USD 261

Table of Contents

USD 261

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST

HANDBOOK

2008-2009

Table of Contents

-08-09 Psycholo

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-Job Description - School Psychologist

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-Building Programs and Working with Teachers and Administrators

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-Working with Parents

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-Case Management ...……………………………………

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-School Initiated Referrals

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-Parent Initiated Referrals

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-PT/OT Referral Process

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-Initial Evaluations

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-Reevaluations

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-Reevaluation Staffings

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-Change in Placement

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-ECD/DD Reevaluations

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-Individual Education Program

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-Parental Rights in Special Education

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-Move-in Students from Kansas

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-Move-in Students from Out of State

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-Screenings

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-Extended School Year

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-State/Local Assessments

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-Homebound Services

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-Discipline of Special Education Students

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-Graduation of Special Education Students

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-Working Files

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-School Psychologist Report

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School Psychologist Assignments 2007/2008

Jesse Tyson

Campus High School/Alternative High School/ Chisholm

Crystal Winters

Nelson Elementary/Early Childhood

Brad Johnson

Haysville Middle School

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Nicole Petersen

Freeman Elementary

Judith Picard

Oatville Elementary/Prairie Elementary

Jessica Quinn

Haysville West Middle School

Linda Sullivan

Rex Elementary

Diana Bidwell

Ruth Clark Elementary

Psychologist Paraprofessionals:

Sandy Harper

Haysville Middle School/Haysville West Middle School

Natalie Page

Prairie Elementary/Oatville Elementary/Campus High School

Terri Nicolas

Nelson Elementary

SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST

School Psychologist tailor their services to the particular needs of each child and

each situation. School psychologists use many different approaches, but most

provide these core services:

A. Consultation

give healthy and effective alternatives to teachers, parents, and

administrators about problems in learning and behavior

help others understand child development and how it affects learning and

behavior

strengthen working relationships between educators, parents and

community services

B. Assessment

- use a wide variety of techniques at an individual, group, and

systems level to evaluate:

academic skills

learning aptitudes

personality and emotional development

behavior

social skills

learning environments and school climate

eligibility for special education

C. Intervention

work face-to-face with children and families

help solve conflicts and problems in learning and adjustment

provide psychological counseling for children and families

provide social skills training, behavior management, and other strategies

monitor treatment integrity of interventions as appropriate

data documentation and progress monitoring of interventions for students

in special education

help families and schools deal with crises, such as separation and loss

D. Prevention

identify potential learning difficulties

design programs for children at risk of failure

provide parents and teachers with the skills to cope with disruptive

behavior

help foster tolerance, understanding, and appreciation of diversity in the

school community

develop school-wide initiatives to make school safer and more effective

E. Education

- develop programs on topics such as:

teaching and learning strategies

classroom management techniques

working with students who have disabilities or unusual talents

substance abuse

crisis management

F. Research and Planning

evaluate the effectiveness of academic programs, behavior management

systems, and other services

generate new knowledge about learning and behavior

contribute to planning and evaluating school-wide reform and

restructuring

interpret school-wide assessment data

G. Health Care Provision

collaborate with school and community-based personnel to provide a

comprehensive model of school-linked health services

work with children and families to provide integrated community services

focusing on psychosocial wellness and health-related issues

developing partnerships with parents and teachers to create healthy school

environments

II.

BUILDING PROGRAMS AND WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND

ADMINISTRATORS

A. Each school psychologist is responsible for case management of all

exceptional children and services in their buildings. The school psychologist

shall provide effective consultation with special education staff, general

education staff, administration and paraprofessionals regarding a variety of

special education issues. Additionally, the school psychologist shall ensure

that procedural requirements are followed including obtaining parental

consent for changes in placement, services, and eligibility when necessary.

B. The school psychologist shall work with special education teachers, general

education teachers, and administrators to improve program effectiveness,

including classroom visitations, consultations, participation on building teams,

presentations at building inservices, etc.

C. The services of the school psychologist shall be available to all special

programs including self-contained special education classrooms. The school

psychologist may be li

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if it is

appropriate and necessary to enable a student to benefit from their educational

program, and if the student is seen on a regular schedule.

III. WORKING WITH PARENTS

A. The school psychologist should schedule feedback, eligibility, placement,

move-in and other conferences with parents according to reasonable and

established timelines. The school psychologist should ensure the parents are

fully informed of ongoing intervention strategies and should encourage

parents to participate in staffing conferences in an active and meaningful

manner.

