Evaluation/Programming Conference (EPC)

The Evaluation Programming Conference Decision Form / Notice of Decision is used to document the results of a student’s evaluation and the eligibility determination made by the IEP team during the evaluation conference.

All initial evaluations (for re-evaluation students, use the EDR document) must be documented in a written report which is reviewed in a conference. The Evaluation Programming Conference Decision Form/Notice of Decision along with the results of any evaluation activities contained in the body of a written report (Guidelines for Evaluation/Reevaluation) are required for documenting eligibility. If a child is eligible under the disability category of Specific Learning Disability, the Specific Learning Disability Eligibility Determination form will also be completed. Completing this form would be the last stage in the initial evaluation process.

Completing the Evaluation/Programming Conference Decision Form

• The document consists of the following sections:

  • Evaluation Programming Conference

  • Office Use Only

• The document pre-populates the student information: 

  • Student Name 

  • ID 

  • Date of Birth 

  • Age (calculated using the “Date of Decision” date value or todays date if Date of Decision is blank)

  • Grade 

  • School/Site 

• Enter the Date of Last Evaluation Component (cannot be greater than today’s date). The field is required to set the document to review or final. Upon finalization of the EPC document for Referral students (REF icon appears), the date flows to the most recent Referral profile record, Initial Evaluation Date field. 

• If the document will be signed via a paper copy, check Will Sign Paper Copy. 

• Enter the Date of Decision value. Upon finalization of the document, the following data flows occur:

  • flows to the Date of Decision field on the student’s Referral profile.

  • flows to the Eligibility Determination Date value on the Special Education Information profile.

  • flows to the Eligibility History profile, Eligibility date.

  • flows to the Disability History profile (if student is found eligible), Disability start date.

• I. Determination of Disability select one of the following options: 

  • Evaluation data does not substantiate the existence of a disability consistent with state and federal regulations implementing IDEA.  Upon finalization of the document, the following data flows occur:

    • flows “Not Eligible” as the Eligibility Status on the Special Education Information profile.

    • creates a new Eligibility History record with the Eligibility Outcome of Not Eligible and uses the Date of Decision as the Eligibility date.

    • flows the value of “Not eligible for special education” on the Referral profile, Reason for Completion field.

  • Evaluation data substantiates the existence of a disability consistent with state and federal regulations implementing IDEA. Upon finalization of the document, the following data flows occur:

    • When the option is selected, Eligibility Category field is displayed and required. Select the applicable disability from the drop down. Using the “Date of Decision” value on document compared to the student’s DOB, if the student is between 3 years and 5 years, 11 months and grade is NOT Kindergarten, the student is considered early childhood. Otherwise the student is considered school age. When the user attempts to finalize the document, it will confirm there is a school-age or early childhood applicable disability selected. Upon finalization of the EPC document, the system will flow the disability to the Special Education Information profile and will create a Disability History profile record. A draft SLD document will be created linked to the EPC document if the user selected SLD as the disability. If No is the response to question 10 on the finalized SLD document, then SLD will not be a valid disability selection on the EPC document.

    • flows the value of “Placed into special education” on the Referral profile, Reason for Completion field.

    • flows “Eligible” as the Eligibility Status on the Special Education Information profile.

    • creates a new Eligibility History record with the Eligibility Outcome of Eligible and uses the Date of Decision as the Eligibility date.

    • creates a Disability History profile record using the Date of Decision as the start date.

• Click the Add Attachment button to attach any external documentation or files.

• II. Describe the Child’s Educational Needs, enter text in the required text box. 

• In the excusal section, for “Excusal(s)”, select yes or no.

  • If yes is selected: 

    • Select at least one team member that will be excused using the lookup (to the Staff listing) or non-lookup option. Select + to add more team member names.

    • Parent Agreement to Excusal:

      • If “Will Sign Paper Copy” checkbox is not checked, the user is required to select which parent/guardian will be required to select the Yes/No and initial when signing digitally.

      • If “Will Sign Paper Copy” checkbox is checked, no selections are required.

      • Yes/No and Parent Initials are completed via paper copy or via the digital signature process.

    • User is required to select a response (yes or no) regarding the excused member’s area of curriculum being discussed.

• Complete Team Participation Signature section as follows:

  • Under Role, select Parent/Guardian. At least one parent/guardian must be selected.

  • Optional: Under Role, select Other. Complete the Other Description and Name.

  • Use lookup/non-lookup to add the following roles for signatures: 

    • Special Education Teacher 

    • General Education Teacher 

    • Local Education Agency Representative 

    • Individual to Interpret Instructional Implications of Evaluation Results 

    • Other

• Click + for additional team member names.

• In the Evaluation Report and Evaluation Programming Conference, complete:

  • Date Provided to Parents

  • Select one or more delivery options. 

• Select Save, Done Editing.

Office Use Only Section

• From the flyout menu, select Office Use Only.

• The system will default the Date of delivery value using the Date provided to parent. The user can change the date.

• The system will default the Mode of delivery value using the value from method of delivery on the bottom of the EPC. The user can select a different mode of delivery.

• See below “Compliance Details for State Reporting”. There are 3 additional fields that will also be displayed in this section based on certain conditions.

• When the document is finalized, the date and mode of delivery will flow to the student’s Document Delivery profile.

Compliance Details for State Reporting

NOTE: applicable referral compliance data is sent to eSchoolPLUS using a daily integration process.

Reason Evaluation Exceeded 60-Day Timeline: The label and required field will be displayed if the student is in the referral process (REF icon displays) and there are more than 60 days from Parent Consent to Evaluate (Referral will display the calculated Initial Evaluation Due Date value) on Referral profile to the Last Evaluation Component value. Upon finalization of the EPC, the value will flow to the student’s Referral profile.

Reason Eligibility Exceeded 30-day Timeline: The label and required field will be displayed if the student is in the referral process (REF icon displays) and there are more than 30 days from Date of Last Evaluation Component and Date of Decision values. Upon finalization of the EPC, the value will flow to the student’s Referral profile.

Reason EDD Exceeded 3rd Birthday: The label and required field will be displayed if the student’s referral date is less than their 3rd birthday and the student is in the referral process (REF icon displays) and the Date of Decision date is greater than the student’s 3rd birthday. Upon finalization of the EPC, the value will flow to the student’s Referral profile.

Once the EPC has been completed in its entirety, it is imperative that document be finalized so that the applicable state/federal reporting data flow to the applicable student profiles as well as any applicable draft documents created.