Getting the Most from an IEP or 504 Plan

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to present a national webinar for ADDitude Magazine on "A Parent’s Guide to Evaluating and Troubleshooting Your Child’s IEP or 504 Plan." 

As with other presentations I have done, I planned out a series of slides (and you can see them and the entire free presentation if you click on the link above) that set out how to tell if there were problems with an IEP or 504 Plan and what parents can do if there are such problems. Some of the remedies I mentioned were:

• How minor issues with an IEP can be dealt with without needing to hold a meeting of the IEP Team. These include increasing or decreasing the frequency of a service (such as OT or PT) that is already provided in the IEP, or adding a minor accommodation, such as having exams taken in a quiet location in addition to extended time.
• More extensive changes to an IEP will likely need a meeting of the IEP Team. These might include adding a service or support, changing a class setting, or even changing the school a child is attending. Parents need to keep in mind that they are entitled to request an IEP meeting at any time, not just once a year as is customarily scheduled. That is a right, not a favor being done by the school.
• Parents are also entitled to a new evaluation once each year. The IDEA requires re-evaluation every three years, but if parents feel that circumstances warrant it, they can have their child re-evaluated more often. As with a new IEP meeting, this isn't something that the school might do as a favor. It is a legal right. 
• Also, parents who have had a recent evaluation and realize that it was inadequate, can seek a publicly funded Independent Educational Evaluation, an IEE, which can then be the basis for a modified IEP. We have an extensive blog post on this subject.

Almost as interesting to your blogger as preparing and presenting a webinar, are the questions parents have during (and after) the webinar. Some parents wanted to know:

• What happens to their child's IEP when they move? We were able to point them to a blog post on this too. 
• Several folks wanted me to explain again the differences between an IEP and a 504 Plan. We were able to tell them that these stem from two different laws, both designed to help individuals with disabilities, but having different procedures and sometimes offering different supports.

In addition to this recent webinar, you can check out and listen to my several other webinars for ADDitude. 
 

Starting the School Year with an IEP or 504 Plan

It's not uncommon for parents to tell us about issues with getting their child services or accommodations early in the school year. The stories tend to be similar: there was an IEP or 504 meeting the previous spring, where the team (including the parents) agreed upon the setting, services and/or accommodations the child would be receiving during the upcoming year. These might be the same school setting, services, and accommodations as in the past, or they could be modified based on how the student performed or what updated evaluation showed.

Most of the time there is a  smooth carryover to the new school year. The student reports to the agreed upon school or class, the teacher is aware that the student has an IEP or a 504 Plan and has had a chance to review it, and the specialists who will be working with the student (providing speech and language services, reading support, or other related services) begin their work with the student within the first week or two of the start of school.

Sometimes, however, the process does not go as well. In the worst cases, a student may be told that they don't have a seat at the school they expected to attend. Other times, related services may not be provided during the first few weeks of school because of lack of staff. Not infrequently, children who expect door-to-door bus service to school find that they don't get a pick up.

So, what are parents to do? Fortunately, you can find specific suggestions from organizations that specialize in supporting students and families.

• For students in New York City, Advocates for Children of New York has detailed information on a variety of these issues, from failure to receive services, to lack of transportation, to not having a seat in the school your child expected to attend. 
• Wherever you may live, our colleagues at Understood have an excellent article, "How Do I Get My Child’s IEP Going at the Beginning of the School Year?" , that sets out suggestions for immediate problems and ways to avoid such issues in the future. An important point that the author makes is that tone is important. "Delays in starting up IEP services are frustrating. But parents who escalate tensions with the school may not make as much progress as parents who remain calm and cooperative."
• Some ideas for monitoring whether your child is getting the services to which he or she is entitled, and possible remedies if services are not delivered after a reasonable period, can be found on the Wrightslaw website. 

Photo Credit: Photo by Yan Berthemy on Unsplash

Paying for IEEs - Revisited

Parents frequently ask us about having their school district pay for an independent educational evaluation - an IEE - such as those we provide here at The Yellin Center. We wrote about this subject at length in a post from November 2013, but it has become clear to us that it is time to share this discussion again. We have added some additional information, (see the boldface text below) and hope this post helps answer questions that you may have.

 
When Must School Districts Pay for Evaluations?

Parents sometimes ask us if they can have their school district pay for their child's evaluation at The Yellin Center. The simple answer is "maybe, under certain circumstances," and we thought it might be helpful to explain the laws and regulations that govern this area.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) recognizes that an evaluation of a student in all suspected areas of disability is a crucial first step to determining whether that student is eligible for IDEA services and what kind of services will help that student to succeed in school. In fact, the "clock begins to run" with respect to the time limits set forth in the IDEA only once the parent consents to an evaluation of the student. The law anticipates that the school will then conduct an evaluation of the child and share the results with the parents and the IEP team, the committee that creates the student's Individualized Education Program. 

In many situations, this works out well for all concerned. The school district conducts an evaluation at no cost to the family; the findings make sense to the parents; the findings are incorporated into the student's IEP; and nothing more needs to be done. 

However, sometimes families do not agree with the findings of the school district evaluators and feel there may be something more going on with their child. Sometimes parents have had a long history of difficulties with the school and simply do not trust them to do an evaluation. Some parents of children enrolled in a private school do not want to have to work with the local public school district (especially in New York City). And, quite often, parents want the kind of in-depth, multi-disciplinary evaluation done here at The Yellin Center, rather than a more "cookie-cutter" series of tests given by their school's evaluators. In each of these situations, the parents seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) such as the ones we conduct here at The Yellin Center.