B. The school psychologist is expected to appropriately address parent complaints

and concerns within their assigned buildings and to effectively participate in

resolution of these situations. School psychologists are encouraged to discuss

difficult cases with special education coordinators and administrators.

IV. CASE MANAGEMENT

A. The school psychologist is responsible for the coordination and completion of

all comprehensive evaluations and reevaluations in their assigned buildings.

from referral to closure including the completion of all appropriate procedural

paperwork and follow-up support. The school psychologist shall gather intake

information, conduct their part of the evaluation and provide feedback to the

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psychologist must ensure that the evaluation is appropriate as specified by the

Kansas Regulations for Special Education and Kansas Special Education Law.

role to provide support on a variety of issues regarding special education

students and the provision of appropriate services within their assigned

buildings.

B. Each evaluation/reevaluation shall begin with a review of existing information

and data on the student (evaluations from outside agencies, information from

parents, results of previous evaluations conducted by the district). From this

review, the team must determine what additional information is needed to

determine whether the student is eligible as a student with an exceptionality,

the

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performance, whether the student needs special

education and related services, and (in the case of reevaluations) whether

additions/modifications to special education/relate services are needed to

enable the students to meet the IEP annual goals or to participate, as

appropriate, in the general curriculum.

Once the determination regarding additional data has been made, the special

education office will send the

PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE FOR

EVALUATION OR REEVALUATION AND REQUEST FOR

CONSENT

and

PARENTAL RIGHTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

to the

parents for their written consent. The written notice must fully inform the

parents regarding the scope of the evaluation or reevaluation procedures being

proposed and parental consent must be obtained prior to conducting the

action. If the team determines that no additional information is necessary, the

parents must be provided with notification of this decision with the

PRIOR

WRITTEN NOTICE FOR EVALUATION OR REEVALUATION AND

REQUEST FOR CONSENT

as well as the rationale and notification of their

right to request an evaluation. The

PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE FOR

EVALUATION OR REEVALUATION AND REQUEST FOR

CONSENT must

be signed and returned by the parent to proceed with the

proposed action even if the team determines that no additional data is needed.

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reevaluations on time.

C. Complete Initial Evaluations within 60 school days (excluding holidays and

when school is not in session) of receiving parental consent.

Complete the evaluation. The evaluation is complete when the multi-

disciplinary team, including parents, determines the eligibility status and

anticipated special education needs.

Conduct a meeting to determine whether the student is a child with

exceptionality.

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, if the child is a student with

exceptionality.

*The evaluation and implementation of the IEP must be completed within

60 school days.

Collect and organize appropriate evaluation documentation and ensure that

it arrives in the Special Education Office no more than 10 working days

following the staffing. All appropriate reevaluation documentation should

be submitted to the Special Education Office within 10 working days of

the triennial reevaluation due date. If the reevaluation is completed

substantially earlier than the triennial reevaluation due date, submit all

appropriate documentation to the Special Education Office within 10

working days of the actual staffing date.

*The Days of the Year Calendar can be used to assist in the calculation of

the due dates.

If extenuating circumstances occur which are expected to result in an

evaluation or reevaluation exceeding the established guidelines, the school

psychologist shall: notify the building administrator and the Director of

Special Education and contact parent to obtain their written permission for

reasonable extension of the evaluation timelines. Include documentation of

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reevaluation records as well as

a memo from the school psychologist indicating the reasons why the

established timelines were exceeded and the results of any parent contacts.

V. GENERAL EDUCATION INTERVENTIONS

An initial special education comprehensive evaluation can occur only after all

general education possibilities have been exhausted. The building level general

education intervention team must document at least two meetings before an initial

evaluation can take place.

A. SCHOOL INITIATED REFERRALS

1. The

GENERAL EDUCATION INTERVENTION FORM

will be used

to document the general education intervention process.

2. The referring teacher completes all relevant sections of the form, including

interventions that have been implemented along with data corresponding

to the duration and outcomes of those interventions.

3. First Meeting: Review the referral information, generate hypotheses

regarding probable causes, and develop an intervention plan using

research based interventions with evaluation procedures.

Interventions must be implemented for at least 15 school days.

Many research based interventions may need to be implemented

for longer periods of time

4. Second Meeting: Evaluate the success of the interventions. The general

education intervention team determines that either:

The student should remain in general education with or without

continued interventions, or

The student should remain in general education with different

interventions implemented and documented for at least 15 school days.

