FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
F. PHILIP HANDY,
Chairman
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T. WILLARD FAIR,
Vice Chairman
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Members
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SALLY BRADSHAW
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LINDA J. EADS, ED.D.
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CHARLES PATRICK GARCÍA
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JULIA L. JOHNSON
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WILLIAM L. PROCTOR, PH.D.
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MEMORANDUM
JIM HORNE
Commissioner of Education
CONTACT PERSONS
Name:
Phone:
Suncom:
Email:
DPS:
Lezlie Cline
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Evy Friend
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Michele Polland
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(850) 245-0478
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205-0478
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Lezlie.Cline@fldoe.org
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Evy.Friend@fldoe.org
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Michele.Polland@fldoe.org
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04-009
TO:
District School Superintendents
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FROM:
Jim Warford
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DATE:
July 25, 2003
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SUBJECT:
Provision of Speech/Language Service to Students with Disabilities
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide you with additional information on the
Department's response to issues raised by the United States Department of Education, Office of
Special Education Programs (OSEP), and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) regarding the
provision of speech/language services to students with disabilities in Florida. As indicated
previously, a concern has been expressed that some students with disabilities are not provided
speech/language services. (For additional information, see DPS Memo 02-90).
Our analysis of the 2002 data (Survey 9, December 2002) indicates that of the 386,909 students
with disabilities in Florida
,
166,760 students or
43% of the state’s total population of students
JIM WARFORD
K – 12 Chancellor
325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0509 • www.fldoe.org
School Superintendent
July 25, 2003
Page Two
with disabilities
are already identified as speech/language impaired as a primary or secondary
disability.
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91,270 students or
24% of the state’s total population of students with disabilities
are
identified as having a
primary
disability of speech or language impaired.
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75,490 students or
19% of the state’s total population of students with disabilities
are
identified as having a
secondary
disability of speech or language impaired.
Additionally, 58,717 students or 15% of the state's total population of students with disabilities are
identified with a primary disability of mentally handicapped, autism, or developmentally delayed.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of these 58,717 students
have a secondary disability of speech or
language impaired. For your information, enclosed are copies of the state and your district data.
As required by the federal regulations implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) and applicable state requirements:
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Federal regulation, 34 CFR 300.532(2)(g), states that a student being evaluated to determine
eligibility as a student with a disability must be “assessed in all areas related to the suspected
disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general
intelligence, academic performance, communicative status, and motor abilities.
The
corresponding requirement can be found on page 20 of the 2000–2003 Special Programs and
Procedures for Exceptional Students Document (SP&P) which has been adopted by your school
board.
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Federal regulation, 34 CFR 300.346(a)(2)(iv), states that the Individual Educational Plan (IEP)
team must consider, when developing each IEP, the “communication needs of the child.” This
corresponding requirement can be found on page 24 of the SP&P document.
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State Board of Education Rule 6A-6.03012, FAC, contains the requirements for determining
eligibility for speech/language services. Categorical decisions, based on a student’s eligibility
for another program, must not occur when determining eligibility for speech or language
services.
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Speech/language pathologists can provide consultation services to general and special education
teachers to support classroom instruction to an individual child regardless of a child’s eligibility
for services based on Rule 6A-6.03012, FAC.
School Superintendent
July 25, 2003
Page Three
To ensure that students with disabilities who need speech/language services continue to benefit
from special education, we have identified the following areas where further clarification from the
Department is necessary:
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Implementation of Current Speech/Language Impaired Criteria
There is variance across the state in school districts' interpretation of "…the language scores on
standardized tests are more than one standard deviation below the mean for the student's
chronological age…," as cited in the eligibility criteria for a language disorder for children ages
five and above (Rule 6A-6.03012(2)(a)2, FAC).
To ensure consistency across the state,
effective with the 2003-04 school year, we are directing districts to use "1 1/2 standard
deviation" rather than "1" or "2 standard deviations" when defining "more than one standard
deviation below the mean," as required in the rules.
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Implementation of Speech/Language Services for Students Identified as Autistic, Deaf or
Hard-of-Hearing, and Developmentally Delayed
State Board of Education Rules 6A-6.03023, FAC,
Special Programs for Students Who Are
Autistic
, 6A-6.03027, FAC,
Special Programs for Children Three Through Five Years Old Who
Are Developmentally Delayed
, 6A-6.03031, FAC,
Special Programs For Children Birth
Through Two Years Old Who Are Developmentally Delayed
, and 6A-6.03013, FAC,
Special
Programs for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing
specify the eligibility criteria for
these programs. One of the requirements in each of these rules is evidence of delayed or absent
speech or language skills.
Therefore, for students identified as autistic, developmentally delayed, or deaf or hard-of-
hearing, the speech/language evaluation data used to document the delay or absence of speech
or language skills can be used by the IEP team to determine the need for speech or language
services and determine the student eligible for these services. However, in such cases, the IEP
team must include the speech/language pathologist.
To ensure consistency across the state, districts will be required to re-submit these portions of their
2003-2004 Special Programs and Procedures for Exceptional Students documents.
We will be
providing your district director of exceptional student education with more technical information
and are requesting that you share this information with your district and school-based staff.
Thank you for your ongoing support and assistance in the provision of services to students with
disabilities.
JW:gd
Enclosures
cc:
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Exceptional Student Education Directors
Student Services Directors
Coordinators, Speech/Language Services
State Advisory Committee Members
