Special Education

Address
1900 Crowley Pride Drive
Fort Worth, Texas 76036
Phone: 817-297-5300
Fax: 817-297-5202

Tamika Williams
Director of Special Services
Email: tamika.williams@crowley.k12.tx.us

Desiree Scott
Assistant Director of Special Services
Email: desiree.scott@crowley.k12.tx.us

Dr. Monique Carson-Dawson
Coordinator of Instructional Services
Email: monique.carsondawson@crowley.k12.tx.us

Priscilla Jackson
Special Education Department PEIMS and Medicaid Duty Nurse 
Email: priscillat.jackson@crowley.k12.tx.us
Phone: 817-297-5335

Gevell Swan
Special Education Receptionist | Records Clerk | Special Education Only Records Request
Email: gevell.swan@crowley.k12.tx.us

Which Students are Served?
Eligible youngsters are those ages 3 through 21 (birth through 21 for students with visual or auditory impairments) who meet the legal requirements of one or more of the following disabilities as defined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA):

• Auditory Impairment
• Intellectually Disabled
• Autism
• Multiple Disabilities
• Deaf-Blindness
• Other Health Impairment
• Non-Categorical Early Childhood
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Emotional Disturbance
• Speech Impairment
• Learning Disability
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment

For more information about each disability, please visit the following website: SPEDTex Website

Important Links
Texas Transition and Employment Guide

If you are having trouble viewing any of the information above, please contact the Crowley ISD Special Education Department at 817-297-5300.  

If you suspect an infant, child or young adult of having a developmental delay or disability, your school district can open a window of hope for a brighter future. Services are at no cost to the family are available to all eligible individuals from birth through 21 years of age regardless of the severity of their disability. Special services are available to eligible infants, children and young adults identified with a disability.

Child Find is an on-going process of identifying, locating and evaluating the needs of children and providing services to meet individual and unique needs. The early childhood screening process includes:

• Brief background history
• Speech and language screening
• Developmental screening in the areas of motor, concepts and language

Child Find Requests:
Coniah Whitlock coniah.whitlock@crowley.k12.tx.us
Tereza Riley tereza.riley@crowley.k12.tx.us

Early Childhood Screenings for children ages 3-5 are scheduled by appointment at the CISD Special Education Department. For more information about the screening process, call 817-297- 5300.

Child Find is a requirement of both federal and state law. It mandates that each school district will locate, identify and evaluate, at no cost to the family, all students, from birth to 21, who are suspected of having a disability. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) list and defines thirteen disabilities. They are: autism, deaf-blindness, auditory Impairment, emotional disturbance, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, learning disability, speech impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment and non-categorical early childhood.

Children ages 0-3, are referred to Early Childhood Intervention of Tarrant County. Children ages 3-21, who reside within the boundaries of Crowley ISD, are referred to the Special Education Department of CISD at 817- 297-5300.

Crowley ISD provides special education services to children who have, or are suspected of having a disability. Special education services are available to children with disabilities, ages 3 through 21. Children who have impaired vision or hearing can receive services from birth through age 21.

CISD also provides services to students with disabilities who attend a private or home school located within the boundaries of CISD. Additionally, CISD provides services to students with disabilities who are placed in a foster home or other residential facility within the district’s geographic boundaries.

If your child attends public, private or a home school in CISD or if you know of a child residing in a foster home or other residential facility within CISD and you believe the child has or may have a disability, please contact one of our campuses. You may also contact the Special Education Department at 817- 297-5300.

CISD staff will work with you to ensure that every child receives an appropriate evaluation; determine which children have a disability that qualifies for services. Services are offered to all children free of charge.

The Legal Framework
Visit the legal framework homepage to find information on the child centered special education process. 

