Tag: referral

PAVE Provides Sample Letters to Support Families in their Advocacy

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

PAVE offers a collection of downloadable sample letters, available in multiple languages, to help families advocate for their children’s educational needs. These letters support clear and effective communication between families and schools, making it easier to request evaluations, meetings, or behavioral support. Whether you’re just getting started or need help with a specific concern, these tools can guide your next steps.

What is an Advocate?

An advocate is someone who works toward a cause or goal. While professional advocates may be trained to support others, family caregivers often become advocates themselves when they speak up for a child’s needs. Sometimes the hardest part of advocacy is figuring out what to do next. When a child has unmet needs at school, students and family advocates can request evaluations, meetings, or behavioral assessments to help improve services. Putting these requests in writing helps formalize the process and ensures that everyone involved is accountable.

PAVE helps families get started with a collection of sample letters, available for download in multiple languages. We’ve bundled links to those letter templates here for easy reference. Each link takes you to a short article with key information to help you understand the process of special education and how your customized letter can move you forward in that process.

Always Keep Your “Why” in Mind

Why are you taking action? Because you want something to improve for your child! PAVE’s short video, Quick Start Your Advocacy in Two Steps, might help you get ready to craft a letter. The video helps you ask two key questions:

  • What do you want?
  • Who has the power to work with you and make that happen?

As you write your letter, keep those questions and your “why” top of mind.

Request an Evaluation

Sample Letter to Request Evaluation: Schools are required to evaluate students to determine eligibility for a Section 504 Plan or an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). A referral can come from anyone with knowledge of the student and must be in writing. This article provides a sample letter and a link to an alternative form provided by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).

Download the Sample Letter to Request an Evaluation in:
English | Chinese (Simplified) 中文 (Zhōngwén) | Korean 한국어 (Hangugeo) | Russian Русский (Russkiy) | Somali Soomaali | Spanish Español | Tagalog | Ukrainian українська | Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Request an IEP Meeting

Sample Letter to Request an IEP Meeting: Family members can request an IEP team meeting anytime there are concerns about how the IEP is being implemented and whether a student may have unmet needs. This article includes information about who is required to attend an IEP meeting and the rights of parents to participate in educational decision making.

Download the Sample Letter to Request an IEP Meeting in:
English | Chinese (Simplified) 中文 (Zhōngwén) | Korean 한국어 (Hangugeo) | Russian Русский (Russkiy) | Somali Soomaali | Spanish Español | Tagalog | Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Request a Functional Behavioral Assessment

Sample Letter to Request a Functional Behavioral Assessment: If a child’s behavior is getting in the way of their education, the school is responsible to assess the problematic behaviors and develop a support plan to teach the student what to do instead. In addition to a sample letter, this article provides a link to a video to help families and schools work together through this process.

Download the Sample Letter to Request a Functional Behavioral Evaluation in:
English | Chinese (Simplified) 中文 (Zhōngwén) | Korean 한국어 (Hangugeo) | Russian Русский (Russkiy) | Somali Soomaali | Spanish Español | Tagalog | Ukrainian українська | Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

Evaluations Part 2: Next Steps if the School Says ‘No’: If the school evaluates a student and says they aren’t eligible for an IEP or a specific area of service, parents have steps they can take if they disagree. One option is to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) from an outside provider. This article provides a sample letter for requesting an IEE at school district expense. If the family requests an IEE because they disagree with the school’s evaluation or its conclusions, then the district must pay for the IEE or deny the request through Due Process: IEE denials are evaluated by an Administrative Law Judge.

Download the Sample Letter to Request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) in:
English | Chinese (Simplified) 中文 (Zhōngwén) | Korean 한국어 (Hangugeo) | Russian Русский (Russkiy) | Somali Soomaali | Spanish Español | Tagalog | Ukrainian українська | Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Final Thoughts

Families who want individualized assistance can reach out to PAVE by completing the Get Support  form. Check out the PAVE Calendar for upcoming trainings and events.

Sample Letter to Request Evaluation

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

Anyone with knowledge of a student may request a special education evaluation, and Washington State law requires that referrals be made in writing. Schools must respond within specific timelines and provide language access and support throughout the process. Families have the right to participate in all decisions and may dispute outcomes if they disagree. Special education is a service designed to meet individual needs, not a predetermined placement.

