How to have a successful IEP meeting..

Sometimes, you might feel as if you and the school are working at cross-purposes.  One thing to keep in mind is, in general, both sides are focused on what is in your child's best interest.  Sometimes, you may even be saying the same thing, but with all the educational jargon that can get tossed around a meeting table, you may not feel like that is what's happening.

Some rules to follow to ensure you have a successful IEP meeting include the following:

1. Know what you want for your child.  This can encompass both the types of setting you feel he or she will be most successful in, and it means the goals you have for him/her.  Do you want her to be able to tell her times tables through the 9s? Do you want her to be able to understand a grade level chapter book?  Do you want him to be able to write a sentence using nouns and verbs? Do you know that he will do better on tests if he is allowed to take them in a separate room?  If you know what you want to see for your child at the end of the school year, you can help guide the process.
2. Try not to blame, or criticize.  This can be hard, because this is your child, and nothing brings out the Momma Bear like a momma who feels like her child is being short changed.  If you feel something is not right, take a deep breath, and ASK for clarification instead.  A simple "Could you explain that to me a little better" may open the door to better communication and a greater understanding on everyone's part.  You may certainly exercise your right to disagree with what is being discussed, but if you can keep away from blaming others or criticizing the school or personnel, you will to a long way to fostering a positive interaction.
3. Seek solutions in which everyone can win.  Keeping in mind the limitations that may be on certain schools or districts, if you can work with the team to help develop solutions that meet with the best of what everyone wants, the team will move forward and progress can begin for your child.  Offer what you know works best - does your child respond to positive interventions? Would a time-out be better for changing behavior? Would it be better for your child to take a test a few questions at a time rather than get overwhelmed? Ideas like these can create win-win scenarios at IEP meetings.

And remember, you don't necessarily get what you deserve - you get what you negotiate.

Educationally yours...


The SpEd Guru

What do the numbers mean? What is ability and acheivement? I'm drowing in numbers.. HELP!

Making sense of all the numerical and statistical data when a child is being tested for a learning disability seems as if it needs its own advanced degree just to navigate!

The first thing that should happen on the road to diagnosing a learning disability is for the school to request your permission to test your child. Generally there will be two different tests given, each measuring a specific thing.

The first test will be an ability test, a cognitive assessment of what your child should be able to do. Alfred Binet created the first test that he believed would reliably assess the intelligence of a person back in 1904.  Over 100 years later, the tests have gone through numerous updates, and the tests go through tests themselves to ensure they measure what they are intended to measure. There are several out there, but the most common seems to be the WISC, the Stanford-Binet (still being used today!!!) and the DAS, or Differential Ability Scale.  Most of these tests are verbal tests, meaning the student needs to be able to understand language and directions.  For children for whom this is not possible (think ELL students or students so young as to not have the adaptive language for such tasks) there are also tests which are non-verbal in nature but that accurately measure the same things as, say, the WISC.

So, what are they measuring?  Generally tests break up tasks into two areas: verbal and performance.  Students are asked questions like "why would a firefighter wear a uniform" or asked to complete a maze or replicate a design with blocks. Processing speed and memory are also measured.  From these tests, a Full Scale Performance IQ is determined.  It is rare to see this number change much over the years, although a variation a few points is to be expected when the tests are given 3 years apart.

So, what numbers do we want to see, and what REALLY are we measuring?  Well, if you are so inclined to think of it this way, the IQ is your God-given ability - it is what you were born with. It is not the result of schooling (think Einstein and Edison) but rather your innate talents and gifts.  The scale ranges from 10 to 250+, but generally you see 100 as an average, and that is the number used by educators as we look to the MEAN of the scale. We consider the "average range" to be from 85 - 115, or 1 standard deviation away from the norm, with a standard deviation being equal to 15 points on the scale.  From here, we know what we should be able to expect from your child in school.  Ideally, a child with 100 as an IQ would also ACHIEVE around a 100.

The achievement tests measure what the child has absorbed, retained and garnered from his school life.  Specific academic skills are measures such as spelling, writing, math reasoning (where you have to manipulate numbers in your head.. word problems), math calculations, reading decoding, reading comprehension and listening/speaking skills.  These tests work off the same 100-being-the-mean score, so the numbers do match apples for apples.

When the scores from achievement are significantly lower than the scores for ability, we presume that is due to a learning disability.  Other causes are possible such as academic deprivation which is generally not as abusive as it sounds - a child who was ill, for example, and missed 10 weeks of school would be considered to have lower achievement scores simply because she was not in school for all those days. 

