FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Navigating the Special Education process of Spanish-dominant students

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Ensure fair assessments for your students and your bilingual learners. 

When your school district partners with PERA Services® there is no more frustration with the process of assessing a bilingual learner. 

Our dedicated team of Bilingual specialists ensure compliance, provide expert ETR support, and complete fair evaluations of your Spanish speaking students all while supporting the school, the team and most importantly, the family.

PERA Services® is your partner in thorough bilingual learner evaluations

When you work with PERA Services®, the ETR team at your school will feel relief knowing that student needs are addressed by bilingual experts that provide student-centric solutions. 

One key aspect that PERA Services® brings to the table is their expertise in ruling out culture and language as determining factors in students' evaluations. Having a bilingual school psychologist who understands the nuances and potential biases is invaluable. Their unique perspective allows for a more comprehensive assessment that takes into account both the students' linguistic and cultural backgrounds, resulting in more accurate outcomes.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR UNIQUE CHALLENGES

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HOW WE WORK WITH OHIO SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Working with PERA Services® is easy. 

  • Wondering if we can help with your EL case? Then let’s connect.

    In this free consult, we get to know your district, your school, and your case. We also look at availability and if PERA Services® is a good fit for your evaluation. Feel free to email us with your district name and details (consent, ETR date and what you need such as Spanish cognitive and achievement or a communication assessment) or schedule a consultation call today. We’d love to connect with you too.

  • Once we review the student info, we communicate either with your SPED Director or supervisor, and start setting up the contract. This is simple! We get a few signatures from the person that approves us in your district, and we can immediately begin working and setting up our evaluation dates.

  • As soon as the contract is approved, we really go deep into the case.

    This usually happens between PERA Services® and the building school psychologist needing support on the case. We discuss how much support you will need from PERA and we will begin scheduling our sessions. PERA Services can assist with the planning meeting, and ETR meeting.

    Just let us know what you need, and we got you. We can be there for the entire case, or just parts of it. You decide.

  • After we schedule the evaluation sessions (likely virtual unless you are within our commute range), we’ll begin testing.

    Testing is completed virtually for most of our school districts using the Kanga by Presence platform. We typically assess our Bilingual learners with a Spanish Cognitive, and complete a Spanish Achievement. Let us know what you’ll need.

  • Once testing is complete, the final ETR part 1 is added to samegoal or sent to the Team Chairperson in pdf. Either two weeks after testing or right before the ETR meeting.

  • And that’s that.

    Our involvement in the case is pretty much done after testing and reports, unless you want us at the meeting. Otherwise, you have what you need to make eligibility decisions at your building. We’ll send you an email with a survey about our services and look forward to our next case together.

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OUR SERVICES & FEES

BILINGUAL EVALUATIONS

  • Bilingual evaluations include spanish assessments in the areas of general intelligence, achievement, social emotional, behavior, and adaptive skills.

    At PERA Services we also obtain parent input for the case and support building psychologists via consultation. Our bilingual evaluations assist teams in ruling out Culture and Language as determining factors.

    The price varies based on what each district needs. Prices are determined on whether a Spanish cog + ach is needed, whether Spanish rating scales are used, and whether Spanish interpreting is needed at meetings or in obtaining data.

    If you need our services, make sure you email us so we can quote you accurately for our services.

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TRADITIONAL SCHOOL PSYCH SERVICES

  • Sometimes districts need support with a few cases, whether that’s to cover maternity leave or support a building. We offer these services frequently and on a case-by-case basis, mostly to districts in the Central Ohio community. Fees vary depending on whether PERA Services staff will provide Team Chairperson support services and how much involvement there is. Fees also vary on whether they are an Initial or Reevaluation.

    Make sure you call us today to receive accurate info on your evaluation

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BILINGUAL COMMUNICATION EVALUATIONS

  • Bilingual evaluations are completed by a Bilingual and Bicultural SLP that we contract with. Bilingual evaluations assist teams in determining whether academic difficulties are related to typical second language errors or a language impairment. A flat fee is charged for Bilingual communication evaluations.

    Email us today to discuss the needs of your bilingual learners that may have Speech and language concerns. At this time we do not provide S/L Therapy services.

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Testimonials

“Our district has worked with PERA Services for several years. I appreciate that Juliana is able to clarify information from our families that were misinterpreted by the interpreting service that we are required to use. Working with PERA’s Bilingual SLP has been great this year as well; she is punctual, flexible, and reliable. She interacts easily with the families and the students. Her assessments are thorough and well-written. I honestly cannot think of any constructive feedback at this point based on the experiences I have had with the company!”

- Preschool School Psychologist in Delaware, OH

“ really appreciated working with Juliana and her expertise and guidance throughout the process. It was a difficult case in getting the parents to understand the significance of the needs but I feel that her support in delivering information and working with the parents was invaluable.”