A Brief Overview

  • Washington State requires special education referrals to be in writing (WAC 392-172A-03005). Schools must assist individuals who cannot write.
  • Anyone with knowledge of a student can write a referral.
  • The state provides a Referral for Special Education Evaluation form for making a special education referral, available for download in multiple languages from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website. The form is not required—any written request is valid.
  • Another option is to write a referral using the sample letter at the end of this article.
  • Schools are responsible to provide families with a referral form in their native language and to provide qualified interpreters so families can participate in all meetings to discuss their student’s special education eligibility and services.
  • Schools must respond to a referral within 25 school days and provide a Prior Written Notice (PWN) explaining their decision.
  • If the school agrees to evaluate, parent consent is required before the process begins. The evaluation must be completed within 35 school days, and an IEP developed within 30 calendar days if the student qualifies.
  • If a student is found ineligible for an IEP or the school refuses to evaluate, families may dispute the decision using procedural safeguards, request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), or pursue evaluation for a Section 504 Plan.

Introduction

When a student is struggling in school and there is reason to suspect the challenges are disability related, anyone can refer the student for an educational evaluation. If the evaluation shows that the student is eligible, services are provided through an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Washington State requires special education referrals to be in writing, as specified in Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-172A-03005).

What Schools Must Do After a Referral

If someone who knows the student asks for an evaluation, the school is responsible for:

  • Documenting the request
  • Recording the date the referral was made
  • Providing a referral form in the person’s native language
  • Responding to the request within 25 school days

If the person asking for the evaluation cannot write, the school is responsible for supporting them to complete the referral.

The school must provide a referral form in the native language of the person making the request. Schools are required to provide qualified interpreters to support parent participation in the referral process and for all meetings where a student’s eligibility and/or educational services are discussed. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) provides Parent Rights Information Sheets, downloadable in many languages on the Interpretation and Translation Services webpage.

Evaluation Process and Timelines

When a student is referred for a special education evaluation, the school has 25 school days to decide if they will do the evaluation. These are days when students are actually in school. The school must tell the family their decision in writing. This letter is called a Prior Written Notice (PWN), and it follows rules from WAC 392-172A-05010.

Usually, the school and family meet to talk about the referral and how the student is doing. If everyone agrees to move forward, the parents or caregivers sign a form giving permission for the evaluation to begin. Families can ask questions about what the evaluation will include. The school will look at all areas where the student might need help. This helps them understand the student’s strengths and challenges. If the student qualifies for special education, the results will help create a plan called an Individualized Education Program (IEP).

If the school decides not to evaluate and the family disagrees, the family has the right to take steps to solve the disagreement. These steps are explained in the procedural safeguards.

When the school agrees to evaluate the student, staff must promptly seek parent consent to begin the evaluation process (WAC 392-172A-03005).

Generally, parents sign a form that lists what the school will include in its evaluation. Parents can ask for additional areas to be evaluated to make sure the school gets data for all areas of concern. Families can ask for more information about what the evaluation will look like, where it will take place, how long it will take, and who will participate. The school and family can creatively plan the evaluation process if accommodations are needed. For example, if a student isn’t able to attend in-person school, the evaluation can be done in alternative locations.

After a parent signs consent, the school has 35 school days to finish the evaluation and meet with the family to talk about the results. The deadline may be extended if the family agrees, particularly to accommodate needs of the family or student.

The 35-day deadline does not apply if the student is unavailable for the evaluation or enrolls in another school district before the evaluation is finished (WAC 392-172A-03005).

For students found eligible for services, the school develops an IEP within 30 calendar days and requests parent consent for services to begin. The school and family meet to review a DRAFT version of the IEP and write a final version together before consent is signed. School staff provide a Prior Written Notice (PWN) with a summary of the meeting, agreements, and timelines before services start. PWN requirements are described in WAC 392-172A-05010.

How to Refer a Student for Evaluation for Special Education

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the guidance agency for Washington State. OSPI provides a Referral for Special Education Evaluation form, downloadable in multiple languages from a website page titled, Model Forms for Services to Students in Special Education. Families may use OSPI’s form, a form provided by their school, or their own choice of format to write their request for a student to be evaluated.