The student should be referred for a special education evaluation.

5. A referral for an evaluation may be made by the team even when the

interventions are successful, if the team determines that the nature of the

interventions require continued and substantial support greater than the

general education resources can provide.

6. For a formal referral to take place, the

GENERAL EDUCATION

INTERVENTION

form must be completed and be signed by all team

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signatures.

B. PARENT INITIATED REFERRALS

1. In cases where a request has been made by the parent for an initial

evaluation, the general education intervention team should contact the parents

to explain the general education process and to encourage parents to allow this

process to proceed prior to conducting an evaluation.

If parents will allow the general education intervention team to

implement strategies to address the concern, this may result in the

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general education curriculum, or a comprehensive evaluation may be

recommended.

If parents want immediate testing, the comprehensive evaluation can

begin while the general education team simultaneously implements

and documents intervention effectiveness. This data will be needed

when the evaluation team meets to determine special education

eligibility.

VI.

PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY REFERRAL PROCESS

A. Physical and Occupational Therapy services are available only to those

students who qualify for placement in special education programs. If a

student has an identifiable physical or occupational therapy need that does not

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special educational

experiences, therapy is not the responsibility of the local education agency.

B. Referral Process for Initial Evaluations

1. To obtain a physical or occupational therapy evaluation on a student

who is not currently identified as needing special education services, the

student must first go through the referral process for General Education

Interventions.

2. For occupational therapy concerns, the classroom teacher should

complete the

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY CHECKLIST

as part of

the referral process. The

CLASSROOM ACCOMMODATIONS

CHECKLIST

should also be completed during the referral process,

keeping in mind that each appropriate adaptation should be given ample

time to determine if it is successful.

a. This checklist will also give the teacher(s) and the intervention

team a guideline regarding what needs are educationally relevant to

physical or occupational therapy.

3. Upon determining that the adaptations are unsuccessful, the child can

then be referred for a physical and/or occupational therapy evaluation as a

component of the initial comprehensive evaluation.

a. The case managing school psychologist should notify the physical

and/or occupational therapist of the comprehensive evaluation and

should send the completed Checklists to the therapist along with a

copy of the signed consent to evaluate form. The therapist will

review the Checklists, informally screen the child through

observation and will determine whether a formal evaluation is

necessary.

4. Once the comprehensive initial evaluation is complete, the therapist

will report the evaluation findings to the team, including the parents. A

written report will be provided by the therapist of any formal or informal

assessments. If the child is found to qualify for and need these related

services, then therapy services will be indicated on the IEP as well as goal

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All paperwork will

be copied to the special education office with the appropriate checklist

within 10 days after the staffing conference.

C. Referral Process for Students Already Receiving Services

1. If a student is already receiving special education services and a

physical and/or occupational therapy concern arises, the appropriate IEP

team member should complete the

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY

CHECKLIST

and the

CLASSROOM ACCOMMODATIONS

CHECKLIST

. The appropriate adaptations should be given ample time

to determine if they are successful or not.

2. If adaptations are unsuccessful, and the team determines that

physical and/or occupational therapy services may be needed; the

psychologist should meet with the IEP team as well as the physical

and/or occupational therapist to consider initiating a comprehensive

reevaluation.

a. If a reevaluation is deemed necessary, parent permission must be

obtained prior to the reevaluation. Once consent is received, the

therapist may perform an informal observation or complete a

formal evaluation.

b. When the reevaluation is completed, the results will be

reported to the team and parents and a written report of any

assessments and observations will be provided. Therapy services

will be added to the IEP with appropriate goals and benchmarks if

services are determined to be necessary.

3. Role of the Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist

a. The therapist is considered to be part of the IEP team on students

who are currently receiving these related services and should be

provided with a timely notification of reevaluations and IEP

meetings. Their input must be obtained so that present levels of

educational performance, annual goals, benchmarks, and service

times may be update and modified as necessary.

b. For students currently receiving physical and/or occupational

therapy services, the school psychologist is responsible for

providing adequate notification to the therapist of any upcoming

reevaluations or special education meetings.

c. The primary service provider is responsible for providing

adequate notification to the therapist of all other typical IEP review

meetings.

VII. INITIAL EVALUATIONS

A. At the time the General Education Intervention team makes a formal referral, the

school psychologist must submit

GENERAL EDUCATION

INTERVENTIONS

to the Special Education Office for review to ensure

completeness of information. If extenuating circumstances exist resulting in the

school psychologist pursuing consent individually, the school psychologist shall

provide all of the referral information to the Special Education Office.

