The TEA's Parent's Guide to the Admission, Review, and Dismissal Process states: There is a two-part test for determining whether your child is eligible for special education and related services: (1) your child must have a disability; and (2) as a result of the disability, your child must need special education and related services to benefit from education. To meet the first part of the two-part test for eligibility, a child between the ages of 3 through 21, except as noted, must meet the criteria for one or more of the disability categories listed below:
auditory impairment (from birth);
autism;
deaf-blindness (from birth);
emotional disturbance;
intellectual disability;
multiple disabilities;
noncategorical early childhood (ages three through five);
orthopedic impairment;
other health impairment;
specific learning disability;
speech or language impairment;
traumatic brain injury; or
visual impairment (including blindness from birth).
The ARD committee must make the eligibility determination within 30 calendar days from the date of completion of the initial evaluation report.
Inclusion is for students who access grade-level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) through accommodations and/or modifications in the general education setting. A student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) must include the provision of specially designed instruction such as teaching prerequisite skills, pre-teaching vocabulary and key concepts or re-teaching within the general education setting. Students are supported in using different strategies to access and demonstrate their learning.
The special education staff member will collaborate with the general education teachers regularly in order to effectively implement specially designed instruction and provide the necessary support for students.
District grade-level curriculum and snapshots are utilized for instruction and assessment.
Resource instruction is provided to students who require intensive, direct, specially designed instruction from a special education teacher in a separate setting from the general education classroom.
Resource instruction must address specific goals in the student’s Individualized Education Program aligned to the grade level Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and/or age-appropriate functional skills (e.g., behavior, social, study and adaptive skills). This specially designed instruction is determined necessary in order for the student to progress in the general education curriculum.
Resource instruction is characterized by a smaller class size focused on skill deficits in functional and academic performance and may alter the pace of the student’s instruction.
Resource instruction is intended for students who spend the majority of their day in the general education setting.
District grade-level curriculum and snapshots are utilized for instruction and assessment.