La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § CI-107

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section CI-107 - Qualified Examiners

A. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Louisiana Revised Statutes 17:1941 et seq., require that a student suspected of being exceptional receive a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation conducted by qualified examiners. Qualified examiners include pupil appraisal professionals certified by the state Department of Education and professionals from other agencies or in private practice, as described in this Section.

1. Professional members of a pupil appraisal system include certified Assessment Teachers/Educational Consultants/Educational Diagnosticians, Certified School Psychologists, Qualified School Social Workers; Speech/Language Pathologists, Adapted Physical Education Teachers; Audiologists; Certified School Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Speech and Hearing Therapists, and Speech/Hearing/Language Specialists.

2. LEAs shall regularly employ certified pupil appraisal personnel to conduct individual evaluations, but may also employ others as listed below:

a. qualified examiners available from the Department of Health and Hospitals, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, the State Board Special Schools, or other public agencies;

b. private qualified examiners contracted to provide specialized assessments;

c. the student's teacher(s) as member(s) of the evaluation team;

d. a combination of the personnel listed above.

3. LEA-selected evaluators in music, theatre, or visual arts must not be employed by the LEA conducting the evaluation and must be on the state Department of Education approved evaluator list.

4. Regardless of the approach used for conducting individual evaluations, LEAs retain full responsibility for the individual evaluation. Any failure by an employee or contractor to meet the requirements of this Handbook constitutes a failure by the LEA to comply with Bulletin 1706:Regulations for the Implementation of the Children with Exceptionalities Act; R.S. 17:1941, et seq.

5. Professionals in private practice who provide evaluations for educational use must meet the standards of and comply with the rules and regulations set by their respective statutory professional boards. Certification by the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is not required for these persons; however, Educational Assessment Teachers/Diagnosticians or Educational Consultants are required to be certified by the Department of Education, since licensing for independent practice does not exist.

a. Professionals employed by another state agency must meet the professional standards of that agency and be qualified through training to conduct evaluations.

b. The results of an evaluation conducted by these professionals may be used by an LEA in determining a student's eligibility for special educational services. It remains the LEA's responsibility to ensure that the student is evaluated and that his or her eligibility determination has been in accordance with the requirements of this handbook.

La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CI-107

Promulgated by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, LR 35:896 (May 2009), effective July 1, 2009.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 17:1941 et seq.