Before we look at specific rules and scenarios, we need to emphasize one important point. Parents have the absolute right to have their child independently evaluated and federal law requires that the public school district must consider the results of such evaluation. Dr. Yellin and his team frequently attend IEP meetings (via phone or other technology) to discuss the results of our evaluations and have been universally well-received by schools. However, the law does not require that districts follow the recommendations of our reports (or any outside evaluator).

So, when can a parent have a district pay for an IEE? 

1. The parent must disagree with the evaluation conducted by the district or consider it inadequate and notify the district of their intention to obtain an IEE.
2. The district must then either file for a due process hearing with a State Hearing Officer or agree to pay for the IEE.
3. The district can set criteria for the IEE's they will fund -- how much they cost, the geographic location of the evaluator(s), and the specific qualifications of the evaluator(s). However, the U.S. Department of Education notes that, "the district must allow parents the opportunity to demonstrate that unique circumstances justify an IEE that does not fall within the district's criteria. If an IEE that falls outside the district's criteria is justified by the child's unique circumstances, that IEE must be publicly funded." So, even if your district tells you that you are restricted to using the private evaluators on a list they provide, that is not strictly correct and you can and should push back to obtain the services of the evaluator you choose. 
4. An IEE can also be ordered by a State Hearing Officer as part of a due process hearing when aspects of an IEP are in dispute. 

We also encounter situations where a district paid evaluation at The Yellin Center is part of an ongoing discussion between a family and a school district, especially when the district has not been successful in addressing a child's educational needs. And families need to keep in mind that The Yellin Center has always had a sliding scale for families who need assistance in paying for our services. 

There are countless resources available to explain this process to parents and school administrators, but some you might find useful are:

• For New Jersey familes, a memo from the New Jersey Department of Education, with a list of Frequently Asked Questions about IEEs.
• From the U.S. Department of Education, a memo discussing why districts cannot set absolute cost limits on IEEs. 

One subject not addressed in our original post on this topic is the rights of parents when a district refuses to evaluate, either because they do not believe that the child has a disability, or without even providing a reason. The IDEA only addresses the situation where a family disagrees with an evaluation that has been already conducted. To the frustration of many families, if the school district declines to evaluate a student, the only remedy of the family is to file a complaint with a State Hearing Officer to challenge this decision. In addition, as noted above, parents always have the right to go ahead on their own to seek an IEE. 

Does Classification Matter?

Students can have an IEP for a wide array of reasons. The IDEA specifies 13 different categories of disability that can be the basis for providing IDEA services to a student. But we know that children can have more than one area of disability. We often suggest that parents think of their child's classification on their IEP as a key that unlocks the right to whatever services their child may require, whether or not those services are directly related to the classification that appears at the top of the IEP document itself.

A student with a specific learning disability can also have an attention problem, which most often falls within the Other Health Impaired (OHI) classification. Or a child with an intellectual disability may also have an orthopedic impairment and require use of a wheelchair. An IEP does not have to list more than one disability for a child to receive services for more than one disability. The only situation where more than one disability might be listed on an IEP is where a student has educational or medical needs that can't be met by a single program. 

Parents sometimes ask if it matters what classification is listed on their child's IEP. It can, but only in very limited circumstances. Non-public schools that are approved by a state to provide educational services will be limited to students that are classified as having one of the disabilities for which that school is approved. So, a child with a classification of "other health impaired" will not be sent by her school district to a school that is approved only for students with a specific learning disability.

Even in that situation, if the school is otherwise a good fit for the child, it is possible to have the student's classification modified by the IEP Team to another classification, so long as the new classification reflects the reality of the student's difficulties. 

No one likes labels, but they are part of the IDEA. Even so, their impact on the day-to-day workings of a student's IEP do not limit the services and supports that a student should receive. Of far greater importance are the special education and related services, modifications, and accommodations that are provided to each student and the goals that are set out for the student to meet.  

  

Building a Better IEP or 504 Plan

Yesterday, Dr. and Mrs. Yellin were the featured speakers in a webinar from ADDitude Magazine, where Mrs. Yellin is a regular columnist, writing on "Your Legal Rights." For this event, they jointly presented information on how parents can make sure that their child's IEP or Section 504 Plan will properly provide what is needed for their child to succeed in school.

As they explained to their live audience of close to 2,000 listeners, the first step in creating an effective IEP or 504 Plan is to fully understand the issues with which your child is dealing by having a thorough evaluation, one that looks beyond labels or diagnoses. They noted that it's important to keep in mind that these plans need to be individualized, and that administering a standard battery of tests may not be sufficient to get to the source of your child's problems.

The assessment that begins the IEP or 504 process needs to delve deeply into the specific areas of breakdown. It needs to look not just at a child's challenges, but also look at strengths, since these can be leveraged to help to bypass challenges. Likewise, areas of interest or affinities should be identified, since these can help your child become involved in their academics. Presenting a sports obsessed struggling reader a book about baseball or football is more likely to keep his or her interest than having that same student read about travel or music.

Another key point of the webinar was the importance of goals. Having appropriate goals is critical to a successful plan. Goals set out in an IEP or 504 Plan should be:

• Specific, objective, and quantifiable
• Should include standardized measures
• Must contain a clear understanding of:
• Who is responsible for implementation
• The frequency of assessment
• The mechanism for reporting to parents
• A clear understanding, upfront, of what constitutes sufficient progress. 

You can listen to the webinar in its entirety on the ADDitude website, or watch it on YouTube, below. 

Back to School with an IEP

As summer comes to an end and the new school year begins, there are steps that parents of students with IEPs should be taking to ensure that their children receive the maximum benefit from the services and supports to which they are entitled.

