Advocacy, Special Education Rights & Responsibilities - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Advocacy, Special Education Rights & Responsibilities Presented by Steve Ashman Executive Director, CASA of Stanislaus County

ADVOCACY … Things to Remember  DELAY IS THE ENEMY !  DOCUMENT !  KNOW WHO HOLDS ED RIGHTS …  POLICY IS NOT LAW !  The CHICKEN or the PIG?

The most important things to know about being a good advocate …  Create Relationships  Communicate ideas  Know the facts and how the law applies  Keep your eye on the ball  Question anything you don’t understand

In any and all meetings …  Inform all parties of your role  Put the child’s needs first  Get your ‘message’ across • Clarify • Get all Perspectives • Find Common Ground • Add Information • State Your Position Clearly

Remember to …  Keep Clear Records  Be organized  Keep Copies of EVERYTHING  Put EVERYTHING in writing  Keep a log  Recap after every meeting … clarify all issues still unclear

Placement Report of Progress and The Alternative Assessment Statement of Special IEP Education & Related Services Pyramid Supplementary Aids Program Modifications Support for Personnel Involvement in General Curriculum Measurable Annual Goals & Short-term Objectives/Benchmarks Consideration of Special Factors Assistive Technology Communication Transition Low Incidence Disabilities Vocational Behavioral Present Levels of Educational Performance Preparation

Special Education Is Not A Special Education Is Not A Place Place It is a constellation of services provided in the Least Restrictive Environment

Principles of the IDEA an Principles of the IDEA and d Section Section 50 504  Free Appropriate Public Education  Appropriate Assessment  Least Restrictive Environment  Parent Participation  Procedural Safeguards  Individual Education Program (IEP) / 504 Plan

504 Eligibility? – Must have a condition that substantially limits a major life activity

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973  Hearing, Seeing, Breathing, Walking, Talking, Thinking …  Guarantees a free, appropriate, public education  Services are broad-based and determined on student educational needs  May include special education services, instruction, accommodations and modifications  Services determined by 504 Planning Team

Special Education

Definition of a “Child with a Disability” IDEA 2004 defines a child with a disability as a child with :  • Mental retardation • Hearing impairments (including deafness) • Speech or language impairments • Visual impairments (including blindness) • Serious emotional disturbance • Orthopedic impairments • Autism • Traumatic brain injury • Other health impairments • Specific learning disabilities AND who, because of this disability , needs special education and related services .

El Eligibil igibility ity Criter Criteria ia for Le for Lear arning ning Disabled Disabled  Must have a disorder in one of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written language ( attention , visual processing, auditory processing, sensory-motor skills, and cognitive abilities including association, conceptualization, and expression)  May manifest itself in an impaired ability to listen, think, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations

Special Education The term special education means specially designed instruction, at  no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability including: • Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings The term includes each of the following, if it meets the requirements of  special education: • Speech-language pathology services, or any other related service, if the service is considered special education rather than a related service under State standards • Travel training • Vocational education Specially designed instruction means adapting to the needs of an  eligible child the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction: • To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability • To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that he or she can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.

These services may include, but are not limited to, the following: Audiological services 1. Orientation and mobility instruction 2. Instruction in the home or hospital 3. Adapted physical education 4. Physical and occupational therapy 5. Vision services 6. Specialized driver training instruction 7. Counseling and guidance 8. Psychological services other than assessment and development of the individualized 9. education program Parent counseling and training 10. Health and nursing services 11. Social worker services 12. Specially designed vocational education and career development 13. Recreation services 14. Specialized services for low incidence disabilities, such as readers, transcribers, and vision 15. and hearing services Speech and Language Services 16. Medical evaluation for diagnostic purposes 17.

Timelines for Assessment and IEP Child is referred for assessment   Referral for assessment means any written request for assessment to identity an individual with exceptional needs made by a parent, teacher, or other service provider. Within 15 calendar days, the district must give parent proposed  assessment plan meeting the following requirements.  Be in language easily understood by the general public  Be provided in the primary language of the parent or other mode of mode of communication used by parent unless to do so is clearly not feasible  Explain each type of assessment instrument to be administered, the purpose of the instrument, and professional personnel responsible for administration and interpretation of the instrument.  Fully explain the facts which make an assessment necessary or desirable  State that no educational placement will result from the assessment without parental consent.  Include a copy of the notice of parent rights including an explanation of all procedural safeguards of state and federal special education law

Timelines for Assessment and IEP  Parent must give written consent to conduct assessment.  Parent has 15 calendar days to arrive at a decision. • Written shall be obtained before any assessment of the student is conducted unless the public education agency prevails in a due process hearing. The parent shall have at least 15 days from the receipt of the proposed assessment plan to arrive at a decision.  Assessment will be completed and IEP developed within 60 calendar days of receipt of parent’s written consent for assessment. It is expected that the student’s IEP will be implemented immediately following the IEP meeting. • Exceptions: when meetings occur during summer or vacation period or where circumstances require a short delay (ex. Transportation arrangements). There can be no undue delay in providing special education and related services to the child . • If the parent does not consent to all components of the IEP, then those components to which consent has been given shall be implemented so as not to delay providing education and services to the child.

Evaluation Individualized testing  Evaluation in the native language or mode of communication  • Unless clearly not feasible to do so Nondiscriminatory evaluation  • On a racial or cultural basis Any standardized tests to be validated for the specific purpose for  which they are used Tests administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel  Tests administered in accordance with any instructions provided by  the producer of such tests The student must be assessed in all areas of suspected disability  No single procedure is used as the sole criterion for determining  special education and an appropriate educational program Re-evaluation at parent request requires IEP 

Assessed In All Areas The child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability, including, if appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general intelligence,academic performance, communicative status and motor disabilities. In evaluating each child with a disability, the evaluation is sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the child’s special education and related services needs, whether or not commonly linked to the disability category in which the child has been classified.

Eligibility Criteria for Emotionally Disturbed  Because of a serious emotional disturbance, pupil exhibits one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely effects educational performance: * An inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors * An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers * Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances exhibited in several situations * A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression * A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems