How to decide what to include in the ETR (planning form)

Evaluation planning is a required component of the evaluation process. The evaluation planning does not require a face-to-face meeting. It can be held over the phone, through email or other correspondence. The parent must be included in the planning process or the district needs to document that the parent declined to participate or was not available after reasonable attempts were made to involve them (OP-09). The results of the planning meeting must be documented on the planning form which is a component of the Evaluation Team Report (PR-06). You must indicate the appropriate planning form (school age or preschool) on the front page of the ETR.

On the top of the either ETR planning form, there is a space to enter the suspected disability. There may be multiple suspected disabilities and they all should be listed here.

The school aged planning form consists of three columns, two that need to be completed by the team. The first column lists Assessment Areas Related to Suspected Disabilities. The second column will indicate all data and documentation that the team currently has OR needs to address the items in the first column. The team will decide if there is “Sufficient Data Available,” if “Additional Testing/Data Needed,” or if it is “Not Applicable” for each listed assessment area. If additional testing or data is needed, the third column documents the title of the person responsible for gathering the data and documentation.

In the preschool aged planning form, the first section column indicates what assessment areas are required for all and what are are only required for some situations. You always need to have all the relevant assessment elements completed that are necessary for substantiating eligibility for all of the suspected categories. After the team decides on one or more suspected disability areas, they will consider what data is available, what assessments need to be administered and complete the planning form table. The table has 2 main sections: The first contains the developmental/specialized areas and the second section indicates the assessment methods/data sources. For each Developmental area and any Specialized Area required, the team decides if there is "existing data available" or if "additional data is needed. The team documents the title of the person responsible for gathering the data/documentation in the assessment methods/data source section to clearly identify which type of data is being referenced. Each developmental area must be assessed using at least one of the 4 methods (structured interview, structured observation, norm-referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment) and each method must be utilized at least once during the evaluation process. Additionally, if the child has transitioned from Part C or attended a community preschool in the 12 months, data from that entity must be included. There are additional procedures for identifying children with specific learning disabilities that also apply to preschool children. The requirements for the specific learning disability category evaluation are in addition to the preschool comprehensive evaluation requirements. Please note: if suspected learning disability is one of the suspected disabilities and it is later decided that it is not the eligibility area determined, Section 3 still must be completed and attached to the ETR. The Operating Standards that define the requirements for each suspected area of disability are hyperlinked through the planning form. If the child is an English learner, assessments must be given in the child's native language or other mode of communication and administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the assessments.

The signatures and dates at the bottom of the planning form are the district’s documentation that the parent and the appropriate team members were part of the planning process. If the parent does not sign the planning form, the district will need to have additional documentation such as documentation of attempts to participate in the planning process (OP-09) showing reasonable efforts were made to obtain the parent’s input regarding the evaluation. If the parent was unable or declined to be involved, documentation must be kept by the district as well as explained on a PR-01 sent to the parent.

Under Federal and State requirements, school districts must assess children “in all areas related to the suspected disability.” The evaluation shall be comprehensive and identify all the child’s special education and related service needs. Failure to assess in all areas of suspected disability can result in the failure to provide services to meet each of the child’s needs. If the need is never identified, it cannot be addressed through the IEP.