You may have just recently had your annual IEP meeting, or maybe it was held many months ago. In either event, this is the time to review the IEP and make sure you are familiar with the services, supports, and accommodations it provides for your child. Is she due to receive speech and language therapy? Reading support? Extended time on exams? You can't count on your child to accurately report on what goes on during his or her school day. Some children are too young for this task. Others lack the organizational abilities to notice what services they receive or when. And adolescents are often ambivalent about needing and receiving special education services and won't always share with you whether they were getting (and attending) the extra support or accommodations to which they are entitled.

One way to keep abreast of what is going on in school is to set up teacher meetings early in the year and then at some regular interval thereafter. How often this needs to be done depends upon your child's age and school situation. It may be simple to learn what is going on with an elementary child. He or she probably has only one or two teachers, maybe in a co-taught class with both special education and typically learning students. It is more difficult to track the services being provided to a middle school student, one who may have several teachers and half a dozen classes. Even for these students, there may be a single "point person" - perhaps a resource room teacher - who can help you make sure your son or daughter is getting the support to which he or she is entitled.  While high school students may be more aware of what they should be getting and more likely to let you know if there is a problem, they can also "blow off" extra supports. Getting them to advocate for themselves and take responsibility for their own learning, while making sure they get the support they need, can be a delicate balancing act.

Make sure that your child's teachers are aware of the fact that he or she has an IEP and that they have a copy of it and have reviewed it. It happens less often than it used to, but sometimes schools still don't distribute copies of the IEP to each teacher, usually over concerns about student privacy. This misplaced effort to protect students' rights can be a serious problem if teachers don't know what a student needs and is entitled to receive.

One question that parents often ask is how long is too long for services to begin at the start of the new school year. It's rare for services to begin the very first week of school -- but they certainly should be in place by the second or third week of school. Anything later than that is unacceptable and should trigger at call to the head of your child's IEP team. Even if the school offers a reasonable basis for the delay (staff turnover, difficulty hiring new specialists, scheduling issues), the fact remains that your child needs these services and is losing time he or she cannot make up. Keep on top of this issue. And track this issue during the year as well. Turnover or absences may mean your child is not getting services for an extended period, even if things started out fine.

Parents of older students need to make sure their children know is that, more than ever, accommodations on standardized tests like the SAT and ACT depend upon students getting and using accommodations on a regular basis in school. Students who don't use their extended time, for example, may risk not getting extended time on one of these crucial exams, since it may appear that they don't really require this accommodation.

Think about your child's IEP as an obligation of the school to provide your child with "FAPE" - a free, appropriate, public education. Getting the school year off to a good start, with services and accommodations in place and a plan for monitoring these during the year, is the best way to help your child to be successful in his or her new grade.

How Schools Serve - and Fail - Students with IEPs

Two new reports landed in our "in box" recently, both looking at how students with IEPs under the IDEA are served in public schools -- one specifically looking at New York City high schools and the other, far broader, at students of all ages throughout the U.S.

Students with Disabilities in NYC High Schools

INCLUDEnyc, formerly Resources for Children with Special Needs, a long-time resource for students with disabilities in New York City, has looked at the new 2017 New York City High School Directory and, together with the folks at InsideSchools.org, has some cautionary words for families of students with disabilities seeking to apply to public high schools.

The 2017 Directory no longer states, for every school, "This school will provide students with disabilities the supports and services indicated on their IEPs." This simply was not true and parents often found out their child could not get their mandated IEP services at their new high school. The new Directory has more information on how schools serve students with disabilities, but the way that they define disability and the retrospective nature of the information they include may not be helpful to families seeking definitive answers.

So what should parents do?  Consider attending one of the July information sessions held in each borough. And definitely ask specific questions of each school you are considering.


New D.O.E. Report on How Students with Disabilities Fare in K-12 Schools

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights has released a new report (with data from the 2013-14 school year), which found:

• Students with disabilities served by IDEA are more than twice as likely to receive one or more out-of-school suspensions as students without disabilities. 
• Students with disabilities are more likely to be retained or held back in high school: Students with disabilities served by IDEA are 12% of the student population, but 21% of high school students held back or retained. Even more disturbing discrepancies are found with students of color and English language learners.
• Elementary school students with disabilities served by IDEA are 1.5 times as likely to be chronically absent as elementary school students without disabilities. 

U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. said about this data, "The ... data are more than numbers and charts—they illustrate in powerful and troubling ways disparities in opportunities and experiences that different groups of students have in our schools ... [and] create the imperative for a continued call to action to do better and close achievement and opportunity gaps.

Graduation Options in New York

We continue to speak with parents of public high school students who are concerned and confused about the diploma options available in New York for their students, especially those with with learning and other challenges.

For many years, students in New York had the option to graduate with a high school diploma without taking Regents exams, the New York Statewide tests that were first administered in 1878.  At least until the era of Advanced Placement exams, Regents examinations were considered the "gold standard" for New York State students, but all students had another path to a diploma available to them if they could not pass a sufficient number or Regents exams. This was the "local diploma."

Local diplomas, which are actual graduation credentials and recognized by such by colleges, the military, and employers, were available for a number of years to students who could not achieve a passing score on sufficient Regents exams, but who could pass a less difficult Regents Competency Exam. However, as we wrote back in 2011, Regents Competency exams were being phased out and, at this point, are no longer available to most students. Local diplomas are no longer an option for students in public schools who do not have an IEP or 504 Plan and cannot pass the required Regents exams. 

So, what can students with or without IEPs do if they are struggling to pass Regents exams?

