Best Practices for Re-Evaluations in Alabama

I know it has been a while and I have a lot of ideas but with the start of the school year around this State, I wanted to post this entry. I have been a school psychologist for over 19 years and the last 13 in Alabama. One thing that has perplexed me here is the interpretation of the law as it relates to re-evaluations. So let’s dive into that a little.

The Alabama Administrative Code - Special Education Services is the bible of special education in Alabama. Under 290-8-9-.02 “Evaluations” is a section for “Re-evaluations” (5). I could really find a rabbit trail and get into specifics but I’ll try to stay away from rabbit trails and weeds! In summary, once a child qualifies for special education, the IEP team must meet at a minimum of every 3 years to review continued eligibility for special education services.

What has confused me is that some districts, parents, advocates, attorneys, etc. interpret this as doing a complete and total re-evaluation. What that means is that teams will update EVERYTHING - cognitive ability, achievement, adaptive ratings, behavior ratings, observations, etc. and the team is making a decision of whether or not the student qualifies based on the current results. This is not best practice. A student has been receiving specially designed services for X number of years - their coping mechanisms, maturity, performance on that specific day, etc. have likely all changed and NOW they are no longer eligible for special education support?! HOW?! They have an IEP, their IEP team meets annually to review progress and changes, and they have not mastered those goals! How can we say then that because of NEW information, the student no longer requires specially designed instruction?!

I asked my teachers to let me know when they felt a student should be considered for exiting and their input was helpful but the data didn’t always agree. When a student was due for a re-evaluation or a teacher/parent/student questioned continued eligibility, we would meet as an IEP team and review the data. That data included:

• the initial information that qualified them,

• their most recent IEP, including goals, direct services, supplementary services and accommodations,

• Progress on those IEP goals (a percentage of how close they were to meeting those goals),

• District level testing (e.g., iReady, STAR),

• Overall grades,

• Break down of grades by class (so I could see Tests, Classwork, Participation, Homework, etc.) - this helped me see patterns (kids who may struggle with organization or memory, a particular subject, content area within a subject, time of day, etc.)

• Discipline,

• Attendance, and

• Teacher input.

Documenting all of that data in the eligibility report made the review of information “current” as it was based on current skills - grades, IEP goals, teacher input, etc. That information also helped to inform the IEP which may or may not need changes. Therefore, the IEP team was making a decision based on “current” data of whether or not the student continued to require specially designed services.

I could go on but I’ll leave this topic with just a few suggestions or comments:

The teachers I worked with knew I wanted to see a student with minimal IEP services before we considered exiting them. I wanted to see that the student performed within the average range (C or higher) in the classroom without much specially designed support. I wanted to see they were performing in the average range on district level assessments. The reduction of services made this doable and allowed us to provide support if needed but exit if the student was making age-appropriate progress. This usually ended in parents, teachers, and districts having a well-rounded respect for each other and the process.

Sometimes, parents, advocates, attorneys, etc. would request testing. I honestly believe its because that was all they knew. However, cognitive ability (IQ) does not typically change except with a head injury or emotional decline/trauma. Achievement may change but the data we collect from district level testing and grades from the classroom offer a MUCH better glimpse into their skills than standardized achievement testing could! Gathering behavioral data related to the specific goals is much more relevant to a student’s needs than the broad scope of a behavior rating.

Please reach out with questions, comments, or suggestions for additional topics and have a GREAT year!!