Student Services

KIPP Columbus has been selected by the Ohio Department of Education, Office for Exceptional Children (OEC), for a review of its special education program. OEC will conduct this review during the week of January 22, 2024. Watch the Video to learn more.

SPECIAL EDUCATION AND RELATED SERVICES

The KIPP Columbus Student Services Department is committed to the provision of a free and appropriate, public education for children with disabilities identified in accordance with applicable State and Federal laws, rules and regulations. KIPP Columbus provides a continuum of services for students with disabilities in grades kindergarten through twelfth. Federal law requires that students be placed in the least restrictive environment (LRE) that meets their needs and that school districts provide a continuum, or range, of placement options. This ensures appropriate exposure to the curriculum as well as maximum interaction with non-disabled peers. The KIPP Student Services team is dedicated to providing students with disabilities the services needed for them to achieve academic excellence, acquire independent life skills, and be prepared for post-secondary transition to adult life.

All special education services are provided in accordance with the Ohio Operating Standards for the Education of Children with Disabilities as outlined by the Ohio Department of Education.

Evaluation Team Report

Eligibility for Special Education services is determined by the IEP team through an Evaluation Team Report. A student can be determined eligible for one of the following eligibility categories defined by State and Federal law:

• Specific Learning Disability (SLD/ET10)
• Other Health Impairment-minor (OHI-m/ET15)
• Other Health Impairment-major (OHI-M/ET14)
• Autism (AU/ET12)
• Emotional Disturbance (ED/ET08)
• Intellectual Disability (ID/ET09)
• Speech Language Impairment (SLI/ET05)
• Visual Impairment (VI/ET04)
• Deaf/Hearing Impairment (HI/ET03)
• Orthopedic Impairment (OI/ET06)
• Multiple Disabilities (MD/ET01)
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI/ET13)
• Deaf/Blindness (DB/ET02)
• Developmental Delay (DD/ET16)

The Evaluation Roadmap provided by ODE contains more detailed information.

Individual Education Program

Special Education services are identified through the (IEP) process, which is designed to meet the individual needs of each child and to ensure progress toward the general education curriculum. Parents, teachers, and related services staff work together to develop a plan which identifies goals, objectives, accommodations, modifications, and services to meet the needs of the child. IEPs are progress monitored at least quarterly, and reviewed annually.

Special Education services are provided to students with disabilities by Intervention Specialists, therapists, and paraprofessionals. Services are provided to students through a continuum of least restrictive environment settings, including, but not limited to:

• General education classroom with accommodations/modifications
• Inclusive classroom
• Small group instruction
• Resource room instruction
• Self-contained classroom instruction
• Partial hospitalization/day treatment program
• Hospital setting
• Homebound/hospitalized instruction
• Home instruction

Related Service Providers include:

• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Language Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Adaptive Physical Education
• School Psychologist
• Social Workers
• Behavior Specialist
• Paraprofessionals

Ohio Department of Education GUIDE TO PARENTS RIGHTS in Special Education

Ohio Department of Education translated versions of a Guide to Parents Rights in SPED

FAMILY WEBINARS
State Support Team 11
Ohio Office for Exceptional Children
Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities
Disability Rights Ohio
US Department of Education Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Special Education Consent Order: “Notice to Ohio students with disabilities and their parents and guardians a partial settlement class action lawsuit John Doe, et al., State of Ohio, et al., Case No. 2:91-cv-464” (US District Court for the Southern district of Ohio, Eastern Division) click here for document.

PARENT CONSENT TO SHARE HEALTH INFORMATION FOR OHIO’S MEDICAID SCHOOL PROGRAM FACT SHEET

Ohio School Districts can receive Federal Medicaid dollars through a program called the Medicaid School Program (MSP) for eligible services provided to students with disabilities. Eligible Medicaid services covered in school districts include: Occupational and Physical therapy services, Speech-Language Pathology services, Audiology services, Nursing services, School Psychology services, and Counselor and Social Work services. Your child’s Medicaid benefits and limits are NOT reduced or affected in any way by the Ohio School Medicaid Program (per Ohio Administrative Code 5101:3-34-01.2). Your consent is voluntary. You have the right under Federal Medicaid Regulations (34 CFR Part 99 and Part 300) to withdraw your consent at any time. You are not ever required to enroll in Medicaid for your child to receive special education services in this or any other Ohio Public School District. No matter whether you grant, refuse or revoke consent, your child will be provided with an evaluation and/or the services identified in their IEP, at NO COST to your family. In the process of billing Medicaid for school based services, a limited amount of information must be shared with the Ohio Department of Medicaid.