Further explanation of the referral and evaluation process is provided on the OSPI website page, Making a Referral for Special Education.

A non-discriminatory evaluation is part of the protections for a student with a known or suspected disability that may significantly impact their access to education (Child Find Mandate). Child Find protections are part of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Child Find applies whether there are academic and/or non-academic school impacts.

PAVE provides more detail about IEP eligibility and evaluation process: Evaluations Part 1: Where to Start When a Student Needs Special Help at School.

Sample Letter to Request an Evaluation

Below is a sample letter to write a request for a special education evaluation. You can copy and paste the text of this sample letter into your word processor to build your own letter.

Download the Sample Letter to Request an Evaluation in:
English | Chinese (Simplified) 中文 (Zhōngwén) | Korean 한국어 (Hangugeo) | Russian Русский (Russkiy) | Somali Soomaali | Spanish Español | Tagalog | Ukrainian українська | Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

The state provides an alternative form, downloadable from OSPI’s website page titled, Making a Referral for Special Education. Your school district is responsible to provide a form, in your language, for you to submit your written request. These formats are your choice—any written request is valid. If you cannot write, you can ask for an evaluation by telling the school and they can write the request with you.

Submit your written request through email, by mail, or by hand delivery, to the special education/special services manager at your school’s district office. You may submit additional copies to school administrators and/or a school psychologist—the person who manages evaluations for your school. Be sure to keep copies of all of your communications with the school in an organized, safe place.

Special Education is a Service, Not a Location

A request for a special education evaluation is NOT a recommendation to remove a student from the regular classroom and move them into an exclusive learning environment. Federal and state laws require that students receive education and services in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to the maximum extent possible to meet their needs. Special Education is a service, while LRE refers to placement. You can read more about this in the PAVE article, Special Education is a Service, Not a Place. Decisions about placement are made by the IEP team, which includes the family. The IEP team is responsible to consider the child’s circumstances and capacities as its top priority—not pre-built programs or district resources. The PAVE article, Parent Participation in Special Education Process is a Priority Under Federal Law, provides detail about parent participation in special education process.

Parents Can Appeal Decisions and/or Seek a 504 Plan

If a student is evaluated and found not eligible for an IEP (or if the school refuses to do an evaluation), the family has the right to dispute the decision using Procedural Safeguards.

If they disagree with the district’s evaluation or its findings, the family may seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), which is done by an agency outside of the school district. The district must pay for an IEE or deny the request using Due Process. See PAVE’s article: Evaluations Part 2: Next Steps if the School Says ‘No’ to Your Request. The article includes a sample letter to request an IEE.

Another option if a student doesn’t get an IEP is to develop a Section 504 Plan, which accommodates a person with a disability that impacts a major life activity (learning, walking, speaking, writing, socializing…). Section 504 is part of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities against discrimination throughout their lives. See PAVE’s article about Section 504 rights, which also protect students who qualify for an IEP: Section 504: A Plan for Equity, Access and Accommodations.

Final Thoughts

Requesting a special education evaluation is a straightforward process that begins with a written referral. By following the required steps and understanding your rights, you can help ensure your student receives the support they need. Whether you use a formal form or write your own letter, the request must be clear and submitted in writing. This step initiates the evaluation process and ensures the school is legally obligated to respond.

Learn More

Children Do Well if They Can: A Behavioral Strategy from Ross Greene

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

Child Expert Ross Greene wants adults to rethink the way they support children who struggle with their behavior. He offers two reasons children behave in unexpected ways:

  • Lagging skills
  • Unsolved problems

Greene says about 80 percent of problem behaviors at school are due to academic struggles and the rest are related to social inadequacies. To help children make good choices and participate in their education, he says, adults need to collaborate with children to help them learn the skills they need and solve problems that are getting in the way.

PAVE was among state agencies that collaborated to offer an online training for educators and families that Greene provided near the end of 2022. That training, Children Do Well if They Can, is available on-demand. Greene says adults are misguided when they presume children do well only if they want to.

“There is 0 research telling us that kids respond poorly to problems and frustrations because they’re poorly motivated,” Greene says. “That study doesn’t exist. There’s a mountain of research telling us that they’re lacking skills. What skills? Here are the umbrella skills: flexibility, adaptability, frustration tolerance, problem-solving, emotion regulation.”

