The teachers may not have identified any particular area of concern, but they would like to have a team of learning/behavioral specialists (this is called a child study team) review your child's records and make recommendations to them about how best to work with your student or how a special education evaluation might be helpful.

Yes, you will be invited to attend the meeting so that you can hear the school's concerns and also share your own knowledge and/or concerns. You are not required to attend this meeting but are certainly welcome.

Absolutely. Teachers can refer a student to the child study team without authorization from the parent but no special education evaluation can take place without your written consent.

The decision about whether or not to proceed with a special education evaluation will be made at the child study team meeting (which you may have attended). In addition, you will be invited to participate in a meeting to determine the areas of concern and what tests should be completed. The school district will request your permission to evaluate your child. A permission form will not only indicate what areas are to be tested, but also who will be doing the evaluation and specifically what types of tests they are going to administer.

The school district has 30 school days after receiving parental permission within which to complete the testing.

This time length is determined by State and Federal guidelines in order to provide schools with enough time to conduct an appropriate evaluation of your child's needs. There are only a small number of staff qualified to do the testing in a special education evaluation. In addition to testing students, most of these staff members carry a full teaching load. There are many students to be evaluated and each one deserves very careful consideration.

You will be contacted by a case manager who has been assigned to your child during the evaluation process. This person will coordinate a date and time for you to come in to discuss the results of your child's evaluation.

At this meeting will be members of the evaluation team along with at least one classroom teacher, at least one parent, and sometimes the student. Student attendance is determined on an individual basis and is a judgment call of the parent, case manager assigned during the evaluation process, and the child's academic adviser. Generally, students in junior high or high school are encouraged to attend these meetings.

The Minnesota Department of Education has issued a set of guidelines for schools to follow when assessing children who may have special education needs. These guidelines or criteria show very specifically what kind of profile children need to have in order to qualify for special education services in any area.

The current areas are:

• Autism
• Deaf-Blindness
• Developmental Adapted Physical Education: Special Education
• Developmental Cognitive Disability
• Early Childhood: Special Education
• Emotional or Behavioral Disorders
• Hearing Impairment
• Other Health Disability
• Physically Impaired
• Severely Multiply Impaired
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech and Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visually Impaired

Yes. There are a variety of services available in the "mainstream" which may include (depending on the particular school) assurance of mastery (AOM), a "504 plan", peer tutoring, etc.

Assurance of Mastery is a program that provides extra skill instruction in specific areas of English and/or math. Students are referred to AOM for assessment in order to determine if they may need this type of support.

A 504 plan is a document that outlines the terms of the instructional services of the student with a qualifying disability that substantially limits a major life activity. The plan may include accommodations, special education and related aids and services.

This depends very much on your child's needs as shown in the evaluation. After you have been given the evaluation results your child will be assigned a case manager for the remainder of the school year. This case manager will work with you to develop an Individual Educational Plan or (IEP) which will outline the exact nature of the services your child will receive.

Download a list of commonly used Special Education acronyms.