• There is an appeal option, available to all students who score 62 or higher on their Regents exam. As explained in an excellent fact sheet from Advocates for Children of New York: "Students who successfully appeal one Regents Exam and meet all other testing and course requirements will be awarded a Regents Diploma. Students who successfully appeal two Regents Exams will be awarded a Local Diploma. Students cannot appeal more than two exams." Note that a student will still have to have an IEP or 504 Plan to be eligible for a Local Diploma (and students with Section 504 plans must have plans that specify that they are eligible for the Local Diploma).
• Students with IEPs or 504 plans who score between 55-64 on required Regents examinations can receive a local diploma. This option is not available to general education students. The rules are complicated and we suggest you review the advisory from the New York State Department of Education on this "safety net" option. Note that there are also special graduation options available to English Language Learners.

For students with disabilities who had an IEP, there had been another option, but its name was misleading to all concerned. Called an "IEP diploma" it was not a true graduation credential and not an actual diploma. Instead, all it signified was that the student had met the goals of his or her IEP. It was not accepted by colleges, the military, or many employers who required a high school diploma. This option has been replaced by two others, the  Skills and Achievement Commencement Credential (SACC) and the Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) Commencement Credential. The SACC is for students with significant disabilities who take alternative assessments. The CDOS is designed to indicate readiness for work, and can be awarded on its own or in conjunction with a Regents or local diploma.

As you can see from the information and links above, this is a complicated subject. The best resource for all families is the high school counselor, among whose responsibilities is making sure that all students are on track to graduate with the highest level credential they are able to achieve. If you are not fully comfortable with where your student is in the path to graduation and what kind of diploma they are entitled to receive -- and are going to receive -- you need to meet with your student's guidance counselor without delay.

Goalbook App

Today’s Ed Tech review is for teachers –specifically special education teachers. It also happens to be one of our favorite resources. Goalbook is one of the few educational technologies that was created by a coder - one who also spent time as an educational specialist for students with disabilities in East Palo Alto, California. So Goalbook gets both the educational and the technology side of Ed Tech, which makes for the design of a very valuable and informed tool. Many teachers would agree that actual classroom teaching is the great aspect of the job, but the paperwork and IEP planning can be a bit tricky sometimes and at times a lot less rewarding, especially when you are trying to coordinate the schedules and insights of multiple people on your multidisciplinary team, and track results from the multiple services a student receives, all the while adhering to FERPA. This is where Goalbook can assist.

The Goalbook Toolkit really takes the mystery out of IEP writing and planning by helping educational professionals collaborate and communicate to devise meaningful, achievable goals for their students, as well providing amazing tools to track each student’s progress. Their entire system is aligned beautifully with all Common Core and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) standards, while also offering instructional ideas to achieve set goals. As a learning specialist, what really set Goalbook apart was how closely their team collaborated with the people at CAST to ensure that they infused multiple levels of support so that each accommodation and modification is truly differentiated and UDL-aligned. Beyond their framework, they also offer professional development and showcase the research that backs their approaches and model on their website.

Over the years CAST has shown that UDL isn’t just the best practice for diverse learners but, rather, that differentiation has merit for all learners. With this in mind,  Goalbook offers a new framework, Goalbook Pathways, for tailoring school-wide curriculum with the goal of helping schools provide and “design engaging, rigorous instruction for all students.” Again, just like with the Goalbook Toolkit, each instructional strategy is aligned with the Common Core and principles of UDL, as well as broken down into multiple levels of rigor. Sample formative assessment measures and professional development opportunities are also included with the model.

IDEA and High Expectations

This month marks the 40th Anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act – the IDEA – first signed into law November 29, 1975. As most of our readers know, IDEA is the basis for educational services and supports for most students in pre-K through high school with a wide range of disabilities, including specific learning disabilities.

To coincide with this anniversary, the U.S. Department of Education has released a new guidance document for State Education Departments, noting that the IEP (Individualized Education Program) for a student who receives services under the IDEA must be aligned with the academic content standards for the grade in which that student is enrolled. This guidance has been welcomed by parents and advocates who have been concerned that students with disabilities are not being held to high enough standards. As noted by The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), “the power of an IEP written with high expectations and its impact on a student’s ability to achieve” are important to students’ lifetime success.

Although exceptions are made for students with the significant cognitive disabilities, even students who are far behind their peers will be held to these academic content standards. However, where students without significant cognitive disabilities are “performing significantly below the level of the grade in which the child is enrolled,” the IEP should contain goals that are “ambitious but achievable.” The Department of Education notes that schools should provide children with specialized instruction to help close the gap between their level of achievement and state standards.

While we welcome high standards and expectations for all students, we will take a “wait and see” position as to whether schools can properly support students with IEPs who are below grade level in one or more subjects, especially those with specific learning disabilities that impact a particular aspect of learning, such as math. While high standards for all students are a laudable goal, the "devil is in details." Such standards need to be reasonable and relevant, not arbitrary.

For example, schools need to focus not just on content mastery, but also on competencies and skills that students can use to help them succeed in the future. Students need to have access to content and methodologies for demonstrating/assessing mastery that take into account their specific disabilities. These methodologies must not be inherently discriminatory and need to conform to the principals of Universal Design for Learning, including multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression. For instance, for some students, schools should consider a portfolio component of assessment.

We would hope that this new guidance does not result in grade retention for students who do not meet grade level assessments, when their failure to do so may be due to years of inappropriate instruction and inadequate methods of demonstrating mastery.

What Happens to My Child's IEP When We Move?

Questions from Yellin Center families tend to come in bunches, and recently we have spoken to several families who are planning to move at the end of the school year and are concerned about what happens to their child's IEP in their new location.

The answer depends on where you are going. The simplest situation is when you are moving from one neighborhood to another in the same city or school district. Since IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) are created with a school district rather than an individual school, they are not affected when a student moves from one school to another within the district. For that same reason, students moving from an elementary to a middle school, or from a middle school to a high school, do not necessarily need a new IEP -- although changes in the school setting, like having multiple teachers or dealing with new and more difficult academic demands, may require a change in academic supports or accommodations.

