Your son is not getting a Free and Appropriate Education. Period. THe situation is too complicated to address in a message board. If you post what state you live in, I'll see if I can post advocates and lawyers who specialize in spec. ed. who are in your area. If your child is in 5th grade, SO far behind and STILL not getting more than resource room, your school district is breaking the law and they KNOW it.
TLadyVan,
I feel so sad for your son. I agree that you should get an advocate or lawyer if this next school situation is not much, much better. (Do you already have a suitable IEP in place?) That other school is unbelievable. I know that there is almost nothing harder than seeing your child feel badly about himself. My son is extremely hard on himself, and he is only six.
Shannon
I would really like some advice......But 1st let me tell you a little about the situation. Jacob is in 5th grade, this year he is not taken out for sp. ed. he is currently reading and writing at a pre-K to K level, his math is at a 1st grade level. He has an IEP that states he will go to a resource room, but the school will not do so. They are grading by standards which means they are to grade him on 5th grade work and currently giving him 5th grade work. He is lost in class and he is falling everything. His last day at this school is tomorrow due to all this, but he is so down on himself. He suffers from chronic migraines which he currently takes 10 meds a day some are prescribed and others are vit's and herbs. He gets so frustrated and says "why should I do my homework, I'm failing everything and I do all my work." I totally understand what he is saying, he does try and does do the work. The migraines are due to hyper sensitive hearing but I have noticed he has more when he is under more stress. I hope things are better for him at this new school but it will take sometime before his hate for school eases. I tell him all the time, that i'm proud of him b/c he is working hard and that is all I want. That the grades do not matter it is his hard work that matters. It worked for awhile among other little talks, but now nothing I say matters. He is so upset, what can I do to make him feel better? I've never punished him for his grades or stated he needed to work harder. I have always praised him for his efforts. What are some things that have worked for your child. Thank you for any comments, it would be helpful.
TLadyVan
Kids DO get tested on grade level in the state tests that meet the criteria for No Child Left Behind. But those tests have nothing at all to do with a child's grade or, in fact, his education. They are designed to test THE SCHOOLS. To see if THE SCHOOLS are doing well. What your school is telling you is that their grade based on the NCLB law is more important than what your son learns. What is on your son's IEP is what HE has to learn. Yes, he can take their tests but how he DOES on those tests has no bearing on HIM. You can even keep him home for the day of the test if you like. What has a bearing on HIM is if his IEP is right for him, if his goals are important ones that he CAN meet and that the school is concientious in helping him MEET HIS goals. The FIRST thing that has to be determined before an IEP is written is that individual child's PRESENT LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE. For example, if he is reading at the K level, a goal on his IEP CANNOT be "Jacob will read HOLES and answer questions on the plot, character development and give his opinion of this book." That is something that WOULD be expected of a typical 5th grader, but clearly you can't start at a level of reading performance of K and expect the child to read a 5th grade book. If he is reading at the K level, you want a goal that says that Jacob's reading level will rise to the first grade level. If they want to include Jacob in the HOLES unit, they can let him watch the movie. Frankly, though, I don't think a child THIS far behind academically is going to get a darned thing out of a typical 5th grade class except, possibly, socially. But I even doubt that. Your son needs an IEP with and "I" in it -- individual. His school situation is SO bad, I will repeat my earlier advice. You need a professional educational advocate (not a parent advocate, which is just a warm body in an IEP meeting and is not supposed to actually ADVOCATE, in fact most never say a peep) or an educational lawyer. Or, on the other hand, you can google IDEA 2004 and read the Federal Law yourself. It's not that hard and your state's regulations of spec. ed. law are probably even easier to understand (and states have to offer everything the Federal law demands, but they may offer MORE). If going directly to the law doesn't suit you, get the book From Emotions to Advocacy. It's a good start.
I called a meeting at the beginning of school year with these concerns. I had the Sp.Ed. teacher, Sp.Ed. supervisor, OT Supervisor, Rg Ed. reading teacher, principal, and a parent advocate. She was no help, she was for the inclusion. The principal and sp.ed. supervisor is stating they are getting instructions from the state of Ohio that they have to put all kids in the reg. ed. class, but the law states they have to teach a child on individual needs and if the inclusion was not working they would change him back. So, I agreed to give it a try with the understanding if it didn't work they would pull him out in the resource room. It is clearly not working and now they will not do what they said. He is failing math and he always passes math. Now they are saying it is b/c of the no child left behind law. That they have to grade on standards and he has to take a standards test at the 5th grade level and if he is pulled out than he will not pass any of it. Isn't the standards test what schools have to turn in to see where they fall for the district grade and they are already in failure. Should I even bother with anything now, I thought about writing a letter and sending it to the school, school board, and the state department as to why I pulled my child out of the district. Would a lawyer still be a good idea, I would like to fight for all the other kids who still are in this situation. What are your thoughts? Should I leave it alone and walk away quietly or go out with a bang?Thanks Tzoya, I'm going to look into an educational advocate. Jacob's IEP is writen with goals for him and I agree with his IEP. On his IEP it also states how many min's he will go to the resource room for each subject, which is not happening. I was going to file a formal complaint to the state of Ohio but I don't think I can now. He is starting a new school on Monday with the Ohio Autism scholarship and if there is any pending due processes, ect than he wouldn't be accepted for the scholarship. I'm not sure where the formal complaint falls in that, but I do intend to find out. Anyways, I think getting an educational advocate would still be a good idea. I might need the advocate with the new school. Gosh, I hope not!!!!!
Thanks
TLadyVan,
I am just curious, what is the Ohio Autism Scholarship? I'm wondering if there is an equvalent scholarship in Maine.
Thanks, and good luck with your son.
Merry,
Here is the web site to the Ohio Autism Scholarship. Your Education State Dep. would know if there is anything like this in Maine.