By Dr. Derek Ihori and Dr. Alexia Melara

An insufficiently thorough assessment or minor inconsistencies in the report leave your district vulnerable to legal challenges. Avoid these and other errors with this step-by-step guide to the entire assessment process, from conducting the pre-referral meeting to creating the report — including a complete 25-page sample report to use as a model. Practical guidance is presented in a quick-reference bulleted format to walk you through:

• Determining which students should be assessed
• Identifying the suspected areas of disability
• Tailoring assessment components to the suspected areas of disability
• Seeking a thorough background of a student, including health, developmental and educational history
• Using information from the assessment report to develop IEP annual goals
• Plus more!

And, unique to this guide, you get sample language for each section of the report plus a list of recommended assessment methods for each area of suspected disability.