When a family moves from one school district to another district within the same state, the IDEA provides that a student with an IEP shall receive "...services comparable to those described in the previously held IEP, in consultation with the parents until such time as the [new district] adopts the previously held IEP or develops, adopts, and implements a new IEP that is consistent with Federal and State law." [Sec. 614(d)(2)(C)(i)(I)].

So, when a student moves within the same state, the new district may utilize the IEP from the prior district or develop a new IEP. Note that no new evaluation is required; the new district can use the existing evaluation if it is still timely (less than three years old).

The rules are a bit different when the move is from one state to another. In that circumstance, the new district, in the new state, is required to provide the student with "services comparable to those described in the previously held IEP, in consultation with the parents until such time as the [new district] conducts an evaluation ..., if determined to be necessary by [the new district], and develops a new IEP, if appropriate, that is consistent with Federal and State law." [Sec. 614(d)(2)(C)(i)(II)]. Thus, a move to a new state should also trigger a new evaluation, although a full evaluation may not be required if a new evaluation had been begun before the move.

IDEA regulations require school districts to promptly exchange relevant records when a child changes school districts, subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Relevant records include existing evaluation data, and such an exchange of any relevant records can avoid duplicating previously conducted evaluations, and provides critical data to the new school district to ensure the timely completion of the evaluation.

For most students, a move to a new school district is not a common occurrence. Families can often plan their moves so that they happen during the summer, between terms. But for some highly mobile children, including those from military families, migrant children, children in the foster care system, and children who are homeless, moving from one school to another can happen often, and sometimes on short notice. In 2013 the U.S. Department of Education reached out to State Directors of Special Education to address the needs of such children and to make sure that their rights are honored during their transitions.

photo credit: TheMuuj via flickr CC

Putting Advice to Work

Several months ago, your blogger was featured in a webinar from ADDitude (the magazine folks who also have an informative website) on "Determining if Your ADHD/LD Child Needs an IEP or a 504 Plan and How To Go About Getting It." Like any presentation, especially those not in front of a live audience, it wasn't clear to whether the information provided would actually be put to use by parents.

So, it was good to receive an email last week from a mom who wrote,

"I wanted to take a minute to thank you. I have an 8th grader finishing up middle school and heading to high school next year. He has been struggling since elementary school. In 7th grade I was finally able to establish a 504 plan for him. Two years later, his grades continue to slide and he goes up and down. They give him extra help in reading, then he does well and they pull him out of the extra help classes. It’s a vicious cycle. I have been pushing for reading and writing help since September.

"In October I listened to your Attitude Webinar on IEP and 504 and what to ask for. I stuck to my basic points: ADHD qualifies a student for an IEP [an Individualized Education Program] under OHI [the category of Other Health Impaired]. After several meetings and finally getting the school board involved, they tested him again and agreed that his reading and writing were seriously deficient. The school has agreed to the IEP and he started in the facilitated reading and writing classes the day following our meeting...

"It was that key piece of lingo …“IEP qualifies under OHI” discussion you talked about in the webinar that I needed. I followed your advice to stay calm, listen, be nice, state what you want and stick to a few key points. It’s interesting, I do this all day in my “day” job, but when it comes to your kids, your emotions get in the way. I decided I was going to strategically approach it like I would negotiate anything else and it worked! THANK YOU."

This mom was right on target that we need to take the skills we use in the workplace and other aspects of our lives and put them to use with our children. It is very difficult to stay calm and focused when dealing with your child's school and the more your child is struggling, the more difficult it is to use your skills to help

them. That is why the respected special education attorney Pete Wright, who runs the Wrightslaw website with his wife Pam, titled his basic primer for parents, From Emotions to Advocacy. This is why I always suggest a few key points to parents attending an IEP or other significant meeting about their child:

• Don't go in alone. Bring at least one person with you who will stay calm and focused and help you to do the same. You have the right to bring anyone you want with you - a spouse, a friend, an advocate, but if you plan to bring an attorney you should let the school know so they have the choice of having their attorney present. Otherwise, they may require the meeting to be rescheduled so their attorney can attend. This is one reason why most attorneys don't generally attend IEP meetings.
• Take notes. If you can't focus or participate while taking notes, have someone with you (who can be the person mentioned above) who can do this for you. 
• For formal meetings, like those of the IEP team, ask for a copy of the attendance sheet that will passed around. Chances are you won't use it for anything, but it sends a signal that you are making a formal record of the meeting in case you need to appeal the decisions reached. 
• Come in with a list of the issues you want to address. Just like the most effective shopping trips start with a good list, you will be shopping for services and supports for your child. While you might learn things or hear ideas that will change your mind about items on your list, at least you won't forget to raise important points.
• Don't be pressured to agree to anything or to sign anything at the meeting. While services under an IEP will not begin until you sign off on them, taking a few days to consider things is perfectly reasonable and will allow you time to think about what your child really needs. 

And, as the mom who wrote the note mentioned, "stay calm, be nice, state what you want and stick to a few key points." 

There's No Child Find After High School

The obligation of public school districts to identify students who may have disabilities and to proactively determine if they qualify for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a rarely discussed aspect of the law, called "Child Find."

This section of the IDEA requires that all children with disabilities residing in each State, including children who are enrolled in private schools, be "identified, located, and evaluated." This provision effectively makes it the responsibility of each district to seek out students who are struggling, to determine if they qualify for services, and to provide them with needed services. It goes hand-in-hand with the affirmative obligation of school districts to establish an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child who qualifies for services, and to meet at least once each year to review the student's progress and update his or her IEP. 

