The members of the team include parents and teachers, school-based professionals, therapists, physicians, and the community. A childs welfare is of primary concern to a parent and teacher. When confronted with a condition that will affect childs health or ability to learn-whether for a week, a month, a year, or for life—relatives immediately question whether the diagnosis is accurate, and to what extent the condition will inhibit or delay the childs growth. An assessment of childs educational abilities will be made before a school district can place child in a program.
Children may be eligible to participate in programs if they meet established criteria. It is important to be familiar with all of the components of the assessment process because the outcomes dictate actions that the school may take on behalf of the child. In addition, an assessment also determines the types of related services a child may need and be entitled to receive (e.g., occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy). These early intervention services may be critical to childs development.
In this case, teachers and other professionals give suggestions on how to prepare a child for an accurate assessment and ensure that a positive test-taking environment is provided. Teachers describe what takes place when professionals meet with a parent to discuss the results of the assessment and suggest how to use the results of the assessment to access the services the child needs. A questionnaire is included to help parents rate level of satisfaction during each step of the process (Ashman and Elkins 1990).
Parents seldom know much about budget lines and funding sources. However, parents have the right to know if the school district is properly disbursing the funds earmarked for special education students. Parents can feel discouraged, desperate, and angry when things are not going well. A teacher may have tapped all the resources available through normal
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