Evaluation/Re-Evaluation Policy

The required evaluation participants for evaluations related to suspected disabilities are outlined in the eligibility standards.  A re-evaluation must be conducted at least every three years or earlier if conditions warrant. Re-evaluations may be requested by any member of the IEP team prior to the triennial due date (e.g., when teams suspect a new disability or when considering a change in eligibility for services).

Practices/Procedures Related to evaluation/re-evaluation:

Evaluations: Referral information and input from the child’s team lead to the identification of specific areas to be included in the evaluation. All areas of suspected disability must be evaluated. In addition to determining the existence of a disability, the evaluation should also focus on the educational needs of the student as they relate to a continuum of services. Comprehensive evaluations shall be performed by a multidisciplinary team using a variety of sources of information that are sensitive to cultural, linguistic, and environmental factors or sensory impairments.

Re-Evaluations:  This process involves a review of previous assessments, current academic performance, and input from a student’s parents, teachers, and related service providers, which is to be documented on the  Re-evaluation Summary Report (RSR). The documented previous assessments should include any assessment results obtained as part of a comprehensive evaluation for eligibility or any other partial evaluation. Teams will review the RSR during an IEP meeting before deciding on and obtaining consent for re-evaluation needs. Therefore, it is advisable for the IEP team to meet at least 60 calendar days prior to the re-evaluation due date. Depending on the child’s needs and progress, re-evaluation may not require the administration of tests or other formal measures; however, the IEP team must thoroughly review all relevant data when determining each child’s evaluation need. Some of the reasons for requesting early re-evaluations may include: concerns, such as 

• lack of progress in the special education program; 
• acquisition by an IEP team member of new information or data;
• review and discussion of the student’s continuing need for special education (i.e., goals and objectives have been met and the IEP team is considering the student’s exit from his/her special education program); 
• or new or additional suspected disabilities (i.e., significant health changes, outside evaluation data, changes in performance leading to additional concerns).

The IEP team may decide an evaluation is needed or not needed in order to determine continued eligibility. All components of The RSR must be reviewed prior to determining the most appropriate decision for re-evaluation. Reasons related to evaluating or not evaluating are listed below.   

Evaluation is NOT needed: 

• The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed. The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services with his/her currently identified disability/disabilities. 
• The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed. The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services in his/her primary disability; however, the IEP team determines that the student is no longer identified with his/her secondary disability. 
• The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed. The student is no longer eligible for special education services.
• For out-of-state transfers: The team determines additional data and/or assessment is needed when a student transferred from out of state, because all eligibility requirements did NOT meet current Tennessee eligibility standards. Therefore, the IEP team decides that the student would be eligible for special education services in Tennessee with their previously out-of-state identified disability/disabilities while a comprehensive evaluation to determine eligibility for Tennessee services is conducted. 

Evaluation is needed: 

• The team determines no additional data and/or assessment is needed for the student’s primary disability. The IEP team decides that the student will continue to be eligible for special education services in his/her primary disability; however, the IEP team determines that the student may have an additional disability; therefore, an evaluation needs to be completed in the suspected disability classification area to determine if the student has a secondary and/or additional disability classification. In this case, the student continues to be eligible for special education services with the currently identified primary disability based on the date of the decision. The eligibility should be updated after the completion of the secondary disability evaluation if the team agrees a secondary disability is present (this should not change the primary disability eligibility date). 
• The team determines additional data and/or assessment is needed for program planning purposes only. This is a limited evaluation that is specific to address and gather information for goals or services. This evaluation does not include all assessment components utilized 25 when determining an eligibility NOR can an eligibility be determined from information gathered during program planning. If a change in primary eligibility needs to be considered, a comprehensive evaluation should be conducted. 
• The team determines an additional evaluation is needed to determine if this student continues to be eligible for special education services with the currently identified disabilities. A comprehensive evaluation is necessary anytime a team is considering a change in the primary disability. Eligibility is not determined until the completion of the evaluation; this would be considered a comprehensive evaluation and all assessment requirements for the eligibility classification in consideration must be assessed.