2015 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 164 - Educational Opportunities
Section 10-76ff - Procedures for determining if a child requires special education.

(a) Each local and regional board of education shall, without delay, follow the procedures outlined in this section and in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations in determining if a child requires special education and related services, as defined in section 10-76a. (1) In conducting an evaluation of the child, the local or regional board of education shall: (A) Use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information, including information provided by the child’s parent or guardian, that may assist in determining (i) whether the child is a child, (I) who requires special education and related services pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (C) of subdivision (5) of section 10-76a, (II) whose disability has an adverse effect on his educational performance, and (III) who, by reason of such adverse effect requires special education and related services, and (ii) the content of the child’s individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities; (B) not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability or determining an appropriate educational program for the child; and (C) use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors. (2) Each local and regional board of education shall ensure that: (A) Assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess the child are (i) selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis, and (ii) provided and administered in the language and form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and can do academically, developmentally and functionally, unless it is not feasible to so provide or administer; (B) assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child (i) are used for purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable, (ii) are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel, and (iii) are administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of such tests; (C) the child is assessed in all areas of suspected disability; (D) assessment tools and strategies that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child are provided; and (E) assessments of children with disabilities who transfer from one school district to another school district in the same academic year are coordinated with such children’s prior and subsequent schools, as necessary and as expeditiously as possible, to ensure prompt completion of full evaluations. (3) In accordance with section 10-76d and applicable federal law and regulations, upon completion of administration of assessments and other evaluation measures, the determination of whether the child is a child requiring special education and related services shall be made by a team consisting of qualified professionals and the parent or guardian of the child and a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation for such determination shall be given to the parent or guardian of the child. (4) The local or regional board of education shall not determine that a child requires special education and related services if the dominant factor for determining eligibility is (A) a lack of instruction in reading, including the essential components of reading instruction, as defined in Section 1208(3) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or mathematics or limited English proficiency, or (B) evidence that the child’s behavior violates the school’s disciplinary policies or evidence that is derived from the contents of discipline records.

(b) (1) The planning and placement team, as part of an initial evaluation, if appropriate, and as part of any reevaluations, shall review existing evaluation data on the child, including evaluations and information provided by the parent or guardian or the child, classroom-based assessments and observations and teacher and related services provider observations. On the basis of such review, and input from the child’s parent or guardian, the planning and placement team shall identify what additional data, if any, is needed to determine: (A) Whether the child has a particular category of disability, or in the case of a reevaluation, whether the child continues to have such a disability; (B) the present levels of performance and educational needs of the child; (C) whether the child needs special education and related services, or in the case of a reevaluation, whether the child continues to need special education and related services or whether the child is able to be served within the regular education program with existing supplemental services, available in the school district; and (D) whether any additions or modifications to the special education and related services are needed to enable the child to meet the measurable annual goals set out in the individualized education program of the child and to participate, as appropriate, in the general curriculum. (2) The local or regional board of education shall administer such tests and other evaluation materials as may be needed to produce the data identified by the planning and placement team pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection. (3) If the planning and placement team decides that no additional data is needed to determine that the child continues to be a child requiring special education and related services, the local or regional board of education shall notify the parent or guardian of the child of (A) the decision and the reasons for it, and (B) the right of the parent or guardian to request an assessment to determine whether the child continues to be a child requiring special education and related services. The local or regional board of education shall not be required to conduct such an assessment unless requested to do so by the parent or guardian of the child. (4) A local or regional board of education shall evaluate a child identified as requiring special education and related services, in accordance with this section, prior to determining that such child no longer requires such special education or related services, except that such evaluation shall not be required before the termination of a child’s eligibility for special education due to graduation from high school with a regular education diploma, or due to exceeding the age eligibility for a free appropriate public education pursuant to state regulations. For a child whose eligibility for special education terminates due to graduation from high school with a regular high school diploma or such child exceeds the age of eligibility for a free appropriate public education, the local or regional board of education shall provide the child with a summary of the child’s academic achievement and functional performance, which shall include recommendations on how to assist the child in meeting the child’s postsecondary goals.

(c) The use of the word disability pursuant to this section shall not be the basis for limiting the services or programs, including regular education, available to such child.

(P.A. 98-168, S. 5, 26; P.A. 06-18, S. 6; P.A. 11-235, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 98-168 effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 06-18 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring evaluation of academic information, by adding language re measure and assessment, by replacing provision re native language with provision re the language and form most likely to yield accurate information, by replacing provision re standardized tests with provision re assessments and other evaluation materials, by adding Subdiv. (2)(E) re children who transfer between school districts, by broadening prohibition against using certain factors to determine eligibility by stating that they may not be the dominant factor and by expanding the description of reading, and amended Subsec. (b) by inserting “present” in Subdiv. (1)(B) and by providing an exception to the requirement for evaluation of child no longer requiring services in Subdiv. (4), effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 11-235 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “without delay” and “and in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations” to provision re boards of education determining if child requires special education, effective July 1, 2011.