April 2015 FAQs

April 6th, 2015  

FAQs

Q: Should my IEP goals and objectives end in May or extend through the summer to the end of the first quarter of the next school year?

A: There are several reasons why IEP goals and objectives should be written to extend through the summer: (1) Federal guidelines require continuous services for the length of an IEP year with a gap listed; (2) student may move to a new district that is on a different calendar than ours; (3) student my become eligible for ESY services and not having a gap in service dates means not having to amend the IEP for the purpose of adding ESY goals / objectives.

Q: When considering Extended School Year (ESY) eligibility, isn’t it about whether the students would “benefit” from the service?

A: No!! Almost all students would “benefit” from services over a long break like summer.  Students who are eligible for ESY services “need” the service in order to fully access their free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and make progress toward their IEP goals and objectives.

P.S. – Please stop referring to ESY as Summer School (it drives Denise Kelly CRAZY!! And that’s important because I still do the newsletter :)  The concepts and purposes of ESY are very different from those of a summer school program.

Ready for Break? Did You Take Data for ESY?

December 8th, 2014  

With the winter break fast approaching, now is the time to collect data to inform your ESY decisions. Use data to drive ESY decisions. When data does not indicate that a child needs ESY services, talk to parents who are looking for help over the summer about what other options are available to them in the community.

By collecting data before and after breaks, you can look to see if a student has regressed over the break and whether that regression is limiting the student’s access to their FAPE. In addition, you can determine whether the student has a significantly long recoupment rate to acclimating back to school and learning. Though regression and recoupment is not a required criteria for eligibility for ESY, it still provides a solid purpose to data collection.

Focus on the data, but be sensitive to parent needs and requests. Sometimes they really may just need someplace for their child to go for the summer. Discuss the ESY request, including eligibility for ESY is based on need not benefit, discuss data collected and get the parent’s opinion about whether the student qualifies for the service.

If the student does not need ESY for FAPE, help the parent to understand other options available in the community. There may be community summer programs, other summer school options, or camps that they may want to explore on their own.

Students are NOT automatically eligible for ESY every year because they were eligible the year before or even for the past 10 years. ESY eligibility is determined annually based on the student’s current IEP. Data is required to make these decisions. Take the opportunity before the break to collect data.

–LRP Sped Connections Newsletter

 

A Hodge Podge Page – Beginning of the Year Reminders!

August 25th, 2014  

Don’t need to print the goals for all of the standards in your IEPs? Do this:

On the Goals and Objectives screen in the database, when the standards are displayed there is  a small “Print” icon next to each standard:

 Print Standard

When you click on that icon, it will give you the option to print either the “Report” or the “Goals/Objs” for that standard.

Print Report

Clicking on “Report” will print out the report for the goals associated with that standard only.

 Line

Writing a Written Notice in the database?? Click the “Create New Written Notice” button at the bottom of the screen. Don’t just write over an old one!

Line

If you have been considering Extended School Year for a student and just never really had the data, now is a good time to collect some data on the student’s skills to be able to compare with where they were at the end of last year or after Winter Break.

Your job is not to make the decision of whether a student qualifies, but rather to take the data so that the TEAM can make that decision!

 Line

Some things to check out!!

Start the year with a motivational video! Got grit?

www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit

Something for everyone at these websites!

http://interactivesites.weebly.com     www.teacherspayteachers.com

 

April 2013 FAQs

April 4th, 2013  

FAQs

Q: I have a student on my caseload who is also enrolled with Connections. Who should be invited to the IEP or 3-year reevaluation meeting?

A: If a student is dually enrolled, staff from the school and from Connections should be involved in meetings. To ensure that the right people from Connections makes it to the meeting, contact the special education teacher at Connections who will ensure that all appropriate players from Connections will be invited. Your meeting invitation can list, “Connections staff” as an invitee.

Q: What is that Indicator 13 checklist?

A: This checklist refers to the requirements regarding secondary transition. A link to the requirements and the checklist can be found here. We will continue to work on and monitor the components of this checklist as new state reporting requires districts to report on ALL 8 indicator 13 questions beginning July 2014.

Q: When considering ESY eligibility, isn’t it about whether students would “benefit” from the service?

A: No!! Almost all students would “benefit” from services over a long break like summer. Students who are     eligible for ESY services “need” the service in order to fully access their free and appropriate public education (FAPE) and make progress towards their IEP goals and objectives.

Extended School Year

April 1st, 2012  

Extended School Year (a.k.a. ESY) reminders

Þ All determinations for ESY eligibility need to be completed to the greatest extent possible by April 20. If you cannot meet that timeline, please contact Bob Ermold.

Þ For students who are eligible, mark the appropriate IEP goals to be addressed during ESY, keeping in mind what their qualified need is and that ESY is 3 hours a day 3 days a week. Make sure you choose targeted goals!

Þ Check your email for the parent letter to send home. Bob Ermold sent it on Wednesday,  April 4. Case managers need to have that completed by parents as soon as possible!

Þ Any questions regarding ESY, contact Bob Ermold or your school’s program coordinator.