B. The Special Education Office will complete

PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE FOR

EVALUATION OR REEVALUATION AND REQUEST FOR CONSENT

NO EVALUATION SHALL BE INITIATED WITHOUT INFORMED,

WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE PARENTS, GUARDIANS, OR

STUDENT IF OF LEGAL AGE. ONCE PARENT CONSENT IS RECEIVED

THE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

CALLING PARENTS AND INFORMING THEM OF THE EVALUATION

PROCESS

1. If parents do not return the consent form within 10 working days, a second

consent form will be mailed by the Special Education Office. Again, a third

consent form will be mailed by the Special Education Central Office if the

second consent form is note returned. Although the consent form is being sent

from the Special Education Central Office, it is the responsibility of the school

psychologist to initiate and continue contact with parent to obtain parental

cosent.

2. If parents do not respond within a reasonable time following the third mailing,

the case will be returned to the school psychologist.

a. The school psychologist is expected to make a personal contact with the

parents concerning the proposed evaluation.

b. Following that contact the school psychologist shall notify the Special

Education Office regarding the status of the proposed evaluation utilizing

the

INITIAL EVALUATION STATUS REPORT FORM

or other

effective means.

c. Copies of all phone and other parent contacts should be summarized on

the PARENT

CONTACT LOG

and be available in the central office files

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documentation.

d. If a parent denies or otherwise does not consent for an initial evaluation:

The school psychologist shall maintain the documentation of the

referral in their own files.

The school psychologist will make an effort to obtain the

INITIAL

EVALUATION CONSENT FORM

with parental signature on the

DO NOT GIVE CONSENT

line.

In a case where the parent denies consent, the school psychologist

may contact the director of Special Education concerning the

initiation of mediation procedures or a due process hearing.

C. Obtaining all the relevant information is imperative in an initial evaluation, and

as case manager, the school psychologist is expected to ensure that appropriate

measures are utilized to obtain information.

1. Information required for an initial evaluation includes, but is not limited to:

Health Report which can be obtained from the school health aide.

Teacher Report from the general education teacher.

Teacher Report form the special education teacher if they completed

any of the assessment or observed the student.

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o Obtaining information from the parent is an integral component

of the assessment, and as case manager, the school

psychologist is responsible for obtaining and reporting this

information. This information will be obtained by either calling

the parent or setting up a meeting with the parent to review

social, developmental and medical history

o Classroom observations should be summarized in the report as

well as included separately

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o Summary of the general education intervention strategies and

data regarding the effectiveness of these strategies

o Reporting assessment data is an integral component of the

assessment. The school psychologist may utilize, as

appropriate, standardized instruments including cognitive,

achievement, behavior rating scales, adaptive behavior scales

and informal measures.

o Assessment Observations

o Recommendations

Speech/Language, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy

reports when applicable.

Team Reports are reviewed at the time of the meeting with the parents.

This report enables the team to compile all assessment information to

determine if the student is eligible and demonstrates a need for special

education.

D. After the evaluation is completed by the team, the staffing conference is

scheduled with the parents/legal guardians.

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time when they will meet with the team to review evaluation results.

2. The school psychologist sends the parents a 10-day reminder notice. The

parents are to sign and return a copy of the 10-day notice acknowledging that they

are aware of the date and time of the meeting.

a. In the event that the parents or legal guardians do not establish a meeting

time or miss appointments, it is the responsibility of the school psychologist

to continue contacting the parent and to try alternate means of contacting

such as certified mail. This parental signature date should be the date the

evaluation information is reviewed with the parents. In the event that the

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miss appointments, the team may meet without the parents but parents must

be given a 10 day written notice of the meeting and a parental signature

still must be obtained on required documents.

b. A staffing summary which summarizes the information that was shared by

the school team members, the parents, and the recommendations is

completed at the time of the meeting.

c. If it is determined that the student does qualify and demonstrates a need for

special education services, the team will develop an IEP with the parents.

The school psychologist is responsible for preparing the Placement Consent

Pages and explaining these forms to the parents or legal guardians and

requesting their consent.

