576 results for: "IEP"
IEP roadmap: How kids get special education
What has to happen for kids to get special education services? This downloadable chart gives you a bird’s-eye view of the steps you can take to get an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for your child.
Understood Explica el IEP
¿Le gustaría saber cómo funciona la educación especial y obtener recomendaciones para padres sobre el programa de educación individualizado, conocido como IEP por sus siglas en inglés? En esta temporada de Understood Explica se explica en detalle el IEP. La presentadora Juliana Urtubey es la Maestra Nacional del año 2021 y ha ayudado a muchas familias a desarrollar un IEP. Los episodios se presentarán semanalmente en español y en inglés a partir del 21 de marzo.
The Opportunity GapIEP meeting tips for parents of kids of color
Learn how to be an equal partner at your child’s IEP meetings. Get tips from education specialist Taína Coleman of the Child Mind Institute. Meeting school plan child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) intimidating. true parent guardian. may feel extra layer unease you’re Black brown person room. Listen episode Opportunity Gap get IEP meeting tips parents kids color. Learn Taína Coleman, mom two education specialist Child Mind Institute. See uses experience special education explain: documents right see meetingHow ask IEP’s annual goals aiming high enoughWhat don’t feel ready sign IEPRelated resourcesHow tell child’s IEP goals SMART (Explainer lots examples)IEP goal tracker (Printable worksheet)10 tips better IEP meeting (Video)How organize child’s IEP binder (Includes video printable checklist) Episode transcriptJulian: Understood Podcast Network, "The Opportunity Gap." Kids color ADHD common learning differences, often face double stigma. there's lot families address opportunity gap communities. podcast explains key issues offers tips help advocate child. name Julian Saavedra. I'm father two assistant principal Philadelphia, I've spent nearly 20 years working public schools. I'll host. Julian: Hey, listeners. Welcome back. Today, we're talking prepare IEP meeting. know stressful annual IEPs be, meetings important opportunities advocate child. really extra special guest today. name Taína Coleman. Taína education specialist Child Mind Institute, works bridge gap science learning teaching practice. Taína 15 years experience working special education, literacy education, education administration New York City. She's also mom two small ones. Hey Taína. Thank much here. Taína: Oh, thank me. Julian: So, Taína, always try ask guests quick question get things going. So, what's giving life right now? Taína: What's given life right now? right. grew Harlem, New York City. Winter favorite season ever. I'm starting appreciate little kids. know, officially sled. Every day try finesse hot chocolate it's like 40 degrees, know, it's wonderful time year. I'm learning appreciate more. Julian: already like kids haven't even met yet, already like them. right, let's get business. Taína: right. Julian: 15 years working special education, you're also parent child receives related services. tell us exactly IEP us might know? Taína: Absolutely. IEP stands Individualized Education Program. people refer individualized education plan. folks really need know it's really part pre-K 12 public education system. It's legal document. tends map special education instruction kids need support make progress could thrive school. document, there'll list annual goals kinds services school provide child. use different school settings many ways, me, it's way ground conversation around child might learning needs needs, period. gives us opportunity touch base. Julian: Taína, dive specific tips get ready IEP meetings, anything general want say meetings might particularly challenging parents kids color? Well, know, "The Opportunity Gap," show really try talk intersection special education services race class cultural background. you're here, thinking background, thinking experience teacher, educator, parent, things might particularly challenging? Taína: So, parent color, raising children color, educator well, recognize there, opportunity gap exists. There's cultural implications right there, historical reasons that. One thing wanted point there's also language gap, ways families different cultural backgrounds understand language education. could really difficult folks get handle "What's happening? happening? saying child?" want give historical background think it's really important parents understand it, right? 1975, Congress enacted act, called Education Handicapped Children Act. Awful name. point is, act really tried focus protecting individual needs children disabilities, right? till now, weren't legal protections would mandate school educate child various difficulties disabilities, rather. So, 1990, reauthorized, renamed IDEA Individuals Disabilities Education Act. so, opportunity children disabilities learn public setting. that's really important folks know document something folks fought for. It's legal mandate disability activists long discussed powerful tool really provide equity education system. thing is, grew Harlem. word disability really charged, right? so, families real hard time wrapping mind around that. would sometimes prefer saying, learning differences. "My child learning difference." want us point time really consider that, yes, language could sometimes make one uncomfortable you're thinking child. say disability, we're talking legal protection we're talking diagnosis that's often done great care evaluator. you're saying learning difference, feels politically correct. It's broader term, doesn't give specifics child may may may offer legal protections. want parents understand use language could better advocate child. going balanced, thoughtful, caring conversation child's full humanity classroom. so, power language really important us embrace point time. want us able hold complicated language, put time place relates disability rights ableism, importantly, understand we're really talking children may benefit support. parent, I'm going make sure get it. Julian: think things brought up, know, people forget sometimes changes relatively recent. us speaking now, parents grandparents profound experiences special education even word disability, meant completely different program see today. And, know, we've talked extensively podcast, even changes seen teaching career began it's drastically altered experience. So, know, keeping fight is, it's fight, right? It's fight provide appropriate students power language, power owning language provide family incredibly important. So, appreciate bringing up. So, know, now, knowing that, again, we're hearing expert telling parents need know language need really embrace help student access deserve. It's sometimes really challenging, right? Like sitting hearing IEP meeting, it's challenging situation, right? Like it's heavy hear walk situation. So, know, let's say parent, parenting adult child qualified IEP. specific things get ready IEP meeting? Taína: truly believe IEP meeting part larger conversation. first time hearing child's needs IEP meeting. Julian: No, not. Taína: needs communication think parents color, systems communication aren't often built around communities color needs communities color, right? so, need sometimes find ways ensure classroom teachers communicating us. work parent coordinator? etc. So, first thing want know lines communication used, understand child's experience classroom? So, there's one that's going shocked IEP meeting, right? Shouldn't be. side evaluations here, takes several assessments, several days, different interviews us conceptualize believe might happening child. reason I'm illuminating process want parents understand voice matters conceptualization. we're saying maybe child reading difficulty, believe case we're looking services around that. Maybe there's going testing around that. I've
IEP accommodations during distance learning
Distance learning brings new challenges to special education. One of the biggest challenges is how to implement accommodations for students who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP).Innovative thinking and an understanding of available tools can make accommodations work during distance learning. Plus, many of these online strategies and tools can help provide accommodations during in-person learning. Take a look at the charts below for some examples of how commonly used accommodations can work in both in-person and virtual settings. Accommodations that change the way information is presented to studentsAccommodations that change the way students complete assignmentsAccommodations that can help with scheduling, timing, and organization Even students who don’t have an IEP need to learn differently during distance learning. Try these accommodations. Then explore how to make online assignments easier for your students to access. Karyn Fillhart, an assistive technology instructor, Apple Teacher, and Microsoft Certified Educator, offered suggestions specific to each platform.
