Parents may wonder when to ask teachers whether their children qualify for special education services. Experts say the sooner the better.
"If a parent has a concern that their student is falling behind, they need to make the teacher aware of their concern as soon as possible," says Laurie Montgomery, director of special education for Portage, Schoolcraft and Vicksburg Schools.
|What to expect
When the school follows through with an assessment, several different processes begin.
1. The school psychologist meets with the parents to discuss the process, including explaining their due process rights and discussing what the evaluation will look like. They may discuss what types of disabilities to consider and what information to review.
2. Parents are encouraged to share any outside evaluations and may also contact the child's doctor.
3. Once the parent signs an agreement, the school psychologist may observe the child in the classroom, and compare that student with an average student in the same classroom.
4. Some assessments may involve the teacher, parents and students filling out rating scales to pinpoint difficult areas.
5. Sometimes the psychologist administers tests.
6. The process usually takes about 30 days.
Kalamazoo RESA is made up of nine school districts and four public school academies, providing a full range of programs and services. The county is divided up into three service areas for the purpose of coordinating special education services for students:
Central Service Area - Kalamazoo Public Schools
Eastern Service Area - Climax-Scotts, Comstock, Galesburg-Augusta, Gull Lake, Parchment
Southern Service Area - Portage, Schoolcraft, Vicksburg
Ginger Skidmore, a Family Support Partner with Advocacy Services for Children in Kalamazoo and mother of three children currently using special education services, agrees. "What we would advise a parent to do is to put in writing that they would like their child to receive testing for special [education] services," she says.
Skidmore tried extra reading, flash cards and making word searches with spelling words when her son began to struggle.
"Over the course of a couple years, he got further and further and further behind," she admits.
When tested, all three of her children showed higher than average intelligences -- one son testing higher than 99 percent of his peers. Yet when tested in productivity, the same son could only outperform 22 percent of his peers.
"It's not that kids don't want to do well," says Skidmore. "... it's because something is in the way that makes it so they can't."
According to the National Education Association, more than 6 million chidren benefit from special education services. The Individuals with Disabilities Act mandates that children ages 3-23 receive a free and appropriate education designed to meet individual needs. The law applies to physical, mental, emotional and some learning disabilities.
The service areas and member districts each employ special education staff and serve the public school districts and non-public schools in their geographic areas.
Montgomery explains that the goal is the catch problems before they become permanent. "Identifying kids early is the most important thing. It's the school's obligation to prevent disabilities whenever possible. ... applying research-based teaching techniques to at-risk students in grades K-2 may eliminate otherwise potentially long-term problems."
Montgomery encourages parents to bring a list of concerns to parent-teacher meetings. Parents should also bring examples of work or observations about the student's behavior or struggles. Other school personnel such as the principal, reading specialist, school psychologist and the school social worker may also attend. During the meeting, the parent and teacher may devise a plan and interventions to help the student. If the interventions fail, then the school may provide further assessment and look at the possibility of a disability.
"Parents have a right to request an evaluation for special education," says Montgomery.
The need for special education involves two criteria: the assessment must reveal the presence of a disability, and the disability must interfere with their education to the extent that they require services. Once the child enters special education, they receive an Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, revisited each year, that outlines goals and what supports they need to succeed in school.
Skidmore notes that today's special education services are different from those of the past. Many children stay in a regular classroom to receive the same instruction as other children, but have another classroom to work on assignments, where teachers help explain concepts further. Teachers help them organize their thoughts and their homework.
Special education, says Skidmore, "is not a label per se, it's simply giving a child what they need to be successful."
Next month in the series: Services for high-achieving students.