While we have written about Child Find before*, we haven't specifically noted how the absence of Child Find impacts students who have graduated and are no longer eligible for IDEA services. This shift of responsibility, from the school to the individual student or employee, can be a rude awakening for college students or those entering the workplace from high school. Neither colleges nor employers have any obligation to seek out individuals with disabilities. Unless the individual informs the college (by providing documentation of a disability to the Office of Disability Services) a student will have no right to any accommodations, auxiliary aids and services, or modifications which they might require to access the curriculum or campus. 

This is an important reason for high school students to understand the nature of their disability -- learning, medical, or otherwise -- and to be able to articulate what they need to learn effectively. Students who have been involved in their education, by discussing their learning needs, attending IEP meetings, and generally being aware of what they require to build on their strengths and overcome their challenges, are well equipped to step up when they are no longer covered by the IDEA and need to take the initiative to arrange the accommodations they will need to succeed beyond high school.

*The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take the case we discussed in our prior post on this subject.

Photo credit: Inf-Lite Teacher via Flickr

IEP and 504 - What Parents Ask

Your blogger presented a webinar earlier today for ADDitude Magazine, for which she writes the "Your Legal Rights" column.  The topic was "IEP vs. 504 Plans: Which Does Your ADHD/LD Child Need and How to Go About Getting It." Hundreds of parents listened in and many of them had questions, some of which are no doubt shared by most parents who deal with these two laws. There is a link to hear the complete webinar but in the meantime, some of the most common questions -- and their answers -- were:

Can a student have both a 504 Plan and an IEP at the same time?

No. Section 504 (of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) specifically states that having an IEP (an Individualized Education Program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act -- IDEA) satisfies the requirements of Section 504. So, if a student would qualify for services under both laws, the student should get an IEP.

Which law would apply to a student with ADHD? 

It depends on the extent to which the student requires special education or related services because of his ADHD. If the student's attention problem is so significant that it seriously impacted his ability to learn, or if the student also has a specific learning disability, he would qualify for an IEP under the category of Other Health Impaired or Specific Learning Disability. [IDEA requires that a student fall within one of ten categories of disability in order to receive services.] If the student has ADHD but the impact is less significant and doesn't rise to the level of his needing special education services because of it, he would generally not qualify for an IEP but would be eligible to receive services under Section 504.

How do I start the process of getting my child an IEP or a 504 Plan?

First, parents should have met with their child's teacher and discussed how things are going in school. Once they have done so, if they believe that their child needs a 504 Plan they should make a written request to their school's 504 Team. Most schools have specific forms for this and you can obtain them from the school office or even the school website. Complete the form, along with any documentation you may have, and submit it to the 504 Team. You may be invited to their meeting, but the law does not require this and the procedure varies from place to place. The 504 Team will decide if more information is needed (and any evaluations they require will be at school expense) and will decide upon a plan for your child. 

To begin the IEP process, parents need to advise the school -- the guidance office or principal is generally the point of contact -- that they believe that their child requires special education services and sign a consent for their child to be evaluated. The evaluation process must be completed within 60 days of the consent and is followed by a meeting which includes the parents, to decide whether the student qualifies for IDEA services and to create the IEP, which must be in writing.

We have a written a number of blogs, linked below, which deal with some of these topics, including:

• Section 504 Q and A
• Special Education Terminology
• Getting Services in Private Schools
• Preparing for IEP Meetings
• Changing an IEP
• IEP Tips and More Tips

When Must School Districts Pay for Evaluations?

Parents sometimes ask us if they can have their school district pay for their child's evaluation at The Yellin Center. The simple answer is "maybe, under certain circumstances," and we thought it might be helpful to explain the laws and regulations that govern this area.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) recognizes that an evaluation of a student in all suspected areas of disability is a crucial first step to determining whether that student is eligible for IDEA services and what kind of services will help that student to succeed in school. In fact, the "clock begins to run" with respect to the time limits set forth in the IDEA only once the parent consents to an evaluation of the student. The law anticipates that the school will then conduct an evaluation of the child and share the results with the parents and the IEP team, the committee that creates the student's Individualized Education Program. 

It's Our City

In many situations, this works out well for all concerned. The school district conducts an evaluation at no cost to the family; the findings make sense to the parents; the findings are incorporated into the student's IEP; and nothing more needs to be done. 

However, sometimes families do not agree with the findings of the school district evaluators and feel there may be something more going on with their child. Sometimes parents have had a long history of difficulties with the school and simply do not trust them to do an evaluation. Some parents of children enrolled in a private school do not want to have to work with the local public school district (especially in New York City). And, quite often, parents want the kind of in-depth, multi-disciplinary kind of evaluation done here at The Yellin Center, rather than a more "cookie-cutter" series of tests given by their school's evaluators. In each of these situations, the parents seek an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) such as the ones we conduct here at The Yellin Center.

Before we look at specific rules and scenarios, we need to emphasize one important point. Parents have the absolute right to have their child independently evaluated and federal law requires that the public school district must consider the results of such evaluation. Dr. Yellin and his team frequently attend IEP meetings (via phone or other technology) to discuss the results of our evaluations and have been universally well-received by schools. However, the law does not require that districts follow the recommendations of our reports (or any outside evaluator).

So, when can a parent have a district pay for an IEE? 

