By: Christine M.
Riley, Education Advocate
With the school year winding down, are you disappointed by your
child’s academic progress? You can act
now to improve the situation for 2016-17.
1.
If your
child does NOT currently have special education services: If the
instructional supports his teachers tried this year led to disappointing
results, now is the time to request a special education evaluation.
·
By submitting your evaluation request now, your child will be at the top of the list for special education
evaluations and testing in September.
·
You may also want to consider a comprehensive
outside evaluation, like a neuropsychological. Use caution; choose a
specialist with current credentials who is respected by your school district,
as the district only needs to consider
outside evaluations.
·
Ask the teacher for your child’s reading level. Many districts in the
area rely on Fountas and Pinnell for leveling reading skills, using letters of the alphabet to
denote the levels. Borrow books from the community library at that level. To
find books in your child’s interest and reading level, use Scholastic’s free,
online Book Wizard. Choose Search by reading level and the Guided Reading option, which is the
Fountas and Pinnell leveling program, then the range of your child’s reading
level, say M to Q, as provided by the teacher. Hundreds of books will be
listed! Using some of these strategies, determine if your child is truly consistently reading at that
level. If not, be sure to document your informal results and submit them along
with your request for evaluation.
2.
If your
child DOES receive services and has an IEP: If progress toward the annual
goals established in your child’s IEP are not satisfactory, start gathering the
materials you need now to review for next year.
·
Request Schedule
of Services Logs—which are required to be maintained by every teacher or
specialist who works with your child one on one or in small groups. Request it
now, before staff (and their logs) are unavailable for the summer. The log
documents the frequency and content of services your child received over the
school year. Once in hand, review the logs and compare them to your child’s
IEP. Ensure she received the full services her IEP states she was entitled
throughout the year. If not, make note of the discrepancies.
·
Review
the year-end ProgressReport—provided by the teachers and specialists who work with your
child. Compare the progress report to your child’s IEP goals. The report should
provide facts and information about your child’s progress specifically related
to the stated goals. For example, if the goal states: “By year’s end, Susie will read at 4th grade level, at an
oral rate of 120-160 words per minute and books leveled Q through R.” The final progress report should reflect your
child’s progress, using similar facts and figures. All too often, the final
report is unrelated to goals, such as “You
should be proud of Susie’s progress in school this year. She worked hard. Have
a great summer. Hope to see you at the beach.” If that sounds like your child’s year-end
progress report, immediately write a letter to the head of the Special
Education Department of your school and ask that the progress report be revised
to include specific, measurable results.
By taking these important steps NOW, you are preparing for a better academic outcome for your child in 2016-17.
If you would like expert guidance on the process or just another opinion, contact us at Christine@CapeCodAdvocate.com We’re here to help you advocate for the most appropriate education for your child!