Ohio Admin. Code 3301-51-06 - Evaluations
(A) General
(1) Children with disabilities must be
evaluated in accordance with this rule.
(2) Each educational agency shall adopt and
implement written policies and procedures, approved by the Ohio department of
education, office for exceptional children, to ensure that a referral process
is employed to determine whether or not a child is a child with a disability .
The school district of residence shall ensure that initial evaluations are
conducted and that reevaluations are completed.
(3) Consistent with rule
3301-35-06 of the Administrative
Code, each educational agency shall provide interventions to resolve concerns
for any preschool or school-age child who is performing below grade-level
standards.
(4) An educational
agency may not use interventions to unnecessarily delay an evaluation to
determine a child's eligibility for special education services. If such
interventions have not been implemented prior to referral for evaluation ,
appropriate interventions shall be implemented during the same sixty calendar
day time frame during which the educational agency conducts a full and
individual evaluation .
(5) Each
educational agency shall use data from interventions to determine eligibility
for special education services, appropriate instructional practices, and access
to the general curriculum . In the case of a preschool-age child, data collected
through interventions is part of the differentiated referral process.
(B) Initial evaluations
(1) General
Each
(2) Request for initial evaluation
Consistent with the
(3) A school
district will, within thirty calendar days of receipt of a request for an
evaluation from either a parent of a child or a public agency , either obtain
parental consent for an initial evaluation or provide to the parents prior
written notice stating that the school district does not suspect a disability
and will not be conducting an evaluation .
(4) Procedures for initial evaluation
The initial
(a) Must be conducted within sixty days of
receiving parental consent for the evaluation ; and
(b) Must consist of procedures:
(i) To determine if the child is a child with
a disability as defined in paragraph (B)(10) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code; and
(ii) To determine the
educational needs of the child.
(5) Exception
The time frame described in paragraph (B)(4)(a) of this rule
does not apply to a
(a) The parent of a child repeatedly fails or
refuses to produce the child for the evaluation ; or
(b) A child enrolls in a new school district
of residence after the relevant time frame in paragraph (B)(4)(a) of this rule
has begun, and prior to a determination by the child's previous school district
of residence as to whether the child is a child with a disability as defined in
paragraph (B)(10) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code.
(6) The exception
in paragraph (B)(5)(b) of this rule applies only if the subsequent school
district of residence is making sufficient progress to ensure a prompt
completion of the evaluation , and the parent and subsequent school district
agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be completed.
(C) Screening for instructional
purposes is not evaluation
The screening of a child by a teacher or specialist to
determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation
shall not be considered to be an
(D) Reevaluations
(1) General
(d)(c) In order to make a
change in disability category.
A
(a) If the
educational agency determines that the educational or related services needs,
including improved academic achievement and functional performance, of the
child warrant a reevaluation; or
(b) If the child's parent or teacher requests
a reevaluation; or
(c) When a child, who has met the
eligibility criteria for a developmental delay, transitions from preschool to
school-age services pursuant to rule 3301-51-11 of the Administrative Code;
or
(2) Limitation
A reevaluation conducted under paragraph (D)(1) of this rule:
(a) May occur not more than once
a year, unless the parent and the school district agree otherwise;
and
(b) Must occur at least once
every three years, unless the parent and the school district agree that a
reevaluation is unnecessary.
(3) Evaluations for children who transfer
educational agencies in the same state:
(a) An
educational agency has thirty days from the date the prior educational agency 's
evaluation was received to either:
(i) Accept
the evaluation from the prior educational agency ; or
(ii) Obtain consent for a
reevaluation.
(b)
Reevaluation under this paragraph must be conducted within sixty days of parent
consent .
(E)
Evaluation procedures
(1) Notice
The
(2) Conduct of
evaluation
In conducting the
(a) Use a variety of assessment
tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic
information about the child, including information provided by the parent , that
may assist in determining:
(i) Whether the
child is a child with a disability as defined in paragraph (B)(10) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code; and
(ii) The content of the
child's individualized education program (IEP), including information related
to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general education
curriculum (or for a preschool child to participate in appropriate
activities);
(b) Not use
any single source of information, such as a single measure or score, as the
sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability and
for determining an appropriate educational program for the child; and
(c) Use technically sound instruments that
may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in
addition to physical or developmental factors.
(3) Other evaluation procedures
Each
(a) Assessments and other evaluation
materials used to assess a child under this rule:
(i) Are selected and administered so as not
to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis;
(ii) Are provided and administered in the
child's native language or other mode of communication and in the form most
likely to yield accurate information about what the child knows and can do
academically, developmentally, and functionally, unless it is clearly not
feasible to so provide or administer;
(iii) Are used for the purposes for which the
assessments or measures are valid and reliable;
(iv) Are administered by trained and
knowledgeable personnel; and
(v)
Are administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer
of the assessments.
(b)
Assessments and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess
specific areas of educational need and not merely those that are designed to
provide a single general intelligence quotient.
(c) Assessments are selected and administered
so as best to ensure that if an assessment is administered to a child with
impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the assessment results accurately
reflect the child's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the
test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the child's impaired sensory,
manual, or speaking skills (unless those skills are the factors that the test
purports to measure).
(d) The child
is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if
appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general
intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor
abilities;
(e) Assessments of
children with disabilities who transfer from one educational agency to another
educational agency in the same school year are coordinated with those
children's prior and subsequent schools, as necessary and as expeditiously as
possible, consistent with paragraphs (B)(5)(b) and (B)(6) of this rule, to
ensure prompt completion of full evaluations.
(f) In evaluating each child with a
disability under paragraphs (E) to (G) of this rule, the evaluation is
sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child's special education and
related services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability
category in which the child has been classified.
(g) Assessment tools and strategies that
provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the
educational needs of the child are provided.
(h) Medical consultation, as appropriate, for
a preschool or school-age child on a continuing basis, especially when school
authorities feel that there has been a change in the child's behavior or
educational functioning or when new symptoms are detected; and
(i) For preschool-age children, as
appropriate, the evaluation shall include the following specialized
assessments:
(i) Physical examination which is
completed by a licensed doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy in cases
where the disability is primarily the result of a congenital or acquired
physical disability;
(ii) Vision
examination which is conducted by an eye care specialist in cases where the
disability is primarily the result of a visual impairment ; and
(iii) An audiological examination which is
completed by a certified or licensed audiologist in cases where the disability
is primarily the result of a hearing impairment .
(F) Additional
requirements for evaluations and reevaluations
(1) Review of existing evaluation data
As part of an initial
(a) Review existing
evaluation data on the child, including:
(i)
Evaluations and information provided by the parents of the child;
(ii) Current classroom-based, local, or state
assessments, and classroombased observations;
(iii) Observations by teachers and related
services providers;
(iv) Data about
the child's progress in the general curriculum or, for the preschool-age child,
data pertaining to the child's growth and development;
(v) Data from previous interventions,
including:
(B)(b) For the preschool
child, data from early intervention, community or preschool program providers;
and
(vi) Any relevant
trend data beyond the past twelve months, including the review of current and
previous IEPs; and
(b)
On the basis of that review and input from the child's parents, identify what
additional data, if any, are needed to determine:
(i) Whether the child is a child with a
disability , as defined in rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code, and the educational needs of the child; or
(ii) In case of a reevaluation of a child,
whether the child continues to have such a disability, and the educational
needs of the child;
(iii) The
present levels of academic achievement and related developmental needs of the
child;
(iv) Whether the child needs
special education and related services ; or
(v) In the case of a reevaluation of a child,
whether the child continues to need special education and related services ;
and
(vi) Whether any additions or
modifications to the special education and related services are needed to
enable the child to meet the measurable annual goals set out in the IEP of the
child and to participate, as appropriate, in the general education
curriculum.
(2) Conduct of review
The group described in paragraph (F)(1) of this rule may conduct its review without a meeting.
