Special Services

Special Education Eligibility

Ages Birth to 26

Students initially qualify for special education through a team consisting of two or more of the following professionals, such as Certified Teacher, School Psychologist, Speech and Language Pathologist, Social Worker, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist. It is important to note that eligibility for special education services is based on an educational determination of a disability, which includes meeting the criteria for a specific disability and finding that a student is in need of specialized instruction through programs and/or services. An outside medical diagnosis alone does not qualify a student for special education yet it may assist in providing additional data when qualifying a student for special education if there is evidence of an adverse impact in the general education setting. 

Through the evaluation process, your child may qualify under the following school-based eligibility from the Michigan Administrative Rules Special Education (MARSE) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Considered a lifelong developmental disability that is characterized by qualitative impairments in reciprocal social interactions, communication, and/or restricted range of interests/repetitive behavior that adversely affects educational performance.

Cognitive Impairment (CI)

Characterized by a lack of development primarily in the cognitive domain and an impairment in adaptive behavior that adversely affects educational performance.

Deaf-Blindness (DB)

Children who have both hearing and visual impairments that adversely affects educational performance.

Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH)

Characterized by students who are deaf or hard of hearing and refers to students with any type of degree of hearing loss that adversely affects educational performance.

Early Childhood Developmental Delay (ECDD)  

A child through 7 years of age who exhibits a delay in 1 or more areas of development (such as communication, cognition, fine and/or gross motor, social emotional, etc.) equal to or greater than ½ of the expected development that adversely affects educational performance.

Emotional Impairment (EI)

Children with significant behaviors and/or emotional concerns that are exhibited over time and adversely affect educational performance.

Other Health Impairment (OHI)

Characterized by having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli which results in limited alertness to the educational environment that adversely affects educational performance.

Physical Impairment (PI)

Characterized by a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects educational performance.

Severe Multiple Impairment (SMI)

Characterized by 2 to 3 standard deviations below the mean and with 2 or more of the following conditions (hearing, visual, physical, health).

Specific Learning Disability (SLD)

Characterized by a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may exhibit itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, or to do mathematical calculations and adversely affects educational performance.

Speech And Language Disability (SLD)

Characterized by a communication disorder that adversely affects educational performance, such as a language impairment, articulation impairment, fluency impairment, or voice impairment.

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

An acquired injury to the brain which is caused by external physical force and results in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment or both and that adversely affects educational performance.  

Visual Impairment (VI)

Characterized by a visual impairment which, even with correction, adversely affects educational performance.

Special Education Programs and Services

• Autism Programs (K-12)
• Early Childhood Special Education Programs and Services (Ages 3-6)
• Resource Programs (DK-12)
• Mild Cognitive Impairment Programs (2-12th)

Itinerant Staff

• Occupational Therapists
• Physical Therapists (provided by Kent ISD)
• School Psychologists
• School Social Workers
• Speech and Language Pathologists
• Teacher Consultants

Rockford Public Schools uses the Pattern of Strengths and Weakness (PSW) model for the determination of a specific learning disability (SLD). If a student demonstrates limited documented progress despite  implementation of targeted, increasingly-intensive interventions within the general education setting, a Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team evaluates the student’s pattern of achievement and may identify a SLD if significant performance differences (i.e. at least one area of “strength” and at least one area of “weakness”) are observed across two or more of the following areas:

• Basic Reading
• Reading Comprehension
• Reading Fluency
• Mathematics Calculation
• Mathematics Problem Solving
• Oral Expression
• Listening Comprehension
• Written Expression

A "Pattern of Strength" is identified when a student exhibits average/benchmark level or greater performance compared to same-age or same-grade peers on at least three separate assessment measures within one of the eight areas, including performance at or above the 25th percentile compared to national or local norms on at least one individually administered achievement measure.

A "Pattern of Weakness" is identified when a student exhibits below age or grade level achievement on at least four separate assessment measures within one of the eight areas, including performance at or below the 9th percentile compared to national or local norms on at least one individually administered achievement measure. In making a determination as to whether a student has or continues to have a Specific Learning Disability, Rockford Public Schools complies with all applicable federal regulations and State rules, including those addressing comprehensive evaluations, determination of the existence of a Specific Learning Disability, observation of academic performance and behavior in the areas of difficulty, specific documentation for Specific Learning Disability eligibility determination, and re-evaluation requirements.