Special Education Evaluation Services

Process:  

1.  All initial referrals to the assessment team for children ages 3-6 who are not enrolled in a public school go through the Special Programs office. 
   • If your child is ages 3-6 and not currently enrolled in public school, CLICK HERE to complete the child find form or
   • Contact Kathy Linkey (281-229-6087) to schedule your child's intake session.
2. All special education referrals of students already enrolled must go through the campus referral team in order to begin the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) process.  
   • If your child is already enrolled in one of our DISD schools, CLICK HERE to complete the parent inquiry form.
   • Texas State Regulations (19 TAC §89.1011) state:
     1. Referral of students for a full individual and initial evaluation for possible special education services must be a part of the district's overall, general education referral or screening system. Prior to referral, students experiencing difficulty in the general classroom should be considered for all support services available to all students, such as tutorial; remedial; compensatory; response to evidence-based intervention; and other academic or behavior support services. If the student continues to experience difficulty in the general classroom after the provision of interventions, district personnel must refer the student for a full individual and initial evaluation. This referral for a full individual and initial evaluation may be initiated by school personnel, the student's parents or legal guardian, or another person involved in the education or care of the student.
3. The campus referral team gathers data about the student and then determines the referral question and forwards it to the assessment department. 
4. An assessment team leader (ATL) is assigned – this can be either an Educational Diagnostician, School Psychologist or Speech Language Pathologist.  All FIEs are conducted by a multi-disciplinary team (to include general and special education teachers and other relevant related service providers, such as an OT, or nurse).
5. An assessment team member will contact the parent to obtain informed consent to begin testing.
6. Observations and testing sessions will then be conducted.
7. The MDT will write the evaluation, determine evidence of disability condition, and schedule a meeting with the parent to review the evaluation report )FIE).
8. An ARD will be scheduled to review the FIE before the ARD committee and a determination for eligibility/services will be made by the ARD committee.