Understood Explains Season 3
Want to know how special education works and get IEP tips for parents? This season of Understood Explains covers the ins and outs of individualized education programs. Host Juliana Urtubey is the 2021 National Teacher of the Year and has helped many families develop IEPs. So you can learn from a pro in this limited-run series. Episodes drop weekly in English and Spanish, starting March 21. Escuchar en español.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Busting common IEP myths
Learn how to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the many myths about special education and IEPs. If someone says something that makes special education sound bad or negative, chances are it’s just not true. There are a lot of myths about IEPs, or Individualized Education Programs. And these incorrect or outdated ideas can keep some kids from getting school supports that can help them thrive. On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will bust common myths and explain the facts. Timestamps[00:38] Myth #1: My child will be labeled forever[02:10] Myth #2: My child will be in a separate classroom[03:15] Myth #3: IEPs are only for kids with severe physical or intellectual disabilities[04:17] Myth #4: Many kids with IEPs misbehave on purpose[05:34] Myth #5: My child needs to wait to get evaluated for special education services[07:13] Key takeawaysRelated resources10 special education myths you may hear5 myths about English language learners and special educationEpisode transcriptJuliana: If someone says something that makes special education sound bad or negative, chances are it's just not true. On this episode of "Understood Explains," we're busting IEP myths. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." Today we're separating fact from fiction. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm your host. I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year and I'm an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And speaking of languages, I want to make sure everyone knows all the episodes this season are available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:38] Myth #1: My child will be labeled foreverMyth number one: My child will be labeled forever. This isn't true, but it's super, super common for families to worry about the stigma that may come along with special education. Stigma is often based on ideas about special education that simply aren't accurate, or, in some cases, are no longer accurate. Special education today is a lot different and a lot better than what you may have experienced or observed when you were in school. Having an IEP, or an Individualized Education Program, no longer means setting low expectations. Every child's IEP goals need to be tied to grade-level standards, and schools are working hard to keep all kids on track to graduate with a regular diploma. Now, coming back to the myth about labeling your child forever: It's just not true. If your child qualifies for an IEP, that doesn't mean they will always need special education. Let's say your child has dyslexia. After a year or two of specialized reading instruction, your child may not need these services anymore. No more IEP. So, getting an IEP does not mean getting a lifelong label. And there's one other point I want to make about labels. Getting supports through special education might actually help your child avoid negative labels. Struggling students who aren't getting enough support in school often act out in class, and they may even get labeled as a "bad kid" by some people. Behavior is one of the most important pieces of the IEP puzzle. It's also one of the most misunderstood. We're going to talk more about behavior later in this episode. [02:10] Myth #2: My child will be in a separate classroomMyth number two: My child will be in a separate classroom. So, this is a really common fear, but you can actually look up federal data on how many hours a day students with IEPs spend in regular classrooms. And it may surprise you to learn that two-thirds of all kids with IEPs spend 80 percent or more of the day in regular classrooms. In other words, most kids in special education spend most of the day in general education classrooms. Now, don't get me wrong — separate classrooms can be very helpful for some kids based on their needs. But for most kids, getting an IEP does not mean spending all day or even half the day in a special education classroom. In my 12 years as a special educator in Nevada, most of my students would come into my resource room for 30 or so minutes for one-on-one or small-group instruction. I also spent a lot of time in regular classrooms, working alongside general educators. And one reason I really enjoyed co-teaching with general educators: It gave us time to plan together how to support each child and celebrate their progress. [03:15] Myth #3: IEPs are only for kids with severe physical or intellectual disabilitiesMyth number three: IEPs are only for kids with severe physical or intellectual disabilities. Once again, not true. Half of all students with IEPs qualify for special education because they have a learning disability or a speech or language impairment. Only about 6 percent of kids with IEPs qualify for special education because of intellectual disabilities. Now, this myth about needing to have a severe disability often goes along with another misconception, which is that kids who are smart don't need special education. But this is not true. There are plenty of kids who are very strong in some areas, but need an IEP to make progress in other areas. "Twice exceptional" is a term you'll often hear to describe students who are gifted and also have a disability. And these twice-exceptional, or 2e students, are an important reminder about something I said in an earlier episode: Having an IEP is not a sign of low intelligence.[04:17] Myth #4: Many kids with IEPs misbehave on purposeMyth number four: Many kids with IEPs misbehave on purpose. So, this myth is really common when it comes to kids who have ADHD. And it can show up with other kinds of learning and thinking differences, too. Oftentimes, adults are convinced that a child doesn't really have a disability and that ADHD is just an excuse for off-task behavior. Likewise, some people think kids act in certain ways so they can get accommodations, like extra time on tests. They think that these kinds of supports are a form of cheating, or coddling, or getting out of tasks that kids don't want to do. But struggling students are often trying as hard as they can. They have a need that's not being met, and it's very common for these kids to have trouble expressing themselves. Maybe they're feeling an emotion they don't have words for. Maybe what an adult sees as defiance is actually a child who's overwhelmed with frustration or fear of failing yet again. Whatever it is, remember that behavior is a form of communication. Your child is trying to tell you something. Getting an IEP can help you understand what's causing the misbehavior, and help your child learn how to replace those challenging behaviors. Later this season, we'll have a whole episode on how IEPs can help with behavior. [05:34] Myth #5: My child needs to wait to get evaluated for special education servicesMyth number five: My child needs to wait to get evaluated for special education services. So, this myth is often related to another common misconception — that kids will grow out of whatever they're struggling with. But there are four really important things I want you to know about special education. First, research shows that students have a better chance at success in school when their struggles are identified sooner rather than later. Waiting to see if they will grow out of it can actually make it harder for a student to make progress and feel successful in school. And I'm not just talking about academics. Meeting kids' needs sooner can also help them socially and emotionally. The longer kids go without the right support, the more likely they are to believe really negative things about themselves. Like, "I can't learn, so why try?" Second, you can ask the school to evaluate your child for special education at any time and for any reason. Third, the law is very clear that schools need to be actively looking for kids who might need special education. If the school suspects your child may have a disability, the school can't delay the evaluation for special education. It can't sit back and wait. And the fourth and final thing I want to say about possibly waiting to evaluate has to do with multilingual students. Learning English at school is not a reason to delay getting an evaluation for special education. Schools can use the evaluation to see if kids are having trouble learning skills like reading or math in their home language. Evaluations can also factor in important details, like if a student missed a lot of school. We're going to talk more about evaluations in the next episode. [07:13] Key takeawaysAll right, so we've busted a lot of myths on this episode. Let's go over the facts once more. If your child qualifies for an IEP, that does not mean they'll be labeled forever or that they'll always need special education. Most kids with IEPs spend most of their day in regular classrooms, and half of the kids who qualify for special education have either learning disabilities or speech and language impairments. IEPs are definitely not just for kids with severe physical or intellectual disabilities.Struggling students may look like they're choosing to misbehave, but they're often trying as hard as they can, and they don't know how to tell you what kind of support they need. Behavior is a form of communication. And finally, if you or the school suspects your child has a disability, you don't have to wait to get an evaluation for special education. The sooner your child gets the help they need, the better. OK, folks, that's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." In the next episode, we'll take a closer look at how schools decide if a child qualifies for an IEP. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
IEP and special education terms
