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Special Services
Cooperative of Wamego
Frequently Asked Questions
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General Questions - Coming Soon
Questions about the Screening Process
Common Questions about Hearing Screening
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Common
Questions about Hearing Screening (Click on
questions for answers.)
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Does failing the
hearing screening mean that my student can’t hear?
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What do the hearing
screening results mean if my student has seen an audiologist?
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What does it mean if
my student is referred for further testing?
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If the results say
that the needs to be rescreened or monitored, does anything else
need to be done?
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How often are the
hearing screenings done?
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How does the hearing
screening technician know who to screen?
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What is done with
information received from parents?
Does failing the
hearing screening mean that my student can’t hear?
No, it doesn’t mean that the student can’t hear. It
simply means that either another screening is needed, or that the
child needs to be monitored to make sure that the child’s hearing is
adequate for learning. A child’s hearing may fluctuate up and down
during the year, possibly due to colds, ear infections, etc.
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What do the hearing screening
results mean if the student has seen an audiologist?
If the student is
being seen routinely by an audiologist, then the information
from the hearing screening should be shared with the
audiologist, but the child may not need another hearing
evaluation unless recommended by the audiologist. The hearing
screening information is much more basic than an evaluation done
by the audiologist. Much less information is obtained and is
only used to refer to the audiologist. The audiology report
contains more detailed information than the hearing screening.
If the parents have a report from the audiologist, it would be
helpful to share that information with the school so that it can
be considered when making decisions about hearing in the
classroom. |
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What does it mean if my
student is referred for further testing?
If the student has
been referred, the parents should discuss with the family doctor
whether or not the doctor feels that the student needs to go to
an audiologist. If the doctor agrees that going to the
audiologist is needed, then the parents need to make the
appointment and take the child. If possible the results from
that hearing test should be shared with the school to be put in
the child’s cumulative file. It would also be a good idea to
let the teacher know this information. |
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If the results say that
my student needs to be rescreened or monitored, does anything else need
to be done?
The school will be
rescreening and monitoring the children. The rescreens will be
done by the hearing screening technician. The building level
team will need to monitor the child. The team should discuss
the level of loss and whether the loss is consistent from year
to year. The team should also discuss any concerns noted during
interactions with the student and whether there are any
implications regarding the student’s education. If the parents
have any concerns regarding any difficulties they may have
noticed with hearing at home, that information should be shared
with your family physician and the child’s teacher. Also, if
the child has been to an audiologist in the last year, it would
be helpful to have the parents send the results to the school.
The building team should then consider the audiologist
information when discussing the student’s hearing.
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How often are the hearing
screenings done?
The screenings are
done every year for children in Preschool through 2nd grade.
Then the screenings are done every three years. This means that
the students are screened in 5th, 8th and 11th grades. New
students need to be done the year they enter a school. A
student can also have their hearing screened if the team/teacher
has a concern. |
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How does the hearing
screening technician know who to screen?
The children who are
screened will be done based on a list given to the technician.
It is preferred that a list be provided on the day of the
screening, as that way it will be the most up to date. The list
will need to include the students in the appropriate grades,
special education students, new students and a list of any
students that teams have concerns about. |
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Information
provided from parents regarding follow ups to the hearing
screening should be included in their cumulative file and also
be shared with the nurse and building team. |
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Questions about the Screening Process
(Click on questions for answers.)
Screening is an important activity that is
carried out in various ways across the state of Kansas. The
Local Education Agency (LEA) is responsible for implementing
screening activities to identify children (birth through 21) who
may need special education. Screening involves the initial
collection of information about a child to help determine if
further testing is needed, and if so, in what developmental
areas. Since screening information alone cannot be used to
determine eligibility or placement in special education, the LEA
has some wiggle room in how it conducts screening activities and
who it allows to conduct them. The standard for screening is not
set as high as it is for formal evaluation activities. Given the
differences in how LEA’s collect screening information, the KITS
project often receives pleas for clarification. What follows is
an attempt to answer some of those questions.
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Should
the LEA use a certain screening tool or method?
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Who is
allowed to conduct early childhood screenings? Are certain
credentials required?
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Should
the LEA screen a child who is transitioning from the Infant
Toddler Program (Part C) into the Preschool Program (Part B)?
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Why is the
government so lax concerning what and who can collect screening
information?
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Should the
LEA accept anything as screening information?
—written by Misty D. Goosen,
Ed.S., KITS Project Coordinator
Taken from the Kansas Inservice Training System Newsletter, Fall 2004,
with author’s permission. |
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No. State regulations do not identify specific
tools or methods to be used in screening activities. However,
state regulations specify that screening procedures used must
meet certain requirements:
K.A.R. 91-40-7. Child find. (b) Each board’s policies and
procedures under this regulation shall include age-appropriate
screening procedures that meet the following requirements:
(1) For children younger than five years of age,
observations, instruments, measures, and techniques that
disclose any potential disabilities or developmental delays that
indicate a need for evaluation, including hearing and vision
screening;
(2) for children from ages five through 21,
observations, instruments, measures, and techniques that
disclose any potential exceptionality and indicate a need for
evaluation, including hearing and vision screening as required
by state law; and
(3) implementation of procedures ensuring the early
identification and assessment of disabilities in children.
