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Special Ed 101
Update - Finally Received IEP Copy - Our Request Denied for Writing Accommodations
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<blockquote data-quote="rlsnights" data-source="post: 407710" data-attributes="member: 7948"><p>Ok. So either your school district or LEA (not necessarily the same thing) are using a standard form that conforms to state-wide procedures or they are not. I don't know what state you are in so I can't check on it. You can do so by going to your state''s Dept of Ed website and seeing if they have that info there or, better yet, calling them with that question.</p><p></p><p>I would also ask the Dept of Ed what procedure you are supposed to follow if you do not agree with the IEP because the implementation agreed upon during the meeting has been unilaterally changed by the school. Are you supposed to return the IEP with a note written on the document stating that you no longer agree to the whole thing? To the part that has been changed? Are you supposed to send them separate written notice that you do not agree? Was it right for them to have you sign the IEP prior to the start of the meeting?</p><p></p><p>While the current issue is kind of minor compared to what it could be, you need to know this stuff since you don't know what might happen in the future.</p><p></p><p>If the part you quoted is representative of the whole IEP then I would not be surprised if they invented their own form and assumed that all parents would always agree. If you agree why bother have you say so with a separate signature? Argh.</p><p></p><p>About the keyboard - having it say "check on keyboard" is not any kind of commitment to providing a keyboard in my book. You might be able to make a case for it in mediation but I doubt it.</p><p></p><p>Are the goals any good? Goals should be written in such a way that if you up and moved to a new place, the current goals could be used without having to make any changes and without anyone having to figure out what is meant and how to measure progress. Goals that say things like "Johnny is having trouble reading at grade level. In one year Johnny will be reading at grade level." are probably not worth the paper they are written on.</p><p></p><p>They should typically have the following parts (see the example I gave you earlier, it has all these parts although the language about % written work is a little vague):</p><p></p><p>1. Current achievement - a specific, clear measurement of his current achievement in the area of the goal.</p><p>2. Either a single goal for 1 year from now that uses the same exact form of measurement and is written in clear, specific language or an interim goal and a 1 year goal.</p><p>3. How the goal meets State standards if this applies in your State or you want them to include that in the goal.</p><p></p><p>My guess is they don't write very many IEP's and are unskilled at writing a good IEP. They are sloppy (thus the "check on keyboard" statement) and aren't necessarily trying to keep Bubby from having what he needs.</p><p></p><p>I suggest you check out the Wright's Law website and consider ordering some of their materials on how to write goals and how to manage the IEP process so you are able to help write concrete, measurable goals and can recognize when something possibly illegal is going on - like the general ed teacher not being at the meeting - so you can nicely bring these little issues to their attention.</p><p></p><p>Before you do anything else I think it might be a good idea to talk to your Dept. of Ed about the procedural questions as this may mean the IEP as it stands doesn't meet the legal standards and has to be re-written. Plus they should be able to advise you on how to handle the whole "where do I sign" question.</p><p></p><p>As for the homework thing. been there done that x 3. So here is what I finally did that seemed to work for us. I asked his teacher(s) how long they felt the homework should take the average child in their class to complete each day. The National Education Association says that in the early grades homework should be roughly 10 minutes per grade. So that would be 30 minutes in 3rd grade. If the teacher said it should take 10 minutes, then that is how long I had my child work on the homework. If it was 30 then that's what was done.</p><p></p><p>Then I would write on the always incomplete work that my child had worked on the homework for 30 minutes. And then I would sign it, put it in the backpack and that was it. If the teacher complained then it was the perfect opportunity to talk about your child's difficulties in doing the homework and to ask the teacher what she wants you to do and how long your child should be expected to work on it. Very few teachers are going to say that a 3rd grader should spend 2 hours doing homework and it is your job to make them get specific. If they say until it is done then say - so if it takes him 3 hours that's how long you want him to work on it? If they say, well no, then you should tell me so I (teacher) can go over it with him the next day you say, Ok so then if he works on it for 2 hours is that what you expect? And so on. when you do this the teacher usually grasps the fact that their expectations are out of line and modify them. </p><p></p><p>If his grades fall, then you call for a team meeting and bring this to their attention. You should keep sample homework assignments when he brings them home graded that support your position. Hopefully you can indirectly lead the team to conclude that they should grade on and give Bubby credit for work completed rather than for the whole assignment. This is a typical strategy used widely when a child is unable to handle a full homework load. If he does 10 math problems then he is given 100% if he got all 10 right, regardless of the fact that the assignment was for 30 problems. If he got 5 right then he gets 50%.</p><p></p><p>These kinds of strategies are outlined in the books on writing IEP goals that are available through Wright's Law and other places.</p><p></p><p>I will also tell you that when my kids were in 5th grade they had a teacher who didn't believe in learning disabilities or in following IEP's. The principal backed her up, even in the face of direct orders to do things differently when the school district Special Education person found out.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, she would assign 60 math problems a night on a routine basis. On top of spelling, etc. When I tried to get her to agree to letting my son do every other problem she informed me this was unacceptable. When I tried to get her to accept the completed work she refused.