Evaluation & Eligibility Toolkit

This Evaluation and Eligibility Toolkit provides special educators, school psychologists, and evaluation teams with a comprehensive set of resources to support compliant special education evaluation, eligibility determination, and reevaluation processes. District staff in these roles may use this toolkit to identify ways to improve existing processes or as a way to strengthen Policy, Procedure, and Practice review components (in response to Indicator 9, 10, or Significant Disproportionality reviews for the area of identification).
 
The toolkit includes training materials, decision-making guides, planning tools, checklists, procedures templates, and report examples that help teams navigate requirements from initial referral through eligibility determination. Resources such as the Eligibility Indicators, Eligibility Decision Tree, and Evaluation Planning Chart assist teams in collecting and analyzing appropriate data, addressing exclusionary factors, and applying federal and state eligibility criteria for disability categories. Additional tools, including procedural templates, practice checklists, and team report examples, support consistent documentation and implementation of evaluation requirements. The reevaluation resources provide guidance on conducting triennial and other reevaluations, reviewing existing data, determining continued eligibility, and documenting reevaluation decisions, helping local education agencies ensure that special education decisions are data-based, well-documented, and compliant with regulatory requirements.

 

Evaluation & Eligibility: Steps for Meeting Requirements

This training reviews the requirements of the evaluation process from referral through eligibility determination.

Eligibility Indicators

This document contains information about initial evaluation, including appropriate sources of data, eligibility determination, and includes Federal and State definitions of each exceptionality area. The purpose of the document is to provide guidance to evaluation teams as they seek to address the two-prong test of eligibility.

 

Initial Resources

Evaluation & Eligibility Practices ChecklistThis document lists required evaluation and eligibility determination Practices and provides space to record where LEA teams document meeting the requirement.
Evaluation & Eligibility Template for ProceduresThis is a template for developing written Procedures for evaluation and eligibility determination requirements. This includes requirements for individually referenced regulations.
Evaluation Decision TreeThis discussion guide includes a list of requirements for evaluation and describes a decision-making thought process.
Evaluation Planning ChartThis evaluation planning document lists types of assessments and identifies which information will be needed to match the definitions for each category of Exceptionality. It also includes information regarding the types of measures needed to address Exclusionary Factors.
Team Evaluation Report and Eligibility Determination - Example ReportThis document gives an example of what an evaluation team report might look like when using Response to Intervention (RTI).
Team Evaluation Report and Eligibility Determination - Report TemplateThis is a template for a Team Report that includes documentation of evaluation and eligibility determination requirements.

 

Reevaluation Resources

Reevaluation Decision TreeThis discussion guide includes a list of requirements for reevaluation and describes a decision-making thought process.
Reevaluation RequirementsThis training reviews requirements for conducting reevaluation. Sections include steps in the reevaluation process, options for triennial reevaluation, using existing data for the reevaluation, timelines, and determining continued eligibility.
Potential Sources of Information for Review of Existing Data within ReevaluationThis handout lists possible sources of information that might be used when conducting the review of existing data for a reevaluation.
Team Reevaluation Report and Eligibility Determination - Sample ReportThis document gives an example of what a Team Re-Evaluation Report might look like when conducted via a review of currently available information.

 

 

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