Tag: education

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Building the Perfect IEP

My husband says I can relax sometimes; that our son didn’t come with an instruction manual. I know he’s right, but this is his educational career we’re talking about. Thirteen plus years of glory or failure (well, probably something more in between, but you get the picture). And it all starts with one very long, very dry legal document: the IEP.

In most ways I’m laid back. I grew up on the beach. I come from a long line of beach bums. I can procrastinate and cut loose with the best of them. But when it comes to my son with Down syndrome’s Individual Education Plan I turn into a complete Type-A Tiger Mom (I even annoy me). As we speak I’m working on a year-long course in special education advocacy, all to ensure my son gets the education he needs and hopefully help other families along the way. This is all while preparing to move across country and find the right school for my soon-to-be kindergarteners (yes, I consume a lot of wine and chocolate).

Read Related Post: Letter to My Son’s New School

I realize there’s probably no “perfect” IEP. After all, my son’s educational success depends on a lot more than just a great IEP. Still, I’m determine to give it my best shot. Why not shoot for the stars? Below is my attempt at building the perfect IEP. Feel free to use what works for your child, and please comment below with other tips that I can add to my repertoire.

  1. Don’t be afraid of evaluations: Schools must do an initial evaluation for eligibility in special education, a reevaluation every three years, and you can request up to one reevaluation every year. I was so scared of evaluations and what they would mean for my son. I’m still skeptical of certain types of evaluations. In fact, I refused an IQ and achievement test as part of my son’s reevaluation process. But if done correctly, evaluations should drive solid IEP goals and services. A good evaluation will tell you what your child does well, and where he needs help. Without a wide-range of good evaluations, IEP goals and services may be too hard or too easy. Make sure your child’s evaluation report includes norm-referenced and criterion based evaluations, as well as observations from yourself and his teachers. The evaluations should cover all areas of suspected disability. My son received evaluations in speech, OT, social-emotional, and adaptive skills. The school’s own evaluation report allowed me to request further testing for assistive technology and a positive behavior intervention plan. All of this combined helps the IEP team build a solid IEP. If the school’s evaluation is not sufficient request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE).
  2. Know what you want and use evidence to get it: I started writing out a list of IEP ideas a couple months before our meeting. I scoured social media, called friends, and Googled like crazy to find out what other students have in their IEP under Goals, Specially Designed Instruction, Supplementary Aids and Services, Accommodations, Personnel Training. Once I got a list of ideas I matched them to Troy’s needs, and then researched the validity of specific programs in reading, writing, and math. Here are some evidence-based websites to start your search:
    • What Works Clearinghouse Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Find What Works provides the research behind the best and worst literacy, math, behavior, disability intervention programs out there.
    • Evidence for Essa This is a brand new site produced by John Hopkins University School of Education, which helps educators and parents find out if the programs they use correlate with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) standards.
    • Best Evidence Encyclopedia Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, this free website gives educators and researchers fair and useful information about the strength of the evidence supporting a variety of programs available for students in grades K-12.
    • Power Up What Works This website offers educators resources, strategies, and practical tips to personalize your instruction with technology to meet the needs of struggling students.
  3. Know how the IEP process works: Have you reviewed your parent rights? It’s amazing what you can learn by reading and rereading that little booklet your IEP team is obligated to give you (NEVER throw it out!). The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates has a great IEP checklist to help you prepare and nail your child’s next IEP meeting. Find it here. Get to know the format of your child’s IEP. Each state has a different IEP template, but here is a model form that explains each section. Know that your state’s IEP template is just that. You can add more information, even if it’s not an option on their drop down menu. Most school personnel don’t know this and just want to check boxes and move on. Remind them of Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert’s quote from the Endrew F. case: “The IEP is not a form.” It’s a living document, that’s individualized and changes. Don’t let them limit your child to a predetermined box.
  4. Ask Why and Why Not: You can know next to nothing about the IEP process, and still advocate for your child by asking questions. Many parents assume the school is doing what’s best for their child, and are afraid to ask why or why not. Don’t be afraid to be “that” parent. Your child deserves an appropriate education, individualized to their needs. The IEP process is set up to protect your child’s rights. The only way you’ll find out if the school is working in the interest of your child vs. school’s pocketbook is by asking questions.
  5. Put it in Writing: Here’s something many school personnel won’t explain to you: Your signature on the IEP document (except for the initial IEP) means less than you think. Often school’s will have parents sign for attendance purposes, but that signature can also be used later to argue that you consented to the IEP’s contents. It’s imperative that you put your thoughts to paper and make it official. If your opinion is not on record, it doesn’t exist. The IEP document is already skewed to the school district’s point of view. They’re they one’s writing it, and the one-sided point of view is hard to miss. Read both related posts in this blog post (here and here), to find out how you can insert your concerns and goals into the official record.