Depending on the areas, a diagnosis of SLD would be given wherever there is a score greater than a standard deviation below the IQ, although it becomes more of a sliding scale depending on the IQ.. the higher the IQ, the greater the discrepancy needs to be and conversely, the lower the IQ, the smaller the discrepancy needs to be. 

It is common to see a child with scores that are close to their IQ in all areas but one, and it is just as common to see a disability in many, or all, areas.  These are highly unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all explanation.  If you have a question about your child's test scores, call his special education teacher or request a sit down or phone conference with the school psychologist or other professional who can interpret those results for you.  You have the right to have all of your questions answered, and I hope I have clarified some things here today.

Educationally yours,

The SpEd Guru

My child has an IEP.. how can they get an F?

This is one of the most common questions I get as a teacher. Students with IEPs are entitled to many benefits to help them be successful in the classroom setting, however, the students still need to be part of the process. Here is what I mean by that.. So long as the accommodations are being met in the classroom, a student with an IEP still has the right to fail. An IEP simply levels the playing field; your student still needs to be willing to play the game! In fact, in my professional opinion, a few of the accommodations we allow in our IEPs actually are detrimental to the later success of our students with IEPs. "Extended time on assignments" is one of such a beast. This accommodation recognizes the fact that many students with learning differences need additional time to complete a task. We allow for assignments to be turned in late for full credit. This works reasonably well when a student is in early elementary school but by the time he or she gets to middle school, the following scenario happens like clockwork: a student knows he has extra time to complete an assignment, and so rather than doing what he can when he can, procrastination takes over. Soon, that student is facing not only the end of a grading quarter, but an amount of work to complete that has snowballed beyond all reason! Rather than allowing this to happen, a more reasonable and appropriate accommodation for extended time should read more like this: "Johnny will receive assignment X number of days before his peers to allow for extra time to complete the assignment." All assignment due dates are solid and there is not wiggle room on the back end with just changing the assignment time frame. If accommodations are not being used appropriately in the classroom, and you feel your child's failing grade is due to this, please have an open dialogue with the teacher and with your child's special education case manager. Perhaps your child truly needs more modifications to the curriculum, but if all parties are in agreement that modifications and accommodations are reasonable and being enforced, at that point, your child's failure or success is up to him. Remember, while no one wants to fail a child with a learning difficulty, the child still needs to hold up his or her end of the gig.

It's my first IEP - what does my signature mean?

Many parents and guardians are concerned about what their signatures mean on the front page of an IEP. That first meeting, and in truth, any and all subsequent meetings, can be intimidating.  You will likely have a table full of people who seem to know more than you do about your child and his or her needs. You may be overwhelmed with test scores, accommodations, goals, and so forth. You know you signed a few pieces of paper, but in looking back on it, you wonder.. just what did I sign my name to, and what does it all mean??

One of the first things to remember is this - your signature on the IEP front page does NOT imply that you agree with the contents of the document.  It is simply an attendance form to show you were present at the table when the plan was discussed.

Other papers do not carry this caveat - placement pages, for example, specifically ask for you to agree or disagree with placement in Special Education.  On those, you are stating your opinion.. but the IEP signature page is simply to show you were there. Should you disagree with any part of the IEP, even after you have signed it, you are welcome to call the case manager, (generally that is your child's Special Education teacher, sometimes it is the school psychologist) and request an additional meeting. 

Just because an IEP team MUST meet at least once per year, there is no regulation stating that you cannot meet again before that year date is up!  When in doubt, call an IEP meeting!

Least Restrictive Environment

Many times, educators throw around not only acronyms, but whole word phrases such as this one above, without going into much detail as to what it means.

In accordance with IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2006, it is the goal to provide support to students with disabilities in an environment that takes them away from their peers as little as possible

There is an entire spectrum of "environments" from the very least restrictive to the most restrictive. Generally speaking, a student with a disability who is in the regular education setting for 100% of his or her day, without the support of additional professionals, would be considered in the very least restrictive environment. Adding the support of a paraprofessional would be the next step down, followed by the addition of a special education teacher and so forth. A full list of environments can be found at the end of this article.

Again, the goal of Special Education is to help a student remediate the skills he or she may be lacking, but to do so in a way that will not negatively impact that child, either socially or academically.  Looking at Least Restrictive Environment and ensuring this very fine balancing act is in place is paramount to both working within the confines of the law, as well as working in the best interest of the child.

Environments, from least to most restrictive, in the eyes of the law..

1. general education classroom setting with no supports
2. general education with in-class resources (push in services with either a paraprofessional or special education teacher)
3. resource specialist program (pull out services - this is your typical LRC pull out class)
4. special day class - may be a self-contained program within your school or district
5. non-public school
6. day treatment center
7. residential treatment center
8. home hospital

Educationally Yours,
The SpEd Guru