Wyoming Public Schools

Eligibility

Wyoming Public Schools offers a continuum of programs and services for students who qualify for special education. Wyoming has a full diagnostic staff that conducts student evaluations and provides support services to students, teachers, and parents.

Typically, requests for individual student evaluations are generated through the building-level Child Study Team process when there is a question as to whether a student may have a disability that impedes or impacts the learning process. Parents may request a multi-disciplinary evaluation be completed if there is suspicion that their child may have a disability. For school or parent initiated referrals, signed parental permission is necessary, and an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is conducted within 30 days of initial consent. Wyoming Public Schools adheres to state and federal policies and laws.

To determine eligibility for specific learning disabilities (LD) the Wyoming Public Schools utilizes an evaluative model commonly referred to as pattern of strengths and weaknesses (PSW). The PSW model involves two main components. The first component is to review the student’s response to targeted interventions in the general education setting. Prior to considering LD eligibility it should be clear that intensive general education interventions were attempted but unsuccessful in correcting the academic delay(s). The second component is to review existing data and administer assessments in an effort to determine if a pattern of strengths and weaknesses can be identified. Consistent with commonly accepted practice, the eligibility determination team must identify at least four areas of weakness within a single LD category and three areas of strength in a separate LD category in order for eligibility to be considered. The specific categories of LD eligibility as defined by the State of Michigan (Rule 340.1713) are: Basic Reading Skills, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Math Calculations, Math Problem Solving, Written Expression, Oral Expression, and Listening Comprehension.

Guidelines for Determining Strengths and Weaknesses

Assessment Type	Strength	Weaknesses
Benchmark Screening/CBM (to serve as first of at least 4 data points)	At benchmark level	Below target range
Progress monitoring (Should occur at least 1x per week at Tier 3)	Meeting/exceeding aimline	Falling below aimline for at least four consecutive data points on most recent tests
Criterion-referenced assessment	Skills at or above grade level	Skills well below grade level
MEAP	Level 1 or 2	Level 3 Low or Level 4 (using most recent available results)
Norm-referenced tests (Achievement & IQ)	Scores at or above 25th percentile	Scores at or below 9th percentile
Curriculum assessments (reading & math)	Scores at or above 80%	Scores at or below 70%
Grades	A or B letter grades or meets/exceeds standards	D or E letter grades or does not meet expectations
Teacher Report (Teacher will provide classroom chart of progress)	Based upon professional judgment of teacher in comparing student to others in classroom	Based upon professional judgment of teacher in comparing student to others in classroom
Observations – Academic	Student demonstrates average understanding of academic content in comparison to other students in classroom	Student demonstrates lack of understanding of academic content

Assessment Type	Examples
Benchmark screening/CBM	DIBELS, PSI, PASI, SRI, etc.
Progress monitoring	DIBELS, PSI, PASI, SRI, 6 Minute Solution, etc.
Criterion-referenced assessments	Brigance, DIBELS, PASI, PSI, etc.
Norm-referenced achievement tests	KTEA-2, WIAT-III, TOWL-4, TERA-3, etc.
IQ tests	WISV-IV, WASI, WPPSI-III, etc.
Curriculum assessments aligned with CE’s and classroom instruction	Common unit assessments (which will be selected by school psych team for relevance to each area)