When it comes to special education, you may run into terms and jargon that you’re not familiar with. Here are key IEP and special education terms and abbreviations you may see and hear.504 plan: A blueprint for supporting a student with a disability by removing barriers. It gives the student equal access to learning in the general education classroom. Students with 504 plans tend not to need specialized instruction (special education).accommodation: This is a change to or in a student’s learning environment. Accommodations help students learn and show what they’ve learned by removing barriers. For instance, students who take longer to answer questions because of learning differences might be allowed extra time to take a test. Even with accommodations, students are expected to learn the same content as their peers.annual goals: The IEP document lists the academic and functional (everyday) skills the IEP team thinks a student can achieve by the end of a school year. These goals are geared toward helping students take part in the general education curriculum. IEP goals need to be realistic and measurable. Many schools write SMART goals. (SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented and Time-bound.)assistive technology (AT): Any device, equipment, or software that helps students learn, communicate, and function better in school. AT ranges from simple tools (like highlighters) to high-tech software (like apps that read text aloud).behavior intervention plan (BIP): A plan designed to proactively teach and reinforce positive behavior. Typically, the plan uses strategies to prevent and address behavior that gets in the way of learning. It may also have supports and aids for the student. A BIP is often included as part of an IEP. To get a BIP, a student must have a functional behavioral assessment.disability: A condition recognized by the law. To qualify for an IEP, students must have a disability that falls under one of the 13 categories listed in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Many students who learn and think differently are eligible in one of three categories: (1) specific learning disability; (2) other health impairment; and (3) speech or language impairment.due process: A formal process for resolving disputes about special education and IEPs. Due process isn’t the only way to resolve a dispute. There are other options, like mediation and filing a state complaint.extended school year services (ESY): Special education services provided outside of the regular school year, such as during the summer or, less commonly, during extended breaks like winter break.general education curriculum: This is the knowledge and skills that all students throughout a state are expected to master. The curriculum varies from state to state.Individualized Education Program (IEP): An IEP outlines the program of special education instruction, supports, and services kids need to make progress and thrive in school. Some people refer to the written document that outlines this as the IEP (in which case p can stand for plan).Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): The nation’s special education law. IDEA is a federal law that guarantees all students with disabilities access to a free, appropriate public education.least restrictive environment (LRE): Students with documented disabilities must be taught in the least restrictive environment. This means they must be taught as much as possible in the same setting as peers who don’t have disabilities. In most circumstances, schools must offer services and supports to help students with an IEP thrive in a general education classroom.modification: A modification is a change in what a student is expected to learn and demonstrate. For example, a teacher might ask the class to write an essay that analyzes three major battles during a war. A student with a modification may only be asked to write about the basic facts of those battles. Modifications are different from accommodations.parent report: This is a letter families write to document their child’s strengths, struggles, and success at school, at home, and in the community. Sharing the report with the IEP team gives a more complete view of the student.positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS): PBIS is a proactive, schoolwide approach used to promote positive behavior and improve school safety. PBIS creates a school culture in which all students learn about behavior and use a common language to talk about it.progress reporting: How a school reports on student progress on annual goals. This is specified in the IEP. Progress reporting needs to be provided as often as a school reports on progress in general education for all students.present level of performance (PLOP, PLP, PLAFF, PLAAFP): A description of a student’s current abilities, skills, challenges, and strengths at the time the IEP is written. PLOP describes academic skills (like reading level) and functional skills (like making conversation or writing with a pencil). This is the starting point for setting annual IEP goals.standards-based IEP: A standards-based IEP measures a student’s academic performance against what the state expects of other students in the same grade.special education: Specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a student. It should be designed to give access to the general education curriculum. The instruction is provided at no cost to families.supplementary aids and services: These are supports to help students learn in the general education classroom. They can include equipment or assistive technology, like audiobooks or highlighted classroom notes. They may also include training for staff members to help them learn how to work with students based on their specific needs.related services: Any support services a student needs to benefit from special education. One possible example is transportation. Another is occupational therapy.response to intervention (RTI): RTI is a systematic way of identifying struggling students and providing extra help. Teachers assess the skills of everyone in the class to see which students need evidence-based instructional interventions. Progress is monitored frequently to make sure students are getting the right support and intervention.transition plan: This part of the IEP lays out what a teen will learn and do in high school in order to thrive as a young adult. The IEP team and the student develop the plan together before it kicks in at age 16. The transition plan includes goals and activities that are academic and functional. But they extend beyond school to practical life skills and job training.Keep this list of terms handy for future reference. You may also want to learn key terms that describe special education rights.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Special education terms and your legal rights
Cut through the confusion and learn about the many legal terms and rights that come along with IEPs. If your child qualifies for an IEP, it will come with many legal rights and protections. But with names like “FAPE” and “prior written notice,” things can get confusing quickly. Still, it’s really important for parents to understand these terms — and that's where this podcast comes in to help. In this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey breaks down some key terms and explains the legal rights that come with an IEP, or Individualized Education Program. Timestamps[00:46] FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education[03:07] Least restrictive environment[07:32] Informed consent[08:23] Prior written notice and “stay put” rights[10:48] Other key rights[11:56] Key takeawaysUnderstood.org is a nonprofit resource dedicated to shaping the world so the millions of people with learning and thinking differences can thrive. Learn more about Understood Explains and all our podcasts at u.org/podcasts.Copyright © 2024 Understood for All, Inc. All rights reserved. Related resourcesWhat are your rights in the IEP process?Download: Endrew R. advocacy toolkitHow to consent to some parts of an IEP and not othersGuidance letter from the U.S. Department of Education for schools to translate IEPsEpisode transcriptJuliana: If your child qualifies for an IEP, one of the first things the school is going to give you is a packet that explains your rights during the special education process. It's really important and it's really long. And we're going to give you a cheat sheet. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." In this episode we're talking key terms and legal rights you'll want to know if your child qualifies for an IEP. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners. I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:46] FAPE: Free Appropriate Public EducationSo, let's start with FAPE. FAPE stands for Free Appropriate Public Education, and it's probably the most important right for kids with disabilities. It means public schools have to meet the needs of each child who qualifies for special education, without their families having to pay for it. The right to FAPE is a really big deal. It's the reason why schools create IEPs, and it also drives the decisions about what to include in each IEP. The rights of FAPE means schools need to provide specially designed instruction to meet your child's unique needs. FAPE is also what makes schools provide services — like speech and language therapy or mental health counseling — and accommodations like read-aloud tools or extra time on tests. FAPE is the reason IEPs provide these kinds of things to help kids make progress in school, and the right to FAPE covers more than just academics. In fact, we have a whole episode coming up about how IEPs can help with behavior. So, where does FAPE come from? It's part of a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. And the Right to FAPE applies to all kids in the US who qualify for an IEP. This includes public school students who are undocumented. It also includes kids who are homeschooled, and there are even some public resources available to help kids with disabilities who go to private school. OK, so we've talked about how FAPE makes schools do some very important things. But I want to be clear about something FAPE does not require schools to do. FAPE doesn't mean schools have to provide the best services possible. For example, if your child has dyslexia, you may want the school to provide a certain kind of reading instruction, and as a member of the IEP team, you can make that suggestion. But FAPE doesn't require schools to provide a specific program. The team may decide to go with a different one if it meets your child's needs. Now, I don't want you to assume that good enough means mediocre, but I know a lot of families worry about this. So later this season, we'll talk about how to help set the annual goals in your child's IEP and what to do if you think your child isn't making enough progress. For now, I'll put a link in the show notes to a good resource on Understood. It's a toolkit that shows you how to use FAPE to help develop or improve your child's IEP. [03:07] Least restrictive environmentLeast Restrictive Environment is another key term I want you to note if your child qualifies for special education. As you work with the school to develop your child's IEP, you'll talk about which services your child needs. And a big part of this discussion is deciding where your child will receive the services. This is what the school's referring to when it talks about your child's placement. A lot of people think that getting an IEP means your child will have to spend all day in a