What is Special Education anyway????

In simple terms, special education is specialized instruction and related services that a school district provides to children who qualify as educationally disabled. A child could have a learning disability, an emotional disturbance, an other health impairment, or a number of other “educational disabilities”, and if the team agrees that the student is eligible, then an Individual Education Program (IEP) will be developed. All of this is to be paid for by the school district at no cost to the parent. It is a school district’s obligation to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to children, regardless of a disability, for children 3 to 21 or graduation, whichever comes first.

This sounds like it should be simple, right? But the process is really anything but simple. The special education laws are confusing to even the most seasoned professionals, it seems. It is amazing to think that average families and parents make it through the process unscathed.

So what exactly is this process??? I will go through it briefly here for you. The Parent Information Center has a great document that goes over all the details…find it here……Parent Information Center publication

First off, there is a “child find” process….it is the school district’s responsibility to find kiddos from 3-21 who might have a disability. This is where preschool screenings and kindergarten screenings come into play. The other way a district “finds” a child with a disability is through the REFERRAL process. Anyone who knows the child and thinks that there is an educational disability issue can refer a child to the special education department at the child’s school or district. This referral should be in writing and describe what the problem is and it should request further evaluation. Once the school district receives this referral, it has 15 days to “dispose of the referral”. This means that the special education team gets together to review all existing school information (like report cards, assessments, teacher comments, etc) to see if further evaluation is required. At this point, the school district might say that they don’t feel a full blown special education evaluation is needed and that they will try some other classroom interventions, etc. Or, they might say that they do believe more information is needed to make a decision regarding whether or not special education is needed, and they would then propose an evaluation and ask parents to consent to some further testing.

Once the parent(s) sign(s) consent, the school district has 45 days to complete the EVALUATION. During this time, the school psychologist will most likely complete an intellectual evaluation (IQ test) and some achievement tests to see if the child is doing as well as he could be, or if there are other things going on that are getting in the way of the child’s achievement. Other professionals, such as occupational therapists or speech and language pathologists might do some assessments too, depending on the suspected areas of disability. After the testing is completed, the professionals write reports and recommendations and then an evaluation review meeting is held. Once the results are reviewed, the team can discuss whether or not the child is eligible for special education services based on whether the child is found to have an educational disability or not. Remember, this is all supposed to happen within 45 days in NH…..the school district may request one extension of this time frame, up to an extra 15 days…bringing the total to 60 days.

Important tip: In NH, the days are CALENDAR DAYS….not business days or school days….this is an important distinction, as a school district can not delay due to vacations or holidays, etc. So, if someone refers a child on June 15, the school district can not say that they can’t do anything until the next school year. The school district has to start the special education process, and if they don’t have people in house to do the testing, or whatever, they will need to contract with someone to get it done. A school district should not ask a parent to sign a waiver extending the time frames in order to get through a vacation period.

Check back soon for more about the next steps: determination of eligibility and IEP development!

Ocotober is Parent Involvement Month in NH

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey. There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey.

There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. What exactly is parent involvement? It means different things to different people. For some, it is the fact that they attend all of their children's extracurricular events. For others, it is that they attend all of their child's IEP meetings.

Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!
Quick tips to become a more involved parent and improving communication:
Parent Involvement

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey. There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!

NH’s Parent Involvement survey results are in…go to the DOE website to get the results! Approximately 15% of school age parents responded to the survey.

There is lots of research to show that parent involvement is one of the most important factors in children’s academic success. What exactly is parent involvement? It means different things to different people. For some, it is the fact that they attend all of their children's extracurricular events. For others, it is that they attend all of their child's IEP meetings.

Do you feel that the staff at your child’s school promotes parent involvement? Do you feel that your child’s special education team values your opinion as a parent? Look at the items on the survey and see how you respond and see if your school truly promotes parent involvement!
Quick tips to become a more involved parent and improving communication:

1. Introduce yourself to the classroom teacher as soon as possible and discuss with them any special circumstances with your child.
2. Attend and participate in open houses, parent teacher conferences, IEP meetings and back to school nights.
3. Volunteer in the classroom if at all possible.
4. Check in with teachers using short chats, phone calls, or written notes.
5. Be proactive—if there is something going on with the child that will affect school performance let the teacher know before hand.
6. Take part in Parent Associations.
7. Be a chaperone of school events or field trips.
8. Attend your child’s sporting events, concerts, plays, etc.
9. Ask questions—find out all the information and don’t jump to conclusions and overreact to situations. There are 2 (sometimes more) sides to every story.
10. Communicate with school about both positive and negative things. Don’t contact school only about the bad things.
11. Use of a communication log or book for students with special needs can help teachers and parents understand what has happened with the student during the day or evening.
12. Ask questions and address situations right away. Don’t ignore problems or wait for the issues to build up before discussing them. The school won’t know if there is a problem if you don’t mention it, and they may be caught off guard with a huge issue that could have been “nipped in the bud” right away.