(3) Source of data
The
(4) Requirements if additional data are not
needed
(a) If the evaluation team or the
individualized education program team , as appropriate, determine that no
additional data are needed to determine whether the child continues to be a
child with a disability and to determine the child's educational needs, the
educational agency must notify the child's parents of:
(i) That determination and the reasons for
the determination; and
(ii) The
right of the parents to request an assessment to determine whether the child
continues to be a child with a disability and to determine the child's
educational needs.
(b)
The educational agency is not required to conduct the assessment described in
paragraph (F)(4)(a)(ii) of this rule unless requested to do so by the child's
parents.
(5) Evaluations
before change in eligibility
(a) Except as
provided in paragraph (F)(5)(b) of this rule, an educational agency must
evaluate a child with a disability in accordance with paragraphs (E) to (I) of
this rule before determining that the child is no longer a child with a
disability .
(b) The evaluation
described in paragraph (F)(5)(a) of this rule is not required before the
termination of a child's eligibility under this rule due to graduation from
secondary school with a regular diploma or due to exceeding the age eligibility
for a free appropriate public education (FAPE) under state law.
(c) For a child whose eligibility terminates
under circumstances described in paragraph (F)(5)(b) of this rule, an
educational agency must provide the child with a summary of the child's
academic achievement and functional performance, which shall include
recommendations on how to assist the child in meeting the child's postsecondary
goals.
(G)
Determination of eligibility
(1) General
Upon completion of the administration of assessments and other
(a) A group of
qualified professionals and the parent of the child determines whether the
child is a child with a disability , as defined in rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code, in accordance with paragraph (G)(2) of this rule and the educational
needs of the child; and
(b) The
educational agency provides a copy of the evaluation report and the
documentation of determination of eligibility at no cost to the parent .
(i) The written evaluation team report shall
include :
(A)(a) A summary of
information obtained during the evaluation process; and
(B)(b)
The names, titles and signatures of each team member, including the parent , and
an indication of whether or not they are in agreement with the eligibility
determination. Any team member who is not in agreement with the team's
determination of disability shall submit a statement of disagreement.
(ii) The educational agency must
provide a copy of the evaluation team report and the documentation of
determination of eligibility or continued eligibility to the parents prior to
the next individualized education program meeting and in no case later than
fourteen days from the date of eligibility determination.
(2) Special rule for eligibility
determination
A child must not be determined to be a
(a) If the
determinant factor for that determination is:
(i) Lack of appropriate instruction in
reading, including the essential components of reading instruction as defined
in Section 1208(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as
amended and specified in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, January 2002,
20 U.S.C.
6301 (ESEA);
(ii) Lack of appropriate instruction in math;
or
(iii) Limited English
proficiency; and
(b) If
the child does not otherwise meet the eligibility criteria under paragraph
(B)(10) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code.
(3) Procedures for
determining eligibility and educational need
(a) In interpreting evaluation data for the
purpose of determining if a child is a child with a disability as defined in
paragraph (B)(10) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code, and the educational needs of the child, each educational agency must:
(i) Draw upon information from a variety of
sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, state and districtwide
assessments, parent input, and teacher recommendations, as well as information
about the child's physical condition, social or cultural background, and
adaptive behavior; and
(ii) Ensure
that information obtained from all of these sources is documented and carefully
considered.
(b) If a
determination is made that a child has a disability and needs special education
and related services , an IEP must be developed for the child in accordance with
rule 3301-51-07 of the Administrative
Code.
(H)
Additional procedures for identifying children with specific learning
disabilities
(1) Specific learning
disabilities
(a) General
The Ohio department of education adopts in this rule, criteria
for determining whether a child has a
(i) Do not require the use of a severe
discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement for determining
whether a child has a specific learning disability , as defined in paragraph
(B)(10)(d)(x) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code;
(ii) Permit the use of a
process based on the child's response to scientific, research-based
intervention; and
(iii) Permit the
use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a
child has a specific learning disability as defined in paragraph (B)(10)(d)(x)
of rule 3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code.