To do so, we must obtain a one-time/life signed Parent Consent to share the following NON-MEDICAL information:

• Your child’s name
• Date of birth
• Service code (numerical code that identifies the service(s) provided)
• Service time spent with your child (number of minutes)

CHILD FIND- AN EDUCATION FOR ALL

As required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), the KIPP Columbus Student Services Office conducts an ongoing Child Find campaign to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities – from K to age 21 enrolled at KIPP Columbus. The campaign also seeks to include those who may be homeless.

If you suspect your child may have a disability, KIPP Columbus personnel will collaborate with you – or the child’s parent(s) or guardian, regarding assistance. The referral and all additional information provided is solely used to determine the appropriate intervention procedures to follow. Interventions addressing areas of concern will be implemented and monitored by the parents and the school team. Supplemental evaluations are also conducted when additional information is necessary to determine eligibility for special education services.

If you know of a child with a disability, or have a child suspected of having a disability, who is not currently receiving appropriate educational or related services, please contact the KIPP Student Services Office.

The referral and any additional information provided is used solely to determine the appropriate intervention level as well as closely monitored by the parents and the school team. Supplemental evaluations may also be conducted if additional information is necessary to determine further eligibility for special-education services.

GIFTED EDUCATION SERVICES

Ohio defines a student who is gifted as one who “performs or shows potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of

their age, experience, or environment” (Ohio Revised Code 3324.01). Public school districts must provide opportunities for the evaluation of students in grades K-12 for gifted identification. Ohio law defines the criteria school districts must use for gifted identification. Below is an overview of the criteria students must meet for each area of identification recognized by Ohio law.

• Superior Cognitive Ability
  Districts identify students as gifted in Superior Cognitive Ability if, within the previous 24 months, a student accomplishes any of the following:
  • Scores two standard deviations above the mean, minus the standard error of measurement, on an approved standardized individual or group intelligence test;
  • Performs at or above the 95th percentile on an approved basic or composite battery of a nationally normed achievement test; or
  • Attains an approved score on one or more above grade-level standardized, nationally normed approved tests.
• Specific Academic AbilityDistricts identify students as gifted in specific academic ability if, within the previous 24 months, a student performs at or above the 95th percentile at the national level in a specific academic ability field on an approved individual or group standardized achievement test.
• Creative Thinking Ability
  Districts shall identify students as gifted in Creative Thinking Ability if, within the previous 24 months, a student does both of the following:
  • Scores one standard deviation above the mean, minus the standard error of measurement, on an approved standardized individual or group intelligence test; and
  • Exhibits sufficient performance on either of the following: An approved individual or group test of creative ability; or a checklist of creative behaviors.
• Visual or Performing Arts Ability
  Districts identify students as gifted in Visual or Performing Arts Ability when a student does both of the following:
  • Demonstrates superior ability in a visual or performing arts area through a display of work, an audition, or other performance or exhibition; and
  • Exhibits sufficient performance on an approved checklist of behaviors related to a specific arts area.

Approved Assessments

State law requires the Ohio Department of Education to maintain lists of assessments approved for various purposes, including gifted identification and prescreening. When identifying students who are gifted, school districts must use approved assessments and, likewise, recognize qualifying scores from assessments approved for gifted identification.

Referrals and Whole-Grade Screenings

Screening for gifted identification occurs when districts evaluate students using an instrument approved for gifted identification. Typically, these screenings are the result of a referral for evaluation or whole-grade screening opportunity. Districts must provide at least two opportunities per year for the evaluation of students referred for gifted identification. Parents, guardians, teachers or peers may refer district students in grades K-12 for gifted identification. Students also may refer themselves. After an initial referral for gifted identification, school districts must evaluate the student within 90 days.

A whole-grade screening occurs when a district tests all students in a particular grade level for gifted identification. The Operating Standards for Identifying and Serving Students Who are Gifted (Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-15) requires districts to provide whole-grade screenings in the areas of superior cognitive ability, specific academic ability reading/writing, specific academic ability mathematics, and creative thinking ability once during the K-2 grade band and once again during the 3-6 grade band. Districts must use assessments approved for gifted identification to meet this requirement.