1. The parent must disagree with the evaluation conducted by the district or consider it inadequate and notify the district of their intention to obtain an IEE.
2. The district must then either file for a due process hearing with a State Hearing Officer or agree to pay for the IEE.
3. The district can set criteria for the IEE's they will fund -- how much they cost, the geographic location of the evaluator(s), and the specific qualifications of the evaluator(s). However, the U.S. Department of Education notes that, "the district must allow parents the opportunity to demonstrate that unique circumstances justify an IEE that does not fall within the district's criteria. If an IEE that falls outside the district's criteria is justified by the child's unique circumstances, that IEE must be publicly funded." So, even if your district tells you that you are restricted to using the private evaluators on a list they provide, that is not strictly correct and you can and should push back to obtain the services of the evaluator you choose. 
4. An IEE can also be ordered by a State Hearing Officer as part of a due process hearing when aspects of an IEP are in dispute. 

We also encounter situations where a district paid evaluation at The Yellin Center is part of an ongoing discussion between a family and a school district, especially when the district has not been successful in addressing a child's educational needs. And families need to keep in mind that The Yellin Center has always had a sliding scale for families who need assistance in paying for our services. 

There are countless resources available to explain this process to parents and school administrators, but some you might find useful are:

• For New Jersey familes, a memo from the New Jersey Department of Education, with a list of Frequently Asked Questions about IEEs.
• From the U.S. Department of Education, a memo discussing why districts cannot set absolute cost limits on IEEs and a link to a number of other memos discussing other aspects of the IEE funding process.
• For a review of court cases that have dealt with the IEE issue, a law review survey of cases by Perry Zirkel.

Back-to-School Tips for Teachers

Photo: audio-lucie-store-it

While students around the country probably have a few days -- or a couple of weeks -- remaining of their summer vacation,  most teachers have started back to school well in advance of their students. These first days back generally include scheduled meetings, but this is also the time that teachers can take advantage of the calm of student-free days to set up their classroom and finish their preparations for the coming year. There are many helpful websites with back-to-school suggestions for teachers. Here are a few that we recommend.

The National Education Association website has resources geared especially for new teachers, including advice on setting up the classroom, dealing with parents, and a list of supplies that every teacher should have on hand. Some of these tips will likely be useful for veteran teachers, as well.

Are you planning a classroom project that requires special supplies? Or are you teaching in an economically disadvantaged area where even basic classroom items are lacking? Take a look at Donors Choose, where "Public school teachers post classroom project requests which range from pencils for poetry to microscopes for mitochondria." These requests are listed on the website and donors can select a project to fund. When the funding goal for a particular request is met, the materials are shipped to the classroom. The site states that they are able to successfully fund 70% of teacher requests. Note that Donors Choose does not accept "in kind" donations but includes links to sites that do.

LD Online has a list of "to-do" items for special education teachers, but we think one item on that list should be a must for all teachers -- ask if any of your students have an IEP or 504 plan. Make sure you have ready access to a copy of this plan, important for all students but potentially life-saving for a student who has a 504 plan because of a medical condition or allergy. For reasons we have never understood, some schools keep these documents locked away with the guidance office, nurse, or elsewhere. Privacy laws do not require this and, in fact, all special education laws (IDEA and Section 504) require that these documents be provided to teachers who will be charged with implementing them. Read this document, know what the student needs and what is required in the classroom.

Whether or not you have already started your school year, we wish you a good one. And if you have a few days yet before you go back, we hope you enjoy the rest of your summer vacation!

Summer "To Do" List for High School Grads

The end of high school is an exciting time, filled with special events like prom and graduation and, for most students, the anticipation of starting a new adventure at college in the fall. There is an understandable urge for students and parents alike to want to spend the summer catching their breath and relaxing. But for students with learning or attention issues, relaxation will have to wait. As we have written about in prior blogs, this is the time to make sure you have your accommodations in place for the fall and are setting yourself up to succeed in your college courses.

Unlike in high school, where students with IEPs or 504 Plans could rely upon their school to make sure they got the necessary accommodations in their classroom or on tests, in college the full responsibility for arranging for accommodations and making sure they are implemented is on the student -- not the school. This is because the law that governs learning and other disabilities changes upon graduation from high school – from the IDEA to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As your blogger often tells students and their parents, “there is no IEP in college!”

So, students who will need accommodations, such as extended time on exams, a quiet exam room, specialized software, a note taker, or any one of what the ADA calls “academic adjustments, auxiliary aids and services, and modifications” need to take several steps to make sure these are available for them.

First, the student must disclose his or her disability to the college. This happens after the student accepts a spot and sends in the deposit. The disclosure is made by advising the Office of Disability Services (every college is required by law to have one, although they sometimes go by another name) and submitting documentation of your disability. You can find the specific requirements and forms for this on the website of your college’s Office of Disability Services.

After the college has reviewed and accepted the documentation, you will need to let them know what accommodations you require. This is usually a discussion - and sometimes a negotiation - where you let them know what you have used in the past and they may suggest other accommodations that can be helpful. This discussion can take place as late as during Freshman Orientation, but we urge those students who can do so to make an appointment to visit (or for a virtual visit) with the Office of Disability Services during the summer to finalize the accommodations that will be offered.

Only once the Office of Disability Services has approved the accommodations can the student take the crucial step of advising his or her professors of their accommodations, so they can be implemented. For those readers who have a copy of Life After High School: A Guide for Students with Disabilities and Their Families, you can find more specific information on documenting disabilities in Chapter 4 and on arranging accommodations with your professors in Chapter 12.

Photo: Monika2010 (altered)

Changes to New York State Diplomas

As graduation approaches for high school seniors, it is important for parents and students who will be in high school next year to be aware of significant changes to the diplomas available in New York State for students with learning and related challenges. We last wrote about changes to New York diplomas back in May, 2011.

