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s 371.9 P11PGSE 1991 PRESCHOOL GUIDELINES: ELIGIBILITY A Special Education Technical Assistance Document STATE DOCUMENTS C0UECTT im APR 20 MONTANA 8TATI LIBRARY X515 E- «h AVE. HFLENA, MONTANA 59820 Office ofPublic Instruction Nancy Keenan, Superintendent State Capitol Helena, Montana 59620 February 1991 MONTANASTATELIBRARY 3 0864 1002 2414 9 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility PREFACE 2 INTRODUCTION 2 ELIGIBILITY 5 Child with Disabilities 6 Age Criterion 7 Noncategorical Classification 8 Severe Delay in Development 9 Differing Eligibility Criteria .... 10 PROCESS 11 Discovering the Disabled 12 Parental Notice and Approval 13 Child Study Team 14 Diagnostic Label 15 Individualized Education Program 16 .. Diagnostic Instruction 17 A Appendix 18 Parental Rights in Special Education Appendix B 19 OSEP Memorandum 90-16 Appendix C 20 Notice of Intent to Conduct an Evaluation QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT ELIGIBILITY 21 Page 1 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility PREFACE This technical assistance manual provides guidance to public schools implementing special education programs for preschool-age children with disabilities. The focus of the manual is eligibility, specifically: * The criteria used to identify preschool-age children with disabilities, and * The process through which these children are evaluated and placed in appropriate special education programs. INTRODUCTION Public Law 99-457 refers to the Amendments to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act signed into law in October 1986. This legislation "modernizes and extends" the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142), the bedrock of our contemporary special education system. While encouraging early intervention services to mitigate the severity and impact of disabilities, Public Law 94-142 did not mandate special education opportunities for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children with disabilities. In contrast, the amendments contained in Public Law 99-457 clearlyfocused on the unique needs ofyoungchildrenwith disabilities by emphasizing early intervention services. Public Law 99-457 had three major purposes: First, it reauthorized the discretionary programs contained in the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and its previous amendments, as well as extended to all three, four, and five-year-old children with disabilities the opportunity to receive a free and appropriate public education. This action entitled preschool-age childrenwith disabilities to the same special education and related services opportunities and protections as their older, school-age counterparts. Page 2 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility Second, Public Law 99-457 authorized a new grant program, known as the Infant and Toddler or Part H program, to deliver early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Infants and toddlers are childrenyounger than three years ofage. This program enabled infants and toddlers with disabilities to receive early intervention, although not necessarily special education services. Third, this legislationstrengthenedinteragencycoordinationand cooperation requirements initiated by Public Law 94-142. This final action required states to develop coordinated and cooperative strategies to meet the complex needs of children with disabilities from birth through school age. Montana's commitment to the earlyintervention programs contained in Public Law 99-457 became firm in 1987. When the legislature passed and the governor signed House Bill 511, all elementary school districts were required to establish and maintain special education programs for children with disabilities between the ages of three and six, inclusive, by September 1, 1990 [MCA 20-7-411 (3)]. In addition, when the governor designated the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, Developmental Disabilities Division (SRS-DDD), as the lead agency in the implementation of the Part H Infant and Toddler program, Montana linked its commitment to early intervention to already existing home-based services for young children with developmental delays. Finally, the governor designated an Interagency Coordinating Council, now known as the FamilySupport Services AdvisoryCouncil, to develop strategies to commit Montana's existing resources to the early intervention concepts espoused in Public Law 99-457. Page 3 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility POINTS TO REMEMBER The Public Law 99-457 mandate extended to preschool- age children with disabilities the same educational opportunities afforded school-age children with disabilities. Montana's Legislature set September 1, 1990 as the effective date for implementing the preschool special education mandate contained in Public Law 99-457. This legislation made one major change in the special education system: it lowered the age of eligibility for special education and related services to three years. Preschool-age children are children three, four, and five years of age. School districts are not required to serve children younger than three years of age. Likewise, school districts are not required to serve preschool-age children who are not disabled. The same special education opportunities, rules, regulations, and recommendations for mainstreaming that apply to school-age children now apply to preschool-age children. These educational opportunities consist of the provision of a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment and the assurance of full procedural safeguards and protections for the parents of children with disabilities. A copy of the Parental Rights in Special Education is included in Appendix A. Page 4 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility ELIGIBILITY A child becomes eligible to receive special education and related services when he or she is identified as a "child with disabilities." A Child Study Team