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Kansas and Federal regulations do not require
specific credentials for individuals who are involved in the
screening process. There is no mention regarding specified
credentials for screening in either the state or federal
regulations. However, this issue is briefly addressed in the
evaluation section under, “who is allowed to test”:
K.A.R. 91-40-9. Evaluation procedures. (a) If tests or other
assessment instruments are used as a part of the evaluation or
reevaluation of an exceptional child, the agency shall ensure
that the following requirements are met:
(4) Any standardized tests that are given to a
child shall meet the following criteria:
(A) Have been validated for the specific purpose
for which they are used; and
(B) be administered by trained and knowledgeable
personnel in accordance with any instructions provided by the
producer of the tests.
In other words, any
time a formal standardized test, including a standardized
screening instrument is used, it must be administered by someone
who is trained and knowledgeable of that instrument in
accordance with the procedures of the tests. Some standardized
screening tests require minimum training, others require more.
In general, screening instruments do not need the same level of
extensive training as formal diagnostic tests (some of these
measures require specific degrees, such as a school psychology
degree). Training for screening instruments can often be done
“in-house” by other staff experienced with these instruments.
The following example illustrates how someone may
or may not be qualified in administering a standardized
screening instrument:
If a person has not been trained in administering
the DIAL-3, that person would not be qualified to give that
screening instrument. If a person is trained by LEA staff, or
other qualified personnel in accordance with the producer of the
DIAL-3, they would be qualified to administer the test.
Regardless of professional status, a person would be qualified
to administer screening tools as long as they have been
appropriately trained in that tool or method.
It is important to remember, standardized
instruments are not the only means of collecting screening
information. The LEA can use information from the family doctor,
local health department, or others who routinely collect
information that suggests the child might be at risk for having
a disability. Such information can be used in lieu of formalized
screening information collected by the LEA.
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No. A
child who has been receiving services from Infant Toddler
Services (Part C) is already known to be a child who is at risk
for having a disability. Children transitioning into the
Preschool Program (Part B) must undergo an initial evaluation
to determine if the child is eligible and in need of special
education and related services. Local programs (both Part C and
Part B) may determine how much Part C information will be used
for this initial evaluation.
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The
purpose of screening is to determine if more testing is
necessary. It is not used to make a formal life changing
decision. By allowing the LEA to collect and use screening
information from a variety of sources, children can get through
the evaluation process much more quickly and receive special
education in a timely manner. Allowing appropriately trained
non-professionals to participate in collecting screening
information, the LEA will free up valuable time for the trained
professional staff to concentrate more heavily in the formal
evaluation process where they are needed most.
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No. Screening information is important. It sets
the stage for future evaluations, and keeps the district from
conducting unnecessary evaluations. There should be a fairly
high correlation between children who fail screening and those
who go on to qualify for special education services. So if an
LEA routinely accepts screening information from a collaborative
partner and high numbers of these children do not go on to
qualify for special education services, the LEA and the
collaborative partner may need to reevaluate the screening
procedure. The LEA may ask the collaborative partner to add to
or change the screening process in order to get a higher
correlation between children who fail the screening and those
who qualify for special education. While the correlation between
screening and evaluation should be relatively high, there
should
not
be an exact match. To be effective, the screening
process should “over identify” some children (false positive).
There should be a handful of children who fail the screening and
later are found to be typically developing and not eligible for
services. The ideal correlation between screening and assessment
should be around 85 to 90 percent. If 50 out of 100 kids fail
the screening and later do not qualify for special education
then the screening process is not stringent enough and is
therefore inefficient. If 10 to 15 out of 100 kids fail the
screening and later do not qualify for special education, the
screening process is over identifying the correct number of
children. If only 2 out of 100 kids fail the screening and later
do not qualify for special education, then the screening
instruments are too intensive. In this example there is a high
probability that some children were found to be typically
developing during the screening, when in fact they may actually
have a disability (false negative). The results of false
negatives are more serious than false positives, which is why
the screening process is better if it over identifies a small
number of children for further evaluation. Overall, screening
tools and methods should be reliable, valid, inexpensive, quick
and easy to administer. They should over identify a small
portion of children who later go on for a more formal evaluation
and are found to be typically developing. However, screening
should be stringent enough to keep the LEA from doing large
numbers of unnecessary evaluations. Screening information can
come from a variety of sources, and those conducting screenings
must be appropriately trained. LEA’s may find it beneficial to
talk with their collaborative partners about specific tools and
methods, to ensure a good match between the screening process
and the evaluation process exists.
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