Special Services

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides services for children with disabilities from ages 3-5 years. In Kansas, children may receive Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services if they are eligible. Interlocal #614 publishes child find notices on the ECKCE website and on individual districts’ public websites.

To be eligible for services, preschool-aged children ages 3-5 must have a delay in one or more areas of development. These areas are:

• Cognitive development (thinking and learning)

• Adaptive development (self-help skills)

• Communication (hearing, speaking, language skills)

• Motor (large and small motor development)

• Social-emotional development

Referral Process

Preschool-aged children may be referred for ECSE services in two ways.

1.  Transition from the Infant-Toddler Services Provider:

●     Transition meetings (including parent(s), Infant/Toddler staff, and Early Childhood staff) are held 90 days before a child turns 3 years to transition to Early Childhood.

●     Team will determine whether evaluation/services are needed.

2.  Screening to determine if an evaluation is needed:

●     Early Childhood screenings are conducted monthly. Once screening is complete, parents will be notified of the results in writing.

●     After the screening, if the student does not pass, parents are notified and the child is then scheduled for a comprehensive evaluation conducted by the ECSE staff to determine if the child meets eligibility criteria for special education and related services. 

Evaluation

Prior to the evaluation, a consent for evaluation will be signed and parental rights provided. The multi- disciplinary team conducts a comprehensive evaluation to determine eligibility for special education.

Placement

The law is clear that services for young children are to be provided in places where they would be if they did not have a disability, unless there is sufficient reason why these settings are not appropriate. Services should be in the “least restrictive environment” and with children of the same age who do not have disabilities. The team must discuss available placements in the community, consider the needs of the child and the services to be provided, and choose the best setting for the child. This could be in a program the child already attends.

Possible placements may include the following: childcare, community or church preschool, mother’s-day-out program, play group, home, etc. However, if the team determines that the student is eligible for special education services, their recommendation may include services in a blended ECSE classroom with appropriate non-disabled peers. Each team will determine appropriate placement for the individual child.

Kindergarten Transition

When a child will be 5 years old after September 1, the kindergarten classroom is usually determined as the best placement for the child. During the year prior to kindergarten, the team will meet to discuss the child’s progress and what s/he should be doing. The kindergarten teacher must be invited to meetings so s/he can become familiar with the child, in preparation for the fall placement.

Within ECKCE, interrelated programs are commonly referred to as resource rooms. These programs are responsible for serving children with intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance, autism, learning disabilities, other health impairments, orthopedic impairment, developmental delay, sensory impairments and traumatic brain injuries. The only exception to this is if the student has demonstrated a need for a more restrictive environment, in which case other programs may be considered by the IEP team. A reevaluation of the student must be conducted prior to any substantial change in placement. However, there are certain circumstances where the IEP team may review existing data and determine that no additional data is needed.

The focus of the ECKCE, Life Skills programs is on students’ acquisition of functional life or daily living skills. Additionally, the students require sustained resources, specialized instruction, accommodations and modifications of curriculum.

The following eligibility criteria are to be followed by building teams when considering students for placement in the Life Skills Classroom:

The student must be significantly delayed (2.0 standard deviations below the mean* on a standardized assessment of intelligence along with convergent data from other sources that support the intelligence assessment). These sources will include data from level of achievement, social/adaptive skills, and communication ability.

Occasionally there may be a student who scores between two and three standard deviations below the mean on an intelligence test and who, due to severe and/or multiple disabilities, will need the curriculum and resources of the life skills program. This student may be considered for placement in the life skills program, but considerable efforts to serve the student in an interrelated resource room should be made and documented prior to consideration for the life skills program.

*On an intelligence test (such as any of the Wechsler scales) using a standard deviation of 15, the criterion would be an IQ of 70 or below.

It is the goal of the program to ensure that students achieve at their particular level in the following areas:

• Communication

• Literacy

• Problem solving

• Self-care

• Self-determination/advocacy

• Independence

The ECKCE alternative program for special education students in grades K-12 who are unsuccessful in the traditional interrelated programs due to internalizing and/or externalizing behaviors is located at The WEBS Program. Because WEBS is a more restrictive environment, a reevaluation of the student should be conducted and the following criteria should be met to place a student in the program.

Criteria:

• Does not qualify for life skills (IQ and functioning levels higher than two standard deviations from the mean). Should have ED as a primary or secondary label.

• Less restrictive options have been attempted to the maximum extent appropriate. At least 50% of the day in a resource room at the school.

• Substantial evidence (data) that the student’s pattern of behavior in school, during school hours, is unmanageable to the degree that maintaining the current placement is likely to result in injury to self or others or is a significant disruption to the learning process for self and others.

