. Pre-referral interventions are planned, systematic efforts by the problem solving team to resolve apparent learning or behavioral problems. The design and outcome of these interventions must be documented. Several intervention forms are available for district use.
Prior to or as a part of the intervention process, the student's classroom teacher has the responsibility of informing the parent of the concerns and give the parent an opportunity to share information that may have bearing on the student's problems. It is conceivable that the teacher may gain insight from parents that makes it no longer necessary to refer the student. It is critical that parents are involved early in the process so that trust with the staff and school district is developed and nurtured.
A school district shall use alternative intervention services, including the assurance of mastery program under section 124D.66, the supplemental early education program under section 124D.081, or an early intervening services program under subdivision 2 to serve at-risk pupils who demonstrate a need for alternative instructional strategies or interventions.
Early intervening services program.
Early intervening services are not the same thing as early intervention. Early intervention services are for infants and toddlers with disabilities; early intervening services (EIS) are for catching problems early in school-aged children. EIS are aimed at grades K-12, with an emphasis on K-3. This process is about identifying children who are struggling to learn, especially apparent in the early grades, and quickly intervening to provide support.
A district may meet the requirement
under subdivision 1 by establishing an early intervening services program that includes:
(1) a system of valid and reliable general outcome measures aligned to state academic standards that is administered at least three times per year to pupils in kindergarten through grade 8 who need additional academic or behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment. The school must provide interim assessments that measure pupils' performance three times per year and implement progress monitoring appropriate to the pupil. For purposes of this section, "progress monitoring" means the frequent and continuous measurement of a pupil's performance that includes these three interim assessments and other pupil assessments during the school year. A school, at its discretion, may allow pupils in grades 9 through 12 to participate in interim assessments;
(2) a system of scientific, research-based instruction and intervention; and
(3) an organizational plan that allows teachers, paraprofessionals, and volunteers funded through various sources to work as a grade-level team or use another configuration across grades and settings to deliver instruction. The team must be trained in scientific, research-based instruction and intervention. Teachers and paraprofessionals at a site operating under this paragraph must work collaboratively with those pupils who need additional academic or behavioral support to succeed in a general education environment.
(b) As an intervention under paragraph (a), clause (2), staff generating special education aid under section 125A.76 may provide small group instruction to pupils who need additional academic or behavioral support to succeed in the general education environment. Small group instruction that includes pupils with a disability may be provided in the general education environment if the needs of the pupils with a disability are met, consistent with their individual education plans, and all pupils in the group receive the same level of instruction and make the same progress in the instruction or intervention. Teachers and paraprofessionals must ensure that the needs of pupils with a disability participating in small group instruction under this paragraph remain the focus of the instruction. Expenditures attributable to the time special education staff spends providing instruction to nondisabled pupils in this circumstance is eligible for special education aid under section 125A.76 as an incidental benefit if:
(1) the group consists primarily of disabled pupils;
(2) no special education staff are added to meet nondisabled pupils' needs; and
(3) the primary purpose of the instruction is to implement the individual education plans of pupils with a disability in this group.
Expenditures attributable to the time special education staff spends providing small group instruction to nondisabled pupils that affords more than an incidental benefit to such pupils is not eligible for special education aid under section 125A.76, except that such expenditures may be included in the alternative delivery initial aid adjustment under section 125A.78 if the district has an approved program under section 125A.50. During each 60-day period that a nondisabled pupil participates in small group instruction under this paragraph, the pupil's progress monitoring data must be examined to determine whether the pupil is making progress and, if the pupil is not making progress, the pupil's intervention strategies must be changed or the pupil must be referred for a special education evaluation.
MN Statute 125A.56(b)
Pre-referral interventions, as a part of early intervening services are the responsibility of general education teachers with the support and consultation of the principal, special education teachers, school psychologist, school social worker, and other specialists. This process is typically conducted by a problem solving team. Existing data from MCA II and curriculum based measures (CBM) should be reviewed in order to clearly identify the issue of concern. The problem solving team needs to develop criteria and indicators to determine whether or not an intervention is successful. Response to intervention (RTI) is an approach for sorting out whether a struggling child really is a "child with a disability" as defined by IDEA or just needs more intensive regular education strategies to succeed in school. RTI usually consists of 3 levels of assistance. When a student is identified as struggling to learn either through a system wide screening test or through teacher observation or testing, an RTI process may be used to see how the student responds to deliberate research-based interventions and other direct supports. If the student fails to make satisfactory progress at any level, the problem solving team should review the progress and determine if the frequency, intensity or change in the intervention should occur.