Required Postings
TEA Dyslexia Handbook Update | Spanish | Text Version

TEA Special Education Updates
A parent has a right to request a special education evaluation at any time. For more information, please see the following TEA update:
TEA Special Education Update | Spanish

Compensatory services may be needed if evaluations are delayed or denied. For more information, please see the following from TEA:
TEA Compensatory Services | Spanish

If you are having trouble viewing any of the information above, please contact the Crowley ISD Special Education Department at 817-297-5300.

What Services Are Available?
As addressed in detail in the Operating Guidelines©, CISD provides a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in order to meet the need for special education and related services. The FAPE must include the alternative placements listed in IDEA Federal Regulations and SBOE and Commissioner Rules. Also, FAPE must be provided in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) appropriate for the student with primary consideration given to the general education classroom and curriculum.

Instructional Arrangements

• Homebound 
• Hospital Class 
• Mainstream 
• Nonpublic Day School 
• Off-home Campus 
• Residential Care and Treatment Facility 
• Colaborative Instruction 
• Self-Contained (mild, moderate, severe, regular campus) 
• Speech Therapy 
• Vocational Adjustment Class / Program 

For clarification purposes, the most current TEA accounting manual will provide specific information for proper coding based on ARD/IEP committee decisions.

CISD shall take steps to ensure that the students with disabilities have available to them the variety of educational programs and services available to non-disabled students served by the district. The following are just a few of the examples of service delivery available through the instructional arrangements.
 

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Collaborative Instruction
Regular Education Classroom with Accommodation and Modifications 
Instructional and curricular accommodations/modifications recommended by the ARD committee are implemented in the general education classroom. This enables the student to be involved and progress in the general curriculum to the maximum extent possible.

Functional Academics (FA) 
This class is intended for students who would benefit from modified academics and real world application of skills learned. The IEP would include significant content modifications. Skill development is for the following purposes:

• To assist each student in experiencing success in academic and /or elective subjects at his/her ability level.
• To assist each student in securing vocational and job-related skills as appropriate.
• To assist each student in obtaining socialization skills to be used in daily and community living.
• To increase skills that lead to independence within the community for each student.

As a general guideline, these students are functioning with significant delay and at two standard deviations below the mean in the following areas:

• Intellectual (verbal, performance, and full scale I.Q.)
• Adaptive level
• Academic achievement or language (receptive or expressive)
• Cannot function in a less restrictive environment after the continuum of services has been tried and not been successful.

Students will participate in the general education classroom or in general education activities to the maximum extent possible to meet their academic, social/emotional and vocational needs. IEP goals and objectives are aligned with the TEKS.

Life Skills
Students display severe and profound disabilities whose educational needs are primarily non-academic and include daily living skills, self-care skills, recreation and leisure skills, and communication skills.

These classes are designed to provide instruction for students ages 5-21 years. Their educational needs cannot be met in a less restrictive environment. Students have severe delays in one or more of the following areas: cognition, language, motor, and adaptive. An IEP may be developed between direct and related services to insure coordination of services. The focus of instruction in developmental classes is:

• The establishment of skills in tolerating environments, choice making, visual and/or auditory stimulation, and the use of appropriate forms of communication.
• The building of independence in daily living skills, social interactions. Emotional development and recreation/leisure activities.
• The building of tolerance in fine and gross motor development and environmental awareness.
• Assistive technology as a necessary modification for students in this environment in order for them to meet educational goals.
• The provision of positive behavioral supports and the interventions when needed. 
• Training in vocational skill areas when determined by the ARD committee to be appropriate for secondary students.
   

Reaching Independence Through Structured Environments (RISE)
Reaching Independence through Structured Environments - Service Delivery Model

Students are identified with severe autism or related disorders who have significant communication, social and behavioral issues, thus needing a highly structured environment, frequent behavioral interventions, and a very small student/teacher ratio. The following research based teaching strategies are incorporated: Project TEACCH, ABA, Verbal Behavior, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

IMPACT
The IMPACT Program is designed to support special education students with autism or related disorders that require more intensive support than can be provided by the home campus special education team. The IMPACT program creates an environment and learning opportunities that focuses on social thinking skills, problem-solving, creating self and social awareness, and strengthening executive functioning skills.