special classroom, but that's a very outdated idea about special education. In fact, federal data shows that most kids with IEPs spend most of the day in regular classrooms. And that's because special education law says that kids with IEPs have the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment. They should be taught alongside their peers in general education "to the maximum extent that is appropriate." Your child's right to be educated in the least restrictive environment means that teachers like me need to think about the most inclusive setting that will help your child make progress in school. And here are some of the different placement options. Your child can be in a regular classroom where the general education teacher consults with a special education teacher. This is the lightest touch support a child can get with an IEP.Another option is to be in a regular classroom, where a specialist comes in for part of the day to work with a small group of kids. This is called push-in services. Or your child can come out of the regular classroom for part of the day to work with a specialist in a quieter space, which is sometimes called a resource room. This is called pull-out services. And some common examples here are kids getting pulled out for things like a half hour of physical therapy or specialized writing instruction. Another option is to spend part of the day in what's called a self-contained classroom, meaning all the kids in the class have IEPs. Kids in self-contained classes often take art or music or have lunch with general education kids. This kind of placement is often used to help kids build social skills, with a long-term goal of transitioning to a more inclusive setting. Depending on your child's needs, you and the school may decide your child would benefit from spending a whole day in a self-contained classroom. And this might be at your neighborhood school or a specialized school, like, for example, a school for the blind. Special education services can also be provided at home, or in a hospital or in a juvenile detention center. So like I said, there are a lot of different learning environments, and schools have to use the least restrictive setting that's appropriate for each child with an IEP. As a parent or guardian, it's good to ask questions about your child's placement. Let's say the IEP team is thinking about push-in or pull-out services, or a combination of the two. You may want to ask if your child will have enough support to be successful during the rest of the day in a regular classroom. Or, let's say the team is thinking about a self-contained classroom. What are the other kids in the classroom like? Does your child have similar strengths and needs? Sometimes, safety is a big concern when deciding on a child's placement. What is it about your child's behavior challenges, or academic challenges, that make the team think a self-contained classroom would be a better fit than a regular classroom? Now, I know some parents are reluctant to ask questions, in particular, I know a lot of Latino families may feel like it's not their place or their role to question the school's decisions. But I want you to remember that you are an equal member of the IEP team. You have a right to be involved and to advocate for what you think is the least restrictive environment that's appropriate for your child. OK, so we've been talking about how understanding the terms FAPE and Least Restrictive Environment can help you take an active role in developing your child's IEP, but the school can't start providing services in the IEP until it has your informed consent. This means that you understand what the school wants to do and you agree to it. The school also has to get your consent before you can evaluate your child. And, there are a few other key moments where the school cannot move forward until you agree, in writing, that it's OK to move forward. You also have the right to revoke your consent, and if you do this, your child will go back to being a regular general education student. There are three other really important things I want you to know about informed consent. [07:32] Informed consentFirst, you have the right to ask the school to explain anything you don't understand. You also have the right to have things explained and to give your consent in your native language, like Spanish or in sign language or Braille. Second, after the team drafts your child's IEP, you can consent to some parts of the IEP but not others. Understood has a good article on how to give partial consent. I'll put a link in the show notes. Third, once you consent in writing to your child's IEP, the school doesn't need to keep asking for your permission every time it wants to change the IEP. But if the school does want to make a change, it has to give you something called a Prior Written Notice, which we're going to talk about in the next section. [08:23] Prior written notice and “stay put” rights By law, the school needs to tell you in writing if it's planning to change your child's IEP. This is called prior written notice. So here's an example. Let's say you give your consent to start the IEP. A few months go by and the school wants to change your child's services or placement. Even if the school tells you in person at an IEP meeting, they still need to send you a written notice before the change kicks in. The letter needs to include why the school wants to make this change, what other options were considered, and why those options were rejected. The letter also needs to describe each test or record that the school used to make this decision. And all of this needs to be written in your native language. If you aren't fluent in English. As a teacher, I know these letters can be intimidating. They often contain a lot of information that can be hard to process. That's why I always tried to call families when I was sending home a formal letter, so I could explain it. So, I encourage you to ask for help understanding these kinds of letters. Remember that you have a right to understand what's happening with your child's IEP. Ok, so let's dive a little deeper. When do schools have to give you prior written notice? Schools need to notify parents about things like changing your child's services. Like if the school wants to have fewer sessions because your child is making a lot of progress. Changing your child's placement, like moving from a general education classroom to a self-contained classroom, or denying your request for things like an evaluation or more services. Prior written notice is very important because it keeps you up-to-date on decisions about your child's education. It can also help clear up any misunderstandings about what's changing or why it's changing. And maybe most importantly, it gives you an opportunity to respond before any changes are made. This is where you can use something called Stay Put rights. If you don't agree with a change the school is planning, you can keep your child's current IEP in place while you dispute the change. By law, your child has the right to stay put as you and the school work out your differences. But you need to act fast. Typically, you need to invoke these rights before the change occurs. We'll get into more detail about this when we talk about dispute resolution options later this season. [10:48] Other key rightsI want to quickly mention a few other key rights if your child qualifies for special education. You have the right to participate in IEP meetings. You also have the right to ask for an IEP meeting at any time, and you can join by phone if you can't be there in person. And if you're not fluent in English, you have the right to ask for an interpreter to help you understand what's happening at IEP meetings. Some schools will also go ahead and translate the IEP for you. But if your school doesn't automatically do this, you can give them a guidance letter from the Department of Education that says schools need to translate IEPs. I'll include a link in the show notes. I also want to mention that families have a lot of rights during the evaluation process. For example, you have the right to review the evaluation report before the eligibility determination meeting. Throughout the special education process, you have the right to disagree with the school. I'll put links in the show notes if you want to dig into these other kinds of special education rights. And we have an episode coming up on how to exercise those rights. [11:56] Key takeawaysSo we've covered a lot of territory today, and I want to wrap up with four key takeaways. First, FAPE is an important right that can help you advocate for services and supports to meet your child's unique needs. Second, special education law says kids with IEPs must be educated in the least restrictive environment. Third, the school has to give you prior written notice before it changes your child's IEP and you can use Stay Put rights to keep your child's services in place while you dispute a change. And lastly, you have the right to participate in IEP meetings and to ask for another meeting if there's something that you want to discuss with the team. All right, that's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." I hope you'll join me for the next episode on how to get ready for IEP meetings. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. Credits Understood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon.Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
IEP personal stories
You can learn a lot from how other parents and IEP team members navigate the IEP process. Explore this collection of IEP personal stories. You’ll find insights and tips about how to make the most of your child’s IEP.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: For younger kids and older kids