(b) Consistency
with state criteria
An
(2) Additional group members
The determination of whether a child suspected of having a
(a) The child's
regular teacher; or
(b) If the
child does not have a regular teacher, a regular classroom teacher qualified to
teach a child of the child's age; or
(c) For a child of less than school-age, an
individual qualified by the Ohio department of education to teach a child of
the child's age; and
(d) At least
one person qualified to conduct individual diagnostic examinations of children,
such as a school psychologist, speech-language pathologist, or remedial reading
teacher.
(3) Determining
the existence of a specific learning disability
(a) The group described in paragraph (G) of
this rule may determine that a child has a specific learning disability , as
defined in paragraph (B)(10)(d)(x) of rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code, if:
(i) The child does not achieve
adequately for the child's age or to meet state-approved grade-level standards
in one or more of the following areas, when provided with learning experiences
and instruction appropriate for the child's age or state-approved gradelevel
standards:
(A)(a) Oral
expression;
(B)(b) Listening
comprehension;
(C)(c) Written
expression;
(D)(d) Basic reading
skill;
(E)(e) Reading fluency
skills;
(F)(f) Reading
comprehension;
(G)(g) Mathematics
calculation; or
(H)(h) Mathematics
problem-solving.
(ii)
The child does not make sufficient progress to meet age or state-approved
grade-level standards in one or more of the areas identified in paragraph
(H)(3)(a)(i) of this rule when using a process based on the child's response to
scientific, research-based intervention; or
(iii) The child exhibits a pattern of
strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age,
state-approved grade-level standards, or intellectual development, that is
determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific
learning disability , using appropriate assessments, consistent with paragraphs
(E) and (F) of this rule; and
(iv)
The group determines that its findings under paragraphs (H)(3)(a)(i) to
(H)(3)(a)(iii) of this rule are not primarily the result of:
(A)(a) A visual, hearing,
or motor disability;
(B)(b) Intellectual
disability ;
(C)(c) Emotional
disturbance ;
(D)(d) Cultural
factors;
(E)(e) Environmental or
economic disadvantage; or
(F)(f) Limited English
proficiency.
(b) To ensure that underachievement in a
child suspected of having a specific learning disability is not due to lack of
appropriate instruction in reading or math, the group must consider, as part of
the evaluation described in paragraphs (E) to (G) of this rule:
(i) Data that demonstrate that prior to, or
as a part of, the referral process, the child was provided appropriate
instruction in regular education settings, delivered by qualified personnel ;
and
(ii) Data-based documentation
of repeated assessments of achievement at reasonable intervals, reflecting
formal assessment of student progress during instruction, which was provided to
the child's parents.
(c)
The educational agency must promptly request parental consent to evaluate the
child to determine if the child needs special education and related services ,
and must adhere to the time frames described in paragraphs (B) and (D) of this
rule, unless the time frames are extended by mutual written agreement of the
child's parents and a group of qualified professionals, as described in
paragraph (G)(1)(a) of this rule:
(i) If,
prior to a referral , a child has not made adequate progress after an
appropriate period of time when provided instruction, as described in
paragraphs (H)(3)(b)(i) and (H)(3)(b)(ii) of this rule; and
(ii) Whenever a child is referred for an
evaluation .
(d) An
evaluation may, but is not required to, utilize a process based on the child's
response to evidence-based intervention to determine whether a child has a
specific learning disability . This process:
(i) Begins when sufficient data have been
gathered and analyzed under conditions of targeted and intensive individualized
intervention conditions, when there is evidence of an inadequate response to
intervention on the part of the child, and the group determines that the
child's needs are unlikely to be met without certain specialized instruction in
addition to the regular classroom instruction;
(ii) Employs interventions that are
evidence-based and provided at appropriate levels of intensity, frequency,
duration, and integrity, relative to the child's identified needs;
(iii) Is based on results of evidence-based,
technically adequate assessment procedures that assess ongoing progress while
the child is receiving evidence-based instruction, and that have been reported
to the child's parents;
(iv)
Includes the analysis of data described in paragraphs (H)(3)(b)(i) and
(H)(3)(b)(ii) of this rule to determine whether a disparity is present between
actual and expected performance, in both the child's rate of progress in
developing skills, and in the child's level of performance on measures
assessing one or more of the academic areas listed in paragraph (H)(3)(a)(i) of
this rule;
(v) May not be used to
unnecessarily delay a child's being evaluated to determine eligibility for
special education services.