The ASEC recommends the use of CBM measures for frequent progress monitoring. Limited access to the AIMsWeb data management system is available to the districts by contacting ASEC. At least two pre-referral interventions are required before a special education assessment may be conducted. There may be an exception only if the parent requests an assessment and/or if there is some urgency in the student's situation.
Generally, before referring a student for special education assessment, there needs to be documentation of the interventions tried, over at least a 30-day school period by the problem solving team. Before referring a student for behavioral reasons, the documentation of interventions used in the regular classroom should generally occur over a six-month school period. Sometimes these interventions may have been started in the previous grade and continued the following year.
Even when the classroom teacher decides not to refer a student for special education assessment, the documentation should be placed in the student’s cum file so that a history of academic difficulties may be established for possible later referral.
Notwithstanding any age limits in laws to the contrary, special instruction and services must be provided from birth until July 1 after the child with a disability becomes 21 years old but shall not extend beyond secondary school or its equivalent, except as provided in section 124D.68, subdivision 2. Local health, education, and social service agencies must refer children under age five who are known to need or suspected of needing special instruction and services to the school district. Districts with less than the minimum number of eligible children with a disability as determined by the commissioner must cooperate with other districts to maintain a full range of programs for education and services for children with a disability. This section does not alter the compulsory attendance requirements of section 120A.22.
MN Statute 125A.03(b)
The school districts within the ASEC, have a process in place for identifying children with disabilities beginning at birth. Children from birth three are referred by parents, physicians and other agencies to the central point of intake in each county. Referrals are forwarded to the Early Intervention Assessment Team. The facilitator with input from the family involves the appropriate agencies that may provide services to the child and family. Preschool children ages 3 to kindergarten are referred to the district of residence early childhood teacher. Preschoolers evaluated and not found eligible for early childhood special education are referred to the IEIC Help Me Grow Team when appropriate. For school age children attending either attending a public or private school or children with disabilities who are of school age and are not attending school, referrals can be made to the district's building student assistance team. The student assistance team will process the referral, obtain parent input and permission to evaluate, and involve the appropriate team members from the school and other agencies, as appropriate.
Referrals for children birth to three may be made to the central point of referral for each county or by contacting the State Help Me Grow at 866-693-3769 or the Help Me Grow website.
The ASEC has three private schools within the cooperative. These schools are located in East Grand Forks, Alvarado and Red Lake Falls. Specific child find procedures for private schools are outlined in the Referral Procedures for Nonpublic Sp Ed Evaluations brochure provided to the private schools and available to home school families.
General education teachers can effectively meet some of the needs of many students with learning and behavior problems within the general education classroom. Situations arise, however, when a teacher needs a support system to help with students who present unique learning and adjustment problems. Student support teams (SST) may assist general educators in solving these problems by determining appropriate pre-referral interventions. Pre-referral interventions help determine if the student's learning problem is specific to the student or a result of the method of instruction or other classroom variables. An SST team meeting is particularly important in creating a partnership between the school and family; it is an opportunity to collect information about the student.
The districts within the ASEC have developed child study procedures based on the ASEC recommended policy.
The fourteen districts that make up the Area Special Education Cooperative (hereafter referred to as the districts) have adopted a cooperative procedure for the identification and evaluation of students with disabilities.
Interagency Early Intervention Committee (IEIC) Birth to 5 years
The districts within the Area Special Education Cooperative, in cooperation with the health and human service agencies located in each county in which the ASEC district's are located, have established an interagency early intervention committee, called Help Me Grow, for referral children with disabilities under age five and their families.
The Help Me Grow team in each county includes representatives of public health, school, Head Start, mental health and county human service agencies as well as other public agencies, as determined appropriate by the IEIC.
The interagency early intervention committee in each County has developed and implemented interagency policies and procedures to coordinate referral and services at the district level for children with disabilities. Each IEIC has identified a central point of intake for referrals of children birth to age 5. These referrals may come from a variety of sources such as doctors, parents, daycare providers, and preschool teachers.
Birth to Age Three: If the child is under the age of three, the referral is given to the ASEC Early Evaluation team within two day of the referral being made. The Early Intervention teacher on this team is assigned as the facilitator for the referral and supports the family during the evaluation process. The evaluation by the Early Evaluation team is completed within 45 calendar days from the referral date.
Age Three to Five: If the child is over age three, the referral is given to the Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) teacher assigned to the district of the child’s residence. The ECSE teacher is responsible for obtaining consent for evaluation, assisting in developing an evaluation plan and participating along with others in the evaluation.