Learn how special education can provide services and support from birth through high school. If you’re the parent of a young child, you may be wondering how special education can support kids during recess. If you have a teenager, you may be focused on getting ready for college or a career. And if your child is in middle school, I have one word for you: puberty. Special education can provide services and supports from birth through high school. And on this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will share how these resources can help kids thrive at different ages. Timestamps[01:14] Babies and toddlers [02:52] Preschool and grade school [06:03] Middle school [08:44] High school [12:24] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesWhat is an IFSP?What can I do if my child’s teacher takes recess away?5 things to know about ADHD and pubertyNew challenges kids face in middle schoolWhat is IEP transition planning?Episode transcriptJuliana: If you're the parent of a young child, you may be wondering how special education can support kids during recess. If you have a teenager, you may be focused on getting ready for college or a career. And if your child is in middle school, I have one word for you: Puberty. Special education can provide services and supports from birth through high school. And I'm going to explain how these resources can help kids thrive at different ages. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this episode, we're talking about IEPs for younger and older kids. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. Quick note for anyone who might be new to the show, this episode has insights and tips that are based on age. But if you want to learn the basics — like what's the purpose of an IEP? — I hope you'll check out the rest of the season, which has a lot of information that can help kids thrive no matter how old they are. [01:14] Babies and toddlers I'm guessing that most people who find their way to this podcast have school-aged kids, but I want to briefly mention that babies and toddlers can get services from birth up through preschool. When kids are this young, the services are called "Early intervention." This is part of the federal special education law that's called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. Kids in this youngest age group get an IFSP, which stands for Individualized Family Service Plan. This kind of plan is similar to an IEP or Individualized Education Program, which details special education instruction, supports and services that school-age kids get. But the services in an IFSP will be provided in your home or daycare center, or some other setting that feels natural to your child. The IFSP will also include ways parents can help. And here's an example. Let's say your child is about to turn two and isn't saying many words yet. Your child may qualify for speech and language therapy. Part of the IFSP may encourage you to talk more at home or read more books aloud so your child is exposed to more words. If your child still needs services as they get closer to turning three, the team will talk about transitioning to an IPP. And in some states, early intervention services can be extended up to the child's fifth birthday. Understood has a good article if you want to learn more about early intervention and IFSPs. I'll put a link in the show notes. [02:52] Preschool and grade schoolKids can qualify for IEPs as early as age three, and there are four things I want you to know about IEPs in preschool and grade school. Tip number one: It's really important to help kids get the support that they need as early as possible. This is true whether the challenges with academics or behavior or social skills or any other kind of skill. Waiting for kids to grow out of something can make it harder for them to catch up with their peers. Waiting can also take a big toll on their self-esteem. So, as a parent, it's good to be proactive. Tip number two: Getting an IEP does not mean that your child will be labeled for life. Many kids stop receiving services long before they graduate. This is called exiting special education. It happens when kids make so much progress that they no longer need this kind of school support. Also, getting an IEP does not mean that your child will have to spend all day in a separate classroom. Most kids with IEPs spend most of the day in general education classrooms. Tip number three: As your child grows and changes, your child's IEP will grow and change too. And one of these changes can be to the primary disability category on your child's IEP. Here's an example. Let's say your child is in preschool and gets an IEP for speech or language impairment. As your child gets older, trouble with reading or spelling may become a big issue. The evaluation team may shift your child's disability classification from speech or language impairment to a specific learning disability. If you want to learn more about IEPs and disability categories, you can go back and listen to Episode 5. Tip number four is about recess. Recess is an important time for kids to get their energy out. It's also an important time to interact with peers. You can work with the IEP team to make sure your child isn't missing out on recess. And here are some of the ways that you can try to do this. If your child keeps missing recess because they need to finish schoolwork, you can talk with the IEP team about possibly modifying your child's workload, like maybe doing half of the daily math problems instead of all of them. And if recess keeps getting taken away as punishment, it's important to advocate for your child. Teachers aren't supposed to take recess away. It's not best practice. And in some states, there are even laws that prevent schools from withholding recess as a punishment. If your child has trouble with behavior, you can ask the IEP team to include behavior supports. And if you want to learn how to do this, go back and listen to Episode 9, which is about how IEPs can help with behavior challenges. You can also ask the IEP team to include a social skills goal. Now, it's possible that a special educator can work with your child on the playground. But the reality is that this can be a big staffing challenge for a lot of schools. So, be open to the idea of getting social skills instruction during some other time of the day, and using recess to practice those skills. Understood has a good article on what to do if teachers take recess away from kids who have ADHD. I'll put a link in the show notes. [06:03] Middle school Middle school can be a big transition for a lot of kids, so I want to go over some common challenges and ways IEPs can help. One challenge is that schoolwork gets harder in middle school, where your middle schooler will be expected to learn a lot on their own. Academics get tougher. They'll be more homework, more reading, more writing. So, the IEP team may need to revisit your child's goals and accommodations. Also, if your child is learning English as an additional language, those language services may need to continue through middle school. As I mentioned in the previous episode, children typically need 5 to 7 years to master academic English. Another part of middle school that can be tough is changing classrooms throughout the day. Middle school campuses also tend to be a lot bigger than grade schools, so your child will need to figure out where to go and what to bring with them, especially if they're lockers far away. An IEP can help by teaching your child organization strategies. Even small things can help a lot, like figuring out exactly how long it takes to get from lunch to science class. That way your child will know when to leave so they won't be late. This is one of the many ways an IEP can help with academic and nonacademic skills. Another common middle school challenge is going from having 1 or 2 main teachers to having many teachers, and these teachers may be less familiar with your child and might not know or remember what accommodations are in your child's IEP. You can help by giving each teacher a copy of your child's IEP and a summary, so that they can quickly review the most important details. I'll put a link in the show notes to a template that you and your child can use to create a one page summary. And the last big middle school challenge I want to mention is puberty. Bodies are changing and middle school friendships are becoming more important and more complicated. And a lot of kids struggle to remember things like putting on deodorant each morning or knowing where to go if they need a tampon or maxi pad. Puberty can have an especially big impact on kids with ADHD. If your child takes ADHD medication, it may be less effective as your child's hormone levels change. So, if your child is suddenly having more behavior issues, or if your child's dosage changes, talk to the school nurse. They can work with the IEP team and help figure out the best way to support your child. This is a good idea in general, but it might be especially helpful towards the end of grade school and during middle school. Understood has some good resources for middle school families, including a great article on ADHD and puberty. I'll put a link in the show notes. [08:44] High school OK. There are three aspects of special education that are really important for you to know about if your child is in high school. IEP meetings, transition planning, and revaluations. With IEP meetings, the school has to start inviting students by the time they reach a certain age. This is usually between 14 and 16, depending on which state you live in. Kids can start going to these meetings a lot earlier, like middle school or even grade school, but by law, they must be included as they get closer to the end of high school. Going to IEP meetings can help kids work on their self-awareness and self-advocacy skills. But there's another big reason for inviting teens to the IEP meeting. Special Education law says by age 16, every student with an IEP needs to have a transition plan. This part of the IEP helps teens decide what they want to do after high school. It also helps them set specific goals for starting college or career. I want to give you a few examples of what these goals can look like. Let's say I have a 12th-grader named Tonya who loves to play sports. Here are three transition goals in Tonya's IEP. By December 15th, Tonya will complete a career assessment to identify careers that match her strengths, skills, interests, likes, and dislikes. By March 1st, Tonya will identify certificate programs for sports-related jobs like lifeguarding or coaching. By June 1st, Tonya will research job opportunities related to sports and will complete an application for at least one job. The transition plan needs to detail how the school will help Tonya achieve these goals, and the plan can be flexible. The goals can change as Tonya's interests change. I also want to mention that it's possible for students to stay in high school after their senior year. It all depends on what the goals in your child's IEP are. It's possible to keep receiving special education services up until the age of 21 or 22, depending on what state you live in. But the big picture here is that transition planning can help kids take steps to get ready for life after high school. Understood has a good article with more details about transition planning. I'll put a link in the show notes. The last thing I want to mention about IEPs in high school has to do with revaluations. Now, by law, all kids with IEPs need to get re-evaluated at least once every three years. And it's very common for parents and schools to agree to do a records review. That's instead of the kind of testing schools do as a part of an initial evaluation. But here's why you may want to update the testing as your child approaches the end of high school. Does your child know or think there's a chance that they want to go to college or vocational school? If so, the IEP team can help your child get ready