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a ready-to-run workshopThe Referral Process
Inclusion · Workshop

The Referral Process (Workshop)

Everything you need to lead this with your staff or PLC: a minute-by-minute run-of-show, what to say, what to hand out, and how to make it stick. Pick the length that fits your slot.

Key takeaway

Teachers are often unsure what to do when they suspect a student may have a disability, which leads both to students languishing without a referral that should have happened and to premature referrals that skip the interventions that should come first, so understanding the referral and evaluation process, including what to try before referring and how referral works, helps teachers get students the right support at the right time.

Format
PLC / team meeting
Length
45 minutes
Group size
Any (works 4-40)
Who can run it
Any teacher-leader
You will need
Slides (5)Printed handoutA student you are concerned aboutA timer
Aligned to
Learning Forward: Rigorous ContentInTASC 2: Learning DifferencesIDEA: child find, referral, and evaluation
Share / assign

Why it works

When a teacher suspects a student may have a disability affecting their learning, what should happen next is often unclear to the teacher, and that uncertainty causes problems in both directions. On one side, students who need evaluation and support languish because the teacher does not know how to initiate the process, assumes someone else will, or worries about overstepping, so a referral that should have happened does not, sometimes for a long time. On the other side, teachers sometimes rush to refer a student for special education evaluation as a first move, skipping the general education interventions and supports that should usually come first and that might resolve the concern without special education, which can lead to over-identification and to the referral process being used as a substitute for good general education support. Understanding the referral and evaluation process, including what to try before referring and how referral actually works, lets teachers navigate this well, getting students the right support at the right time rather than too late or too soon. The process has a logic worth understanding. In most cases, concern about a student is first addressed through general education interventions within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS or RTI): the teacher implements targeted interventions, monitors whether they help, and documents the response, both because many concerns are resolved this way without special education and because this information is valuable if a referral does follow. However, and this is important, a formal evaluation can be requested at any time when a disability is suspected, and intervention tiers must not be used to delay a warranted evaluation, there is a legal obligation (child find) to identify and evaluate students who may have disabilities, and a parent or the school can request evaluation. When a referral for evaluation is made, a process follows: the concern and reasons are documented, consent is obtained from parents, a multidisciplinary evaluation is conducted to determine whether the student has a disability and needs special education, and if eligible, an IEP is developed. The teacher's role in this process includes several things: trying and documenting general education interventions where appropriate, recognizing signs that warrant concern, knowing how to initiate or contribute to a referral in their school, providing the information and data they have, and partnering with families and the special education team through the process. Several principles help teachers navigate it: know your school's specific process and who to talk to, since the mechanics vary; try appropriate interventions first but do not let that delay a warranted evaluation, holding both truths; document concerns and responses to intervention, which serves the student whichever way things go; involve and communicate with families, who are partners and whose consent and input are required; and act on genuine concern rather than waiting, since early identification matters. A caution: the teacher does not diagnose or determine eligibility, that is the evaluation team's role, but the teacher is often the first to notice a concern and a crucial participant in the process, so knowing how it works is part of serving students well. The workshop helps teachers understand the referral and evaluation process, what to try first, when and how to refer, and their role, so students get the right support neither too late nor too soon.

The research: IDEA requirements on child find, referral, and evaluation, and research on MTSS.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

    The core activity: get students the right support at the right time

    The heart of the session is understanding the referral and evaluation process, what to try first, when and how to refer, and the teacher's role.

    Neither too late nor too soonUncertainty about the process makes teachers either let a student languish without a referral or rush to refer past the supports that come first. Knowing the process, interventions first, but a warranted evaluation any time, gets students the right support at the right time.

    Facilitator notes

    Interventions first, but do not let them delay a warranted evaluationMTSS interventions resolve many concerns without special education and inform a referral if one follows, but they must never be used to stall an evaluation a suspected disability warrants, which the law requires be available on request at any time.

    Adapt it

    Participant handout

    One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

    K12 Academics · Professional Learning

    The Referral Process: right support, right time

    Navigate referral well: try general education interventions first and document them, but refer for evaluation without delay when a disability is suspected, and know your school's process and your role.