Photo credits: Jeff Meyer and clker.com

For many years, New York had a three tier system for diplomas: students could earn a Regents diploma (and later, a Regents diploma with honors) by taking and passing a series of Regents Exams; for students, including those with Individual Educational Programs (IEPs), who could not meet the challenge of Regents Exams, there were Regents Competency Exams, which were less challenging and which led to a "local" diploma; and, finally, for those students with significant learning difficulties who could not manage even a local diploma, there was an "IEP Diploma" which was not really a diploma at all, but a certificate that simply noted that the student met the goals set forth in his or her IEP.

As states, including New York, worked to raise standards for all students, the Regents Competency Exams were eliminated. Students with IEPs could still earn a local diploma by passing a lesser number of Regents Exams with lower scores than typical students. This option remains in place for the time being.

More recently, notice was given that IEP diplomas were being eliminated, and the Board of Regents has put in place a temporary replacement in a credential they call the “New York State Career Development and Occupational Studies Commencement Credential.” Like the IEP diploma, this certificate of graduation is not a diploma. The position of the Board of Regents is that this certificate will be more meaningful than a IEP diploma, because it will indicate what courses a student has completed towards occupational competency. Some parents are concerned that employers will not consider this any differently than an IEP diploma -- neither is actually a high school diploma -- and will not hire students who can present only this credential.

The New York State Board of Regents notes that the new credential is in place only temporarily, "in order to ensure that the proposed credential is available to students with disabilities effective July 1, 2013 when the regulation providing for an individualized education program (IEP) diploma sunsets." There is information available on the Board of Regents website about the ways this new credential was developed and how it is expected to impact students. There is a comment period, ending June 7, 2013, for the public to let the Board of Regents know what they think of this new credential. Click here to obtain the comment form.


Photo credits: Jeff Meyer and clker.com

Meaningful Transportation Services

As New York City parents contemplate plans for getting their children to school in the face of a threatened strike by school bus drivers -- who transport 152,000 of the City's school children along 7,700 routes daily -- we thought it might be a good time to revisit transportation to and from school.

For students who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), transportation is considered a "related service", like physical or occupational therapy or counseling. For a student to receive transportation other than that which is provided to all students in the district (whether that is a bus pass, a Metrocard, or some other entitlement to free or discounted public transportation) transportation must be included in that student's IEP.

The regulations that implement the IDEA note that,
It is assumed that most children with disabilities will receive the same transportation provided to nondisabled children, unless the IEP team determines otherwise.... If the IEP team determines that a disabled child requires transportation as a related service in order to receive FAPE, [a Free Appropriate Public Education, the core requirement for students classified under the IDEA] or requires accommodations or modifications to participate in integrated transportation with nondisabled children, the child must receive the necessary transportation or accommodations at no cost to the parents. This is so, even if no transportation is provided to nondisabled children.(U.S. Department of Education, 1999a, p. 12551)

There are two other kinds of transportation services which are far less common than busing, but which can provide crucial assistance for some students. One is Orientation and Mobility Services which are available only  to students with visual impairments. The other is Travel Training, which is defined by the Regulations to the IDEA as: "providing instruction, as appropriate, to children with significant cognitive disabilities, and any other children with disabilities who require this instruction, to enable them to---

(i) Develop an awareness of the environment in which they live; and
(ii) Learn the skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place within that environment (e.g., in school, in the home, at work, and in the community)." [emphasis added]

While most schools will not think about travel training for students with learning and/or attention problems, parents are well advised to consider  their child's need to get around their larger community and to determine  whether their child might need assistance learning the skills needed to navigate beyond their school building. These can range from reading a map, understanding travel zones and fares on local transport systems, looking both ways when crossing a street, and personal safety issues when they are out and about in their neighborhood. Even driving lessons for older students could be considered among the "... skills necessary to move effectively and safely from place to place ..." 

Thinking about travel and transportation in a broader way can help create a meaningful IEP that will assist students in navigating their world safely and efficiently.

school bus photo courtesy cc

Interim Changes to an IEP

Parents of students receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are generally familiar with the annual review process. This is a meeting that takes place each year, usually in the spring, which reviews the student's progress under his or her Individualized Education Program (IEP) and sets forth the plan for the coming school year -- services to be provided, goals to be met, and how and where the student will be educated. Every three years this review becomes a "triennial" and includes a re-evaluation of the student's level of performance and academic functioning.

Parents who have worked with this system for a number of years know that the annual or triennial review is the time to bring up concerns and seek different or additional services. This is a time when they are a mandated part of the team that decides how their child will be educated and the other folks around the table usually are those who know their child best -- classroom teacher, special education teacher, school psychologist, and others.

But what parents sometimes do not know is that the IEP that emerges from the annual review is not etched in stone and the requirement for an annual review is a legal minimum, not a maximum. So, parents and schools can seek a new meeting at any time. Furthermore, changes to an IEP can be made without the need for a meeting. The IDEA specifically provides:

Section 614(d)(3)(D) Agreement.--In making changes to a child's IEP after the annual IEP meeting for a school year, the parent of a child with a disability and the local educational agency [the school district] may agree not to convene an IEP meeting for the purposes of making such changes, and instead may develop a written document to amend or modify the child's current IEP.

The regulations which amplify the law, further go on to state:

Section 300.324(a)(4) (ii) - If changes are made to the child's IEP in accordance with paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section, the public agency must ensure that the child's IEP Team is informed of those changes.

So, parents should keep in mind that they have options if they are not happy with how things are going under their child's IEP. They can contact the head of their IEP Team, raise their concerns, and if agreement can be reached, the IEP can be modified without need for another meeting. If that does not work, they can seek another meeting of the IEP Team, even if they are not "due" for another annual meeting, and bring their issues to the full IEP team. It's their right to do so.