Assessment and Eligibility for Special Education Services
Domain 3: Assessment and Eligibility for Special Education Services
This domain tests the evaluation process from pre-referral through eligibility and IEP development: screening, consent, nondiscriminatory assessment, multiple measures, progress monitoring, and documentation of present levels. Expect items about timelines, valid use of tests, and team decisions.
Core rules
- Screening vs. evaluation: screening identifies students who may need support; it does not determine eligibility.
- Comprehensive evaluation: must use multiple measures, technically sound instruments, and information from parents, teachers, and specialists. Assessment must be nondiscriminatory and administered in the student's native language or mode of communication unless clearly not feasible.
- Timelines: after parental consent, initial evaluation must be completed within 60 days (federal rule; states may set shorter timelines). Eligibility is determined by a team, including parents.
- Exclusionary factors: SLD eligibility cannot be primarily due to lack of instruction, limited English proficiency, sensory impairment, or intellectual disability.
- PLAAFP: the IEP's present levels statement summarizes current academic and functional performance using data, not adjectives.
Worked example
A team evaluates a fifth grader for SLD in math. Data include RTI progress monitoring, classroom work samples, a norm-referenced achievement test, teacher reports, and parent input. The student's math computation is below the 5th percentile, but problem-solving is average. The team finds a pattern of strengths and weaknesses and rules out lack of instruction. Eligibility is supported by multiple sources, not by one score.
Traps
Do not base eligibility on a single test. Do not ignore exclusionary factors such as poor attendance or limited English proficiency. Do not confuse a medical diagnosis with IDEA eligibility. Do not write vague PLAAFP statements; they must be data-based.