Special Education Services

The Multi-Factored Evaluation is the process required by IDEA to determine if a child is eligible for special education services. The process may be initiated by either school personnel or a parent. Education professionals along with a child’s parents are members of the MFE team, who work together to determine if a child qualifies for special education services.  Team members should include a school psychologist, the child’s parent(s) or guardian(s),  a special education and/or general education teacher, appropriate related service personnel, and others based on  the child’s needs.

The purpose of the MFE is  to determine whether or not the child has a disability and to identify the child’s specialized educational needs.

*The IEP (or Individualized Education Plan) is a document which outlines a child’s educational needs due to a disability, and the services they will receive to help them learn in their educational setting. Required members of the team are  the parents/guardians, general education teachers, special education teacher and administrator. Related service providers may also participate.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires students with disabilities to receive special education and/or related services.

To be considered a student with a disability under this law, your child must require special education and/or related services because of his or her disability in one or more of the following disability categories:

• Intellectual disability
• Hearing impairment
• Speech or language impairment
• Visual impairment
• Emotional disturbance
• Orthopedic impairment
• Autism
• Traumatic brain injury
• Other health impairment
• Specific learning disability
• Deafness
• Deaf-blindness
• Multiple disabilities
• Developmental Delay

Behavioral Learning Center (BLC) - special education cross-categorical learning center which focuses on instruction from the general curriculum and behavior intervention for those students with severe behavioral needs who require a more restrictive environment in order to make progress on the goals and objectives of the Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Building Intervention Specialist (IS) - certified, special education teacher who provides special education services, either direct or support, based upon the student's IEP in the attendance area school.

Consultation - assistance to the regular education classroom teacher by a certified special education teacher in developing instructional or behavioral strategies for students with disabilities, providing information to school personnel regarding the needs of students with disabilities, selecting and developing instruction materials, and assisting in the development of appropriate classroom and instructional modifications of the general education curriculum.

Daily Living Skills Learning Center (DLSLC) - special education, cross-categorical learning center which focuses on instruction from the general curriculum and/or extended standards for those students identified with moderate/intensive educational and functional life skills needs that are necessary for independent living.

Direct - provision of instruction and evaluation of instruction based on the general curriculum and/or extended standards by a certified special education teacher in areas identified on the student's IEP. District Intervention Specialist - certified, special education teacher who provides special education services, either direct or support, for students with moderate/intensive educational needs as identified on the student's IEP in one of the following learning centers: specialized learning center, structured communications learning center, daily living skills learning center, or behavior learning center.

Intervention Specialist (IS) - certified special education teacher who, in collaboration with the regular classroom teacher as appropriate, is responsible to participate in the development of the student's IEP and providing direct or support instructional services based upon areas identified on the student's IEP regardless of the environment in which the student is served and disability category.

Intervention Specialist Consultant (ISC) - certified special education teacher who provides consultation services to regular education teachers for students whose least restrictive environment is identified on the IEP as consultation. In addition, the Intervention Specialist Consultant is a district resource available to consult with building teams in the following areas: autism, behavior management, hearing and vision impairments, assistive technology, instructional strategies, instructional materials, modification of curriculum and instruction, transition of high need students between grade levels and schools.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) - to the maximum extent appropriate, handicapped children, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not handicapped, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of handicapped children from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

Support - provision of instruction, in collaboration with the regular education classroom teacher, who supports the student in the instruction of the general curriculum by a certified special education teacher in areas identified on the student's IEP.

Specialized Learning Center (SLC) - special education cross-categorical learning center which focuses on instruction from the general curriculum and/or extended standards for students with moderate needs in the areas of cognitive ability and adaptive behavior or functioning skills.

Worthington City Schools is committed to provide special education services based upon the IEP to special education students in the least restrictive environment within their home school.

Documented progress on student intervention and IEP goals and objectives is the basis for moving a student to a more or lesser restrictive environment.

Consideration for placement of a student in a district learning center includes: identified needs on the multi-factored evaluation team report and Individualized Education Program in addition to social, academic, functional, and behavioral needs.

I. Home School Special Education Services provided by a Building Intervention Specialist

A. Regular Education Classroom
• Regular education
• Regular education with consultation services
• Regular education with support services
• Regular education with direct services

B. Support outside the classroom.

C. Direct instruction outside the classroom.

II. In-District Services but not in the student's home school placement determined by the IEP team services provided by the District Intervention Specialist

A. Types of special education cross-categorical services
• Specialized Learning Center
• Daily Living Skill Learning Center
• Behavioral Learning Center

III. Out-of-District Services

A. More restrictive; based upon the needs of the student as determined by the IEP after considering I and II. May include, but is not limited to placement for the following types of disabilities:

• Visual disability
• Hearing disability
• Orthopedic disability
• Emotional disturbance
• Multiple disabilities

B. Types of placements

• Specialized programs in other school districts or private schools/agencies
• Residential
• Hospitalization
• Home instruction