Read Related Post: 3 Words That Will Transform Your Next IEP Meeting

I would love to hear your ideas for IEP goals, Specially Designed Instruction, Accommodations, Modifications, and more. Please comment below with what’s worked for you and your child.

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Promoting Inclusion Through Universal Design for Learning

Students with Down syndrome face many barriers in education. My son is only in preschool and he already deals with teachers’ preconceived notions of Ds, improper assessments of what he knows, and difficulty communicating his needs and wants.

Supported by research and federal law, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) turns the traditional one-size-fits-all model of teaching on it’s head. UDL breaks down barriers to education, and creates a path to inclusion.

At its core, UDL encompasses three principles—”that instructors should provide students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. In lay terms, this means that, to the extent possible, instructors should (a) provide content or materials in multiple formats, (b) give learners multiple ways to show what they know, and (c) use multiple methods of motivating learners,” according to the Academy of American Colleges and Universities.

Many good teachers do UDL without realizing the terminology for what they’re doing. When I taught in Utah I used to have my history students do a year-long project. Every student got to choose if they wanted to work alone or with a group. They also got to choose their own topic, as long as it fit the year’s theme, as well as the medium (performance, mini-documentary, website, paper, or science fair-type display board). If you would have asked me then how I came up with this UDL curriculum, I would have said “what’s UDL?”

So, how can teachers implement UDL in their classroom to create a path of inclusion for students with Down syndrome and other disabilities? Start here:

 

First your child’s strengths should be evaluated, along with how they learn. Teachers should focus on the “big picture” of what they want students to know, and the different was to assess what students have learned.

The 3 Principles of UDL include: 

  1. Giving learners different ways to acquire information
  2. Giving learners different ways to demonstrate what they’ve learned
  3. Tapping into learners different interest, challenging them appropriately, and motivating them to learn

I recently took a fabulous workshop on UDL at the National Down Syndrome Congress Conference in Sacramento. Some of the ideas for our students with Down syndrome included technologies like text to speech, apps that change the reading level of books, Google classroom, word prediction for writing, graphic organizers like Kidspiration, and personalized videos to show what your child knows.

Check out this link for specific apps and ideas to share with your child’s school.

Federal policy under Every Student Succeeds Act and the Higher Education Act, encourages the use of UDL to reach all students. These updated federal laws state that UDL helps all students significant opportunities to access the curriculum. This is not just a nice way to teach, but a way to follow the law. Ask your child’s teacher and IEP team today about how they plan to implement UDL to ensure your child is included in a meaningful way.

How does your child’s class use UDL to reach all students? Let me know below. Below are some books you can gift to your favorite teacher.

 

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Endrew F. In Action

It’s been almost a year since the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled schools must be held to a “markedly more demanding” standard when educating students with disabilities. The case of Endrew F. (Drew) vs. Douglas County is the disability community’s Brown vs. Board of Education. It should have a far reaching impact on America’s 6.5 million students with disabilities.

With IEP season in full swing, the question is: are parents using this case to advocate for higher expectations for their child with a disability?  

With most students’ annual IEP meetings coming up this spring, there are some easy ways to incorporate this important SCOTUS decision into your child’s IEP meeting to ensure they’re getting a meaningful education. Below are some quotes you can use at the IEP table, to get what your child needs.

There is worry from some disability advocates that Endrew F. will be used against students with the most significant disabilities, especially when it comes to the “least restrictive environment clause” of IDEA. In fact, two court cases are advancing to the Ninth and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals about this very topic. The questions in these cases: How will the courts interpret Endrew F. for students with intellectual disabilities? Can these students only receive “more meaningful benefit” in a self-contained class? Read how the school boards are using Endrew F. against the students in these cases in the related post link below.

Read Related Post: How School Boards are Using Endrew F. Against Students with Down Syndrome

Right now, you can prevent your child’s district from using Endrew F. to segregate your child by using the SCOTUS language in favor of protecting parent IDEA rights. Two quotes in particular could help:

  • This new standard requires a “prospective judgment by school officials” that “will be informed not only by the expertise of school officials, but also by the input of the child’s parents and guardians”
  • School authorities should offer a “cogent and responsive explanation” for their decisions

Use 3 magic words to get a “cogent and responsive explanation” for school’s decisions you don’t agree with: Prior Written Notice. Schools are required by federal law to give you Prior Written Notice to explain any decision they make. SCOTUS says this explanation needs to be “cogent” and “responsive,” and it’s important because it creates a paper trail if problems persist.  Read more below.

