Teaching · Related Services

Check the evidence against the definition, one element at a time.

Choose the category the team is considering. Its federal definition opens in parts, with the requirements every category shares. Mark what the record shows, and the page lists what still needs evidence before the meeting.

Start a criteria checkWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Related Services toolkit, $99 for 152 items.

The criteria check

One record per student and category, dated. The example is made up.

Loading the form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · Related Services$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
For one student and one category: the federal definition in parts with the evidence marked, both parts of the federal test, the open requirements and your state’s criteria on one printout.
Who it is for
School psychologists, special education teachers, special education administrators and evaluation team members.
Format
Browser reference and organizer. One saved record per student and category; printed with its summary or as a blank form; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Related Services toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Related Services space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
one category, every element
Drawn for this page. Each category’s federal definition has parts; eligibility rests on evidence for every required part, plus the need for specially designed instruction.

How to use it

  1. Choose the category the team is considering.
  2. Mark each element of the definition against the evaluation record.
  3. Mark the requirements every category shares, including the three exclusions.
  4. Type your state’s own criteria for the category.
  5. Bring the printout to the eligibility meeting, and gather what is still open first.

Start a criteria check

What the navigator covers

The federal definitions

IDEA defines thirteen categories in 34 CFR 300.8(c), and lets states and districts use developmental delay for children aged three through nine (300.8(b)). The wording here is a close paraphrase, split into the parts a team checks; read the regulation itself for the exact text.

Two parts, three exclusions

A student is a child with a disability only if the student meets a category and, because of it, needs special education and related services (300.8(a)(1)). A student may not be found eligible if the determinant factor is a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, or limited English proficiency (300.306(b)). The group of qualified professionals and the parent makes the decision (300.306(a)).

State criteria

States set their own criteria within the federal rules, and for a specific learning disability they choose whether response to intervention or a pattern of strengths and weaknesses may be used, and may not require a severe discrepancy (300.307). This page holds only federal rules; type your state’s criteria into the record.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.8: child with a disability, developmental delay and the thirteen category definitions.
  2. 34 CFR 300.304 to 300.311: evaluation procedures, determination of eligibility, and the additional procedures for specific learning disabilities.
  3. 34 CFR 300.111(b): use of the term developmental delay.
  4. U.S. Department of Education (2006). Assistance to States for the Education of Children with Disabilities: final regulations and analysis of comments, 71 Fed. Reg. 46540.

The example student and evidence are made up. Definitions are paraphrased from the federal regulations; the regulation’s own text governs. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.