Update

He can have the same things with an IEP. An IEP gives you and him more protection under the law than a 504 plan.

Lil

If you are happy with this solution they go for it. Yes, an IEP may be more “powerful” so to speak, but if resource room is not really necessary and is a waste of time, why bother with it?

Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. You do not have to be in the resource room to have an IEP. My son has an IEP that is implemented by his general education teacher. If I remember correctly, the child we are talking about has an existing IEP. Since they do protect the child by law more than a 504, I am simply suggesting that the IEP not go away. It can’t go away unless the parent signs agreeing to that - unless the county takes the parent to due process. Due process is time consuming and costly for the school system, and I’ll bet they keep the student on an IEP to avoid this.

The orginal reason I was in such disagreement with the school was their plan was to staff him out of special ed. They said that since he passed all his classes with decent grades he must not need special ed. No they did not have testing to back up their plan. As a matter of fact he tested below standards in reading and math on their state acheivement testing. They forgot the important fact the reason he did well was because he did have the suport he needed. The resource teacher helped him prepare for tests, tests were read, no points taken for spelling, notes provided and study guides. They openly admit is spelling and reading are below standards—but say he is able to compensate. They say look how far he has progressed so far. We got to this district in 2000, he was reading at a 3rd grade level, he was writing at a 2nd grade level, was below grade level for math. He was the most disorganized unmotiviated 7th grader you ever met. Now as a freshman he can read and comprehend at a 7th grade leve, is on grade level for math, and other then spelling has writing skills at the 11th grade level. He is highly motiviated going in before and after school to seek additional help. Where in middle school he had over 50 percent of assignments late or missing he now only has about 2 percent (these he usually attempts but just dont get). I know all of this sounds great and most probably feel I don’t have a right to complain but just because a child is willing to work hard does not mean you pull all support just to see if he is going to fail. They openly admit he will never be a good speller, reads so slowly it is almost painful, and absolutely can not keep up with note taking. They see such good qulities in him though that I think he confuses them. They say how can he do X but not Y? How can he pick up and understand the lecture on genetics but get lost reading To Kill A Mockingbird? He is one big puzzle to them and keeps them on their toes.

I think it’s absolutely wonderful that your son is doing so well now, and has so much motivation. Congratulations!

I know exactly what you mean about the school not understanding because he can do some things so well - and others almost not at all.

Re: “To Kill a Mockingbird” - have you tried to get it on tape from the library? Have you had it written into your son’s IEP that he needs books on tape to access the general curriculum? I get my son the unabridged version, and then have him read along to practice his reading skills. Then he listens to it separately to concentrate on the content.

What is your “gut” telling you about switching from an IEP to a 504?

So,are you okay with him *not* being special ed any more (regardless of the level of services — I’ve had special ed eligible students with “monitor” services, schedules like your son’s).

If he can’t read well, why not teach him how to decode? That makes a lot of sense to me. If the school won’t do it, do it privately. If you want help, contact me privately and I will help you with decoding skills.

How can he understand a lecture on genetics, yet mess up reading To Kill a Mockingbird? Obviously, his ability to learn by listening is considerably higher than his ability to learn by reading (assuming I’m understanding you correctly—let me know if I’m not). Do they know about that discrepancy, or are they assuming that if he can do one, he should be able to do the other?

Yours truly,
Kathy G.

Lisa,

You can really go either way. But personally, I would not want my child exited from the IEP until he had had a successful year or two of consultation service with accommodations. I think it’s wrong to go from resource to exiting special education altogether. I’d let my child change to consultation from resource, keep the accommodations, and still take the study hall/tutoring class. Then see how he’s doing in another year to decide about changing to 504.

Janis

I agree with you all my gut tells me now is not the time to remove him from an IEP. I think he should be on a consult IEP with his accomodations in place. I also think the tutoring study hall is a good idea. I think it is great he is so willing to work so hard just to do what comes easy to so many students. This first two weeks of the new quarter has been very hard for him. He thought that since he was told he did not need resource any more he could relax and not work so hard. Needless to say his grades plummeted and he came to realize that he had to work hard if he wanted to continue to get half descent grades. We had a nice long chat last night about how we each have our own strengths and weaknesses and just because you have a weakness does not mean you have to give into it. He is a very insightful person and was able to identify his own set of strengths and weaknesses. Since he is 14 I am gonna ask the school to listen to what his concerns are which are the same as mine. Thank you all so much for the words of encourgagement.

My daughter, only 4th grade, has been on an IEP consult only, since the end of 1st grade. I provided all reading tutoring and OT privately.She makes A’s and B’s in general ed w/ minor accommodations. She uses a computer for written assignments (with auditory spellcheck) and organizational software. She is gifted and has great comprehension and compensatory skills. She scores very high on FCAT with accommodations. I plan to have her remain on an IEP through high school, consult only.

I do not believe that just b/c a student is willing to work very hard to make good grades they should be penalized and removed from their IEP. The reason they are doing so well is b/c of their perservance, intelligence and accommodations. Oh, and all the money I have spent on 1 on 1 remediation!