The goal of the IMPACT program is to teach students to attend, interpret and problem-solve in order to increase their social competencies. The IMPACT Program structure can look like the following:

• Support Service within the general education classroom
• Pull-out service to address identified specific skill deficits
• Class period that focuses on social thinking skills

Social Emotional and Academic Skills Class (SEAS)
The SEAS program is for students with disabilities whose behavior interferes with learning or the learning of others to such an extent that a specialized program in a more restrictive placement is necessary. This program continues to address academic needs while structuring the learning and behavior in order to make progress. The class utilizes the Boy's Town Integrated Social Skills as the foundation of the program. Texas Behavior Support Initiative (TBSI) and Crisis Intervention (CPI) also supplement academic instruction. The ARD committee will consider assessment and options tried and considered at the local campus prior to any decision for a SEAS class. As always, the assessment and the goals and objectives needed by the student will drive the ARD decision. SEAS is not a disciplinary placement. The objectives of SEAS program are as follows:

• To teach replacement skills for inappropriate behavior patterns which are interfering with the student's success in school.
• To increase pro-social behavior and decrease disruptive behavior in all participating students.
• To increase instructional time and academic achievement of each student.
• To increase communication with parents and provide parent support.

 
Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)
This program is a public school placement that serves children with disabilities, ages 3-5. These classes are designed to provide instruction for students with moderate to severe delays in one or more of these areas: cognition, communication, psychomotor, self-care and social-emotional areas. Children with disabilities are eligible for services beginning on their 3rd birthday. If you are aware of a child who may have a need for services, please encourage the family to call the CISD office to refer the child.

Regional Day School Program For The Deaf (RDSPD)
The Crowley RDSPD serves Deaf and Hard of Hearing students from birth to 21years of age for Crowley ISD, Alvarado ISD, Burleson ISD, Cleburne ISD, Everman ISD, Joshua ISD and the Johnson County SSA.

Services provided may include the following:  parent-infant services, itinerant services, interpreting services, audiological services, speech services and cluster sites providing specialized instruction for school-aged students (elementary, intermediate, middle and high school). Services provided are determined by a student’s ARD Committee.
 
From birth through two years of age, children are served by a parent-infant teacher. These services are provided in the home and coordinated with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) of North Central Texas. On the students’ third birthday, they are eligible for in-school placement.

Homebound Instruction
Homebound services are provided to special education students who are unable to attend school due to a medical reason. A physician must state that the student’s medical condition will require absence of four consecutive weeks or as stated in local guidelines. For more information, contact your campus evaluator or the special education office.

Speech Therapy
This arrangement is for students who have a speech impairment which causes them to have difficulty accessing the general or special education curriculum. The impairment could be in the area of articulation, or language. The speech therapist may provide services by consulting with the teacher, meeting with the children in groups, or meeting with the students individually. 

What other services are available to these special students?
Other services are available to help students benefit from their education. Services may include but not be limited to:

• Educational Evaluator
• Special Education Counseling
• Transportation
• Physical Therapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Adapted Physical Education
• Parent Training for Students with Autism
• In-Home Training
• Education for Students with Visually Impairment
• Education for Students with Hearing Impairment
• Assistive Technology

 

 

Homepage:  SPEDTex Website
The Special Education Information Center (SPEDTex) provides resources and interactive features for increasing family awareness of disabilities and special education processes, with the goal of improving partnerships between schools and families.

 

Contact Information
Website: https://www.spedtex.org/
Phone: 1-855-773-3839
Email: inquire@spedtex.org

What is Response to Intervention (RtI)?
In education, Response To Intervention (commonly abbreviated RTI or RtI) is a method of academic and behavior intervention used in the United States designed to provide early, effective assistance to children who are having difficulty.

