Transforming District Special Education Referrals in Kentucky

A partner district recently experienced a major breakthrough in how they use Nexus AI and their data, to inform special education referrals. Previously, their referral process was time-intensive, subjective, and often relied heavily on teacher input rather than concrete growth data. Nexus allows district leaders to receive in-depth insights in an instant. 

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The Challenge

The district’s special education team wanted to ensure that referrals were truly backed by data. One particular case involved a student who had already qualified for special education earlier in the year, but the team wasn’t confident the decision reflected the student’s actual progress. They needed a better way to verify whether the student’s learning trajectory aligned with grade-level expectations.

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The Solution

Utilizing Nexus’ chat feature, in-depth Two-Point Rate of Improvement (ROI) analysis is possible. The district’s school psychologist uploaded their own special ed referral formula, a PDF used to measure progress, into the chat as context to enrich the conversation with specific context. Within seconds, the system produced a clear, math-backed report that:

• Charted the student’s progress over time
• Compared that growth to every other 1st grader
• Classified the student’s improvement as “Ambitious”, or 22% above typical peers

Even though the math behind the analysis was complex, the results were simple, quick, and intuitive. Teachers could see exactly where the student stood with no interpretation required. With Nexus Chat, users can easily see exactly what data was pulled and what happened behind the scenes through a clear, built-in audit log to ensure confidence in the provided insights.

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The Impact

The tool not only validated that the prior referral may have been unnecessary but also gave the team new confidence in using data as a neutral, equitable decision-maker in the referral process. The school psychologist described the experience as “huge.”

“It worked flawlessly. My school psychs said it was huge [and was able to] show one student’s progress and compare it to every other student in 1st grade.”
- District Assistant Superintendent 

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Why This Matters

This use case highlights the real-world value of Nexus’ AI data tools. From question to action in a single conversation, this tool allowed this district to:

• Make objective and data-backed referral decisions
• Utilize multiple data sources in an instant
• Identify students who are truly off-track
• Communicate findings clearly to all stakeholders from any background

This district now plans to expand this approach across additional grades and intervention programs using Nexus. Their success highlights the platform’s ability to unify processes across teams and spark meaningful, data-driven conversations that support student success.