The school sent home an IEP form for me to sign which I'm not because I don't think it's of any help the way it is. They've been doing this for 2 years because my dd has had problems learning to read. For 2 years she's "supposed" to have been given 40 min 2 times /wk for reading by the literacy teacher. This has been since grade 1. She still can't read.
She's been dx'd with a developmental delay and undergoing an eval for autism I believe she's HFA. She's in grade 3. She doesn't have behavior problems that effect others or for safety but she's disorganozed and often unmotivated to complete assignments. She's unable to read a grade 1 book and count to 20; she doesn't recognixze numbers past 10. She likes art and learns most of the info she knows from educational tv programs.
I don't really know much about IEP's so can someone please tell me. This year they've added other needs. This is what it says
Assessed Strengths: Visual/Spatial, Auditory learner, expressive language skills (oral)
Assessed needs: Expressive language (writing), phonological processing, Receptive language (reading), Number and math
Human Resources: Special Ed. teacher shared support with other students 20 minutes at 2 times/wk
Accomodations:
Instructional: extra time for processing, manipulatives, note taking assitance, organization coaching, rewording rephrasing of info
Environmental: proximity to instructor
Assessment: extended time limits, extra time for processing, verbatim scribing, reduction of number of tasks used to assess a concept or skill.
You can also call your State Dept. of Public Education for assistance on what to do for your child. Does your child have a dx? Has she been tested for Dyslexia? My son could not read, and Literacy did NOTHING for him. He was finally DX with a Broad Language Learning Disibility, more complex than Dyslexia, He did, Lindamood Bell reading program and went up a whole grade level in 5 weeks. We had to go to a psychologist for testing, the school testing was not good enough.
Are you in the United States? Some of those categories you listed don't sound familiar with a standard IEP. Are there goals written in the IEP, like annual goal and then benchmarks? Is there a present level of performance that is filled out and includes strenghts and weaknesses as they relate to the 3rd grade curriclum? With those "assessed needs" I would say that your child should also be seeing a speech teacher while at school. If your daughter is in the 3rd grade and is that far behind 3rd grade peers as far as skill level, then my question would be to her teacher, what does she do for three days a week she gets no special ed services and all the other time on the other 2 days except for the 20 mins she is seeing the sp ed teacher. It doesn't sound like your daughter can do any of the 3rd grade work so what is she doing all week except the 40 mins a week she gets services? Your daughter deserves more time with the special ed teacher working on goals that are individual to her needs. Request an increase in time. Try to post the answers to the questions at the top of this post so the entire IEP will be clear.
And no matter what, DO NOT EVER sign an IEP and return it to school. In the US, this is illegal. An IEP can not be sent home for the parent to simply sign. The IEP team has to meet and come up with goals and all the other info that goes into the IEP collectively. If you just sign, how is your input included?
Send a letter to the special ed teacher requesting and IEP meeting as soon as possible. In the meeting, ask these questions about why she isn't getting more services and what is happening at all other times during the week when she is in the 3rd grade class, but can't do the work. Request an evaluation from the speech language pathologist. Request more time with the special ed teacher DAILY. Is there a room where the sp ed students go to and see the special ed teacher or does the sp ed teacher come in the regular 3rd grade classroom?
If you are in the United States, your school district is covered by IDEA 2004, which is the Federal Spec. Ed. law. Your state can also give your daughter more protections, but not less than IDEA. This year and new wrinkle was added. The school is REQUIRED to give your daughter a research-based, peer-reviewed reading program that is designed to meet her individual needs. Her current IEP is based on lots of testing, including IQ testing. Read the IEP carefully. It has all the test scores on it. Ask to meet with the IEP Team chairperson to get each and every score fully explained to you. ASK them exactly what reading program they are planning to use with her and HOW that reading program will address her specific reading deficits. Don't walk away from the meeting confused. Insist that they explain EVERYTHING so that you understand. None of us was born understanding educational testing.
Reading is the foundation of all schooling. I don't need to tell you how very, very important getting your daughter to read fluently is. So much so that the government has made reading fluency a top priority in the law -- both for NT kids and spec. needs kids. Since your daughter has now been classified into the special education system, your duty will be to learn as much as you can about her rights so that you can INSIST the schools give her what she needs. Now that she's in 3rd grade, things are getting critical. Find out about educational advocates in your area. You may need the assistance of someone who KNOWS the law to get a proper IEP going. The services your daughter is supposed to get are WEAK and they will not likely provide her with the Free and Appropriate Public Education that all children are guaranteed (FAPE). The school district can lose Federal funding if they are not providing FAPE to the kids (unlikely, but still a real threat if they are reported enough). I wouldn't go straight to strong-arm tactics, but right now your daughter is getting gypped and this IEP will NOT improve things. Get and advocate.
Hi. I'm very new to all of this, but my impression is that this is all way too vague. I would insist on more measurable actions and goals for which the school would be held accountable. It also seems that if your daughter is still struggling to read by grade 3, there should be more understanding as to the underlying issues and also more urgency to help her. I hope you get some specific advice from others here, but I agree that this doesn't seem acceptable at all.
Best wishes.