Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Special Education
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
This page answers common questions about the NJSLEDS Special Education submission, including reporting timelines, referral data, validation rules, and cross-checks with Student Management.
Use this page with the Special Education Handbook and other NJSLEDS resources. For additional help, contact the NJSLEDS Help Desk.
FAQ Categories
Q: Should preschool age students who have been referred for special education services be reported to the Student Management and Special Education submissions?
Yes. If a preschool-age student has a recorded ReferralDate for special education services, they must be included in both the Student Management and Special Education submissions. Please note that certain fields, such as GradeLevel and ProgramTypeCode, are not required for preschool referral students.
Q: Should related services be reported for declassified students if they received services in the year(s) prior to being declassified?
No. Related services provided in prior years should not be reported in the current year's Special Education submission. Only services provided during the current reporting year should be included.
Q: Should a student be reported if they were referred but did not receive an evaluation or have an eligibility determination meeting?
No. If a student was referred but did not receive an evaluation and no eligibility determination meeting occurred, the student should not be reported in the Special Education submission.
Q: Should general education students attending non-public schools within their LEA be reported to the Special Education submission?
No. Students who are parentally placed in non-public schools, meaning they have been found eligible for special education and related services by your district but are attending a private school at a parent expense, should not be reported in the Special Education submission.
Q: Will I receive an error if my SpecialEducationClassification field differs in Special Education from what was submitted to Student Management?
Yes. If a student appears in both the Special Education submission and Student Management, the SpecialEducationClassification must match across both submissions.
To resolve a mismatch:
- If the correction is needed in the Special Education submission, update the student's infromation in your local student information system (SIS) or other source system and reupload the record to Special Education.
- If the correction is needed in Student Management, update your SIS or source system and reupload the record during the Local Data Mart (LDM) window.
Please note: Changes made to Student Management after the Fall Snapshot will not affect the official Special Education submission.
Q: When is the EarlyIntervention field mandatory for students?
The EarlyIntervention field is required for any student who turned 3 years old between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024. If a student has been referred for early intervention services, that student must be reported to Student Management at the time of the referral, even if the evaluation process is still underway and the student has not yet enrolled by the October 15 Snapshot.
Q: Are personal aides or the consultations for PT, OT, and Speech reported as related services?
Districts are responsible for making this determination. In general, if the services, such as support from a personal aide or consultations for physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), or speech, are prescribed in a student's IEP, the distrct may choose to report them as RelatedServices in NJSLEDS.
Q: If a student received independent evaluations from a third party, how should I complete the field for the ConsentToEvaluate element?
If a parent has requested an independent evaluation from a third party, a Parental Consent to Evaluate Date must still be reported. This date should reflect when the district received parental consent and must be on or after the student's ReferralDate, in accordance with reporting requirements.
Q: What date should be used for the ReevaluationDate if the triennial re-evaluation is waived?
If the triennial evaluation has been formally waived, report the date the parent provided written consent to waive the evaluation. This consent date should be entered as ReevaluationDate.
Q: How should I report a student's name if it is unknown?
If a student's first or last name is unknown, enter "Unknown" in the applicable field. Do not use placeholder values such as FNU (First Name Unknown) or LNU (Last Name Unknown). This ensures consistency with the Student Management submission, which the Special Education submission validates against.
Q: If a student is still in the evaluation process as of the Fall Student Snapshot, shoudl they be reported to the Special Education submission?
Yes. Students who have been referred for special education services but have not yet been evaluated should still be included in the Special Education submission. In these cases, only the ReferralDate should be reported. All other fields should be left blank.
Q: If a student with an IEP is referred to the Child Study team (CST) for speech services but is not evaluated or remains with their existing classification and plan, should the new referral date be reported?
No. If the student is not evaluated and their existing classification and IEP remains unchanged, the new referral date should not be reported. The student's record should reflect the current classification and plan already in place.
Q: If a student with an IEP who is receiving speech-language services is referred to the Child Study Team (CST) for additional evaluation but has not been tested, should the new referral be reported?
No. If the student has not been evaluated and their classification and IEP remain unchanged, the new referral date should not be reported. The student should continue to be reported under the existing classification and plan.
Q: If a student is currently classified as Eligible for Special Education and Related Services (ESERS), and changes to Eligible for Speech-Language Services (ESLS) during the year, should the student be reported as a new referral?
No. A change from ESERS and ESLS should be reported as a reevaluation, not a new referral.
However, if a student transitions from ESLS to ESERS, that change must be reported as a new referral in NJSLEDS.
Q: If a student's classification is changed from ESLS to ESERS at an Eligibility Determination meeting, should the Reevaluation field be left blank, and the dates instead be reported in the Referral/Initial Eligibility fields?
Yes. A change from ESLS to ESERS is considered a new referral in NJSLEDS. In this case, the Reevaluation fields should be left blank, and the appropriate dates should be entered in the ReferralDate and InitialEligibilityDate fields to reflect the new classification process.
Q: Should SpecialEducationClassification be reported if there is no IEP in effect after the Fall Student Snapshot due to parental refusal?
Yes. If a student has been determined eligible for special education services, their SpecialEducationClassification must be reported, even if their IEP is not in effect on October 15 due to parental refusal.
Q: Is there guidance regarding how to report an InitialProcessDelayReason due to school closures during a declared state of emergency, or a directive by the appropriate health agency or officer to institute a public health-related closure?
Yes. If the delay in the initial evaluation process was due to a declared state of emergency, a declared public health emergency, or a directive from a health agency or officer to close schools, report InitialProcessDelayReason as 14.
Q: What information should I report for a student who was reclassified prior to the Fall Student Snapshot if the new IEP does not go in effect until after the Snapshot? Should the original classification or the new classification determined for the student be reported?
Report the most recent classification determined for the student, even if the new IEP has not yet gone into effect.
As long as the reclassification was determined before the Fall Snapshot, that information should be submitted to reflect the most current status available at the time of the Snapshot.
Q: Is there an End of Year Special Education submission collected in NJSLEDS?
No. NJSLEDS does not collect a separate End of Year Special Education submission. Instead, it is a year-round system that captures Snapshot data in the fall. Special Education records are validated against the October 15 Student Management Snapshot.
It is essential that your Student Management data accurately reflects each student's status as of October 15 so that Special Education data aligns with it.
Q: How should I report students to the Special Education submission if they are declassified as of June 30th and then re-referred in the new school year without an eligibility determination?
Report the current information available as of the Fall Snapshot. In this scenario, the student would typically be reported with only the new ReferralDate, since no eligibility determination has been made yet. Additional fields can be updated as new information becomes available.
