Child Study Team

The Mueller Child Study Team (CST) is composed of the school psychologist, social worker, speech therapist, nurse, and principal. They meet weekly to discuss students who have been brought to their attention by teachers, parents, referral agencies, and the GEST Team.

Before students are brought to the CST's attention, they have already had classroom teachers develop and try teaching intervention strategies to remedy the perceived need. Needs could include: speech, behavior, learning, and accelerated learning needs. Parents are included in this process. After documenting the strategies and meeting with other designated teachers, support staff, and parents, a decision is made whether or not to continue the process with some more in depth testing by the CST for a possible special education program placement.

The CST specifically works with students who are in the special education referral process who need testing to see if they meet state eligibility requirements for special education programs including: Speech, Learning Disabilities, Behavior Disordered, TMR, and Gifted. During this final testing process, parents are contacted for notice and consent, a social history of the student, and student questionnaires. The nurse completes a health vision/hearing screening and health history of the student. The psychologist completes testing to determine student achievement, aptitude, and learning area performance. The speech therapist may or may not be involved to test for speech, articulation, and language development.

After all areas are tested, the CST meets with the parent(s) to review the information as a group and determine the certification of eligibility for each area under consideration. Students who qualify may be placed into a special education program as needed.

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