The District will establish an ARD Committee for each eligible student with a disability and for each student for whom an evaluation is conducted. See [EVALUATION]. The ARD Committee is the group of qualified professionals and the parent of the student that determines whether the student is a student with a disability and the educational needs of the student. The ARD Committee is the team that develops the IEP for the eligible student with a disability and determines the educational placement of the student.
The IEP is the written statement for each student with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised by the ARD Committee. The IEP must include:
A statement of the student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the student’s disability affects the student’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum (i.e., the same curriculum as for nondisabled students); or for preschool students, as appropriate, how the disability affects the student’s participation in appropriate activities;
A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to meet the student’s needs that result from the student’s disability to enable the student to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum; and meet each of the student’s other educational needs that result from the student’s disability, and, for students with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate academic achievement standards, a description of benchmarks or short-term objectives;
A description of how the student’s progress toward meeting the annual goals described above will be measured and when periodic reports on the progress the student is making toward meeting the annual goals (such as through the use of quarterly or other periodic reports, concurrent with the issuance of report cards) will be provided;
A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to the extent practicable, to be provided to the student, or on behalf of the student, and a statement of the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided to enable the student to advance appropriately toward attaining the annual goals; to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum, and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities; and to be educated and participate with other students with disabilities and nondisabled students;
An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the student will not participate with nondisabled students in the regular class;
A statement of any individual appropriate accommodations that are necessary to measure the academic achievement and functional performance of the student on State and districtwide assessments;
If the ARD Committee determines that the student must take an alternate assessment instead of a particular regular State or districtwide assessment of student achievement, a statement of why the student cannot participate in the regular assessment; and why the particular alternate assessment selected is appropriate for the student; and
The projected date for the beginning of the services and modifications described above, and the anticipated frequency, location, and duration of those services and modifications.
The ARD Committee may use the TEA’s model IEP form. Other than the elements listed above and what is included in TEA’s model IEP form, additional information need not be included in the student’s IEP. In addition, the ARD Committee need not include information under one component of the student’s IEP that is already contained elsewhere in the IEP.
Campus Special Education Personnel will be responsible for compiling and processing the student’s ARD paperwork in accordance with the ARD forms utilized by the District. District Special Education Personnel may periodically review a random sampling of ARD documents within the District to ensure that all required components of the IEP are addressed by the ARD Committee for each student with a disability.
District Special Education Personnel will provide training regarding the role and duties of the ARD Committee and the components of the ARD document for all Campus Personnel.
The District will maintain documentation requirements of compliance associated with Texas Student Data System (TSDS), Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), and State Performance Plan (SPP). District staff will provide training, with follow up, to ensure the documentation required is in place and compliant.
ARD/IEP
ARD Attendees Sheet
ARD Signature Page
ARD Committee Training
ARD/IEP Training
Documentation for the state in TSDS, PEIMS, and SPP
IEP Model Form – Texas Education Agency
Model Form: Individualized Education Program – U.S. Department of Education
Admissions Review Dismissal (ARD) Committee - SPEDTEX
34 CFR 300.306(a)(1), 300.116(a), 300.320(a), 300.320(d), 300.321(a); Texas Education Code 29.005(f), 29.0051(c); 19 TAC 89.1040(b), 89.1050(a), 89.1055(a)