Parents/caregivers involved in the referral process, can access a copy of the New Jersey Administrative Code 6A:14 regarding special education along with a booklet entitled "Parental Rights in Special Education" (PRISE) by following the links above . The parental booklet informs you of your rights as a parent with a child going through this legal process.

Students between the ages of 3 and 21 suspected of having an educational disability may be referred to the Child Study Team for an evaluation by a variety of sources, but they generally come from one of the following:

• Parents/caregivers may request a Child Study Team Evaluation by sending the request in writing to the Director of Special Services.

• Intervention and Referral Services Committee (I&RS) is a building based inter-disciplinary group that meets regularly to provide intervention strategies for students experiencing difficulty in the classroom. After receiving interventions for a reasonable length of time and the child continues to have difficulty and is not making meaningful academic progress, then the I&RS Committee may make a referral to the Child Study Team. (See more information on I&RS process below)

The child study team (CST) consists of a school psychologist, school social worker, learning disability teacher consultant (LDT/C) and where appropriate a speech/language specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, and/or behaviorist.

Once the referral has been made, a case manager is assigned and has 20 days to schedule an Identification Meeting. The necessary personnel expected to attend this meeting would be a social worker, psychologist, learning disabilities teacher consultant, classroom teacher, speech and language specialist (if the suspected disability included that area or the child was age 3-5) and the parent/caregiver.

No. Once a request for a Child Study Team evaluation is made an Identification Meeting must be scheduled. At that meeting it is determined if a Child Study Team Evaluation is warranted.

Once it is determined that testing is necessary, the district then has 90 days to complete the evaluations proposed. Within the 90 days an Eligibility Meeting is scheduled where the evaluations are interpreted and it is determined if the student is eligible for special education and/or related services.

No. Student placements are a joint decision with the parents. By law, school districts must place students in an educational setting that is both the least restrictive and most appropriate. The student will have the necessary supports and services to enable him or her to learn and fully participate as a valued member of the school community.  The Least Restrictive Environment will look different for each child.

Yes. Students must have a significant delay (33%) in one area, a 25% delay in two or more developmental areas such as physical (gross motor, fine motor, sensory) intellectual, communication, social & emotional, and/or adaptive, or has an identified disabling condition, including vision or hearing, that adversely affects learning or development and who requires special education and related services.  If a preschool child with significantly delayed articulation/communication only needs speech therapy as a related service, and not special education (e.g., curricular modifications, specialized instructional strategies, supplementary aids), that child would not qualify under "Preschool child with a disability" as all requirements for eligibility in State regulations N.J.A.C. 6A:14 were not met. 

To the maximum extent appropriate, preschoolers and students with disabilities will receive their education with their non-disabled peers.

The Intervention and Referral Services Committee process is a collaborative school effort between district personnel and parents to intervene when a student has been identified as making minimal academic and/or emotional progress in the regular education setting. The team or committee collects and evaluates relevant data in order to determine or identify specific barriers to student performance. Once these barriers have been identified, individualized interventions are determined and implemented through an action plan in order to alleviate the concerns.

Student monitoring continues throughout this process by the identified individuals in the action plan. This process is ongoing, in that, it continues to identify and evaluate problems, solutions and progress within the student’s academic setting. This process may continue for several weeks to several months.

I&RS PHASES

1. Request for Assistance

2. Information Collection

3. Parent/Guardian Notification and Participation

4. Problem Solving

5. Develop I&RS Action Plan

6. Support, Monitor and Continue the Process

7. Problem resolved or referral to the CST

If the I&RS process exhausts all of the available classroom and school based regular education interventions with minimal success, often, the student is referred to the CST for a comprehensive evaluation in order to gather additional information as well as to determine if the student is eligible for special education and related services. The recommendation for a CST evaluation could come directly from the I&RS team or from the parent at any time during the process.

The team intervention is used when teachers and other school personnel study and creatively problem solve educational issues that place a student at risk for school failure. Using a team approach that also involves parents/caregivers, carefully considers the needs of students who are identified "at risk" for learning, behavior, and health problems. After careful consideration, strategies are put in place to work with the student and effectively address the issues at hand.

By its nature, intervention is a process. It is often the case that plans are revisited and modified. In most cases, however, a successful intervention plan which is created and shaped over a period of time proves to be a powerful method for the at-risk student.

In some cases, intervention is not successful and a referral for special education is deemed necessary. Even in these cases, the prior period of intervention is valuable. Prior intervention will illustrate that a referral is appropriate (as required by law) and it will help inform the IEP team about strategies that have or have not produced success when it comes time to develop the written IEP. It is important that parents not see interventions as merely a waiting process or a "red tape" step for special education.

The primary purpose of the I&RS team is to identify students in need and then plan and provide appropriate intervention for those students within the general education community; to identify the responsibilities of building staff who participate in the planning and provision of intervention and referral services; to actively involve parents/guardians in the development and implementation of the I&RS plans; to review and assess the effectiveness of the services provided in achieving the outcomes identified in the intervention and referral plan; to provide professional development to general education staff members who either refer student(s) to the I&RS or who assist in providing the intervention and referral services; and, finally, to coordinate the services of community-based social and health agencies.

An I&RS team is one of the many resources used by schools to intervene with learning, behavior and health problems, prior to Child Study Team (CST) evaluation.