Update!!Help..Bad grades

[SnowAngel]

Peanut received his progress report Friday. I knew it was going to be bad, but had no idea it was this far off. His progress report looks like this:
Math
Class work pg24 0/100 F
Classwork test 100/100 A

This repeats for 20 classwork assignments and tests. Out of the 20 only 7 had been done and had a grade he earned. The reading/english had 15 classwork assignments and only 6 were with grades he earned. Every grade was for CLASSWORK.

They are meeting this week for a SAT meeting to discuss Peanut and getting an IEP. The principal is trying to get him in a self contained class of 8 students,1 teacher and 3 aides.

My problem: He is getting 0/100 on more than half his assignments what do I do? I have e-mailed the teacher and principal, but it was Friday and wont get a reply until Monday. I am concerned about him having to spend so much time in the hall,iss or the office instead of class. I realize Peanut is a handful, but I was upfront with the school before he started. I know he is also suffering from the consequences socially. He tells me he has no friends. I ask why and he responds because I am annoying. I ask Why? Peanut says with tears I dont know momma,I dont know why.

I do know that their are consequences for disruptive behavior and I agree with that. I do think this has gone on far to long and it is affecting him emotionally,socially and educationaly.
What can I do?

 

[Sheila]

Has your child had any type of problems in school previously?

...I dont know momma,I dont know why.

This is very telling to me, so I don't necessarily agree with "consequences" for disruptive behavior because it doesn't sound as if the reason for the disruptive behavior has been fully identified or addressed in the school environment. In instances such as your son's, reteaching and redirecting may be more appropriate. Much easier said than done....

They are meeting this week for a SAT meeting to discuss Peanut and getting an IEP. The principal is trying to get him in a self contained class of 8 students,1 teacher and 3 aides.

I don't know what a SAT meeting is, and typically I'm not big on meetings that exclude the parent. Every district has acronyms for intervention teams, so I'm guessing "SAT" is related to that.

It's encouraging that the principal is on board with the idea that intervention is needed. However, an IEP is not something that is asked for and received. There is a process mandated by Federal and State law that has to play out unless and Interim IEP is involved. This is a very, very rare happening and not likely the case unless you received an Invitation to the meeting.

There are other processes the sd can go through before they refer a child for evaluation for special education/IEP such as RTI. Again, these can and often do leave parent involvement out and in my opinion involves a lot of "guessing" about what can or needs to be done. So, I strongly urge you to circumvent the trial and error approach by referring your child for evaluation. You can do that by sending a letter via Certified Mail to your District Special Education Director. http://www.conductdisorders.com/com...a-formal-request-for-iep-re-evaluation.22433/ is a sample letter; there are others in the archives.

Include a request for a Functional Behavioral Assessment in the letter.

Unless you have a parent report prepared, edit that part out of the letter -- you can always submit it in a week or two. Retitle it "Parent Input" instead of Parent Report. Just so you know, the sd is only required to evaluate in "suspect" areas of disability, so it can be helpful in assisting sd personnel to "suspect."

I'd fax a copy to the principal, but still mail the letter via Certified Mail. The Certified Mail kicks in mandated timelines within which a school district must perform the evaluation(s).

The initial evaluation process, eligibility meeting, etc., can take 60 - 90 days, so I wouldn't delay getting the ball rolling.

 

[SnowAngel]

Thanks for the info. I will get things going on Monday.

 

[susiestar]

I'm so sorry your son is struggling so much. Our kids have enough going on inside them, they don't need the adults and other kids giving them a hard time on top of that.
I have a few questions, if you odn't mind me asking.

What was Peanut doing when the rest of the class was doing the work he didn't do?

He clearly is capable of the work, or he wouldn't be getting good grades on the test. Is he bored and not doing hte work because it has no challenge? (been there done that, and know lots of other families that have struggled with this.)

Why did they wait this long to contact you? Would it have been sensible for the teacher to call or email or write you and say, hey, Peanut isn't doing his classwork. How can we work together to get him to do it?

Why are you not included in the meeting about your child (SAT meeting?)?

Can you insist on attending the meeting so that the full scope of the issues can be addressed?

Hugs,

Susie

 

[SnowAngel]

Well they met on Tuesday at 2:45. My son came home at 3:00 with my invitation to be at the SAT meeting. So convienant. I blew a major gasket. They rescheduled for today at 2:45. Yesterday and today they tried this redirecting approach. Every time Peanut got out of his seat and wouldn't sit down they remove him from the class to a classroom with one teacher for an hour. Most ADHD kids can't sit still 5 minutes, can you imagine 1 hour. I am LMAO totally. I will see what is in store latter.