to request accommodations in those settings. This would include extra time on exams or digital textbooks with read-aloud technology. Whatever it is that your child needs, they'll have to prove to the college or trade school that they have a qualifying disability. And to do this, they need to have been evaluated recently. Some colleges may say the testing can't be more than a year or two old. Some might say three years. It varies. The key thing here is that while your child is in high school, you can get an evaluation for free. But if your child graduates and the college says their testing is out of date, then your child will have to pay for the evaluation. One more thing about higher education. If there's an accommodation your child thinks they'll need in college. Try to make sure it's in their 12th-grade IEP so that they'll have a record of needing it. This can make it easier to apply for accommodations in college. [12:24] Key takeaways OK, folks, that's it for this episode. Here's what we've learned with a few key takeaways. Special Education law covers kids from birth to the end of high school, which can be 21 or 22 for some students. But getting an IEP doesn't mean your child will be labeled for life. Many kids stop receiving special education long before they graduate. Puberty can add to the challenges of middle school, especially for kids with ADHD. IEPs for teens need to include goals to help them transition to life after high school. And lastly, as kids grow and change, their IEPs can grow and change too. All right. That's it for the season of "Understood Explains." It's been a pleasure being your guide. I hope you'll stay tuned for any bonus episodes and for future seasons of this show. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. "Understood Explains IEPs" was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord. Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright. Ilana Miller was our production director, Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer. Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra. Muchas gracias, amigos! Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
IEP case managers: A guide for parents
When kids have an IEP or are in the process of getting one, they have a case manager through the school. You’ll see the case manager’s name listed on the paperwork you receive. You may wonder: What are case managers and what do they do? Here’s what you need to know about IEP case managers.An IEP case manager’s roleA case manager is usually a special education teacher or another member of the IEP team. (This person may be a special education teacher who works directly with your child, but doesn’t have to be.)The case manager is responsible for making sure your child’s special education services and supports are in place. The case manager ensures that those services and supports are being provided for in the way that’s described in your child’s plan.Case managers often work with a number of students during the year. Their responsibilities may vary from school to school. But one thing all case managers have in common is overseeing the IEPs of students.The case manager makes certain all paperwork and evaluations for your child are up to date. The manager also makes sure everyone is following the IEP, so your child has the support needed to meet specific goals.How IEP case managers work with parentsYour first contact with a case manager may be when it’s time to get your child evaluated. The case manager will keep you informed about when your child’s testing will happen. The manager can also help explain the special education process to you, and set up an IEP eligibility meeting once the evaluation process is complete.Once your child is found eligible for special education services, the case manager becomes your primary point of contact.Read one mom’s story about how she just wants to be her son’s parent, not his private IEP case manager.That doesn’t mean you can’t talk to your child’s teachers about things that are happening in the classroom. But when you have questions about your child’s IEP, need to set up a meeting or have concerns, you should reach out to the case manager. The case manager will also keep you posted on your child’s progress and let you know if there are any concerns that come up on the school’s end. How case managers work with the IEP teamYour child’s case manager will stay in close contact with the IEP team. It’s good for teachers, school officials and specialists to stay up-to-date on your child’s plan. Among other things, the case manager is also in charge of:Working with teachers and parents to coordinate schedules for IEP meetingsMaking sure all team members get prior written notice before and after meetingsCollecting information and updates from teachers, especially if they’re unable to attend an IEP meetingTaking notes, gathering data, and writing up the IEP documentCase managers also work with all your child’s teachers and related service providers to make sure they understand the IEP. The manager can tell them about any resources they need and how to get accommodations and behavior plans in place.Partnering with your IEP case managerYour child’s teachers will change from year to year, but often the IEP case manager will stay the same as long as your child is in the same school. It depends on the school and staffing options. If you do get the same case manager, it can make it easier to work with an IEP team. That’s because the case manager knows your child’s school history.Having good communication with your child’s case manager can help keep you in the loop about what’s happening at school. You may want to talk about planning to check in with the case manager every week or two. Be sure to talk through both of your preferences for contact by phone or email. That can help you avoid unnecessary meetings or frustration.Your child’s IEP case manager will be someone you want to know well. And you’ll want this person to know your child well. Get tips on how to recognize your child’s strengths so you can share them with the case manager. You can even provide a 3×3 card about your child that the case manager can pass on to the rest of the team.
The Opportunity GapIEP meeting tips for undocumented families
Kareem Neal, a special education teacher in Arizona, shares why undocumented families may be fearful of advocating for their kids. Advocating for your kids in an IEP meeting can be scary for any family. Now imagine your family is undocumented. Imagine the fear of immigration enforcement as you try to get help for your kids who learn and think differently. In this episode, hosts Julian Saavedra and Marissa Wallace talk with Kareem Neal, a Black special education teacher in Arizona. Kareem shares his experiences with kids with IEPs from undocumented families. He explains how parents can find champions within the school system to help them advocate for their kids. He and Julian also talk about what it means to be a Black educator.Related resourcesLearn about the rights of undocumented families to special education.Check out eight steps to advocating for your child at school.Not sure why your child is struggling? Check out Take N.O.T.E.Episode transcriptAndrew: Discover all of Understood's podcasts, where we talk candidly about challenges with reading, writing, focus, and other learning differences. Our podcasts bring new voices and perspectives you won't hear anywhere else. Explore the highs and lows of raising kids with learning challenges. Learn about the surprising ways ADHD symptoms can surface in kids and adults. And hear stories from working professionals who learn and think differently. On the Understood Podcast Network, there's a podcast for everyone. Find your new favorite today at u.org/podcasts.Julian: Welcome to "The Opportunity Gap," a podcast for families of kids of color who learn and think differently. We explore issues of privilege, race, and identity. And our goal is to help you advocate for your child. I'm Julian Saavedra. Marissa: And I'm Marissa Wallace. Julian and I worked together for years as teachers in a public charter school in Philadelphia, where we saw opportunity gaps firsthand.Julian: And we're both parents of kids of color. So this is personal to us. Welcome back to the show, Marissa. How are you?Marissa: Yes. It's that long stretch before break. It's so close — seven days away? Five days away? The longest five days of our lives.Julian: But despite all of that, it's time to wake up because we have a really fascinating, interesting, and exciting show today. What we're going to be talking about is really for our parents, our caregivers, our guardians out there, who are worried or sometimes fearful about advocating or speaking up in school or during special education meetings. Specifically really zeroing in on our families that are undocumented, our families that have situations happening with their immigration status that really makes an extra challenge. So Andrew, our illustrious Understood member, is going to come and talk to us today about our special guest.Andrew: Hey, thanks Julian. I was able to book a guest for the show who works with many undocumented families. Kareem Neal is a special education teacher in Arizona. He has over two decades of experience working with kids. He works in Maryvale High School, which is in the Phoenix Union School District in Arizona. Over 81% of the students in that district identify as Hispanic. More than half of them speak a language other than English at home. There are, in fact, over a hundred languages spoken among student families in the school district. And there's a large refugee population.Just a few other cool facts about Kareem. He was named the 2019 Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers. He's the vice-president of his school district's Black Alliance. And he's a Teacher Fellow for Understood, which we are really proud of. So let's welcome Kareem to the show.Julian: Kareem. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. We're so excited that you're here. How's it going?Kareem: Good. Good. Thanks for having me. It's always fun to hear about my supposed accolades, but I just think about the 25 years in the classroom, man, teaching special ed in high school. Love it. Julian: The blessing that you've been in the classroom for that amount of time, I mean, 25 years, that's deep.Kareem: Yeah, I'm feeling good though. I'm not leaving. Marissa: Kids keep you young, though, right? They keep you young.Kareem: I tell everybody I'm not going. Like I, you know, I won some awards and things like that. And everybody wants to like, take me out of the classroom. It's weird. I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying. Julian: Well, Kareem, we're really excited to have you here because one of the issues that you have ample experience is in relation to special education and the experience that our families are having when they're coming into the schools. Because a lot of our listeners are families that are wondering what can they do to support and advocate for their children when they're dealing with schools. So I'd love for you to kind of jump in and talk about why parents or guardians or caregivers might be a little bit fearful or afraid of coming into school and advocating for their kids.Kareem: Yeah. I mean, in general, a lot of people don't think of it this way, particularly like other teachers, business folks, the upper middle class folks of the world, where it feels like the world is your oyster. And I think even like my parents, you don't necessarily feel like those places are for you. If you don't feel like they're for you, it's harder for you to have that normal voice you have, right? So when I think about all the Black, all the brown parents I've had, and I've only ever taught in areas where it was like low income, they don't feel like they could even talk like they normally talk when they're in meetings, right? And so if you don't feel like spaces are for you, it already is holding you back a tiny bit. And then I jump into the fact that, so I'm working in an area where there tends to be a decent amount of undocumented folks, and then they're not trusting it. Marissa: So when we talk about fear that families have, specifically families who are undocumented and have concerns with their immigration status, can you kind of be more specific about where does that fear come from? What's actually going on in schools right now that would create that fear in a family?Kareem: I mean, it's happening a lot outside of schools. But that doesn't mean that a parent's going to then feel safe at school, right? So like this area has had a lot of ICE raids, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. So my community has had a lot of like ICE raids happen and they are tapped in. Then they turn on a TV and see people being taken away from their families. And that's tough. I mean, I've had students just disappear one day and a couple months later it was like, oh, yeah, they quickly moved to Texas because their neighbor got pulled by ICE and they were just scared and they just did it.And then that's it. So it would be akin to being like a Black community, knowing about like police brutality, right? It's a big deal for a lot of the undocumented folks here. And so for them, it's a real fear. Even if it's not happening in their school, it's happening in the community. Their school is a part of their community. And it's a place where a lot of the folks who look like, sound like ICE agents work, right? So they're not feeling that comfortable being like, "Oh, Ima be bold and proud and maybe piss somebody off who work in that building, and maybe they'll stand next to us," right? So, it's a big deal. That's a big deal.Julian: Do you talk about it as a staff? Kareem: We totally talk about it as a special education staff. A lot. We get really frustrated by parents not coming to meetings and things like that. But we are tapped in enough to know it's like, oh, they're not lazy. It's not like they don't care about their kids. We wish our parents weren't so afraid of it, right? So we wish we could communicate that to all parents, right? Send a note home: "Hey, ICE isn't coming. Come on in to the IEP meeting." And IEP is an individual education plan, for those non special ed folks. ICE has a policy by the way, that says they don't come into schools. But when we talk about the importance of having a parent on an IEP, it's like we got to reschedule that thing 20 times because we can't even get them on a phone sometimes. It's a real fear. I know that if I thought my family was in danger of getting picked up by an agent and just taken away one day, maybe I will stay close to home.Julian: For those that are not experiencing that day to day — I mean, most of our listeners are not in the situation where they're worried about their immigration status — this adds a completely different layer to the already tenuous and uncomfortable situation of coming to a school to talk about special needs for your child. Imagine and empathize with the fact that these are families that are nervous for their residency status. How do you all manage to find ways to go above and beyond that?Kareem: One of the big things you can do as a teacher is start building a relationship with all your families so they can start at least trusting you, if nothing else. So I have parents who will lean on me and be like, "Hey, do I have to give my social security?" "No, you never have to give that." "Can I do this? Can I say that?" "Yes. You always can do that." So I think teachers, if you're listing, please like build strong relationships with the parents of the students in your classroom, because that will be one barrier in helping them say, oh, OK. I can feel comfortable like attending meetings. So, yeah, it's a lot. It's deep. Because — I think about even me, like I grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. It was not the kind of place where you expect the world to see you and love you. And so being where I am now, it feels a whole different thing. Like I do feel comfortable now in business spaces. I do feel comfortable in groups of professional folks, whereas I didn't back in a day. And even as I started my teaching career, even I didn't feel that comfortable advocating for myself, let alone how parents are feeling jumping into this space that is not theirs and advocating for somebody.Marissa: Yeah. You made such a key point about the building relationships that I don't always feel that people understand what that means, right? Or like tangible things to do that, because you have to gain the parent, the student, the caregiver's trust. Cause the relationship won't go anywhere if that trust is not set. So I'm curious: What have you found in your 25 years of experience that has allowed you to build that trust first, to be able to then expand on a relationship with families?Kareem: The funniest thing that I did lately — last few years — and it's worked like a charm, is I found this site that automatically translates. So it's called Class Dojo. And I actually initially grabbed it because it kind of works well for kids in self-contained classrooms from the gate. But then it automatically translates what I say and automatically translates what parents say. And so we got them all on there, and I was constantly posting pictures of what was happening in my classroom, posting pictures of work. And all of a sudden we all felt closer.Marissa: That's awesome. Kareem: Before, I had a lot of parents who would go straight to the paraprofessional in my classroom who spoke Spanish, and they would talk to them. Now they felt comfortable coming up to me while still having maybe an interpreter nearby. But it was just like, they felt comfortable with me because they felt like they knew me, because we're talking all the time, right? So finding that kind of communication tool if nothing else. I had a kid who, him and his family, they signed. And I went and learned sign language, right? The Spanish — I'm trying to learn Spanish. And I'm terrible at learning Spanish apparently. But at least I found this tool that made us feel closer as a group. And then it was just like, our relationships took off. And that kind of thing then makes a person say, oh, I can trust this person if he's saying I don't have to do this, or don't worry about that. Or ICE can't come to our school, stuff like that. You need that.Julian: I wish my kids were in your classroom. I can already feel the vibe. Kareem, I want to go back to what you talked about, where you mentioned how people feel like they have to go into spaces that are not theirs. What does that mean? Just for the people listening, clarify what that is.Kareem: We all have a culture. Like I think about when I went to Arizona, it was just like, oh, Black folks, I'm very comfortable with Black folks. Well, Black folks in Arizona weren't like Black folks in New Jersey. So I still had to build a new community with them. But like the folks who are coming from areas where most of the people aren't earning that much money — people are typically not used to being in settings where people are using all of these acronyms and they're buttoned up. They're used to a different kind of thing.It would be like telling all of my administrators, "All right, go out in Maryvale and hang out with some people out in Maryvale. Go to a cookout over there." Right? They might not feel that comfortable, because that's not your vibe, not your culture. And so it takes some time to acclimate yourself to a new one.And so we're assuming like a freshmen will come in school and a parent will just feel comfortable in this new school. That's not how it goes down. Schools don't feel like it feels like in their house, when you're not speaking the same language automatically. Whereas, like you're coming in here in strictly the Queen's English. And you're like, I don't really speak like that, you know? And it's really difficult for you to then say, oh, this place is for me, until they let you feel like no, this place is for everybody. Today, I actually met, I had a new student, Black student. Met his mom. She didn't automatically feel comfortable with me because I'm Black. She had to dole me out as a person and see what I'm about and see if I am welcoming to her as well, right?Julian: I love that you said it doesn't automatically create a relationship because you share a race or you share some common characteristics. And it sometimes comes across as a misconception that we can solve all these problems if we just get a bunch of Black teachers or we get a bunch of Spanish-speaking teachers, it's going to switch things up. And that's not the case at all. Kareem: No doubt. Julian: Kareem, think back to some of the experiences that you've had with some of your families. What would you say to them as a way for them to make themselves feel like they can advocate for their kids with you? What kind of things should they be doing? Or how should they approach walking into a situation where they have to speak up for their kids?Kareem: When talking about the way parents advocate for students, every single one, I'm like, always feel comfortable speaking. Take the time to get to know as many people at your school as possible, because that'll make you feel more comfortable, right? So go ahead and make as many relationships as you can everywhere. And then I would say, be close to your IEP team, because you will find yourself feeling more and more comfortable talking to some of the individuals. So an IEP team is usually kind of big: a special ed teacher, regular ed teacher, all the therapists that work with your child. If it's a person who has a health aid, they'll have that person with them, a nurse, behavior specialist. It's a huge team. Say, get