</p><p></p><p>So I did his homework for him once he had worked on the problems for 30 minutes or whatever. Since he refused to show his work it was very easy - I just had him write the answers on the sheet.</p><p></p><p>Patricia</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="rlsnights, post: 407710, member: 7948"] Ok. So either your school district or LEA (not necessarily the same thing) are using a standard form that conforms to state-wide procedures or they are not. I don't know what state you are in so I can't check on it. You can do so by going to your state''s Dept of Ed website and seeing if they have that info there or, better yet, calling them with that question. I would also ask the Dept of Ed what procedure you are supposed to follow if you do not agree with the IEP because the implementation agreed upon during the meeting has been unilaterally changed by the school. Are you supposed to return the IEP with a note written on the document stating that you no longer agree to the whole thing? To the part that has been changed? Are you supposed to send them separate written notice that you do not agree? Was it right for them to have you sign the IEP prior to the start of the meeting? While the current issue is kind of minor compared to what it could be, you need to know this stuff since you don't know what might happen in the future. If the part you quoted is representative of the whole IEP then I would not be surprised if they invented their own form and assumed that all parents would always agree. If you agree why bother have you say so with a separate signature? Argh. About the keyboard - having it say "check on keyboard" is not any kind of commitment to providing a keyboard in my book. You might be able to make a case for it in mediation but I doubt it. Are the goals any good? Goals should be written in such a way that if you up and moved to a new place, the current goals could be used without having to make any changes and without anyone having to figure out what is meant and how to measure progress. Goals that say things like "Johnny is having trouble reading at grade level. In one year Johnny will be reading at grade level." are probably not worth the paper they are written on. They should typically have the following parts (see the example I gave you earlier, it has all these parts although the language about % written work is a little vague): 1. Current achievement - a specific, clear measurement of his current achievement in the area of the goal. 2. Either a single goal for 1 year from now that uses the same exact form of measurement and is written in clear, specific language or an interim goal and a 1 year goal. 3. How the goal meets State standards if this applies in your State or you want them to include that in the goal. My guess is they don't write very many IEP's and are unskilled at writing a good IEP. They are sloppy (thus the "check on keyboard" statement) and aren't necessarily trying to keep Bubby from having what he needs. I suggest you check out the Wright's Law website and consider ordering some of their materials on how to write goals and how to manage the IEP process so you are able to help write concrete, measurable goals and can recognize when something possibly illegal is going on - like the general ed teacher not being at the meeting - so you can nicely bring these little issues to their attention. Before you do anything else I think it might be a good idea to talk to your Dept. of Ed about the procedural questions as this may mean the IEP as it stands doesn't meet the legal standards and has to be re-written. Plus they should be able to advise you on how to handle the whole "where do I sign" question. As for the homework thing. been there done that x 3. So here is what I finally did that seemed to work for us. I asked his teacher(s) how long they felt the homework should take the average child in their class to complete each day. The National Education Association says that in the early grades homework should be roughly 10 minutes per grade. So that would be 30 minutes in 3rd grade. If the teacher said it should take 10 minutes, then that is how long I had my child work on the homework. If it was 30 then that's what was done. Then I would write on the always incomplete work that my child had worked on the homework for 30 minutes. And then I would sign it, put it in the backpack and that was it. If the teacher complained then it was the perfect opportunity to talk about your child's difficulties in doing the homework and to ask the teacher what she wants you to do and how long your child should be expected to work on it. Very few teachers are going to say that a 3rd grader should spend 2 hours doing homework and it is your job to make them get specific. If they say until it is done then say - so if it takes him 3 hours that's how long you want him to work on it? If they say, well no, then you should tell me so I (teacher) can go over it with him the next day you say, Ok so then if he works on it for 2 hours is that what you expect? And so on. when you do this the teacher usually grasps the fact that their expectations are out of line and modify them. If his grades fall, then you call for a team meeting and bring this to their attention. You should keep sample homework assignments when he brings them home graded that support your position. Hopefully you can indirectly lead the team to conclude that they should grade on and give Bubby credit for work completed rather than for the whole assignment. This is a typical strategy used widely when a child is unable to handle a full homework load. If he does 10 math problems then he is given 100% if he got all 10 right, regardless of the fact that the assignment was for 30 problems. If he got 5 right then he gets 50%. These kinds of strategies are outlined in the books on writing IEP goals that are available through Wright's Law and other places. I will also tell you that when my kids were in 5th grade they had a teacher who didn't believe in learning disabilities or in following IEP's. The principal backed her up, even in the face of direct orders to do things differently when the school district Special Education person found out. Anyway, she would assign 60 math problems a night on a routine basis. On top of spelling, etc. When I tried to get her to agree to letting my son do every other problem she informed me this was unacceptable. When I tried to get her to accept the completed work she refused. So I did his homework for him once he had worked on the problems for 30 minutes or whatever. Since he refused to show his work it was very easy - I just had him write the answers on the sheet. Patricia [/QUOTE]
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Update - Finally Received IEP Copy - Our Request Denied for Writing Accommodations
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