So, Schools are closed (part 2) Official Day 1. We are all trying to wrap our heads around what is occurring in the world right now. While I am extremely anxious about our health, I am also thinking about my children and their education. And, I know you must be anxious because I have received many emails and DMs from friends, clients and complete strangers. I have read the Federal Department of Education Guidance. I have listened to Special Ed Attorneys and Advocates via zoom and Live FB discussions. Everyone is saying the same thing that while our kids are guaranteed FAPE, the only people who are responsible during this here and now is US - the parents. Not unlike any other day, we wear many hats to ensure our child's success. Full disclosure, though. I am NOT a teacher. I have a Law Degree…and this provides very little assistance attempting to teach my just-about-to-be diagnosed Dyslexic child to read. I know we will get through this and I am chalking it up to our 34th blip on this extremely bumpy 3rd grade radar screen. Will he regress (even more)? Most likely. We were just learning how truly far from grade level he was (originally) purported to be, and as a Team, we were scheduled to meet Friday to formulate a service plan to attempt any closure on this gap. Obviously, this never occurred and our meeting is put on indefinite hold. Not going to lie - I shed some tears of frustration, anger & confusion, had a small pity party, and regrouped to focus on how we can best provide him help RIGHT NOW. 

What gift were we given as parents? TIME. This is my plan starting today, and looking into the next potential 3-4 weeks at home. Hopefully this can help those asking what I am doing. 👩‍⚖️ME: I am reviewing my child’s CURRENT IEP. I am going through each goal to see what *I* can possibly do to help him with these goals. Again, I am neither a reading instructor nor a special eduction teacher, however I do understand IEPs. As a parent, you MUST be able to use a calculator to determine progression or regression based on your child’s goals. You will quickly learn when doing a document review (IEPs, progress reports, data, etc.) that if you cannot calculate your child's BASELINE data to current data, you have a huge problem and we need to put a BIG mental RED FLAG sticky note to address this ASAP. Goals must be written as measurable according to progress monitoring resources (more on this next post). 📚Now to HIS plan: He will do an hour a day of LEXIA (we will separate into two-30 minute sessions/day), Khan Academy (20 minutes), XtraMath (20 minutes)), Epic Reading (20 minutes), and Spelling City (20 minutes). We will break these up by taking snack breaks, electronic time, chores around the house, and fun outside - playing on a trampoline, go for a run, scooter around the neighborhood, shoot hoops… whatever we can do to get outside and full disclosure - I am not taking away device time. I'm a realist. We have to get through this in one piece 💁🏻‍♀️Will this be perfect? No. Will we keep to a precise schedule? Definitely NOT. But, I will do my very best to keep to the times above to get at least 2+/- hours / day of some type of learning in addition to 20-30 minutes of nightly reading. Lexia is great, however you do need a subscription via your school ( ask your teacher if you can get access!). Epic works well if you do not have Lexia. You can search by subject, narrow by grade level, or Lexile level. Most of the books have highlight tracking to help with oral reading, as well. Epic also utilizes some multi-sensory approaches with visual and audio components. Mental RED FLAG sticky #2: You MUST know your child’s current reading data (ex: LEXILE, AimsWeb, Dibels, STAR, etc, as well as YOUR District's curriculum GRADE Norms - mental RED FLAG sticky #3 - get this if you do not have it!). This way you can track any progress you may see over these next 4 weeks! Take a BASELINE read now (day 1) and at the end of the 3-4 weeks. You will want this data for the team. Email me at Jen@MaserAdvocacy.com if you have any questions! 

Links for reference:
XtraMath: https://xtramath.org
Spelling City: https://spellingcity.com
Lexia: https://www.lexiacore5.com (you need a subscription) 
Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org
Epic Reading: https://www.getepic.com

Ok. So, schools are closing. This is an unprecedented time. As my close friends & clients know, I am NOT just a Special Education Advocate. I am also a special needs Mom in the trenches. I have a child at home who CANNOT miss one day of service. I am extremely disappointed with the lack of ANY curriculum brought home AND the lack of transparency regarding information about how to proceed with help. Doing what I do, I know why the school/s chose this route, so it breaks my heart (and fuels my fire) to ensure he (and ALL of my clients) receive services. So, for now, time to take my child's education in my own hands (and deal with the school at the appropriate time - Hello COMPENSATORY TIME during SUMMER - more on this when the dust settles). Over the next few weeks, I plan on posting daily any FREE and HELPFUL sites I can find. Please crowdsource! Use my page to post whatever you find! Feel free to DM any information! 
First up - a list of education companies currently floating around offering free subscriptions:  https://docs.google.com/…/1NUKLZN7hGSu1Hzm70kfzBK…/htmlview…

