Evaluation report to parent / information

[wincha]

Someone suggested and even stated that this was law(no documentation though) to request a copy of the evaluation 10 days before the meeting so we can be better prepared. I requested and got a call from the psychologist that said this info is not given out ahead of time and she will go over it with us and write the report AFTER the meeting. This meeting is an eligilabilty meeting. She did the WISC4 and WYATT 2 and BASC plus observations. I did request something like the TOWL since she has trouble with some written expression however she has been able to write reports since moving to her new school EXCEPT anything personal or what she thinks about a book ie reading response journal where they are to write what they think or thoughts about a book. Last report card her reading grade was docked from an A to a C since she did none of this. This was after we requested the evaluation and voiced a concern over written work. The teacher failed to communicate that she was not doing this even in my weekly calls and her progress report and even said "well she won't get an IEP if she gets all A's" Her science grade went from an A to a B even though she aced everything but isn't using her time wisely however no examples or days given just an subjective grade. The meeting is Friday, they got a sub for the teacher so I can go on my 1/2 day. I was called 11/8 about it got a letter on 11/12 the meeting is 11/15. My husband said we will go to the meeting and if things go wrong he will keep this info about not properly informing us or giving us enough notice to bring up later.

Do I have a right to this information prior, I mean days prior to this meeting? Cause they are going to tell us if she qualifies and what label. Can we contest a label. I have all kinds of documentation with the new law to argue for OHI. If she doesn't qualify I will just lose it. She has been removed from class, sent to the office, hid in the bathroom when the teacher insisted on seeing a paper(was personal) ect.... the teacher is documenting it all. I just don't trust the school since we fought for the other 2 children also.

 

[Sheila]

Some school districts will say that they do not want to release a report to a parent because most parents don't understand them and the report needs to be explained. That's a legitimate reason, and it's why I recommend that if a school district offers this reasoning, then a meeting between parent and evaluator needs to be made several days prior to an IEP meeting so the report can be explained.

In your situation however this does not apply. The report isn't ready and reportedly won't be ready until after the IEP meeting. This is not appropriate. How can IEP committee members "meaningly participate?"

The following is from the US Department of Education. It discusses changes with-the new IDEA 2004. This particular issue has not changed from the last IDEA.

"Comment: One commenter
recommended that parents receive
evaluation reports prior to an IEP Team
meeting because the reports may have
information that parents need to
participate in making decisions about
the IEP. The commenter stated that, if
parents receive reports at meetings,
rather than before the meetings, they
cannot be active participants. Another
commenter stated that parents should be
provided with copies of documents
related to the determination of
eligibility at least five days prior to the
eligibility determination meeting.

Discussion: The Act does not establish
a timeline for providing a copy of the
evaluation report or the documentation
of determination of eligibility to the
parents and we do not believe that a
specific timeline should be included in
the regulations because this is a matter
that is best left to State and local
discretion. It is, however, important to
ensure that parents have the information
they need to participate meaningfully in
IEP Team meetings, which may include
reviewing their child’s records. Section
300.613(a) requires a public agency to
comply with a parent request to inspect
and review existing education records,
including an evaluation report, without
unnecessary delay and before any
meeting regarding an IEP, and in no case
more than 45 days after the request has
been made. This includes the right to a
response from the public agency to
reasonable requests for explanations and
interpretations of records, consistent
with § 300.613(b)(1)....


Changes: None."

 

[Martie]

I agree with Sheila: I will not meet as an advocate without first reading the results. Nor will I waste everyone's time by sitting at a meeting while I read the results.

In my ex-difficult child's case they always released directly to me; however, I teach graduate level assessment courses so they could hardly refuse.

If they refuse a non-professional parent on the grounds that it is not "ethical" to release written results by mail, then insist on a pre-meeting to receive results as Sheila suggests.

This may be an over blown analogy, but no attorney would argue a case without disclosure--the same principle applies.

by the way, for those who have attorneys, SDs release in my experience, regardless of whether the attorney knows a mean from a standard deviation.

Martie