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Has Your Child Been Evaluated as a Special-Needs Student?
If your student has been been evaluated and identified by the school district in
accordance with the Education of the Handicapped Act then you will need to have your
educational objectives approved before starting to homescool, then each year by a special education teacher or licensed
clinical or school psychologist. However, if the child has been evaluated privately,
there is no requirement in the law that the home-school supervisors (parents) obtain
the approval of their educational objectives by the licensed clinical or school
psychologist or certified special education teacher. This is one of the reasons why
HSLDA suggests that parents obtain the evaluation of their child privately.
If your child has been evaluated as a special needs student, you will want to choose curriculum
and areas of study that will address your student's particular need.
One Requirement
You do not need a special education teacher or licensed clinical or school psychologist to do
the evaluation at the end of the year.
However, the law states in 1327(d) that a written approval of the special-needs student's
objectives needs to be submitted with the affidavit.
The affidavit, a requirement for all home-schooled students, is submitted at the
beginning of each school year (August 1), so the written approval by the certified special needs
teacher or licensed clinical or school psychologist would need to be completed each year
in time to accompany the affidavit. According to HSLDA, the psychologist does not necessarily have to be licensed/certified in Pennsylvania. (See Myth Blasters page.)
The law does not specify any additional special requirements other than having your
educational objectives approved, so check out our Home-Schooling for Beginners page to get started!
Approval without a Meeting
It is possible for a family to have their
program approved via email or mail without an actual, physical meeting
if the psychologist or teacher certified for special needs would be willing to do it that
way.
This is possible since the child has been identified by the
school district as needing special education services. The child's needs and services
recomended would be listed in the school district's evaluation and IEP.
Therefore, all
the parent would need to do is to provide the school district's evaluation of the child
and the education objectives for reveiw by the certified special needs teacher or licensed
clinical or school psychologist. The law does not stipulate that the approval of the objectives needs
to include a personal meeting. The certified special needs teacher or licensed clinical or
school psychologist simply would have to mail the
objectives back with a simple statement such as, "I have evaluated John Doe's educational
objectives and have determined that they meet his specific needs," signed and dated.
You may use our form to send to the psychologist/teacher that you have chosen to review the objectives for your child.
Does This Apply to My Student?
The supervisor (parent) would need to obtain the written approval if his/her student has
been evaluated and identified by the school district in accordance with the Education of the
Handicapped Act. If the child has been evaluated privately, there is no requirement in the
law that they obtain the approval of their educational objectives by the licensed clinical
or school psychologist or certified special education teacher. This is one of the reasons
why HSLDA suggests that parents obtain the evaluation of their child privately.
Credits:
A special THANK YOU to Home School Legal Defence Association for clarifying the points of the law concerning
students with special needs. See the Myth Blasters page for the corresponding questions that were answered by a representative of HSLDA.
Helpful Forms:
You may use our Objectives Approval form to send to the psychologist/teacher that you have chosen to review the objectives for your child.
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