Families that agree with Ross Greene’s approach can tell the school they want to follow this model in rethinking a student’s supports at school. The lagging skills and unsolved problems can be addressed through a well-built Individualized Education Program (IEP) with a positive behavior support plan, Greene says.

A key point is that “escalation” is downstream. The unsolved problems and lagging skills are addressed “upstream,” before a troubling behavior shows up. For example, an accommodation to support a student “when frustrated” is downstream. If adults instead figure out what problem is causing frustration, they can collaborate with the child to solve that problem and prevent frustration.

If, for example, a child is not learning to read at the same rate as peers, the child might need to be taught reading in an individualized way to have success in reading and regain confidence. That might solve a long-term problem. If the student instead takes a break every time they get frustrated, they might never get better at reading. The problem is pushed down the road.

Greene provides a questionnaire for families and schools to start with—before they discuss what needs to be in the IEP or behavior plan. His form is called the ALSUP—Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems.

The video, Children Do Well if They Can, is about 2 hours and includes comments by Washington State leaders who are proposing an end to isolation/restraint practices in schools. Greene’s presentation lasts about an hour and begins about 15 minutes into the video.

PAVE provides many resources to support families whose children are missing educational opportunities due to behavior. Type the word “behavior” or “discipline” into the search bar to explore other options. Here are places to begin:

Discipline and Disability Rights: What to do if Your Child is Being Sent Home

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

Learning the skills to maintain expected behavior and follow school rules is part of education. All students learn social, emotional and behavioral skills. Students with disabilities may get extra help in these areas of learning. Some have individualized behavior support plans.

When the pre-teaching and interventions fail to stop a behavior from causing a problem, the school might call a parent to say, “Take them home.” What happens next could depend on how well-informed parents are about the rights of students with disabilities.

This video provides key information about what to do if your child is being sent home. The first thing to ask is, “Are they being suspended?” If the answer is yes, the school is required to file specific paperwork. If the answer is no, a parent has choices and may support better long-term outcomes by carefully documenting what happens next.

Below are links to resources referenced in the video:

Transcript of Discipline and Disability Rights: What to do if Your Child is Being Sent Home

Learning the skills to maintain expected behavior and follow school rules is part of education. All students learn social, emotional and behavioral skills. Students with special needs may get extra help in these areas of learning. Some have individualized behavior support plans.

When the pre-teaching and interventions fail to stop behavior from causing a problem, the school might call a parent to say, “Take them home.” What happens next could depend on how well-informed parents are about the rights of students with disabilities. This video provides key information to help.

First let’s talk about what exclusionary discipline means. If school staff remove a student from the place they are supposed to be during school, because of their behavior, then it’s exclusionary discipline. Out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and in-school suspensions count. An in-school suspension might mean getting sent to the office, for example.

Informal removals like when the school calls parents to take a child home because of their behavior is exclusionary discipline if parents feel they have no choice. A regularly shortened school day also may be a form of exclusionary discipline if the school offers this as the only option.

These final two points might seem like a surprise. Let’s clarify a few things. It’s important to know who is making the decisions. If the family chooses to take a child home early because they aren’t feeling well physically or mentally, then it’s not exclusionary discipline.

If an IEP or Section 504 team decides it’s in the student s best interests to attend school for fewer hours, then it’s not disciplinary. If a teacher takes a student into the hallway for a short chat before returning to class, then it likely doesn’t count as a disciplinary action.

Disciplinary removal from school is a decision made unilaterally by the school. If the family

believes they have no option but to take their child home or if the school imposes a shorter

day without having a meeting to talk it through, then it counts as exclusionary discipline.

The school would essentially be changing a student s placement without the consent of

the school-and-family team in charge of those decisions.

We need to know a few things about student rights to fully unpack this topic, so here’s a quick take  on student rights. They are shown here as a pyramid. All students have rights at the bottom. Students with special educational services are at the top and have all these rights.

Special education rights are protected by a federal law called the IDEA the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA protects the rights of students with Individualized Education Programs IEPs. IDEA has specific rules about what has to happen when a student with an IEP is excluded from school for behavior.

