Special Education Referral Process : What's it All About?

The Special Education Referral Process represents a critical interaction in a child’s life. From this point forward, the referred child may find the doors to understanding and opportunity opening to him or her. As an educator, I was curious to learn more about this process, so I interviewed several friends and colleagues about their experiences with the referral process.

I interviewed an assortment of teachers and special education professionals. Although I started with a set series of questions for each group (as listed below) the discussions sometimes took on an enthusiastic turn, and I ended up learning much more from their candid responses than I had imagined to ask. Following are their full responses when written, and the segments for the videotaped interview are identified. The link to the video will be provided here in as well.

The interviews were conducted by a variety of methods. Three were conducted via email, one was done via a Google Survey, and one was a videotaped interview. I am reporting on two special education professionals and two teachers.

SPECIAL EDUCATION  PROFESSIONALS

I am reporting on two of the individuals. Martha is a School Psychologist at a high tech high school in New Jersey. Charlotte is the Lower School Elementary student counselor at an international school in Cote d’Ivoire.  The following are the questions that were asked in the interview.

• How is a student identified for special education referral?
• Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before and after the referral?
• What is the school administration's directive for special education?
• What provisions are made for students identified for special education?
• What is the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education?

TEACHERS WHO HAVE REFERRED STUDENTS

I am reporting on two of the individuals who responded. Meg is an Upper School High School Language Arts teacher and Janay is the Lower School Fourth Grade Elementary School Teacher. They both are currently working at the international Community School in Cote d’Ivoire, but have also had extensive experience working in the United States and other countries.

The following are the questions that were asked in the interview - 3 prescribed and one additional question that arose from the discussion at the time. .

• How do you identify a student for special education?
• What are the signs of a struggling student?
•      
  Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?
• In your opinion, how would you compare US and international special ed programs?

There are common features to any Special Education Referral Process. It begins when there are indications that students are having difficulty with school work, often in terms of writing or comprehension, but also behavioral concerns. The referral can begin with a teacher or a parent, but it seems more often to begin with the teachers. Once the referral is made, a number of things begin to happen. There are efforts at relatively small scale efforts to differentiate, interventions from seat changes and such, to more involved interventions with specialists of all kinds - reading and math specialists, counselors, school psychologists. The entire school and parental community come together to share their experiences and expertise in order to try to identify where the cracks are that are preventing the child from succeeding. As time passes, the child’s progress and the teachers’ involvement are evaluated and re-evaluated until, in the best of scenarios, there is no longer a need for this support.

However, there is much more to this process than at first meets the eye. In the extended interview,many interesting observations were made, regarding the part that socioeconomic status has to play. In lower income areas, where the environmental stresses a child may be dealing with are high, the observed behaviors may be more a reflection of the child’s environment than actual ability. But in higher socioeconomic areas,children may actually have true disabilities, but they are more quickly masked or addressed outside the school system, through drugs such as Ritalin or other interventions from which they may benefit because their parents can afford to get them outside help. When it comes down to these issues of environment and socioeconomic status, it becomes quite complicated - because no matter how much money is thrown at a problem, it can’t fix the factors outside of school which have the greatest impact on their potential for success.