Special Education
Tiverton Public Schools is required under the State of Rhode Island Board of Education for Elementary and Secondary Education Regulations Governing the Education of Children with Disabilities and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with disabilities.
Tiverton Public Schools utilizes a Response to Intervention (RtI)/Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) model as a way to support student growth along the entire continuum of a student’s educational experiences. This includes general and special education supports.
The Tiverton Public Schools identifies and evaluates children from age 3 through 21 who may be eligible for special education services. Referral sources include parents, teachers, RtI/MTSS teams and any person in a caregiving or professional position. A special education evaluation may only take place with parental consent. Special education eligibility testing focuses on assessments and evaluations in the area(s) of suspected disabilities. These are:
Autism Spectrum Disorder | Deafness | Deaf- Blindness | Emotional Disturbance | Hearing Impaired | Intellectual Disability | Multiple Disabilities |
Orthopedically Impaired | Other Health Impaired | Specific Learning Disability | Speech - Language Impaired | Traumatic Brain Injury | Visually Impaired |
REFERRAL ⇨ | EVALUATION ⇨ | ELIGIBILITY⇨ | IEP⇨ | SPECIALIZED ⇨ INSTRUCTION & PROGRESS MONITORING | ANNUAL REVIEW ⇨ | 3-YEAR RE- EVALUATION |
Referral
A referral may come from a parent, teacher, physician, or building administrator. If you suspect that your child has a disability you should contact your child’s classroom teacher, school counselor or building administrator to discuss further.
Eligibility
Upon reviewing the results of evaluations, the Evaluation Team will determine if your child is eligible as a student with a disability who requires specialized instruction and/or related services from a special educator and/or related service provider under one of the eligibility categories.
Annual Review
Your child's IEP will be reviewed by the IEP team, at least annually, to determine progress in meeting established goals and to determine new goals as appropriate along with continued eligibility.
Re-Evaluation
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires schools to reevaluate kids with IEPs at least once every three years. The purpose of the triennial reevaluation is to see if a student’s needs have changed. It’s also to see if they still qualify for special education services. Families or schools can request a re-evaluation if new information is needed before the triennial reevaluation.
Evaluation
If your child is referred to the Evaluation Team (ET) for evaluation, the team will review all pertinent data to determine if further evaluation is needed to assist with determining if your child has a disability. If your child is determined to require further evaluations, evaluations will be completed within 60 calendar days of receiving your authorization to conduct evaluations.
IEP - Individualized Education Program
If your child is eligible for special education services an Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be developed by the IEP team. The IEP team consists of the parents/guardians, a Local Education Agency (LEA) Representative, a special education teacher, a general education teacher, and other related services staff as needed. During the IEP, annual goals are developed to help the student progress in the general education curriculum. Parents must give approval prior to placement, in order to begin receiving special education and/or related services.