A student s Civil Rights are protected by federal laws also. The United States Office for Civil Rights OCR upholds these laws and provides specific guidance about what schools have to do when they discipline students with disabilities. Civil Rights laws protect students with IEPs, students with Section 504 Plans, and students with known or suspected disabilities who need to be evaluated to see if they are eligible for services. Sometimes discipline is the reason a student is evaluated to determine eligibility for services.

General Education Rights are protected by ESSA, which stands for Every Student Succeeds Act. Every child in the United States has the right to attend school, regardless of life circumstances that might include disability, poverty, racism, unstable housing, citizenship status, or something else. The public school responsible for serving a student cannot send them away without following specific state and federal rules.

To uphold the rights of students, schools are responsible to teach expected behavior in culturally appropriate ways and to help students stay in school and learning. The US Department of Education provides information about student rights. In July 2022, the Departments Office for Civil Rights published a 41-page document describing the rules schools must follow when they discipline students with disabilities. That document is called Supporting  Students with Disabilities and Avoiding the Discriminatory Use of Student Discipline under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The document includes information that students with disabilities and students who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color are disciplined at higher rates. BIPOC students with disabilities are the most impacted by discriminatory policies and practices. As part of their responsibility to support inclusion, schools may not exclude students in ways that discriminate. Knowing that schools are responsible to teach and cannot send students away without going through a formal, well-documented process, what’s a parent to do if the school calls and says to take the student home?

The rest of this presentation provides some guidance, summarized on this slide. The first step is to ask whether the student is being suspended. Requesting paperwork and tracking missed time is critical to hold the school accountable. An important number in this process is 10 that s how many days a student with a disability can miss due to discipline before the school is responsible to host a specific meeting called manifestation determination.

More about that in a moment. Communication is critical to improving outcomes when a student’s behavior is interfering with school. Families can ask for regular information about a student s behavior, and schools can send data tracking sheets home to make sure everyone knows how things are going. Let’s unpack these five points.

For a student to be sent home, the behavior must be severely disruptive or dangerous. If that’s what’s happening, then your child is being suspended or emergency expelled. Schools must report suspensions and expulsions to the family and to the state. If the school calls and asks you to take your student home, Step 1 is to ask: Are they being suspended?

If a student is being formally excluded from school because of their behavior, state law requires written notice to parents that includes: A description of what they did wrong including what school rule was broken Dates that the suspension starts and ends What the school tried first that didn’t work and why they chose to send the child home How the student will be provided education while away from school Information that the student and parents have the right to meet with a school administrator to talk about what happened And information about the family s right to appeal the action.

Note that all this information must be provided in a language and format that is accessible to the family. If the school says the student isn’t being formally suspended, then parents have choices. They can take the student home and call it a mental health day. Washington law requires schools to accept behavioral health reasons for students to be absent. On this slide are

a few questions families may want to consider asking:

  • Parents can ask for a meeting to talk about services. If the student doesn’t have a Section
  • 504 Plan or an IEP, it might be time to request an evaluation to see about eligibility for services. If the student doesn’t have a positive behavior support plan, a meeting could be arranged to talk about that option.
  • Parents might say they want the student to stay at school and ask for information about how and where education will be provided if the student stays. Parents can request paperwork about what happened and what the school tried before calling home.
  • Be sure to ask how the school will record the absence if the student leaves school.
  • Will it be excused, unexcused, or recorded as exclusionary discipline?

One reason it’s important to document every time a student is sent away for behavior is a specific special education process called Manifestation Determination. Manifestation Determination is a formal name for a meeting where the school and family talk about what happened and decide whether the behavior was directly related to the student s disability.

If yes, the team determines that the behavior was a manifestation of disability. In that case, it’s especially important to consider what additional supports are needed to scaffold the student’s behavior doesn’t keep interrupting school and learning. Manifestation Determination is required when a student with disabilities misses 10 or more days of school because of behavior. Those days might include partial days, informal suspensions, and in-school suspension.

A Manifestation Determination meeting includes discussion about whether an IEP, Section 504 Plan, or behavior support plan is being followed appropriately and whether it’s got everything the student needs to successfully learn expected behaviors. If no, the team is responsible to make changes. That might mean gathering more information through an evaluation or bringing together more expertise from the district or outside providers. The team may discuss changing the student s placement.

