Teaching · Special Education

A referral with the evidence, the open steps and the date it is due.

Record where the referral comes from, the suspected needs, current data and every intervention with its tier, length and result. Mark the factors the team must consider and the notice and consent steps. Enter the consent date and the form gives the 60-day evaluation date under IDEA, with a note to use your state’s timeline if it has one.

Start a referralWhat 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 New special education teacher kit, $39 for 31 items.

The referral builder

Records use the student’s initials or a code and stay in this browser. The example is made up.

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What you get

Teaching · Special Education$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A referral for each student: the source and, for a parent request, its date; suspected needs in specifics with the student’s strengths; attendance, school changes and current results compared with classmates; interventions with tier, weeks and result; the factors the team must consider; and notice and consent steps. The summary gives the 60-day date after consent and lists every open item.
Who it is for
Special education teachers and coordinators, student support and MTSS teams, school psychologists and principals preparing or reviewing a referral for an initial evaluation.
Format
Browser form with sections that open for a parent request or for the team’s decision. Several saved referrals; printed with the summary or as a blank form; CSV with one row per referral; 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 New special education teacher kit ($39) and the Special Education toolkit ($99), and 2 more bundles. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
60 days
Drawn for this page. Consent starts the clock: the initial evaluation is due within 60 days, or within the state’s own timeline.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with the student’s initials or a code. If a parent asked for the evaluation, enter the date the school received the request.
  2. Mark the suspected needs and describe the concern in specifics, with the student’s strengths.
  3. Add current results and every intervention with its tier, weeks and result.
  4. Mark each factor the team must consider and the notice and consent steps.
  5. Record the team’s decision and, once signed, the consent date; read the 60-day date and the open items, then print.

Start a referral

What the referral sets in motion

The federal timeline

Under IDEA, an initial evaluation must be completed within 60 days of receiving the parent’s consent, or within a timeframe the state sets instead. The form counts 60 calendar days from the consent date you enter and says so; if your state uses school days or a different number, use your state’s. Federal law does not set a deadline for responding to a parent’s request, but the school must either seek consent or give prior written notice of a refusal.

Interventions do not delay evaluation

Listing interventions helps the team see what has been tried. Federal guidance is clear that a response-to-intervention process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation when a disability is suspected, and a parent can request an evaluation at any time. The form flags a long intervention with little progress that has not led to an evaluation.

Factors to rule out

A student cannot be found eligible when the determining factor is a lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, or limited English proficiency, and for a specific learning disability the team must also consider vision, hearing, cultural and economic factors. The checklist keeps these in front of the team. Records use a code, never a name, and stay in this browser.

Sources

  1. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations, 34 CFR 300.301 (initial evaluation, request by a parent or the public agency, 60 days from consent or the state’s timeframe), 300.300(a) (consent), 300.503 (prior written notice), 300.504 (procedural safeguards notice).
  2. 34 CFR 300.306(b) (determinant factors: lack of appropriate instruction in reading or math, limited English proficiency) and 300.309(a)(3) and (b) (factors for a specific learning disability).
  3. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Memo 11-07 (January 21, 2011): a response to intervention process cannot be used to delay or deny an evaluation.
  4. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 34 CFR Part 104.
  5. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR Part 99.

The example student is made up. The form organizes a referral; it does not decide eligibility, and it holds no state rules: where your state sets its own timeline or forms, those apply. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.