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Special Education Hearings

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Here is the situation. You disagree with the school district’s findings about your child’s IEP. You reach out to the Bureau of Special Education Appeals and they schedule a hearing. Most people do not have any idea about how these hearings work.

At the hearing, a hearing officer presides over the proceedings. They are conducted in a conference room and not in a courtroom. Hearings usually last about three days. They are like a court trial. The parent has the burden of proof to demonstrate their child is not making effective progress. The school district will be represented with a lawyer.

A parent at this point will have to present legal arguments, cross-examine witnesses, work with experts, and write closing briefs based upon research of legal principals. They would also call experts on their behalf like the child’s neuropsychologist to testify.

This sounds nearly impossible for the common non-lawyer parent to do all of this and actually defeat the school system. Next time we will look at how victory can be accomplished.

Evaluation & Special Education Team Meeting

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Once the school system provides a free comprehensive evaluation, a meeting date with the school’s special education team will be scheduled. The law says that this must happen within 45 days of the parent signing off on the evaluation. As the parent, you have the right to request a copy of the school’s report, which the school district must provide to you not later than 48 hours before the meeting. Make sure you take advantage of this rule and attain your copy so you have time to prepare. Be sure to put your request in writing so they can’t claim you never asked for a copy.

What can you do if you disagree with the school district’s evaluation? Come back here soon as we look at the secrets they may not tell you so you can fight for the education your student deserves.

Classroom Difficulties (Part 9: Causes)

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The written teacher evaluation and classroom observation information will help clarify the potential causes of a child’s difficulty in the classroom. In order to help a child, the teacher and the parents must consider many possible causes for the student’s difficulty. Without a careful evaluation, a child may be inappropriately labeled as a “behavior problem” or “special needs”.

Classroom Difficulties (Part 8: Never Tell)

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An extremely important thing to note is the child should not be told they are personally being observed. People that know they are being observed tend to step up their game. The teacher should notify the students that someone is visiting the class to observe the teacher or may have a student in the class next year and seeing how they do things.

Is your student mislabeled as special needs or a behavior problem? Tomorrow we will address this as our series on classroom difficulty continues.

Classroom Difficulties (Part 7: No Parents Allowed)

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The person doing the observation should not be the parent either as students behave differently when their parents are present or when they know they are being observed. Talk to the principal and ask if the observer can be another teacher, principal, special education director, Y3K Tutor In Your Home tutor, or other trained professional. The observer should make note of times when the child is cooperating as well as having difficulty. The entire classroom environment should be observed.

What is the one thing that could ruin the entire observation process? What must be done by the teacher to make sure the classroom observation is not sabotaged? Check back tomorrow for the shocking answers!

Classroom Difficulties (Part 6: Part of the Process)

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The second reason the teacher should never conduct the classroom observation is because they are a part of the process being evaluated. The teacher could be the one causing the student to have difficulty in the classroom in the first place. The observer needs to be able to see all aspects of the classroom including the students and the teacher all with an open mind.

Tomorrow we will take a closer look at exactly who should and should not be conducting the classroom observation.

Classroom Difficulties (Part 4: Classroom Observation)

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A teacher may notify a parent that there are issues a student needs to address in the classroom. This could include lack of focus, silliness or emotional distress. Sometimes the teacher may be right as there could be classroom bullies or the teacher themselves may be causing problems for your student. In order to find out the exact cause of your student’s problems, a classroom observation by someone other than the teacher is important. Students can benefit from being closely observed in the classroom due to the information collected that would otherwise remain unknown. One important thing to remember is that the teacher must never be allowed to do this observation.

Why can’t the teacher be allowed to conduct the observation? There are two reasons why. Can you guess? Check back tomorrow for the surprising answers!

Classroom Difficulties (Part 3: What to Evaluate)

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If your child’s teacher writes you evaluation, make sure they consider the student’s intellectual and emotional development and age in comparison to other children in the classroom. The teacher should also note what methods have been tried to modify behavior.

Come back tomorrow and find out another major tool at your disposal when trying to solve classroom challenges your student may face.

Classroom Difficulties (Part 2: Written Teacher Evaluation)

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Many parents are notified that there student has issues in the classroom that must be addressed. One major tool at your disposal is the written teacher evaluation.   A written teacher evaluation describes specific behaviors and academic performance.   The purpose of this evaluation is to pinpoint areas where a student is having problems and areas of strength.

Tomorrow we will look at what must be considered when evaluating.

 

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