Frequently Asked Questions about SPED

A federal process that identifies, evaluates, and locates children who may need special education or early intervention services.

A parent, teacher, Multidisciplinary Teacher Support Team (MTSS), or public agency.

Students are typically identified for special education through a combination of teacher observations, parent concerns, standardized testing, and screening tools; when a student shows significant difficulties in learning or behavior that cannot be addressed through general education supports, a referral for evaluation is made, leading to a comprehensive assessment to determine eligibility for special education services.

• Mississippi Behavior Services
• A&D Behavioral Solutions
• Contact Toni Bell for information

No, this would be an IEP meeting to discuss deficits and a potential request for a re-evaluation due to academic concerns.

Yes, but an IEP meeting needs to be held to discuss and determine if the team agrees. The Special Education Director should be made aware before the meeting to determine if a re-evaluation meeting should take place to rule out any other potential disabilities.

No. The IEP Committee Team must review the SCD guidance document to determine if the student meets the criteria for SCD. The Special Education Director must always be invited to these meetings.

Yes, however, if the student is not SCD, we must ensure that the student is taught the general education curriculum regardless of the placement.

• Traditional Diploma
• Traditional Diploma with Career and Technical Endorsement 
• Traditional Diploma with Academic Endorsement
• Traditional Diploma with Distinguished Endorsement
• Alternate Diploma 
• Certificate of Attendance

Yes.

The intent of ESY is not to ensure students pass a class or to remediate ALL deficits noted during the current school year. ONLY an IEP Committee can determine the need for ESY using the four (4) allowable criteria that can be used to find a student eligible for ESY. Justification such as parent request, prior ESY participation, or indication of potential benefit of ESY is NOT acceptable. The four allowable criteria are: Regression/Recoupment, Critical Point of Instruction 1 (CPI-1), Critical Point of Instruction 2 (CPI-2), and Extenuating Circumstances.

The Manifestation Determination Review process is a comprehensive problem-solving review of various factors to determine if the child’s conduct is in question: 

• Is caused by the child’s disability
• Has a direct and substantial relationship to the child’s disability
• Is the direct result of the public agency’s failure to implement the IEP