may identify a three, four, or five-year-old child who needs a special education as a "child with disabilities " in either of two ways, by: * Applying the same criteria used to identify school- age children suspected of experiencing a disability, or * Meeting the criteria defining a severe delay in development. Page 5 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility CHILD WITH DISABILITIES A "child with disabilities" is one who meets the criteria defining any one of the categories described in statute and regulation. Alternatively, a preschool-age child may be considered a "child with disabilities" if the child exhibits a severe delay in development and, because of this severe delay, needs special education and related services. A "childwithdisabilities" means a childwith cognitive delay; hearingimpairment, including deafness; visual impairment, including blindness; emotional disturbance; orthopedic impairment; autism; traumatic brain injury; other health impairments; or specific learning disabilities, who because ofthose impairments needs special education and related services. A child who is five years of age or younger may be identified as a child with disabilities without the specific disabilities being specified [MCA 20-7- 401 (20)]. Criteria defining these conditions are more fully described in the Special Education Reference Manual: Montana Laws and Rules and in Evaluation Guidelines Procedures and Practices (Appendix : G). Children who meet the criteria for any of the disabilities listed above are considered "disabled" and, therefore, eligible to receive special education services. A child who is three, four, or five years old is eligible for special education if the Child Study Team identifies the child as experiencing one or more disabilities and indicates that the child needs special education or a combination of special education and related services. Alternatively, if a three, four, or five-year-old child experiences a severe delay in development and requires special education services, the Child Study Team may identify the child as a "child with disabilities" based on documentation of a severe delay in development. From this perspective, a severe delay in development is presumed to result from one or more ofthe specific disabilities described in statute and regulation. Therefore, children who are identified under the noncategorical "child with disabilities" nomenclature are considered to be children experiencing a disability but without reference to a specific category. Page 6 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility AGE CRITERION Preschool-age children with disabilities become eligible to receive special education services on their third birthday when the birthdate falls during the school year. Preschool-age children with disabilities whose third birthday falls during the summer vacation become eligible to receive special education services identified on Individualized Education Programs at the beginning of the school year immediately following the child's third birthday. Local education agencies are not required to provide special education services to children younger than three years of age. When a child turns three, the district may either implement an Individualized Education Program developed prior to the child's third birthday or begin the referral - evaluation - placement process. As for school-age children, this referral to placement process must be completed in a timely manner. The district's obligation to provide special education services for all children with disabilities six years of age and older remains unchanged. Children with disabilities who are four or five years ofage are eligible for special education services on the date identified on the Individualized Education Program for initiation of special education services. Included in Appendix B is a letter from Dr. Judy Schrag, Director of the Office of Special Education Programs of the United States Department of Education, defining the Federal position on age of eligibility. The letter states that children with disabilities become eligible for special education and related services on theirthird birthday (chronological age of 36 months). Page 7 Preschool Guidelines: Eligibility NONCATEGORICAL CLASSIFICATION A three, four, or five-year-old child may be identified as a "child with disabilities" without regard to specific disability so long as the child experiences a severe delay in development. Noncategorical classification presumes that the child would meet one or more of the conditions defined in statute. A child who meets the age criterion may be assigned to one of the eleven categories of disability defining a "child with disabilities," based upon the results of the comprehensive Child Study Team evaluation. A Child Study Team may identify a child three, four, or five years of age as a disabled student on the basis of severe delay in development without specifying a specific disabling condition [MCA 20-7-401 (2)]. Use of the diagnostic label "child with disabilities," however, depends on substantiation of a severe delay in development. A three, four or five-year-old child may be assigned to the noncategorical classification of "child with disabilities" when the child: * experiences a severe delay in development, and needs special education or combination of special education and related services ofa preschool special education program in order to enable the child to participate effectively in regular or special education kindergarten or prekindergarten programs. Child Study Teams must assign a category of disability for each preschool-age child identified as disabled following comprehensive evaluation. This category of disability may be one or more of the disability categories defined in [MCA 20-7-404 (2)] or as a "child with disabilities." The diagnostic label is to be used for reports required by the Office of Public Instruction. Parents shall be informed ofthe diagnostic category as it relates to their child's disability. Page 8