- School Psychologist in Marion, OH

“Can’t say enough good feedback about PERA. Great, great, great. Thanks to the entire team. ”

- Principal, Columbus, OH

“Juliana’s services made a complicated case (from my perspective) uncomplicated. She simplified the process and was super easy to communicate with. Juliana made herself available whenever we needed it. Thank you, and I look forward to working with her again!”

- School Psychologist Supervisor in Lorain, OH

ABOUT

Meet Juliana Ramirez, Ed.S

Nationally Certified School Psychologist

Independently Licensed School Psychologist

Diplomate in School Neuropsychology

PERA Services Inc. was founded in March of 2018. At PERA we provide bilingual evaluation support to SPED teams assessing bilingual learners across the state of Ohio.

We support districts and building school psychs with evaluations in Spanish in the areas of cognition, achievement, communication, social emotional and behavior.

We also help parents navigate the process and assist schools increase parent participation and communication during the special education evaluation process.

At PERA, in our spare time, we also support school psychs across the nation that want to become Independent.

We absolutely LOVE supporting School Psychologists and giving back to our field. 

SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT PERA SERVICES®:

The name beautifully combines our last names Perez Ramirez (two last name household here)

PERA means Pear in Spanish. When I set out to name PERA, I really loved the pear image. In my mind, pears are relatives of apples commonly associated with Education. As school psychs we work in Education but not necessarily always in schools.

PERA Services has grown from being a one-woman show to being a trusted agency across school districts in the state of Ohio. We now have 3 contractors, and two employees on our team.

At PERA Services®, we empower Ohio's ETR teams to effectively evaluate bilingual learners for special education services. Our mission is to ensure equitable access to quality education for English Language (EL) students, fostering inclusivity and educational excellence for all. We support monolingual teams with their bilingual evaluations. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Have questions? We have answers!

  • To get PERA Services Inc. to assist with your case, your SPED Director or Supervisor will have to get involved. If they approve PERA Services as a vendor in your district, and we agree on a contract, Juliana can assist you with your case within the next two weeks. It’s a pretty straightforward process once the Director approves.

    Click here for a draft email to send to your Supervisor today!

  • At this time, PERA Services only provides in-person testing to school districts within our commute range…that usually being Central Ohio. If your school is outside that range, then we offer virtual evaluations using the Kanga by Presence platform. It’s amazing and every school psych we have worked with absolutely LOVES it. Kanga has all the major test batteries on the platform, and testing is a breeze! The school psych in charge of the case will get a briefing on the platform before our testing session. All you need is a chromebook and a quiet space.

  • If your district is on samegoal, we usually ask the supervisors to create an account for us. That way, we have access to the case and the student background info.

    You would add PERA Services, Inc. as an evaluator and when we are done testing the student, we simply add our evaluation results to the ETR as a part 1. We also add our summaries, and needs and implications too in Part 2 of the evaluation. It works like a charm!

  • At this time, PERA Services only provides Evaluation support to school districts in Ohio. We do not work outside of Ohio.

  • Once the contract is signed between PERA Services and the school district, testing usually happens within 2-4 weeks, this all depends on consent timelines and ETR dates. The ETR report part 1 is then submitted to the Team Chairperson 2 weeks after testing or before the ETR date, whichever comes first.

  • Yes! We can still help. Thankfully we have partner agencies we work with. We can support all your bilingual learner needs. While PERA Services specializes in the evaluation of Spanish speaking or Spanish dominant students, we can refer you to one of our partner agencies or find evaluators to assist you with your case.

  • Not necessarily. If the school district wants to handle planning and consent, and the ETR then an interpreter will be needed to obtain signatures from parents, BUT during testing, because all staff at PERA is bilingual, interpreters will not be needed. If the school wants PERA to handle consent, planning and ETR mtgs, then an interpreter will not be needed either.

  • It’s pretty simple actually! We set up a virtual meeting to talk about the case, typically between Juliana and the SPED Director or Supervisor, discuss the budget, fees and rates, sign a contract, and once both parties agree, Juliana will then follow-up with the team chairperson. Usually the bldg school psychologist. We then move on to discuss the case.

  • Yes!! We have a bilingual SLP that completes bilingual communication evaluations too! She’s also bilingual and bicultural and will gladly complete all Communication evals.

  • We assist in the evaluation process. We do as much or as little as each district needs/wants. The most common service is a Spanish cognitive and Achievement, but we also do communication evaluations, obtain Information Provided by Parent in an interview style, send out Spanish rating scales to parents in the areas of Adaptive Behavior, Social Emotional Status, etc.

I’m ready to discuss my case!

LET'S WORK TOGETHER