Westford Elementary School offers special education services to those children who meet the criteria established by the State of Vermont for children, birth to five and students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade.  There are levels of services that can be provided to your child. The following steps should be followed in the order listed in the following paragraphs.

     For students in K through 8:

Stage I:  Parent/Teacher conference:  A parent with concerns about his or her child's development should consult with their child's teacher.

Stage II:  Instructional Support Team: If the problem is not resolved, the concerns may be brought to the Instructional Support Team, which is comprised of the Guidance Counselor, School Nurse, and the team of teachers at that grade level or team.  At this stage, problems are specifically identified and priorities are set for action.  An intervention is designed collaboratively, and may include parent, student and other school personnel as appropriate.  Interventions are implemented and evaluated at six-week intervals.  The process either will end as successful with provision for follow up consultation, or will continue for additional suggestions.  This intervention process is known as a 157 Plan.  (Previously known as an Act 230 Plan).  This is a regular education initiative, written by the team and carried out by the classroom teacher.  At least 2 plans must be written out and tried for 6 weeks each before the next level of service can be accessed.

Stage III:  Child Review Team:  This team is comprised of the child's teacher, principal, school psychologist, special educator, speech and language pathologist and any other individual with knowledge of the area of difficulty the child may be experiencing.  The purpose of the team is to share information and make a decision as to whether further interventions need to be tried OR if a formal evaluation is necessary.

Stage IV:  Formal Referral:  At this stage, the student enters the formal child study process.  Again this process can only be activated after (2) documented interventions have occurred.  (See Stage II).  Evaluations use collected data from intervention plans to assist them in decision making and to guide the selection of assessment strategies.  Assessment techniques are selected on the basis of answering questions (a) What decision is being made? (b) What data must be collected to make the decision?  The assessment is directed at the particular need of the situation and therefore, may be non-test based, curriculum based or involve the use of standardized tests.

Stage V:  Special Education Evaluation:  A special education evaluation is undertaken only when all attempts at intervention have failed and/or there is reason to believe the student will qualify in one of the areas of eligibility for special education services.  Those areas are; a Learning Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Visual Impairment, Deafness or Hard of Hearing, Speech or Language Impairment, Orthopedic Impairment, Chronic or Acute Health Inmpairment, Emotional Behavioral Disability, Autism and Traumatic Brian Injury.  In order to qualify for services in one or more of the handicapping conditions, a student must meet three gates of eligibility.  Those gates are:  1. Does a disability exist?
2. Does the disability adversely affect the students school performance?   and  3.  Is there Need for specialized instruction above and beyond what can be provided by the classroom teacher.  Should your child meet all three gates, he or she would be found eligible for special education services and therefore, an Individualized Education Plan would be written to meet their specific needs.  Should your child have a disability but not meet one of the gates, your child would be eligible to be considered for classroom accommodations under Section 504.

Stage VI:  Section 504:  This law was passed as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (one section of a civil rights law).  This allows students with a disability to have equal access to programs and activities.  Related to school, it often results in identifyling accommodations a student needs in order to fully participate in the regular education program.  As of 1995, this law has been renamed IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

     Children Birth to age 5:  (prior to Kindergarten)

A parent who has concerns about their child's development shoud contact the Early Education Teacher at Westford School.  A screening will be conducted at the child's home, daycare or at school.  The screening would be done by the Early Education Teacher or Speech and Language Pathologist.  If necessary, more in depth assessment may be recommended, suggestions maybe provided to parents or caregivers to help promote the child's development.  Some children may require more direct service by the Early Education Teacher or Speech and Language Pathologist.  Children may qualify for Special Education Services if there is an 18 months delay in any area of development.  A preschool program is offered at Westford School to children between ages 3-5, who show an area of need.