(e) An educational agency may use
evidence-based procedures for determining whether a child exhibits a pattern of
strengths and weaknesses in performance, achievement, or both, relative to age,
state-approved gradelevel standards, or intellectual development, that is
determined by the group to be relevant to the identification of a specific
learning disability , if prior approval of the procedures has been granted by
the Ohio department of education.
(f) The school district must develop written
procedures for the implementation of any method used to determine the existence
of a specific learning disability that, at a minimum, incorporate guidelines
developed by the Ohio department of education and as specified in this
rule.
(4) Observation
(a) The educational agency must ensure that
the child is observed in the child's learning environment, including the
regular classroom setting, to document the child's academic performance and
behavior in the areas of difficulty.
(b) The group described in paragraph (G) of
this rule, in determining whether a child has a specific learning disability ,
must decide to:
(i) Use information from an
observation in routine classroom instruction and monitoring of the child's
performance that was done before the child was referred for an evaluation ;
or
(ii) Have at least one member of
the group described in paragraph (G) of this rule conduct an observation of the
child's academic performance in the regular classroom after the child has been
referred for an evaluation and parental consent , consistent with rule
3301-51-05 of the Administrative
Code, is obtained.
(c)
In the case of a child of less than school-age or out of school, a group member
must observe the child in an environment appropriate for a child of that
age.
(5) Specific
documentation for the eligibility determination
(a) For a child suspected of having a
specific learning disability , the documentation of the determination of
eligibility, as required in paragraph (G)(1)(b) of this rule, must contain a
statement of:
(i) Whether the child has a
specific learning disability ;
(ii)
The basis for making the determination, including an assurance that the
determination has been made in accordance with paragraph (G)(3)(a) of this
rule;
(iii) The relevant behavior,
if any, noted during the observation of the child and the relationship of that
behavior to the child's academic functioning;
(iv) The educationally relevant medical
findings, if any;
(v) Whether:
(A)(a)
The child does not achieve adequately for the child's age or to meet
state-approved grade-level standards consistent with paragraph (H)(3)(a)(i) of
this rule; and
(B)(b) The child does not
make sufficient progress to meet age or state-approved grade-level standards
consistent with paragraph (H)(3)(a)(ii) of this rule; or
(C)(c)
The child exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance,
achievement, or both, relative to age, state-approved grade-level standards or
intellectual development consistent with paragraph (H)(3)(a)(iii) of this
rule;
(vi) The
determination of the group concerning the effects of a visual, hearing, or
motor disability; intellectual disability ; emotional disturbance ; cultural
factors; environmental or economic disadvantage; or limited English proficiency
on the child's achievement level; and
(vii) If the child has participated in a
process that assesses the child's response to scientific, research-based
intervention:
(A)(a) The instructional
strategies used and the student-centered data collected; and
(B)(b)
The documentation that the child's parents were notified about:
(i) The state's policies regarding the amount
and nature of student performance data that would be collected and the general
education services that would be provided;
(ii) Strategies for increasing the child's
rate of learning; and
(iii) The
parents' right to request an evaluation .
(b) Each group member must certify
in writing whether the report reflects the member's conclusion. If it does not
reflect the member's conclusion, the group member must submit a separate
statement presenting the member's conclusions.
(I) Additional procedures for identifying
children with multiple disabilities
A group of qualified professionals and the parents of the child
may determine the child has
(1) A combination of two or more areas of
disability as defined in rule
3301-51-01 of the Administrative
Code, except for a combination that includes a specific learning disability ;
and
(2) A severe or profound
deficit in communication or adaptive behavior documented through the use of
individually administered standardized instruments which have been validated
for the specific purpose of measuring communication or adaptive
behavior.
Notes
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 3301.07, 3301.07(J), 3323.03
Rule Amplifies: 3323.03
Prior Effective Dates: 07/01/2002, 07/01/2008, 07/01/2014, 07/01/2023
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