Another important role for the special education professional is demonstrated in the annual review process. This review is a legal responsibility of the district and must be provided to all classified students who reside within the school district. The review involves a yearly evaluation by the Eligibility Committee of the student’s classification and educational program. Included in these two general areas are a review of related services provided, the need to add or remove test modifications, parents concerns or requests, academic progress, transportation needs, and goals and objectives for the upcoming school year.
As with a regular Eligibility Committee meeting, there are several people who may attend this meeting (this may vary from district to district including the director of special education services or assignee, school psychologist, parent member, parent of the child, guidance counselor (secondary level), assigned professional (at the secondary level this may be the classroom professional in a self-contained class, resource room professional if this is the only service provided, or one of the child’s special education professionals in a special education departmentalized program) classroom professional (elementary level), speech and language therapist ( if the child classification requires attendance), the child ( if the professionals feel that the child could benefit from the discussion or may be able to shed light on a concern or recommendation being considered ) and any other individual deemed necessary.
The role of the special education professional is a very important one since a great deal of the information provided will come from this area. Consequently, many of the recommendations, changes or additions may result from what the special education professional reports to the Eligibility Committee during the annual review. Therefore, this meeting should be taken very seriously since it will determine the child’s educational direction and objectives for the coming year. As a result you should be prepared and familiar with the following materials:
- Any pre-and post-standardized test scores indicating the child’s academic progress for the year.
- A copy of the child’s report card clearly outlining grades and attendance for the year.
- Suggested goals and objectives for the coming year.
- An evaluation indicating whether or not the child benefited from the modifications allowed on his/her IEP, and the reasons why they may or may not have been beneficial.
- If applicable, recommendations for additional test modifications.
- If applicable, recommendations for additional related services and the reasons why.
- If applicable, recommendations for reduction of related services and the reasons why.
- Samples of the child’s work over the course of the year.
- A review of the child overall social progress for the year.
The above information should be sufficient to present a professional judgment of the child’s progress and needs for the coming year.