    1. A student I am concerned about:
    2. The interventions I will try and document first (within MTSS):
    3. Whether the concern warrants requesting evaluation now:
    4. My school’s referral process and who to talk to:
    5. How I partner with the family through the process:

    Make it stick

    Knowing the process gets students support at the right time. Close by setting the follow-up:

    Common questions

    Should I always try interventions before referring a student for evaluation?
    Usually you try appropriate general education interventions first, but not always, and the crucial exception is that a warranted evaluation must not be delayed by intervention tiers when a disability is genuinely suspected. For many concerns, the right first step is targeted general education interventions within a multi-tiered system of support, monitoring and documenting whether they help, both because a significant number of concerns resolve this way without special education and because the data on the student's response is valuable if a referral does follow. So intervening first is often appropriate and good practice. However, this must never harden into a rule that a student has to work through every intervention tier before anyone will consider evaluation, because that misuse, using intervention tiers to delay or deny evaluation, is both harmful and legally problematic: the law (child find) obligates schools to identify and evaluate students who may have disabilities, and a formal evaluation can be requested at any time when a disability is suspected, by the school or the parent. So you hold both truths: try appropriate interventions first in the ordinary case, and do not let that process delay an evaluation when the concern genuinely points to a possible disability, especially a significant one. The judgment is about the specific student: a mild, possibly resolvable concern warrants trying interventions first, while a strong suspicion of a disability warrants moving toward evaluation without using tiers as a stall. Knowing both the intervene-first norm and the evaluate-without-delay exception is exactly what lets you navigate this well.
    I'm not qualified to diagnose, so how can I refer a student?
    You do not need to diagnose anything to refer, because referral is not diagnosis: your role is to notice and raise a concern and to contribute what you observe, while the determination of whether a student has a disability and needs special education is made by a multidisciplinary evaluation team through a formal process. This distinction relieves a worry that stops some teachers from acting. You are not expected or permitted to decide that a student has dyslexia, ADHD, or any other condition; you are expected to recognize signs that a student is struggling in ways that may indicate a disability, and to initiate or contribute to the process that gets them properly evaluated by the people qualified to make that determination. In fact, teachers are often the first to notice a concern, precisely because they work with the student daily, which makes them a crucial starting point and participant in the process even though they are not the diagnosticians. What you provide is your observations, the data from any interventions you have tried, and your knowledge of the student's performance and needs, all of which informs the evaluation, and you partner with the special education team and the family through the process. So the lack of diagnostic qualification is not a barrier to referring; it is exactly why the referral and evaluation process exists, to bring in the qualified team. Knowing that your job is to notice, document, and initiate, not to diagnose, is what frees you to act on a genuine concern rather than staying silent because you are unsure of the label.
    What if I'm worried about a student but not sure it rises to the level of a referral?
    Uncertainty is normal and is not a reason to do nothing; it is a reason to take the appropriate next step, which usually means raising the concern, trying and documenting supports, and consulting the people in your school who can help you judge. You rarely have to decide alone and in the abstract whether a concern rises to the level of a formal referral. The productive path when you are worried but unsure is to act on the worry at a proportionate level: implement and document some targeted interventions and monitor whether they help, which both may resolve a milder concern and builds the information that clarifies whether more is needed; talk to the people in your school who guide this process, a special educator, an intervention team, a counselor, an administrator, who can help you weigh the concern and know the local process; and keep observing and documenting what you see. This staged, consultative approach means you neither ignore a concern because you are not certain it warrants referral, which is how students languish, nor rush to a formal evaluation referral on a vague worry without the supports and information that should inform it. If, through trying supports and consulting, the concern persists or the suspicion of a disability grows, you move toward referral, with the documentation you have gathered strengthening it. And if at any point the concern is strong enough to suspect a real disability, you do not wait, you raise the evaluation question directly. So uncertainty resolves not by guessing alone but by acting proportionately, documenting, and consulting, which moves the student toward the right support while clarifying what that support should be.

    Go deeper

    Build it into a bigger day

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    MTSS & RTI
    Workshop
    Accommodations, IEPs & 504s
    Workshop
    Partnering with Families in Special Education