Second, I was just reading a Special Ed Attorney's page, and she highly recommended Epic! Reading. You can search by topic and narrow the search to audio books. Each book can “level” according to Lexile to either lower or increase readability level. Teachers have FREE access to this site in school, as well. Going to check it out now! Stay Safe, Stay Sane & Wash those hands... ❤️ #specialeducationadvocate #specialeducation#IEPhelp #CoronaVirus #schoolclosing #readinghelp

Do you know the curriculum used in your District? To find your school programs reported by town, go to the left side and click on the small arrow under (choose Elementary, Middle School, High School, etc.).

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1Pk-D6LGs2yTFLTqShirBzc1ER0pjiO8A&fbclid=IwAR2F4C_t0zRHEC9E5S38S0v64Tg3CrVPFfMpFg2IRiaVRZo9KiekZAv2aoU&ll=42.034217200000064%2C-70.70495199999999&z=8

Let's Talk Assessment Scores - You requested to have your child evaluated by the school and you are reviewing the reports. You see a lot of numbers and you are trying to make sense of what it all means? Most assessments consist of subtests that hone in on particular skillsets. Subtests can range from visual skills, spelling, writing, reading, oral comprehension, etc. A District may combine these scores into what is called a Composite Score. Thorough reports will delineate these scores into subtest scores.

(1) MAKE SURE to ask for the subtest scores. You want to receive all subtests and standard scores so that you can fully analyze your child's strengths and potential weaknesses. Composite scores can give false assumptions into a student's overall picture. Look at the scatter & discrepancies (the wide range of scores).

(2) MAKE SURE to ask each evaluator which subtest they used and WHY (and how they assessed your child). You learn from your questions! You may be surprised to learn that some subtests do not require reading (your child is read to and answers orally), or that some writing subtests do not account for spelling, capitalization or punctuation! You get points for "ideas" and/or simply following the rules of the test (i.e. the written essay can make NO sense - no structure, no punctuation, however, you can "score well" because you follow the rules)! 

This is a terrific resource with a comprehensive list of tests commonly used to diagnose dyslexia and language disorders from preschool through adulthood. Bookmark this page as a reference guide for what each test measures, the age range, and the publisher information!

 http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/…/l…/diagnosing-dyslexia/tests 

You are at work. The phone rings. Your heart drops because you see it is your child’s school calling - again. “You need to pick up Susie. She [insert the issue/behavior of the day] again, and you need to take her home." Your answer because you read my posts and know your rights? 😉: “Oh, school is suspending my child?” All too often, the parent rushes to school, feeling obligated to leave work, when the reality is - this is the equivalent of a SUSPENSION. Suspension defined: a temporary cessation of educational services. If your child is asked to leave school, that is a suspension. Your child is asked to leave school, and her peers remain in the current educational placement. If you choose to pick up your child from school, request that the school prepares the appropriate suspension paperwork. The school is requesting you to remove your child from her current placement. What is MOST frustrating? Perhaps you discussed [insert all the frequent discussions] with the school and yet, your child does not have appropriate goals and they have ignored your request for an FBA (Functional Behavior Assessment) to aid in developing an appropriate Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) for these behaviors. Sending your child home will not help your child. In fact, with most students, it only reinforces the behavior because he or she is asked to leave school and escape whatever is the cause of the behavior. You are not looking to excuse this behavior; you are setting up a plan to correct the behavior. It is time to reconvene the team. Revise the IEP, request an FBA and develop a behavior plan. And, do not leave school without the appropriate paperwork. Having this accurate and reliable data concerning removals from the classroom not only documents your child’s needs, but is critical to ensure that schools act consistent with IDEA and helps track whether students with disabilities are suspended at a disproportionate rate. #IEP#IEPhelp #specialeducation #specialeducationadvocate#specialeducationlaw #504Plan #FAPE #suspension #discipline #ADHD#Autism Email: jen@maseradvocacy.com

