INDIVIDUAL STUDENT EVALUATION
Pupil Services is involved in a continuous “Child Find” effort to identify those children, from birth to
age 21, who may be at risk for failure in regular education.
An individual diagnostic evaluation may be given to any child who has been referred to a Planning
and Placement Team (PPT) for a possible need of special education services.
A child may be referred to the Student Assistance Team (SAT) by parent/guardian, staff, or other
concerned individual at any time. This process is the responsibility of regular education. It is the
vehicle for reviewing a student’s needs, planning strategies and modifications, and reviewing
progress, as well as providing documentation of all efforts made to assist the student. This is a process
which is designed to support regular education students, and must be carefully distinguished from the
Planning and Placement (PPT) process.
The PPT process is specifically designed for potential and identified special education students. A
PPT is composed of the child’s parent(s), a school administrator, classroom teacher, special education
teacher, and a pupil services representative (i.e., speech/language pathologist, counselor, or school
psychologist).
Referrals of preschool age children for evaluation are generally made by physicians, hospitals, the
Visiting Nurses Association, Head Start, day care centers, private nursery schools, and other child-
oriented state or private agencies, as well as by parents. These referrals are reviewed at a PPT to
determine what evaluations may be required. Upon completion of testing, the team reconvenes as a
PPT to determine eligibility for special education programming and/or services.
Referrals of school age children for an evaluation may be made by their parents, teachers, principals,
or counselors. However, no formal evaluation is conducted without a Planning and Placement Team
meeting.
Dependent upon a student’s needs, school evaluation may be conducted for any of the following:
intellectual level of functioning, academic achievement level, developmental age level, learning
disabilities, reading ability, speech and language proficiency, or giftedness. Physical therapy and
occupational therapy evaluations may also be administered with the medical authorization of the
student’s physician.
These evaluations are administered by appropriate school staff, including the school psychologist,
school counselor, speech and language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, and
special education teacher. Re-evaluations are conducted triennially for all students who receive
special education.
MOVING AND TRANSFERRING OF RECORDS
Parents of children who are moving should notify the principal’s office of the date the children are
leaving. Parents must sign a Release of Information form to facilitate the transfer of student records.
All school records are processed through the Administrative Offices at Alcorn School. Parents
moving to a new location within Enfield should notify both schools as to the date of withdrawal and
entry. The two schools will arrange the transfer of records.
59