Child study teams provide school districts with an established structure for following the screening, pre-referral, referral, and classification procedures. In turn, teachers should be knowledgeable of their roles and responsibilities within the child study team process. This ensures pre-referral strategies are implemented with fidelity within the classroom setting and data is collected concerning students’ strengths and weaknesses to fully inform decision making.

General education teachers detailing the following about child study teams:
• An engaging title section as well as appropriate text, graphics, and layout.
• Why a child study team would be assembled and who would be a part of the team. Explain each team member’s role.
• The differences between screening, pre-referral, and classification procedures.
• Legal definitions and assessment requirements regarding next steps for obtaining a formal special education disability classification. Include when the team can determine that all pre-referral strategies have been exhausted and the only thing left is to refer the student for a comprehensive evaluation for formal classification under one of IDEA’s disability categories.
• Select one of the IDEA disability categories. Identify and describe 3-4 resources teachers can use to help determine students’ strengths and weaknesses in consideration of a referral for this chosen disability category.
•Create a supplemental handout that briefly explains three classroom pre-referral instructional strategies that could be used to provide documentation of targeted supports for a student not making adequate progress.
• Support your findings with 2-3 scholarly resources.