Washington s state educational agency, OSPI, provides detailed information about manifestation determination and other disciplinary rules for students with disabilities. One place to get that information is a Technical Assistance Paper called TAP #2, available through OSPI s website, which is k12.wa.gov. PAVE provides a link on the page where you clicked to watch this video.

Here is a general tip for parents to prepare for ups and downs. If parents tell the school they want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly, they are setting up a communication pathway for whatever happens. Hopefully, collaborative problem-solving will result. For example, knowing what’s going well will help everyone support the student to build on strengths. Knowing what’s not going well might prevent problems from getting worse. Saying you want to know the ugly might help the school understand that you want to work together and don’t want them to gloss over a behavioral incident by sending your student home without an official suspension, for example. When every trouble is treated as a chance to learn and improve, progress can accelerate.

Here s a PAVE resource that might provide additional information you’re looking for. On our home page, under the calendar, is a Behavioral Health Toolkit, with information about crisis systems, school-based services, medical systems, family support agencies, advocacy opportunities, and more. Within the behavioral health toolkit is a video about best practices for supporting behavior at school. A Functional Behavioral Assessment is called an FBA. That assessment can gather information for schools and families to develop a positive behavior support plan.

The name for that plan is BIP Behavior Intervention Plan. PAVE s video can help families and schools work to make sure the FBA and BIP are unbiased and built to teach a student what they can choose instead of behaviors that are leading to problems. PAVE provides a sample letter requesting an FBA. Look for it within our toolkit of sample letters.

This training is provided by Parent Training and Information (PTI), a program of PAVE. Our non-profit has been helping families in Washington State since 1979. Students, family members, and professionals can get direct assistance by going to our website, wapave.org, and clicking Get Help. We provide language translation options. Your can also leave a message by phone to request help: 800-572-7368. If you need help with the accessibility of any of our resources, please let us know. This slide is a reminder that PAVE is not a legal service agency and cannot provide advocacy, advice or legal representation. Our goal is to empower families by providing information and access to resources.

Thank you for listening and learning today and for being an advocate for someone with unique needs! Remember that it’s not your job to hold up the entire world and that you need time to care for yourself and recharge your batteries. Please practice self-care and make sure your own social-emotional needs are a priority. PAVE is here to help at wapave.org.

OSPI Provides Guidance for Families

Posted on by Nicol Walsh

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is the agency responsible for oversight of all public schools and non-public agencies in Washington State. In addition to supporting schools, OSPI provides resources and support directed toward students and families.

OSPI upgraded its website (k12.wa.us) in July 2019. The home page provides news about current events, a calendar, and an option for Parents and Families to seek resources specific to their needs and concerns.

The Parents and Families section of the website is divided into three categories:

  • Learning, Teaching, & Testing: Information about graduation requirements, learning standards, testing and more
  • Data & Reports: Access to data specific to a school or district, financial reports and guidance about the Washington School Improvement Framework
  • Student & Family Supports: Special Education guidance and information about student Civil Rights, how to file a complaint, health and safety, English Language Proficiency (ELP) and more

Under Guidance for Families: Special Education in Washington State, the website provides this statement:

“The OSPI Office of Special Education aspires to ensure students with disabilities receive Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). About 14 percent of students overall receive special education services in the state of Washington.”

Linkages through the Special Education section of the website provide information on a range of topics. Here are a few examples:

  • How Special Education Works
  • Laws and Procedures
  • Parent and Student Rights (Procedural Safeguards)
  • Making a Referral for Special Education
  • Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
  • Placement Decisions and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
  • Transition (Ages 16-21)
  • Behavior and Discipline
  • Disagreements and Disputes related to Special Education
  • Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC)

Each section includes state guidance under the rule of federal law (the IDEA) and provides linkages to other resources within and beyond OSPI.

A Need Assistance? link on the Special Education page provides contact information for the Special Education Parent Liaison, available as a resource to parents in non-legal special education matters. According the OSPI’s website, the liaison “serves as a neutral and independent advocate for a fair process.”

“The Special Education Parent Liaison does not advocate on behalf of any one party. Rather, the Parent Liaison exists to address individual concerns about bureaucratic systems and act a guide for anyone attempting to understand and navigate various special education or school district processes and procedures.”

To contact Scott Raub, the Special Education Parent Liaison, call 360-725-6075 or submit a message through OSPI’s Contact Us web page.