Am I off base here?

Well, if you’re off base, then so am I. I plan to do exactly the same thing with my child as long as necessary. My child is not gifted, so those accommodations may mean the difference of passing or failing for her. The IEP carries more weight than the 504. I would keep the IEP, too.

Janis

Okay, I will go out on a limb here and say that you are out of line. What are the accommodations that your daughter receives? Special education was supposed to be for the SEVERE AND PROFOUND not someone that has minor problems. Trust me, there are many regular education students that would do better on an IEP. If your daughter has extended time, clarify directions, use of a computer and only those accommodations, and in inclusion classes doing very well, as you say, she shouldn’t be in special education. Special education shouldn’t be a ‘place’ that kids should stay after remediation. You are sending a wrong message to your daughter. What you are saying if you keep her in special education is that you are afraid that if you take her out, she will not do well. This is transferred to the child as well and she may think that she won’t do well without them too. This can be a self-esteem issue. You need to have faith in your child and let her have faith in herself; keeping her in sped is not showing that you have faith in her abilities. After my daughter was remediated, she went to college. She didn’t tell the college about her learning quirks, she wanted to be free from the stigma of the label and she wanted to feel good about herself and her accomplishments. She made it with a lot of work; but for the first time in her academic life, she felt good, she was ‘normal’. Monitoring is used mostly for the year before the student exits special education. Your daughter deserves to be congratulated on her accomplishment, and yours, of being remediated, show her that you have faith in her abilities and exit her. She may receive a C in some courses at first, but it will be her C and she will know it, without crutches, the accommodations and she will feel ‘normal’ like my daughter. You owe her that much.

Shay,

Even though I agree with you on just about everything else, I am going to disagree with you on this one. I, for one, am not going to leave my child at the mercy of the state of NC to determine whether she graduates on the basis of a test. She will have APD whether she learns to read well or not. She may be a slow processor regardless of what remediation we provide. And her short-term working memory issues may be with her for the rest of her life. If it takes sitting at an IEP meeting once a year to keep those accommodations in place, then so be it. I don’t see it as a crutch, I see it as survival. She’s not going to sit there for 13 years just to get a certificate of attendance.

Janis

In Mass. if you don’t need spec. ed. services to make progress, you don’t qualify for an IEP; as I understand it, this will be part of the reform of special ed., as services are more available under reg. ed. in No Child Left Behind.In Mass. the state mandated tests are untimed, so that accomodation is unnecessary.

My son has a long history of difficulties in school and sometimes getting services has been a night-mare so I can see why once they are in place you would be reluctant to give them up. At age 4 my son was screened for preschool and qualified for the program due to delays noted. He was placed in a regular K with no IEP or 504. He struggled in K and continued to do so in 1st, begining of 1st grade an evaluation was recommended. The evaluation was started but unfortunately we had to move mid eval due to PCS. The new school district thought DS was doing fine and discontinued evaluation. He progressed in their system fine from 1st to begining 3rd grade. Begining 3rd grade they thought he had ADHD and he was refered for evaluation being nieve at the time we had him only evaluated for ADHD which was negative, he continued to stuggle barely passing 3rd and 4th grade. 4th grade they put him on a 504 despite ADHD eval again being negative. He was on a 504 for 4th and 5th grade. He struggled and made it through the 5th grade but they recommended a re-eval once he hit the middle school which was 6th grade. They decided to do a speech/language evaluation on him and discovered he had scores as low as the 1st percentile. He was finally started on an IEP for 6th grade. The problem was his teacher did not believe he had a disability because he wrote neatly. She acknowledged his reading, his spelling, ect was poor but chalked it up to being lazy. Luckily we again moved and he started 7th grade in a new state in a new district. After reviewing my sons files they determined he needed significant remediation and placed him in self contained LD classes for reading, writing, and math, with regular ed classes for science, social studies, and band. He completed 7th and 8th grade having made significant improvements. Despite his improvements though he failed to pass the state achievement testing in reading and math. Although he did not pass these they allowed him to take all regular education classes this year because he has good “compensation” skills and is a hard worker. He did well 1st semester with his lowest grade being a C-. Like I said though the school negelected to take into account all the support he had to get the grades. He has a resource room for 55 minutes a day, although they are not remediating they do help a lot with homework and studying for tests. His teachers have allowed him to come in before and after school for help. He has had study guides and notes provided and tests read. For his lit class his resource teacher even rented the movies that went with the books they were reading. His resource teacher feels he still needs support but the special ed director does not. The special ed director did say she would agree with accomodations which would be done with a 504 plan. This quarter is not going as well although he is passing everything but lit. I just don’t understand why they are wanting to move him out. I could see if he was passing everything without stuggling. He has to take the high stakes test in 11th grade, if he could not pass them in 8th what makes them think he will pass them in 11th if they are not helping him??? Sorry not meaning to rant but I just don’t get the system.