Section 5-E3005. EVALUATION AND REEVALUATION

 

3005.1The LEA shall ensure that a full and individual evaluation is conducted for each child being considered for special education and related services in order to determine:

 

(a)If the child is a "child with a disability" under this Chapter; and

 

(b)The educational needs of the child.

 

3005.2Before paragraph (a) of this subsection takes effect, an LEA shall assess or evaluate a student who may have a disability and who may require special education services within one hundred twenty (120) days from the date that the student was referred for an evaluation or assessment, consistent with Federal and local law.

 

(a) Beginning July 1, 2017, or upon the inclusion of the fiscal effect of the subsection in an approved budget and financial plan as certified by the District of Columbia Chief Financial Officer and published in the District of Columbia Register, whichever occurs later, an LEA shall assess or evaluate a student who may have a disability and who may require special education services within sixty (60) days from the date that the student’s parent or guardian provides consent for the evaluation or assessment. The LEA shall make reasonable efforts to obtain parental consent within thirty (30) days from the date the student is referred for an assessment or evaluation.

 

(b) The LEA shall document reasonable efforts to obtain parental consent.  Reasonable efforts include at least three (3) attempts using at least two (2) of the following modalities:

 

(1)Telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;

 

(2)Correspondence sent to the parents and any responses received; or

 

(3)Visits made to the parents’ home or place of employment and the results of those visits.

 

3005.3To conduct an evaluation, the IEP team shall:

 

(a)draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent input, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior; and

 

(b)carefully consider and document information used as a basis of the team decision.

 

3005.4As part of an initial evaluation (if appropriate) and as part of any reevaluation, the IEP team, including other qualified professionals, as appropriate, shall:

 

(a)review existing evaluation data on the child, including:

 

(1)evaluations and information provided by the parents of the child;

 

(2)current classroom-based assessments and observations; and

 

(3)observations by teachers and related service providers; 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:

 

(1)whether the child has a particular category of disability under this chapter or, in the case of a reevaluation of a child, whether the child continues to have such a disability;

 

(2)the present levels of performance and educational needs of the child;

 

(3)whether the child needs special education and related services, or in the case of a reevaluation of a child, whether the child continues to need special education and related services; and

 

(4)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 curriculum.

 

3005.5Qualified evaluators, under the direction of the IEP team, shall administer tests and other assessment procedures as may be needed to produce the data required to make the determinations described in § 3005.4.

 

3005.6If the determination under § 3005.4 is that no additional data are needed to determine whether the child continues to be a child with a disability, the IEP team shall notify the child's parents of that determination and the reasons for it, and of the right of the parents to request an assessment to determine whether, for purposes of services under this section, the child continues to be a child with a disability. The IEP team is not required to conduct assessments under § 3005.4 unless requested to do so by the child's parents.

 

3005.7A reevaluation under the procedures identified in §§ 3005.4-3005.6 shall be conducted at least once every three years, or more frequently if conditions warrant reevaluation; if the child's parent or teacher requests a reevaluation; or before determining a child is no longer a child with a disability.

 

3005.8The LEA shall ensure that testing and assessment materials and procedures used to evaluate a child's need for special education and related services are:

 

(a)selected and administered in a manner that is not racially or culturally discriminatory; and

 

(b)provided and administered in the child's native language or other mode of communication, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.

 

3005.9The LEA shall ensure that:

 

(a)materials and procedures used to assess a child with limited English proficiency are selected and administered to ensure that they measure the extent to which the child has a disability and needs special education, rather than measuring the child's English language skills;

 

(b)a variety of assessment tools and strategies are used to gather relevant functional and developmental information about the child, including information provided by the parent, and information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum (or for a preschool child, to participate in appropriate activities), that may assist in determining whether the child is a child with a disability under this chapter and the content of the child's IEP;

 

(c)any standardized tests that are given to a child:

 

(1)have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used; and

 

(2)are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the tests;

 

(d)tests and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely those that are to provide a single general intelligence quotient;

 

(e)tests are selected and administered to ensure that if the child has impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the child's aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factors the test purports to measure, rather than reflect impaired sensory, manual or speaking skills (unless those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure);

 

(f)no single procedure is used 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;

 

(g)the child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate:

 

(1)Academic performance;

 

(2)Health;

 

(3)Vision;

 

(4)Hearing;

 

(5)Social and emotional status;

 

(6)General intelligence (including cognitive ability and adaptive behavior);

 

(7)Communicative status; and

 

(8)Motor abilities

 

(h)in evaluating each child with a disability, the evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child's special education and services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the child has been classified;

 

(i)the IEP team uses technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors; and

 

(j)the IEP team uses assessment tools and strategies that provide information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child.

 

3005.10In evaluating a child suspected of having a learning disability, in addition to the procedures described above, the IEP team shall ensure that at least one team member other than the child's regular teacher observes the child's academic performance in the regular classroom setting; or, in the case of a child of less than school age or out of school, observes the child in an appropriate setting for a child of that age.

 

 

authority

Sections 3(b)(7), (8), (11), and (15) of the State Education Office Establishment Act of 2000, effective October 21, 2000, (D.C. Law 13-176; D.C. Official Code §§ 38-2602(b)(7), (8), (11) and (15) (2012 Repl. & 2014 Supp.)); the Special Education Quality Improvement Act of 2014, effective March 10, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-196; 61 DCR 12425 (December 5, 2014)); Section 101(b) of the Enhanced Special Education Services Amendment Act of 2014, effective March 10, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-195; 61 DCR 12419 (December 5, 2014)); and the Special Education Student Rights Act of 2014, effective March 10, 2015 (D.C. Law 20-194; 61 DCR 12411 (December 5, 2014)).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 30 DCR 2972, 2974 (June 17, 1983); as amended by Final Rulemaking published 36 DCR 180, 187 (July 5, 1991); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 2188 (March 24, 2000); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 50 DCR 1854 (February 28, 2003); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 12997 (October 2, 2015).