NHASP and the NH Association of Special Education Administrators (NHASEA) are proud to announce the joint adoption of a position statement on “The Appropriateness of Educational Teams Using Conditions and/or Diagnoses Identified by School Psychologists.” Adopted on November 18th (NHASP) and November 20th (NHASEA) 2020, this statement clarifies that school psychologists are able to identify conditions and diagnoses that IEP and 504 teams can then use for eligibility decisions and program planning.
Both NHASP and NHASEA are excited to announce this position statement, which can be accessed at www.nhaspweb.org/papers. Association leaders will continue to partner to promote this statement and advocate for practice changes in our NH schools where needed. In brief, the statement outlines that school teams should not require families to provide a diagnosis from a community provider, such as a physician or a private psychologist before determining eligibility. Additionally, while multiple eligibility areas require the school obtain a health assessment as part of the comprehensive evaluation process, the health evaluation does not need to provide this diagnosis. Instead, the school psychologist can be the professional who identifies the condition or diagnosis for the team to consider, along with the results of evaluations completed by other professionals as part of the team process.
We encourage everyone to read the position statement and consider the implications for practices in their school. Watch for additional resources on this topic coming in the near future. Thank you to all who worked on this position statement, including the NHASP writing committee of Nate Jones (chair), Ryan Long, Dave Smith, and Jonas Taub; NHASEA executive director Jane Bergeron; and Michael Opuda and attorney Gerald Zelin from Drummond Woodsum.
Position Statement-Appropriate Use of Diagnoses