Scenario: You are in an IEP meeting. You discuss needs, goals & services, come to what you believe was a mutual conclusion/s, only to wait (what the District finds as "reasonable time") to receive the IEP and N1 to see it describes very little, or the complete opposite, of what you discussed? Then, you find yourself in an "I said, They said" email back-and-forth chain, which in the end, only serves to delay and drag the ticking clock of your child's school year. Assert your parental rights at your IEP meeting. Districts have the technology to present at least the key service components of an IEP as you leave the meeting. This "summary," at a minimum, MUST include (1) "a completed IEP service delivery grid describing the types and amounts of special education and/or related services proposed by the district, and (2) a statement of the major goal areas associated with these services." IF the school provides this, they may take no more than 2 calendar weeks to prepare the complete IEP. Request and review this summary, as well as the Chair's notes before you leave that room! If this summary and notes do not accurately reflect your revisions or decisions, politely wait until it does... (See: Memo on the Implementation of 603 CMR 28.05(7), MDESE December 1, 2006). #specialeducation #specialeducationadvocate #specialeducationlaw #FAPE #IEP #IEPhelp #IEPmeeting #ADHD#Autism #Dyslexia

Have you been in an IEP meeting discussing your child’s needs and related services, only to be told by the IEP chair, “hmmm, we will have to check and see if we can do ___ / provide ____ and get back to you.” Why? "We make these decisions as a Team." I must be confused because this is the Team? No. Don't be gaslighted by the school. You ask: Who is here representing the District?

...IDEA mandates that your IEP team include several required Team members. If appropriately gathered (i.e., ALL required members present) present team members include: You (the parent), a Special Education teacher of your child, a Regular Education teacher of your child (if appropriate), a person who can interpret evaluation results, any member a parent may invite (although to note - they are not required, but you can invite whomever!), however most important to this scenario - The representative of the District/School who has the AUTHORITY to COMMIT the resources of both time and personnel of the school. This representative must be “qualified to provide or supervise the provision of specially designed instruction (special education) to meet your child’s unique needs AND is also knowledgeable about your school’s general education curriculum AND the availability of school resources.” 

So, who is here with the authority to not only discuss the Districts' resources, but the authority to approve them? I’ll wait… and I would like this in writing - and request it in the N1. Don't let the school delay and delay and delay what your child needs. #Specialeducation #specialeducationlaw#specialeducationadvocate #IEP #504Plan #FAPE

Have you been told that your child is ineligible for an IEP yet your child is receiving a related service such as OT, PT, Speech, social "lunch bunch," or a counseling service? Did you know in Massachusetts these related services, which are necessary to access the general curriculum, are considered special education? And, did you know, that if your child is unable to access the general curriculum "without the provision of one or more of related services, the Team MUST determine that he or she is eligible" for an IEP? #specialeducation #eligibility #FAPE #IEPhelp #IEP #MAedu#specialeducationadvocate #specialeducationlaw

Question from a parent: What can I do to track my child’s progress? Specifically, how often should the District communicate progress towards a child’s reading goals? No matter the methodology used, you must be able to objectively measure the data. One way the school can monitor your child’s progress is with the Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) or Aimsweb. Both are norm-referenced benchmark assessments and provide both age and grade equivalencies for progress monitoring. It is important to note that DIBELS and Aimsweb are only “indicators” of a student’s overall reading status, and are not intended to be in-depth or comprehensive measures of reading. They are not to be considered diagnostic reading assessments for identifying a child’s specific areas of strengths and weaknesses or determining any difficulties that a child may have in learning to read and/or the potential cause of such difficulties, and do not help to determine possible reading intervention strategies and related special needs. This should be done annually! (More on this in a later post!).

Both Dibels and Aimsweb offer one-minute assessments for oral reading fluency, providing for rate and accuracy and report in words read correctly per minute. When used as progress monitoring tool, the school may complete at least one of the individual DIBELS tests as often as once a week!

If your child has a reading goal(s) on his or her IEP, it is important to request and receive this reading data weekly. You want to have this documented (in writing) in your actual IEP. Often, a school will respond that they cannot probe weekly. This is untrue. Each DIBELS probe takes approximately one+ minute to complete. The close monitoring of this progress is very important because it will help determine the effectiveness of the methodology and allows appropriate course-correction. You will know within 2-3 weeks whether or not your child is making progress as you should see a rate of 1 - 2 words gained successfully per week (per grade, see graph). Using the ORF CBM norm, you can graph and track your child’s progress. By using your child’s scores and your IEP goal, you can track the rate of growth by the number of weeks of instruction. Visual representations of your child’s progress (or lack thereof) are extremely effective tools in an IEP meeting. [**Disclosure: I am not a reading specialist, however I am an advocate who loves data, charts, and graphs. The visual proof demonstrating an undebatable lack of progress creates a deafening silence in an IEP meeting.]

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