115.782 Evaluations.

(1) The local educational agency shall do all of the following:

(a) Notify the parents of the child, in accordance with s. 115.792, of any evaluation procedures the agency proposes to conduct and the names of the individuals who will conduct the evaluation if known.

(b) Except as provided in par. (c), before conducting an initial evaluation of a child, obtain informed consent from the child's parent. Parental consent for the evaluation does not constitute consent for placement for receipt of special education and related services. If the child's parents do not consent to the evaluation, the local educational agency may continue to pursue an evaluation by using the procedures under s. 115.797 or 115.80.

(c) Before conducting an initial evaluation of a child who is a ward of the state, obtain informed consent in compliance with 20 USC 1414 (a) (1) (D) (iii).

(2) Conduct of evaluation.

(a) In conducting the evaluation, the individualized education program team shall not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability or for determining an appropriate educational program for the child. The individualized education program team shall do all of the following:

1. Use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information, including information provided by the child's parent, that may assist in determining whether the child is a child with a disability and 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.

2. Use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors.

3. Ensure all of the following:

a. That assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child under this section are selected and administered so as not to be racially or culturally discriminatory and are 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 clearly not feasible to do so.

b. That assessments and other evaluation materials given to the child are used for the purposes for which they are valid and reliable, are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel, and are administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the assessments or evaluation materials.

c. That the child is assessed in all areas of suspected disability.

d. That assessment tools and strategies that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child are used.

(b) As part of an initial evaluation of a child and as part of any reevaluation of a child under sub. (4), the individualized education program team and other qualified professionals, as determined by the local educational agency, shall do all of the following:

1. Review existing evaluation data on the child, including evaluations and information provided by the child's parents; previous interventions and the effects of those interventions; current classroom-based, local, or state assessments; classroom-based observations; and observations by teachers and related services providers.

2. On the basis of that review and information provided by the child's parents, identify the additional data, if any, that are needed to determine all of the following:

a. Whether the child has a particular category of disability and the educational needs of the child or, in case of a reevaluation of a child, whether the child continues to have such a disability and such educational needs.

b. The present levels of academic achievement and related developmental needs of the child.

c. Whether the child needs special education and related services, or in the case of a reevaluation of a child, whether the child continues to need special education and related services.

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 specified in the child's individualized education program and to participate, as appropriate, in the general curriculum.

(c) The local educational agency shall administer such assessments and other evaluation measures as may be needed to produce the data identified under par. (b) 2.

(f) The local educational agency shall ensure that the evaluation of a child with a disability who transfers from one school district to another in the same school year is coordinated with the child's prior and subsequent schools as necessary and as expeditiously as possible to ensure prompt completion of the evaluation.

(3) Determination of eligibility for special education.

(a) Upon the completion of the administration of assessments and other evaluation measures, the individualized education program team shall determine whether the child is a child with a disability and the educational needs of the child. The team may not determine that a child is a child with a disability if the determinant factor for the determination is lack of appropriate instruction in reading, including in the essential components of reading instruction, as defined in 20 USC 6368 (3), or lack of instruction in math, or because the child has limited proficiency in English.

(b) The individualized education program team shall prepare an evaluation report that includes documentation of determination of eligibility for special education. The local educational agency shall give a copy of the evaluation report, including the documentation of eligibility, to the child's parents.

(4) Reevaluations.

(a) A local educational agency shall ensure that the individualized education program team does all of the following:

1. Evaluates a child with a disability in accordance with this section before determining that the child is no longer a child with a disability, except that an evaluation is not required before the termination of a child's eligibility for special education and related services because he or she graduated from secondary school with a regular diploma or because he or she reached the age of 21. In those circumstances, the local educational agency shall provide the child with a summary of the child's academic achievement and functional performance, including recommendations on how to assist the child in meeting his or her postsecondary goals.

2. Reevaluates a child with a disability in accordance with this section if the local educational agency determines that the educational or related services needs of the child, including the child's academic performance, warrant a reevaluation or if the child's parent or teacher requests a reevaluation. The individualized education program team shall reevaluate a child no more frequently than once a year unless the child's parent and the local educational agency agree otherwise, and at least once every 3 years unless the child's parent and the local educational agency agree that a reevaluation is unnecessary.

(b) The local educational agency shall obtain informed consent from the child's parent before reevaluating a child with a disability, except that such consent need not be obtained if the local educational agency has taken reasonable measures to obtain such consent and the child's parents have failed to respond.

(c) If the individualized education program team and other qualified professionals, as determined by the local educational agency, find under sub. (2) (b) 2. that no additional data are needed to determine whether the child continues to be a child with a disability or to determine the child's educational needs, the local educational agency shall notify the child's parents of that finding and the reasons for it and the right of the child's parents to request an assessment to determine whether the child continues to be a child with a disability and to determine the child's educational needs. The local educational agency is not required to conduct such an assessment unless the child's parents request it.

History: 1997 a. 164; 1999 a. 117; 2005 a. 258.