The Teacher Questionnaire (TQ) asks for information directly from teachers or instructors based on their personal observations of an individual’s day-to-day functioning in the education setting, in both academic activities and social interactions. When assessing an individual’s limitations, teachers are asked to compare the person’s functioning to that of same-aged individuals who do not have impairment(s).

The structure of the TQ is intended to facilitate both the teacher’s task of answering the questions, and the adjudicator’s task of using those responses when evaluating an individual’s impairment(s). Since it was originally created to serve the needs of the title XVI childhood disability program, the structure of the TQ parallels the domains of functioning used in the Childhood Disability Evaluation Form (SSA-538) and described in DI 25225.025 – DI 25225.055. However, the TQ is sufficiently generic to be used in other kinds of cases (as discussed in Policy below).

The TQ and RAI are used primarily in title XVI SSI childhood disability cases when children (from around age 3 or 4 to attainment of age 18) attend any kind of school (nursery, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, elementary, secondary), including home-school at any level.

The TQ and RAI may also be useful in other cases when an individual alleging disability has recent or current involvement in an education or training program. Information from the education community or home-school situation may help to document the functioning of:

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  adolescents for whom disability is being sought under title II, for the purposes of parent or grandparent “child-in-care” benefits (see DI 23505.001 and DI 23505.005.);

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  young adults (age 18 or older) who are applying for benefits based on disability under title XVI or title II (see DI 22000.000);

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  young adults who are applying for Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB) as disabled adult children under title II (see DI 22505.011 concerning DDS development of CDB claims).

When a child is, or has recently been, in an education or training program, a completed TQ provides information about any problems the child has across a very broad range of activities when compared to other same-aged children who do not have impairment(s). The TQ is useful, therefore, for evaluating a child’s impairment(s) throughout the title XVI childhood sequential evaluation process (see DI 25201.005). For example, for deciding whether:

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  A child has a severe impairment or combination of impairments; i.e., one that causes more than minimal functional limitations;

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  A child’s impairment(s) meets or medically equals a listing that includes functional criteria, particularly the mental disorders listings;

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  A child’s impairment(s) functionally equals the listings.

When an individual age 18 or older (or an adolescent seeking disability for title II “child-in-care” purposes) is, or has recently been, in an education, vocational counseling, or training program, information provided in a TQ can be relevant to any assessment of the child's functioning under our rules (see DI 22001.001), including determining whether:

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  An individual has a severe impairment or combination of impairments;

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  An individual’s impairment(s) meets or medically equals a listing that includes functional criteria, particularly the mental disorders listings;

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  An individual has the ability to perform past or other work.

The TQ can provide useful information about the effects of any impairment(s) (physical, mental, or combination of physical and mental) on a person’s ability to function, because it elicits responses about all aspects of functioning, regardless of the nature of the individual’s impairment(s).

A teacher’s responses on the TQ describe the severity, or intensity, of an individual’s problems with activities. The TQ severity rating key uses common sense terms (e.g., “a slight problem,” “a very serious problem”) that capture the same range of limitations that are evaluated in disability claims, i.e., from no impact on a person’s functioning to extreme impact.

For several categories of activities, the TQ also captures information about the frequency of any problem an individual may have in performing a particular activity, again, in common sense terms (e.g., “weekly,” “hourly”). Like the information about the intensity of an individual’s problem with an activity, this information about the frequency of a problem can also provide perspective on the effects of an impairment(s).

For example, a child who has “an obvious problem” on an hourly basis with “paying attention when spoken to directly,” “refocusing to task when necessary,” “carrying out single-step instructions,” and “changing from one activity to another without being disruptive,” may demonstrate a greater limitation in Attending and Completing Tasks than a child who has “a serious problem” on a monthly basis with “completing work accurately without careless mistakes,” and “working at a reasonable pace/finishing on time.”

This is important, because knowing the frequency of an individual’s problem, in combination with its intensity, as well as the number of affected activities, can help in making a judgment about the effects of an individual’s impairment on their functioning.

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  The TQ supplements the questions about specific activities with more general questions about the quality and independence of an individual’s functioning. Functioning independently means doing age-appropriate activities in an age-appropriate manner, without needing help or supports that other children the same age typically do not need. See DI 25210.020.

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  Of course, even typically developing younger children need some help with age-appropriate activities. The question is: Does a child need any form of assistance or support (from a person, medication, treatment, device, or structured setting) that is above and beyond what a child the same age without impairment would need? The more extra help a child needs, the less independent the child is in functioning, which increases the weight of this factor in the rating of the child's limitations.

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  Moreover, a child may appear to function very well in a particular activity or set of activities, but if the child requires extra help to do so, then the child is not functioning as independently as same-age children without impairments. This information contributes to the total profile of the child and is essential to any determination about disability.

The TQ asks the informant, who is familiar with the individual, to compare the individual’s functioning to that of same-aged individuals who do not have impairments. By training and experience, most teachers are quite knowledgeable about the typical functioning of unimpaired individuals of the same age as the claimant.

The TQ reflects a teacher's observations about the severity of problems with individual activities, while the SSA-538 reflects ratings for the severity of limitations in broad domains, not for each particular activity

An individual’s ability to function in education-related activities and in an education setting is likely to be variable; i.e., the child will be more limited in some activities, but less limited, or not limited, in others. As a result, the teacher will likely provide different ratings of limitation for different activities within a related group of questions.

There is no formula for converting the teacher’s different intensity and frequency ratings for multiple activities into a single domain rating, or into a rating of an adult’s RFC for various kinds of work. Moreover, a teacher’s narrative comments are extremely important because they provide the adjudicator a tool for more clearly understanding the numerical rating of an individual’s limitations in functioning.

When a child of any age is home-schooled, adjudicators can use the TQ to obtain information about the child’s functioning in the education setting. Like educators in formal school systems, the home-school teacher must base all ratings on the TQ on their observations of the child as a student, and must compare the child’s functioning to that of children the same age who do not have impairments.

Request a student’s records from the home-school teacher(s) with the RAI under the cover of an SSA-827. Although the RAI is intended for use by administrative and pupil personnel offices, adjudicators may use it in its present form to request records of the student’s education status and progress from the home-school teacher(s). Items 1 through 5 apply, along with item 6 concerning Therapies, and the section for Additional Comments.

State requirements regarding home-schooling vary broadly from no regulation at all (i.e., states do not require parents to notify the school system of the intent to home-school their children), to high regulation (i.e., states require parents to send notification or achievement test scores and/or professional evaluations, plus other documentation, e.g., curriculum approval by the state, teacher qualifications of parents, or home visits by state officials). Whether a home-school teacher has produced records of a child’s academic progress may, therefore, depend on the regulations of the state in which the child lives. If adequate records of a child’s academic status and daily functioning in the education setting are not available, an adjudicator may:

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  Try to identify sources in the child’s community who could provide helpful information about the child’s functioning (e.g., clergy, scout leader, neighbors);

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  Determine that a consultative examination is needed to obtain needed information about the child’s functioning.