Read Related Post: 3 Words That Will Transform Your Next IEP Meeting

There are already some great resources out there to help you use Endrew F. at your child’s next IEP meeting. I especially love Understood’s easy to fill-in worksheet that relates Endrew F. to what your child’s IEP says. You can find it here.

How do you plan to use Endrew F. at your child’s next IEP meeting? Are you worried about your child’s district using Endrew F. against your child with a disability? Tell me what you think below. 

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Military School Choice Bill a Bad Deal for Students with Disabilities Too

My husband is up for military orders soon. Another move, our 5th in 13 years of marriage, brings with it a new kind of anxiety this go round. That’s because my twin sons will be starting kindergarten. Choosing the right school in a new state where you have no family support would cause any military mom to be anxious, but I have the added worry of getting appropriate service for one of my sons who has an intellectual disability.

Then this happened just last week: H.B. 5199 was introduced by Indiana Representative Jim Banks to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, to allow parents of eligible military dependent children to establish Military Education Savings Accounts.

The bill sounds really great, right? Vouchers for military families to spend on private school tuition or homeschool costs. But the devil is in the details, and the costs outweigh the potential small benefit. First, where are they getting the money to give to military families? The bill, backed by Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, would take money from public schools around military bases. It’s important to note that 80% of military children attend public schools. 

Public schools are funded primarily through local property tax, but schools around military bases lose out on crucial tax revenue because federal land cannot be taxed. That’s why Congress created a Federal Impact Aid in the 1950s, to offset this lack of property tax revenue, and supplement public schools around bases with additional federal dollars. H.B. 5199 would take $1.9 billion taxpayer dollars from Impact Aid to give to military families to use on private school tuition or homeschooling.

Read Related Post: How Military Service Creates a Secure Future for Our Son with Down Syndrome

There’s so many reasons why this proposal is wrong. Below are some links to understand why, but today I’m going to talk about the negative impact on military children with disabilities.

  • National Military Family Association blog post, School Vouchers are Not the Answer
  • Military Officers Association of America blog post, Will Proposed ESAs Help or Hurt Military Kids?
  • Military Times op-ed, Military School Choice Plan a ‘Bad Deal’ for Families

If your military child is on an IEP, you should be very wary of any voucher proposal. Especially a proposal that plans to take taxpayer money away from public schools were most of these children with disabilities receive needed supports and services. Leaving the public school system, means your child forfeits his or her many rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Private schools do not have to provide meaningful education, specifically designed instruction, accommodations, modifications, or any other supports found in the Individual Education Program (IEP).

Most private schools I’ve called will not accept my son, who has Down syndrome. They say he would be better served in the public school setting. But even if a private school will accept your child with a disability, you will likely not be able to fund private tuition with the $2,500 and $4,500 the bill is proposing. Private schools often require the parent to pay out of pocket for special services for their child with special needs, like a 1:1 aide, therapists, and assistive technology. With the average private elementary school costing $7,770, plus the cost of paying for disability-related services, my husband’s military officer pay wouldn’t cut it. We could homeschool, but again we’d need supplementary tutoring for reading and math which costs more than the allotted amount in this bill. Not to mention all those families who cannot homeschool.

So, what can you do about this bill? Stop it in its tracks now before it gains any more momentum! Tell your representative that the military families this bill espouses to help, don’t support the idea.

Call the sponsor of this bill, Indiana Rep. Jim Banks at (202) 225-4436 (who ironically lives in a state with no major military installations). Tell him you’re a military spouse who sends your child to public school, and you do no support H.B. 5199 for the reasons stated above. Keep it personal. Tell him or his staff about your child, and how this would be detriment to their education and the education of all the children left in these underfunded public schools near military bases.

You can also call NE Senator Ben Sasse and SC Senator Tim Scott and tell them to kill the Senate version of the bill S. 2517.

The House bill already has 29 co-sponsors, so it’s up to us to #killthebill. See if your U.S. representative is cosponsoring the bill below, and click on their name for an email or phone number.