• FBA and BIP appropriate to the severity of the problem behavior(s) have been completed and implemented with integrity and with a reasonable amount of time allowed for the interventions to be effective.

Schools and IEP teams should have implemented various strategies and interventions that address the student’s identified goals as they relate to behavioral and emotional needs in the referring school environment. These strategies must be quantified, documented and a summary included with the referral. Note that a student who merely demonstrates work refusal is NOT an appropriate candidate for the program. Only students who are manifesting behaviors that are not safe to themselves or others and are creating significant disruption to the learning environment are appropriate for WEBS consideration.

Similar information will be used to facilitate successful re-entry into a less restrictive environment.

Placement Process:

• Notify the building principal and school psychologist of possible need for placement.

• Conduct a staff only in-house meeting. Team members should include WEBS staff, the school psychologist, building principal, and other staff, as deemed appropriate. The purpose of this meeting is to share information and to ensure good placement decisions or recommendations are made. Behaviors considered dangerous or disruptive will be documented in the meeting notes. To support the possible decision for placement, the behaviors should be described with specification of frequency, duration, intensity and response to management methods.

• The school psychologist should contact the ECKCE administrator that supervises WEBS. They will assist in completion of the referral to WEBS.

• If the result of the in-house meeting is to consider placement at WEBS, an IEP meeting will be scheduled. The referring school will update and complete the IEP at that meeting.

Services are provided for students who qualify for the gifted program. As with all other programs, the same identification and evaluation process is used to determine eligibility.

Gifted Test Out

As required by K.A.R. 91-40-3(g), (h), all gifted students shall be allowed the opportunity when requested to test out of and receive credit for, required and/or prerequisite courses. The student’s IEP must reflect the test-out details, as well as any accelerated content and pacing expectations and plan for completion.

If the student wishes to test out of a course, the student shall make a written request to the instructor of the courses he/she is requesting credit for, at least two weeks prior to the scheduled start of the course. Within two weeks of the time the request is received, the teacher or subject area department representative of that course will design a summative assessment or project, (it may be the existing final examination for that course at the discretion of the instructor), which reflects the basic goals of the course content. In order to receive credit for the course, the student must demonstrate 90% mastery of the material on the initial attempt. Students may not exercise this option for courses they have completed and failed, courses already started and not completed, nor to improve an earned grade.

In the event that mastery is achieved, the student shall receive passing credit and the IEP team will determine an alternative course of study. In the event that the student wishes to work at an accelerated pace, the gifted facilitator and a subject area department representative will work together to design the alternative. Individual high schools within the interlocal may develop their own communication forms delineating student expectations and protocol which shall be managed by the individual schools’ counseling departments, however, the statutory requirements must not be restricted.

Bridges is a community-based transition program designed to assist in the transition from school to adult life. Bridges provides the transition services for Baldwin, Eudora, and Wellsville school district students through age 21 with intellectual disabilities and is a collaborative effort between young adults, parents, East Central Kansas Cooperative (ECKCE) staff, and adult service providers. The program uses a person-centered approach and students participate in a range of activities that will increase their ability to work and live independently. It is ultimately the IEP that drives which options will be appropriate for each student and transition services is an area that is continually developing.

Students who have met the minimum requirements for graduation, but have continuing transition needs, are eligible to participate. Students who participate in Bridges have participated in social graduation (or commencement), but have not completed the transition goals in their IEPs. This allows them to maintain their student status, but also experience graduation at the age- appropriate time.

The Bridges program is centrally located within the ECKCE service area. The young adult is still enrolled in school and receives credits through their home district. The program is based out of Baldwin Junior High School.

The Bridges program is designed to be adapted for individual students. First, each student identifies his/her wants and needs, then works with his or her team (including parents and teachers) to develop an individualized program. Primary areas of instruction are independent living, vocational/employment, social/leisure/recreation and lifelong learning opportunities. Skills such as self-advocacy, self-development, social skills, money management, menu planning, cooking, laundry, personal relationships and sexuality, personal health and safety, and employment- related skills are taught.

The Comprehensive Autism Resources and Developmental Services Classroom (CARDS) classroom is a cooperative wide autism program located at Eudora Elementary School. The program serves students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in grades K-5th who qualify due to the need for intensive, individualized support to be successful in the school setting. This placement occurs after an IEP team meeting due to significant delays in the areas of communication, social skills, and restrictive repetitive behaviors.

Any SPED services that are available through public school are also made available to private school students. A student who requires special education services as determined through the eligibility process may, at the discretion of the team, be transported to the public school to receive those services, or, when appropriate, the services may be delivered at the private school.