In accordance with New York Education Law Section 4402 and Part 200.2, 200.4 and 200.5 of the Commissioner's Regulations, the CSE is responsible for evaluating all school-age students suspected of having a disability, identifying a disability (or determining that no disability exists), and recommending placement and type of special education programs and/or services within sixty (60) days of the date of receipt of consent for evaluation. Referrals can be made at any time during the twelve-month year.

A student suspected of having a disability shall be referred in writing to the Chairperson of the Committee on Special Education or to the building Administrator of the school, which the student attends or is eligible to attend for an individual evaluation and determination of eligibility for special education programs or services. The school district must initiate a referral and promptly request parental consent to evaluate the student to determine if the student needs special education services and programs or if the student has not made adequate progress after an appropriate period of time when provided instruction in a multitiered problem-solving approach that utilizes systematically applied strategies and targeted instruction. A referral for an initial evaluation may be made by:

• a student's parent including an individual who is acting in place of a birth or adoptive parent;
• a designee of the school district in which the student resides
• the commissioner; and/or
• a designee of an education program affiliated with a child care institution with committee on special education responsibility.

• A written request that the school district or agency refer the student for an initial evaluation may be made by:
  • a professional staff member of the school district in which the student resides, or the public or private school the student legally attends;
  • a licensed physician;
  • a judicial officer;
  • a professional staff member of a public agency with responsibility for welfare, health or education of children; or
  • a student who is 18 years of age or older, or an emancipated minor, who is eligible to attend the public schools of the district.
• All new entrants to the district are screened at the time of enrollment and such screening, if it indicates a possible disability, can lead to a CSE referral.
  
  Except for written requests for referrals submitted by the student or judicial officers, the referral must state the reasons for the referral and include any test results, records or reports upon which the referral is based. It must also describe written efforts made by school and parent to resolve the difficulties leading to referral or to meet the needs of the student in the general classroom setting including intervention services, programs or instructional methodologies used to remediate the student's performance prior to the referral. It must also describe the extent of parental contact and involvement prior to the referral. If a referral is received by the building Administrator, it must be forwarded to the CSE Chairperson immediately. If a referral is received by the CSE Chairperson, a copy will be forwarded to the building Administrator within five school days of its receipt.
  
  Within 10 school days of receiving a written request for referral/or an initial re-evaluation, the school district will notify the parent that a referral for an evaluation has been received and either:
• request parent consent to initiate the evaluation; or
• provide the parent with a copy of a request for referral; and
• inform the parent of his/her right to refer the student for an initial evaluation; and
• offer the parent the opportunity to meet to discuss the request for referral and, as appropriate, the availability of appropriate general education support services for the student, with:
  • the building administrator or other designee of the school district authorized to make a referral;
  • the party making the request for referral if a professional staff member of the school district; and
  • upon request of the parent of school district, any other person making a request for referral must have the opportunity to attend such meeting.

A professional staff member of the school district who made a request for referral that results in a parent referral for special education, must attend any meeting requested by a building administrator to determine whether the student would benefit from additional general education support services as an alternative to special education and receive a copy of any agreement to withdraw the referral.

The initial evaluation will consist of procedures to determine whether a student is a student with a disability and to determine the educational needs of such a student. The screening of a student by a teacher or specialist to determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation shall not be considered to be an evaluation for eligibility for special education. The evaluation will include a variety of assessment tools and strategies, including information provided by the parent to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information about the student that may assist in determining whether the student is a student with a disability and the content of the student's individualized education program, including information related to enabling the student to participate and progress in the general education curriculum.

The individual evaluation of the referred student must include, at no cost to the parent, at least:

• A physical examination;
• An individual psychological examination, except when a school psychologist determines after an assessment of a school age student that further evaluation is unnecessary. Whenever a psychologist determines that a psychological evaluation is unnecessary, the psychologist will prepare a written report of such assessment, including a statement of the reasons the evaluation is unnecessary, which shall be reviewed by the committee;
• An observation of the student in the student's learning environment including the general classroom setting or, in the case of a student of less than school age or out of school, an environment appropriate for a student of that age to document the student's academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty;
• A social history;
• Other appropriate assessment or evaluations, including a functional behavioral assessment for a student whose behavior impedes his or her learning or that of others, as necessary to ascertain the physical, mental, behavioral and emotional factors which contribute to the suspected disabilities.

• The district will ensure that
  • Assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a student:
  • are provided and administered in the student's native language or other mode of communication and in the form most likely to yield accurate information on what the student knows and can do academically, developmentally and functionally;
  • are used for purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable;
  • are administered by trained personnel in accordance with the instruction provided by those who developed such assessments; and
  • are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis;
  • Assessments and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely those which are designed to provide a general intelligence quotient;
  • Assessments are selected and administered to ensure that, when an assessment is administered to a student with impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills, the assessment results accurately reflect the student's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the assessment purports to measure, rather than reflecting the student's impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills, except where those skills are factors which the test purports to measure;
  • Materials and procedures used to assess a student with limited English proficiency be selected and administered to ensure that they measure the extent to which the student has a disability or needs special education, rather than measure the student's English language skills;
  • No single measure or assessment is used as the sole criterion for determining whether a student is a student with a disability or for determining an appropriate educational program for a student;
  • The evaluation is made by a multidisciplinary team or group of persons, including at least one teacher or the specialist with certification or knowledge in the area of the suspected disability;
  • The evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the student's special education needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the student has been identified;
  • Technically sound instruments are used that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors;
  • Assessment tools and strategies are used that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the student;
  • The student is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, where appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence, academic performance, vocational skills, communicative status and motor abilities;
  • Students age twelve (12) and those referred to special education for the first time who are age twelve (12) and over, shall receive an assessment that includes a review of school records and total assessments, and parent and student interview to determine vocational skills, aptitude and interests;
  • The results of the evaluation are provided to parents or persons in parental relationships in their native language or mode of communication, unless is it clearly not feasible to do so;
  • Assessments of students with disabilities who transfer from one school district to another school district in the same academic year are coordinated with such student's prior and subsequent schools, as necessary, and as expeditiously as possible to ensure prompt completion of full evaluations;
  • No student shall be required to obtain a prescription for a drug or other substance.

The CSE will arrange for specialized evaluations where necessary, using appropriate resources outside of the district. These assessments may include, but are not limited to, bilingual evaluations, psychiatric and neurological examinations, audiological evaluations, visual evaluations, vocational evaluations and assistive technology assessments. Specialized evaluations are not limited to the initial evaluation process; they may be indicated at any time. The CSE shall maintain a list of appropriate resources and certified professionals for this purpose.