Equitable Testing Procedures

Districts must ensure the fair and equitable testing of students for gifted identification. This includes selecting appropriate instruments and allowing for identification of all students, including those from populations traditionally underrepresented in gifted education. Districts must use allowable accommodations required by students’ individualized education programs (IEPs) and 504 plans. Some assessments approved for gifted identification have batteries, indexes or composite scores that also are approved for gifted identification. Districts should consider carefully which assessments they administer to students, as there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach. It is possible that

certain types of assessments might be more appropriate for some students and not for others. This is especially critical when evaluating students from diverse populations, such as English learners and students with disabilities, among others.
Use this link to review the approved list of assessments in Ohio.

Transfer Students

Students new to the district may be evaluated within 90 days of enrollment upon parent request.

Identification from Other Districts

Gifted identification in another Ohio public school district will be recognized by KIPP Columbus. Families should provide evidence of the identification by way of letter from the previous district or other documentation. Students identified as gifted by a district outside of Ohio may be identified in Ohio if the tests used are less than 24 months old and are on the Ohio Department of Education’s approved list of instruments. If the testing does not meet that criteria, the student may be referred for testing within 90 days of enrollment at parent request.

ENGLISH LEARNERS PROGRAMMING

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, Ohio must identify English learners, annually assess their English language proficiency, provide reasonable accommodations for them on state assessments, and implement accountability systems that include long-term goals and measures of progress.

English learner programs support current and former English learners to develop proficiency in language and literacy and to meet learning standards throughout the content areas.

Step 1: Language Usage Survey

Schools must identify students who are English learners within 30 days of the student’s enrollment. Ohio defines enrollment as the date on which the school has both received documentation of enrollment and the student has commenced participation in learning opportunities. As part of welcoming all new students and their families, Ohio’s Language Usage Survey must be completed for each student to support communication with the family and in the identification and instruction of potential English learners.

To assist in communicating the purpose of completing the Language Usage Survey to parents, staff may use the following two-minute video explanations available in 14 languages. These explanations are available on Parents2Partners to supplement interpreters who provide families accessible communication with school staff.

Step 2: Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener

The OELPS is the standardized assessment tool the Ohio Department of Education uses to classify students as English learners. When students are identified as potential English learners, they take the Ohio English Language Proficiency Screener (OELPS) to screen their development of English as a second or new language in the domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Based on the results of the OELPS, students may be identified as an English learner.

Step 3: Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment

The Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (OELPA) is the state summative test used to determine an English learner’s progress to English proficiency and readiness to exit from the English language development program. The OELPA is aligned to Ohio’s K-12 English Language Proficiency Standards and meets the federal requirement of an annual assessment of English proficiency measuring listening, speaking, reading and writing. All English learners in grades K-12 must be included in Ohio’s English language proficiency assessment program annually by taking either the general OELPA or the Alt-OELPA.

Step 4: Monitoring English Learners

LEAs must monitor the progress of all ELs in achieving English language proficiency (ELP) and in acquiring content knowledge. • LEAs should establish rigorous monitoring systems that include benchmarks for expected growth and take appropriate steps to assist students who are not adequately progressing towards those goals. LEAs must document that an EL has demonstrated English proficiency using a valid and reliable ELP assessment that tests all four language domains. • Students exiting from EL status must be monitored for at least two years, to ensure that (1) they have not been prematurely exited; (2) any academic deficits incurred as a result of participating in the EL program have been remedied; and (3) they are meaningfully participating in the standard program of instruction comparable to their never-EL peers. • In addition, the ESEA now requires LEAs to report on the number and percentage of former ELs meeting state academic standards for four years.

Step 5: Assessment Accommodations for English Learners

State test accommodations may be appropriate for English learners. Ohio’s Accessibility Manual describes the available accommodations in detail. These accommodations are not determined by the amount of time an individual is enrolled in U.S. schools or the number of years a student has been identified as an English learner.   Revised Assessment Accommodations for English Learners include extended time and the use of a word-to-word translation dictionary. In addition, oral translation of Ohio’s State Tests is allowable.