Cosponsor Date Cosponsored
Rep. Scalise, Steve [R-LA-1]* 03/07/2018
Rep. McHenry, Patrick T. [R-NC-10]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Walker, Mark [R-NC-6]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Ratcliffe, John [R-TX-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Loudermilk, Barry [R-GA-11]* 03/07/2018
Rep. DesJarlais, Scott [R-TN-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Kelly, Trent [R-MS-1]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Meadows, Mark [R-NC-11]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Buck, Ken [R-CO-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Wagner, Ann [R-MO-2]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Smith, Jason [R-MO-8]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Kelly, Mike [R-PA-3]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Lamborn, Doug [R-CO-5]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Perry, Scott [R-PA-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Harris, Andy [R-MD-1]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Latta, Robert E. [R-OH-5]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Budd, Ted [R-NC-13]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Duncan, Jeff [R-SC-3]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Farenthold, Blake [R-TX-27]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Pearce, Stevan [R-NM-2]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Gibbs, Bob [R-OH-7]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Pittenger, Robert [R-NC-9]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN-7]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5]* 03/07/2018
Rep. Estes, Ron [R-KS-4]* 03/07/2018
Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-4] 03/09/2018
Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2] 03/09/2018
Rep. Bucshon, Larry [R-IN-8] 03/09/2018
Rep. Marino, Tom [R-PA-10] 03/09/2018
Rep. Bishop, Mike [R-MI-8] 03/09/2018
Rep. Carter, Earl L. “Buddy” [R-GA-1] 03/09/2018
Rep. Brooks, Mo [R-AL-5]

I seriously doubt these Congressmen consulted military families to see if they support this bill. The National Military Family Association (NMFA), the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) and the Military Officers Association of America have all voiced opposition to the proposal.

I have already called my representatives, because I realize what’s at stake. My son’s future, and the futures of all the kids left behind in underfunded schools. Tell your Congressmen to support the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, and #killthebill!

Do you have a child who attends public or private school near a military base? What do you think of this proposal? Comment below.

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My Love-Hate Relationship with the “I” in IEP

Federal law and evidence-based research supports full inclusion with individualized support for students with Down syndrome. Still, a recent study by the federal government found that less than half of students labeled as Intellectually Disabled are included with their typical peers for most of their school day (read the report here).

Many blame the lack of federal funding to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for the failure to include our children properly. The feds promised they would fund 40% of the IDEA budget, but they’ve only ever funded up to 17%. Others place blame on a culture of segregation in schools. Still others blame some teachers, administrators, and even parents for not holding high expectations for our children. To some degree, it’s true that all of these factors are part of the problem.

But another surprising roadblock to full inclusion is the “I” in IEP.

The bedrock of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the “Individualized” Education Plan (IEP). Your child’s IEP should be a roadmap to inclusion in the general education classroom with their typical peers. It’s a detailed plan that should be reasonably calculated to plan for your child’s potential growth, and ensure they have access to the general education curriculum with needed supports.

Read Related Post: 7 Essential Research Studies to Win the Fight for Inclusion

In most ways, the “I” in IEP is a good thing. All children learn differently, even those within the Down syndrome community. All our children deserve to be individually served and supported. The “I” in IEP can also be used against our children too. How many of you have heard school personnel tell us that our child with Down syndrome would receive a more “individualized” education in a segregated setting? Many parents either want this path for their child or don’t question the legitimacy of it.

Our schools are imperfect systems. Most do the best they can to serve our children, but many are using unproven programs for students with intellectual disabilities. They’re doing what’s always been done, even if the outcomes continue to be no high school diploma and little chance of meaningful employment. Click on the “7 Essential Research Studies to Win the Fight for Inclusion” above and you will find that all the research collected since IDEA passed in 1975, shows inclusion is the best path for students with even the most significant disabilities. Even though we must work in the broken system we have, doesn’t mean we should stop advocating for evidence-based improvements to education for students with Down syndrome.

Many parents have fought long and hard to pave the way for inclusion for our generation of children. But inclusion in general education with proper supports is still not a reality for too many students with Down syndrome. Often the reason is the “I” in IEP. It’s ironic that many parents want to use the “I” in IEP to get their child into general education with supports, while many schools are using it to segregate children. Which is the correct course? I believe we have to follow the law, which states that the continuum of placement begins in the general education classroom with proper supports. It’s understandable if after exhausting all individualized supports in the general classroom, a child may need more supports pulled out of the classroom. But we need to follow the law first and foremost.

Read Related Post: 4 Resources to Help Teachers Include Students with Down Syndrome in the General Education Classroom

I believe our children are not the problem. They have proven they can surpass society’s pathetically low expectations, and they want more. They deserve “individualized” education with their typical peers. We can’t continue to go along with a failed way of educating our children. The stakes are too high. People with Down syndrome are living much longer, healthier lives. Still, for most, their prospects after high school are grim.

How will children with Down syndrome ever be fully included when each school and parent’s definition of “individualized education” is different? If the “I” in IEP is used to divide and conquer us, we’ll never win the fight for inclusion. We must follow the law and research, and ensure that our child is receiving individualized supports in the least restrictive environment.

What do you think? What’s the biggest barrier to full inclusion with proper supports for students with Intellectual Disabilities? Comment below.