Student Support Team (SST) Kindergarten through 12th Grade
General education teachers can effectively meet some of the needs of students with learning and behavior problems within the general education classroom. Situations arise, however, when a teacher needs a support system to help with students who present unique learning and adjustment problems. Student support teams (SST) may assist general educators in solving these problems by determining appropriate pre-referral interventions. Pre-referral interventions help determine if the student's learning problem is specific to the student or a result of the method of instruction or other variables. An SST team meeting is particularly important in creating a partnership between the school and family; it is an opportunity to collect information about the student.
Each district and/or each building within the district has its own SST. The main function of the team is to provide an orderly and systematic procedure to identify and monitor students at risk of academic or behavioral difficulties by:
· Behaviorally clarifying the presenting problem;
· Pulling together and considering existing information as it relates to the presenting problem;
· Gathering additional information within the general education setting utilizing general education personnel and/or procedures;
· Determining appropriate course of action in attempting to resolve the presenting problem; and
· Recommending when special education assessment seems appropriate.
The SST team is generally composed of regular education teachers, counselor or school social worker, building principal and others as appropriate such as licensed special education personnel, speech clinician and school psychologist. Some districts have combined the functions of the team to include Early Intervention Services (EIS) and Section 504 referrals as well as referrals for special education. Those teams may have a somewhat different mix of special and regular education personnel. There are, however certain permanent members of the SST and this membership is determined based upon the needs of the building and at the discretion of the principal.
Process for Referral K-12 including Private or Home Schools
1. The teacher, parent, private school staff or others identify a concern regarding a student.
a. If the referral is initiated by the parent, the SST referral form is completed and returned to the SST chair person.
b. If the referral is initiated by the classroom teacher the SST referral and any documentation of interventions attempted is returned to the SST chairperson. Prior to the referral the parent must first be informed of the concern and attempts to intervene.
2. The SST referral form is returned to the chair person of the SST.
a. Private or Home School Referral: When a child is educated in a private school, the building SST responsible for that age range of children responds to the referral and follows the same process as a public school referral.
b. Referrals must be responded to within 10 days of receiving them.
3. The SST reviews the referral information and any previous teacher interventions.3* If the referral is from a private school, the classroom teacher or representative is invited to the SST meeting at which the student will be discussed. The SST, which includes the classroom teacher, determines if additional interventions are appropriate or more data is needed. A “case manger” is assigned to oversee the option recommended by the team.
a. If pre-referral interventions are implemented the SST will monitor effectiveness of the interventions and systematically review the student’s progress.
b. If the decision is for an evaluation for special education a special education teacher is assigned as case manager and an evaluation determination is made and additional evaluation team members identified.
· If the student is evaluated for special education and found eligible for services an IEP is developed and services initiated.
· If the student is fund ineligible for special education services, the team considers other options or recommendations. Some possible recommendations or options include the suggestions in “c.” below.
c. If the team determines not to conduct a special education evaluation, a summary form indicating recommendations is completed and kept on file with the chair of the SST. A “case manager” should be assigned to follow up on any recommendations made by the team. Some possible recommendations or options include:
· Continue with further EIS interventions;
· Consider a 504 Plan;
· Consider referral to outside agencies;
· No further action, concern resolved.
The student's parent must be provided an opportunity to participate in this review. Best practice would suggest that the parent be contacted by phone prior to sending a Notice of a Team Meeting in order to schedule a convenient date.
For children birth to age seven suspected of having a hearing or vision disability, the team must include a licensed teacher in each area of suspected sensory impairment.
The Interagency Early Intervention Committee must develop and implement interagency policies and procedures concerning the following ongoing duties:
establish and evaluate the identification, referral, child and family assessment systems, procedural safeguard process, and community learning systems to recommend, where necessary, alterations and improvements.
MN Statute 125A.30(b)(3)
The child find system must include procedures for use by primary referral sources for referring a child to the appropriate public agency within the system for:
Evaluation and assessment or
As appropriate the provision of services.
The procedures required in this section must:
Provide for an effective method of making referrals by primary referral sources;
Ensure that referrals are made no more than two working days after a child has been identified; and
Include procedures for determining the extent to which primary referral sources, especially hospitals and physicians, disseminate the information, prepared by the lead agency on the availability of early intervention services to parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities
Each district is a member of an Interagency Early Intervention Committee (IEIC) that has established a referral procedure that utilizes the school social worker in Red Lake county and the public health nursing service in the counties of Polk, Marshall and Norman as the central intake point for referrals on children who may be eligible for an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). An IFSP is a written plan for providing services to a child between the ages of birth through age 2 and the child’s family through interagency agreements. The procedural and program requirements for the IFSP are the same as for an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Referrals on preschool children age 3 through 5 should be made to the resident school district.
