In elementary and secondary schools, disabled students may be assigned to separate facilities or courses of special education only when this placement is necessary to provide equal educational opportunity to them. Any separate facilities, and the services provided in separate facilities must be comparable to other facilities and services. To determine what the educational needs of a disabled student may be, schools must carry out preliminary evaluation and placement procedures. Specific elements that must be considered are discussed below. Before placing disabled students in any educational program, schools must evaluate carefully each student's skills and special needs.
Federal requirements provide standards for proper evaluations and placement procedures.
The tests and evaluation materials that are used must be chosen to assess specific areas of the student's needs. For example, a student may not be assigned to special education classes only on the basis of intelligence tests. When a student with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills is evaluated, the test results must accurately reflect what the test is supposed to measure and not the student's impaired skills except where those skills are what is being measured. Only trained people may administer the tests or evaluation materials. Placement decisions must be made by a team that includes people who know about the student and understand the meaning of the evaluation information.