The school said my child doesn't qualify for an IEP because they don't fall below the 12th percentile. What does that mean?
The 12th percentile is not a “cut score” or “cut-point” that can be used to determine if a student is eligible for special education services eligibility for a Specific Learning Disability (SLD). It appears to be used as a practice because of the variation of test results from school to school. One subtest that results in a percentile above or below the 12th percentile, should not be used to determine or deny eligibility.
BVSD uses a SLD (Specific Learning Disability) manual that comes from the CDE (Colorado Dept. of Education) manual to provide guidance on determining eligibility for students who qualify as having SLD.
The following statement is taken from the CDE website for “Demonstrating and Academic Skill Deficit.”
(CDE April 2017)
“Parameters given for determining the significance of a deficit are not intended to be hard and fast “cut-points” and the convergence of multiple sources of data needs to be considered by the eligibility team.
At least one measure needs to be norm-referenced in order to provide some consistency across schools and school districts in the interpretation of “significance.” A score at or below the 12th percentile or 1.5 standard deviations below the mean may be considered to represent a significant deficit. The results of a focused and norm-referenced, diagnostic/prescriptive assessment will not only assist with the identification of a specific learning disability, but would provide valuable information for developing IEP goals and determining appropriate instruction/intervention.”
The school team must show that student has made” insufficient progress in one or more of the eight educationally relevant areas to determine a Specific Learning Disability.” The use of progress monitoring tool(s) needs to be “linked to one of the eight areas of SLD.” (CDE April 2017)
Elaine is a special education teacher with 30 years of experience. She has taught in BVSD, Adams 12 & 14, and in private schools within the Front Range area. She currently teaches graduate-level courses in special education at CU. She is the owner of Academic Assessment Solutions LLC, where she evaluates and provides assessments for students with learning disabilities. She also offers OG based language instruction. Elaine also serves on the BVKID board as an educational advisor. For questions, contact Elaine through her Facebook page.
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January 6, 2020
