Student Technology Consultations (STC) Service

Cross Contract Process

This service is designed to help schools respond effectively to the needs of students with disabilities, and to Federal laws on assistive technology.

The objectives of the service are to:

1. Provide referred students a technology consultation to recommend an effective match between assistive technologies and their instructional needs.

2. Help parents and educators work together to use assistive technologies to help the students attain greater access to curriculum, learn and communicate in a least restrictive environment, and meet goals set for the student by his/her parents, teachers, or the student him/herself.

3. Operate an assistive device loan program via the Assistive Technology Itinerant Service.

To achieve these objectives, the T.R.E. Center will provide districts with a Student Technology Consultation (STC). The STC is a process of matching the needs of a student with a disability to appropriate assistive technology. As part of an on-going I.E.P. process, a referral is made to the T.R.E. Center and additional student data is collected. The data is reviewed by a qualified Assistive Technology Specialist(s) and used to plan an observation and/or a consultation session with the student and one or more adults from the student’s home and/or educational environments.

** Please Note: In order to schedule and proceed with a consultation, the T.R.E. Center must have written authorization from the district Pupil Personnel Director, CSE Chairperson or their designee, who will be responsible for funding this service, and if applicable, a signed cross contract. A signed cross contract is required if a school district is not a component district of the Capital Region BOCES. Please see the Cross contract procedure below.

Written recommendations are shared with the Chair of the Committee on Special Education for distribution to appropriate staff. The recommendations provide CSE team members and parents with many options for using assistive technologies to address the student’s individual learning styles, to meet and enhance their instructional needs, and to help them attain greater access to the curriculum. A variety of follow-up supports are then provided, upon request, to the child’s educator(s) “on an as needed basis.” The recommended assistive and computer technologies, and/or software are not provided through the T.R.E. Center. It is the school district’s responsibility to acquire and provide the recommended items, and they may do so by participating in the Assistive Technology Itinerant Service.

Due to individual students’ needs, the time to complete an STC may average between 5 to 9 hours. Case management activities in a typical STC include: processing the referral; planning, scheduling and conducting the consultation; writing and distributing the report; and, follow-up support to assist with implementing the recommendations.

SERVICE DELIVERY

Districts can request the Student Technology Consultation Service at any time during the School Year on an hourly, daily or per diem basis. Services may be available during the summer as schedules permit.

Download the Student Technology Consultation (STC) Referral Form

(in Adobe Acrobat PDF Format)

For more information about this service or to request an STC, please contact Debra McGarvey by email or phone: 518-464-6346 or 800-248-YTRE

Capital Region BOCES (Albany-Schoharie-Schenectady-Saratoga Areas)

Cross Contract Process

If the school is a component district of a BOCES in New York (with the exception of Capital Region BOCES):

1) The educational team/member takes the request for services to their CSE Chairperson.

2) The CSE Chairperson takes the request to their School District Superintendent, who contacts his/her BOCES District Superintendent via letter or telephone. The information provided to the BOCES District Superintendent should include:
Student Technology Consultation, Diagnostic & Prescriptive Services #319 – Activity #6813, service cost plus travel (if applicable), student name, school district, and the school year.

3) Your BOCES District Superintendent requests the service from Capital Region BOCES via letter or telephone with the highlighted information above.

The Capital Region BOCES Central Administration, in turn, sends the cross contract form for the appropriate signatures.

For more information on the BOCES cross contract process, please call Kim Duran, Deputy Treasurer, Capital Region BOCES, Central Administration, (518) 464-4927.