Child Find and Referral for Evaluation

Every Local Education Agency (LEA) is required to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities within its jurisdiction, birth through age 21, who may be in need of special education and related services. The referral process is how a suspected disability formally enters the special education process, and the documentation collected at this stage shapes every decision that follows.

• IDEA — Child Find requirement (Section 1412(a)(3))

• 34 CFR Part 300 — Child Find regulations (300.111)

• Alabama Administrative Code, Chapter 290-8-9, Rule 290-8-9-.01 — Child Identification

The Referral for Evaluation form documents the reason(s) for referral and the specific concerns — behavioral or instructional — on which the referral is based. Referrals may be school-based, from a parent, or from Early Intervention as a child transitions to preschool.

Prior to the referral of a regular education student, school personnel should have completed the entire referral process, including documentation that the student received data-based interventions from qualified personnel (for example, through the PST) and that the concerns persisted following those interventions.

Gather available information before the referral meeting: report cards, cumulative records, work samples, current interventions and supporting documentation, relevant evaluations including state assessment results, and medical information.

The Historical Information page documents grades, attendance patterns, retention, discipline, prior referrals, and prior services such as Title I, Migrant, 504, or EL. This section does not apply to preschool students and five-year-olds who have not attended kindergarten; for other students, mark items "NA" if they do not apply.

The Environmental, Cultural, and/or Economic Concerns checklist determines whether factors other than a disability are impacting the student's learning, whether a non-traditional intelligence test is needed, and whether there has been a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math — each a required exclusionary consideration before identifying a student as having a disability.

All required IEP Team members, including the parent, participate in the decision whether to accept the referral for evaluation, and each member must have the opportunity to provide input.

• If the IEP Team does not accept the referral, the student returns to the PST for further interventions, and the parent receives the Notice of Proposal or Refusal to Take Action explaining the reason.

• If the referral is accepted, the process proceeds to obtaining signed parental consent and conducting the evaluation.

• Referring a student without documented data-based interventions and PST documentation

• Historical Information and environmental/cultural/economic checklists left incomplete

• Making the referral decision without all required IEP Team members, including the parent

• Failing to provide the Notice of Proposal or Refusal to Take Action when a referral is not accepted