The following referral system was developed with input from the Interagency Early Intervention Committees:
Within 45 calendar days after it receives a referral, the district will complete the evaluation and evaluation activities and hold an IFSP meeting. In the event of exceptional circumstances that make it impossible to complete the evaluation and evaluation within 45 calendar day (e.g., if the child is ill) the district will:
Document those circumstances; and
Develop and implement an interim IFSP to the extent appropriate.
Referrals for children birth to three may be made to the central point of referral for each county or by contacting the State Help Me Grow at 866-693-3769 or the Help Me Grow website.
Limited English Speaking Families
If the family is bilingual, the special education director or assistant director should be contacted to assist you with the due process procedures when conducting a minority assessment. See Request For Interpreter form.
For your information: In Minnesota, a Limited English Speaking (LEP) learner is defined as a learner who:
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Communicating with Parents Who are Limited English Proficient (LEP)
Federal laws and state rules require schools to inform all parents of their special education due process rights. This includes parents who do not speak English or who use another communication mode. This necessitates the use of translations and interpretations for parents who are not fluent in English. The underlying goal of federal laws and rules is to enable parents to provide informed consent. In order to give informed consent, parents must receive information in a manner that they can understand. Informed consent also increases school/parent cooperation and understanding. In order to meet the intent of the law, schools should think about both the language of the parent and the best methods of communication
One method of communication is to use the written translations of due process materials. These are available by contacting the ASEC office. Parents, however, have varying abilities to speak and read their native language and English. For example, some parents are highly literate in their native language but do not speak or read in English. These parents can benefit from translated forms. Other parents may speak some English as well as their native language but not read in either. Oral interpretation may be more meaningful to these parents.
Parents Do Not Want An Interpreter
Many adults in Minnesota who are native speakers of another language are very fluent in English. However, cultural values, personal pride and the desire to not create a burden for the school may lead some parents to claim a greater degree of English proficiency than they actually possess. There may be situations where the parents refuse the right to an interpreter, but staff members suspect that they do not fully understand the complex information being presented. In these cases, districts may wish to try the following steps. In all cases, it is important for the school staff and parents to take some time to get to know each other and develop a trusting relationship.
Consult with the LEP staff. These staff members usually have the greatest knowledge of the family's circumstances and may be able to mediate.
Consider whether the parents have a conflict with one particular interpreter. There are sometimes issues of dialect, ethnic group or clan affiliations that make a given interpreter unacceptable to a family. There may be concerns over confidentiality. Gender can also be an issue. For example, it may be inappropriate for a male interpreter to ask a mother very personal questions about her child's birth and development.
Explain to parents that special education can be very complicated and that many English speaking parents have trouble understanding it.
Explain that the school needs help to understand their language and culture. Place responsibility for communication barriers on the school rather than on the family.
Consider the best interest of the child. Is the school missing critical pieces of information that can only be obtained from the family via an interpreter? It is important to be sensitive, but the student' interests may override those of the parents.
Remember that having an interpreter does not guarantee good communication if the parents and the school do not have a good relationship.
Parents are Unable to Read
Because of lack of opportunity for education, some parents of LEP students are unable to read or write in their native language. Districts should provide oral interpretation in these cases so that parents can be involved in their child's education in a meaningful way. Even when parents are unable to read, districts are advised to have their interpreter use the translated due process forms. This is recommended for the following reasons.
In many languages, there are no exact equivalents of special education terms. Different interpreters may use different words to explain special education concepts. Using the written translations can help increase consistency in interpretation. This is especially true if the interpreter is not trained in special education.
Interpretation of special education documents from English into another language is complex and time consuming. Using the translated forms should greatly simplify the interpreter's task.
It is also helpful to tape record oral interpretations of special education materials. Special education is complex and the information shared at team meetings can be difficult to absorb in one sitting. A tape recording would give parents the chance to listen to the information several times to refresh their memory.
Special education laws and rules specifically require schools to communicate with parents in their native language. State and federal special education funds may therefore be used to pay interpreters who help carry out due process requirements ( including implementation of IEP's). Schools can either employ staff or contract for these services. Employees should be claimed as Bilingual Home-School Liaisons (EDRS personnel type 39) Contracts are handled in the same manner as any other outside contract for special education services.