Response to Intervention was also designed to function as a data-based process of diagnosing learning disabilities. This method can be used at the group and individual level. The RtI method has been developed by researchers as an alternative to identifying learning disabilities with the ability achievement discrepancy model, which requires children to exhibit a severe discrepancy between their IQ and academic achievement as measured by standardized tests.

RtI seeks to prevent academic failure through early intervention, frequent progress measurement, and increasingly intensive research-based instructional interventions for children who continue to have difficulty. RtI may assist schools in avoiding the so-called "wait-to-fail" method by providing intervention as soon as children exhibit difficulty.

RtI Law as Related to Special Education
IDEA 2004 - When Congress reauthorized IDEA, they changed the law about how to identify children with specific learning disabilities. IDEA 2004 says schools “shall not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skill, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, or mathematical reasoning.” (Section 1414 (b))

IDEA 2004 states, “In determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a local educational agency may use a process that determines if the child responds to scientific, research-based intervention…” (Section 1414(b)(6)(B)). According to the IDEA 2004 regulations, States “may prohibit the use of a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement,” and “must permit the use of a process that determines if the child respond to scientific, research-based intervention as part of the evaluation procedures,” and “may permit the use of other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability…”

Frequently Used Words and Terms
Progress monitoring: A scientifically based practice used to assess students’ academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Progress monitoring can be implemented with individual students or an entire class. 

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM): Tools for measuring student competency and progress in the basic skill areas of reading fluency, spell-ing, mathematics and written language.

Scientific, research-based instruction: Curriculum and educational interventions that are research-based and have been proven to be effective for most students.

Universal screening: A step taken by school personnel early in the school year to determine which students are "at risk" for not meeting grade level standards. Universal screening can be accomplished by reviewing a student's recent performance on state or district tests or by administering an academic screening to all students in a given grade. Students whose scores on the screening fall below a certain cut-off point are identified as needing continued progress monitoring and possibly more intensive interventions.

Fidelity: The degree to which some-thing is carried out as designed, intended, or planned.

Three-Tier Model
Tier I—Provide quality classroom instruction for all students.
• At least a 90 minute literacy block
• Academic engagement of All students
• Explicit, systematic instruction
• Multiple opportunities to respond to instruction
• Immediate corrective feedback & practice of new skills
• Cumulative review of previously taught skills 

Tier II— Provide supplemental intervention and progress-monitor.
• These are provided in addition to Tier 1 instruction
• May go beyond classroom instruction
• Provided in small group or one-to-one
• Systematic, integrated instruction
• Provided by trained persons
• Frequent, intense
• Measuring progress related to the curriculum

Tier III—Intensify instruction and progress monitor more frequently.
• These are provided in addition to Tier 1 instruction
• More intensive, explicit, systematic than Tier 2.
• Opportunity to narrow focus on specific skill deficiencies
• Responsive to individual student needs in terms of number of hours, skills focus.
• Accelerate student learning to close the knowledge gap between students and grade - level peers.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Texas Driving with Disabilities Program, designed to support students, ages 16-21 with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or covered under Section 504, obtain driving independence. This program offers specialized training, adaptive resources and tailored assistance to ensure a safe and accessible driving experience for students with diverse needs. We believe in fostering independence and recognize the significance of driving for personal growth and development. For more information, visit https://gov.texas.gov/organization/disabilities/texas-driving-with-disability. Your support is crucial in helping us reach all eligible students and their families. 

Please click on a topic below that best fits your needs. 

Supplemental Special Education Services (SSES) are $1,500 one-time online grants for parents/caregivers of eligible students served by special education that have been impacted by COVID-19 school closures. Families of eligible students can use the on-line accounts to obtain educational materials, resources and/or services. See the following link below for more information.

Homepage: TEA Supplemental Special Education Services

Other Important Links
TEA Resources on Special Education in Texas
ADD/ADHD
Advocacy
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Blind and Visually Impaired
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Mental Health
Recreation and Summer Camps
Transition 

Disclaimer: Agencies and Resources listed are for informational purposes only. CISD does not endorse any of these programs.