E. Initial Evaluation Timeline

1. If the initial evaluation consent form has not been returned to the

Special Education Office within

10 working days

, a second and third consent

form will be mailed from the Special Education Office

2. Initial evaluations must be completed

within 60 school days

(excluding

holidays and when school is not in session) of an agency receiving parental

consent. Within this 60 school day timeline, the team must complete the

following:

a. Complete an evaluation of the student.

b. Conduct a meeting to determine whether the student is a child with an

exceptionality.

c. Develop

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3. If eligibility for special education services has been determined, an

IEP must be developed and implemented

within the 60 day evaluation period

4. All initial evaluation documentation must be sent to the Special Education

Office

no more than 10 school days

following the staffing.

5. If it appears likely that the evaluation team may recommend a child for special

education services, the evaluation results should be made available to the

appropriate staff for use in developing the IEP

at least 5 working days

prior

to the proposed staffing date with the parents.

VIII. INITIAL EVALUATION STAFFINGS

The school psychologist is expected to clearly explain their testing and shall chair

routine team, evaluation, re-evaluation and placement staffings. It is expected

that the school psychologist will include in the staffing all persons involved in the

evaluation, placement and provision of services for a student. This is to include

sending and receiving teachers, building principals and other persons as

appropriate. If a team member is unable to attend, a decision as to whether or not

to continue with the formal staffing should be made.

A. After completion of assessments by all team members:

1. Informal evaluation team meeting (optional)

Discuss the results

Determine if additional data is needed to determine eligibility

(exceptionality plus need)

Begin development of a draft IEP.

2. Formal Staffing (Required)

Review evaluation results

Seek parent input. Designate a person to express parent opinions if

parent is not available

Determine eligibility and need with parent present

Develop IEP if appropriate.

3. Forms to be completed at the team staffing:

SPECIAL EDUCATION STAFFING SUMMARY

Serves a written record of the information discussed and team

recommendations.

The team shall certify with their signatures whether the

summarized information reflects their conclusions. If there is

disagreement, a separate statement shall be provided by that

person to be attached to the summary; parents are allowed to

proceed with mediation, conflict resolution or due process.

EVALUATION & ELIGIBLITY TEAM REPORT

PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE FOR IDENTIFICATION, SPECIAL

EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVCIES, EDUCATIONAL

PLACEMENT, CHANGE IN SERVCIES, CHANGE IN

PLACEMENT AND REQUEST FOR CONSENT

EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE ELIGIBLITYCHECKLIST

(available for determination of ED services)

e. Copies of all forms should be provided to parents and service providers

as appropriate.

IX.

INITIAL EVALUATION TEAM REPORTS

A. The initial evaluation team report will be completed for all students

considered for initial special education identification and

services.

B. All areas of LD should be considered.

1. If an achievement assessment instrument was utilized that does not

include the areas of oral expression or listening comprehension, the

expressive language and receptive language scores obtained by the SLP

may be substituted.

X. REEVALUATIONS

A. Reevaluations are required to be conducted for all students receiving special

education and related services when conditions warrant a reevaluation or upon

parent/IEP team member request, but not less than once every three years.

Additionally, a student must be reevaluated before they are determined to no

longer be eligible for special education OR related services and when a child

is currently identified under an area of exceptionality and are being considered

to determine their need for related services. When a reevaluation is required

or requested:

1. The necessary school staff shall meet to determine the scope of the

reevaluation.

2. Review existing information, including information from the parents.

3. Determine if additional information is required.

REEVALUATION: MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM PLANNING

REPORT

should be utilized to document decision-making process and

determination regarding need for additional data.

5. If the team determines that no reevaluation is needed, the school

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REEVALUATION NEEDED

form will be sent by the school psychologist

to the parents for their signature.

B. The school psychologist is responsible for completing the

PRIOR

WRITTEN NOTICE FOR EVALUATION OR REEVALUATION AND

REQUEST FOR CONSENT

form and pursuing parental consent on all

comprehensive reevaluations in their assigned buildings. Consent forms for

reevaluations should be sent to parents early enough, prior to the triennial

reevaluation due date, to allow sufficient time to obtain parental consent and

complete all reevaluation activities.

1. Obtaining consent for initial evaluations or reevaluations:

a. A minimum of three attempts shall be made utilizing two methods

(phone call, mail, personal contact, etc) to obtain parental consent.

b. If parents fail to respond after third attempt, the reevaluation shall be

conducted and documentation of the attempts (notice forms, contact logs,

consent forms, etc) shall be submitted, with the reevaluation information

to the Special Education office.

2. If Parent Denies Consent:

a. The school psychologist should first contact the parent in an attempt to

understand the rationale of the parent for refusing to consent to the

re/evaluation.

b. Provide necessary clarification.