to know that team really well, because you will find someone on that team that you feel comfortable talking to. And then that person could also give you that kind of confidence if you need it, right? So fortunately for me and the parents of my classroom, they feel comfortable with me. So at IEP meetings, they're sitting next to me, right? And they're just like ready to talk because they know they feel comfortable. All right, he's going to give me this confidence. He's going to help guide me if I need guidance. And he's the person that is making me feel at home here so that I can start speaking my mind freely. On every campus, you're going to find your person that might be the person that gives you the confidence to be your true self. Julian: Love that. And then that keyword: confidence. Right? Marissa: And that's so important because as a fellow special education teacher and knowing how just intricate our relationship with our families are, and I think in this case, making sure that all families know no matter what their immigration status is, that they're all able to have the right to special education services. That is not something that we will deny them. That's the law. And we support that.Kareem: Yeah, you can't be discriminated against, based on immigration status, in public education, right? You cannot force somebody to talk about their immigration status. Or like I said, provide social security numbers and those kinds of things.Marissa: And that's important, cause I think when we asked parents to sign things, right, it's that nerve-racking moment, you know, like you're asking for that signature. And I think all of those thoughts are going through their head. So that's really helpful for families to know they are protected.Kareem: And that's huge, because then they have the confidence that they need to say, all right, I'm speaking up for my kid because what's ever the harm in that? And I think a lot of undocumented parents have felt that power dynamic. And so they have already been beaten down from some level in the past.Marissa: Oh, yeah. Julian: You mentioned a couple of times, how in your own life experience, how you felt like you didn't necessarily belong in those spaces. It makes me think about the imposter syndrome. How so many times people will walk into a situation and they're kind of like, do I actually belong here? How did I get in this situation?And honestly, I feel like that every single day of my life. But what do you do for yourself to gain your own confidence in situations where you might not even feel that you belong? And I mean, you're pretty impressive in what you've done. What are some things that you do that may be some people that are listening can take to their own experience?Kareem: I kind of do some of the same stuff that I'm urging parents to do. I've been in some wild places, man. The Oval Office, you know, just my senate and house all the time. And I'm just like, this is really wild. But I think about the people that I latched on to that gave me that kind of confidence, right? It was just like, oh, when I go now to my state legislature, which I go to a lot, it's like, oh, I know Lela Alston's going to be there holding me down. Because I met her several times, being there, feel comfortable with her. And so if I'm standing by her, I'm like, OK, I'm going to speak my truth because I know she got me. And so I think these spaces that seem to be big and intimidating, full of people who are nothing like me at all, didn't come from areas that I came from, don't look anything like me, don't sound anything like me. I find a person around to make sure I find my voice based on the fact that I know I have somebody.Julian: So now I kind of want to switch gears a little bit and spend some time unpacking and uplifting your own personal story because you're a Black male educator, which we know that nationally only 2% of educators are Black male educators. But then on top of that, you are a special educator, which is even more specified and hard to come by. I'd love for you to tell the people in general, who are you and how did you come to this? And why do you continue to do this after 25 years?Kareem: I got into special education or in education in general, in an odd way. I was at Seton Hall University in New Jersey — shout-out to them — and I was a chemical engineering major undergrad. I worked at the rec center, and on weekends there were sporting events and it was like one time the Special Olympics came through. And I was just like all in. I met the kids and they were so authentic. So I was just like, I just loved them immediately. So I think getting into it because I love the people, that made it easier for me to get through like the paperwork.And like, I worked three jobs for like eight years. Three jobs. I did respite rehabilitation with a kid with autism after work. And I drove like Uber and Lyft — until recently. It's wild. But I think that was the thing that I was always able to fall back on, right? It was like, no, these are my people. And I think, because it also blended with my advocacy work, I was always kind of a big anti-racist dude, right? I got to college. I read "Autobiography of Malcolm X." I dove into like that, right? I dove into anti-racism. And so when I found special education, I said, oh, I'm going to dive into advocacy for that too, because being an advocate fills the soul type thing, you know what I'm saying? And so I just always loved it.And I still do, 25 years. That's tough to find a job that you love, that you're happy at the end of every day. But on top of that, when I think about some of the extra stuff, some of the advocacy work that I was doing in schools also kind of fed the soul when I wasn't in front of my students, right?Julian: I'm not 25 and you know, both of us have lost our hair. So here we are. But you know, some of the experiences that I've picked up over time is that in many cases, especially in schools with a high population of students of color, the Black men are relied upon for disciplinary management, those types of situations. And I found that a lot of people viewed Black male educators as the ones that needed to jump in and focus on discipline. Has that been your experience as well? And if so, how have you dealt with that?Kareem: Yes, that's been my experience. So when I started here — and I love Maryvale, I've been at Maryvale High School and Phoenix Union School District for 15 years now. And the first week, two things to happen. One, when I interviewed here and got the job, the teacher of this classroom before me, so 16 years ago, she was just like, oh, the kids are going to be fine with you. You're like a big Black guy. So it was just like automatically kids are going to look at me and just be good. And the second thing was that 25 people asked me to be a coach the first week. And I was like, coach what? Coach — have you ever seen me play some sport that I don't know about? Y'all know what I can play? It's crazy. So 15 years ago, the world is a little different. We understand more about microaggressions and things like that. But I do still get from another teacher, "Oh, the student is messing up in my classroom. Dah, dah, dah. He's a young Black kid." And I was just like, man, get to know your class. How about that? How about you build a relationship with them? But yeah, it happens a lot.Julian: I mean, it's kinda like a gift and a curse. The time that other teachers might get in having a chance to make mistakes and mess up in early parts of their career, it seems like a lot of brothers that joined, they're just thrown right in and they're expected to perform at high levels in situations that are difficult for veterans, let alone a brand-new teacher, just because of a potential connection that could be made based on what you're race is. That doesn't automatically make a relationship happen. That's not something that automatically is going to say, well, "Hey, you're Black, I'm Black. Maybe we could be friends." Right? Like then we good. Like, it's not like that, right?Kareem: It was wild to me. Just to be like, oh, I'm like a big Black guy so my kids are just going to be well behaved? I was like, no. And the frustrating part is I have put in countless hours to do the absolute best I can. And I don't want you to just say, oh, you're like a Black dude so everything just fell into place for you. It's like what? Julian: What are you looking to do next? What are you looking to continue? Kareem: Well, I mean, I'm still trying to make school communities better, man, because I do think it's important for people to like love school like I did, you know. And there's people not feeling heard, seen, there's mental health stuff and all that. And I'm just like, we need them to be real communities. Like a lot of schools say community schools on them, and hardly anybody talks to each other. And I think about the special education kids I teach. It was tough helping to make them like a bigger part of my school community. But we did that by like working on it, right? Like doing those kinds of community-building things. We need for students to feel connected to the schools, parents to feel connected to the school. All the folks.Julian: Yeah, just please help us find more Kareems. That's really what I'm going to charge you with is recruit. Kareem: That's the plan. I have mentored, now, six teachers, right now. So six people who are teachers right now because they came through. So I'm trying, I'm trying. Julian: I appreciate that, man. The last thing before we leave out is, you know, just kind of summarize for us one, what would you like to see our families take away from the ideas that we discussed in relation to walking into schools and feeling like they can come as they are and speak up for their children?Kareem: Yes. I mean, parents, I want y'all to try and get out there and meet and grow stronger relationships with the folks that work at your school. That's going to help you find your voice. That's going to help you feel comfortable even walking on that campus and feeling like you're a part of it.Julian: So you're saying that they need to bring in some food to the teachers, because listen, when I get some tamales and some pupusas, some mac and cheese, I'll take all the plates and that'll help a lot.Kareem: That would totally do it. But even just like whenever you can like reach out and talk to the people, you know what I'm saying? Find a way to do that because you'll find out that you'll talk to them and realize that they do care about your kids and they want the best for them, and you'll build the relationships and then you'll start saying, oh, this is my school now. I'm feeling like I'm a part of it. And I'm going to get in there.Julian: Ah, man, I just can't express enough how much I appreciate you taking some time to talk to us and share your story, share your tips. So thank you, brother. Marissa: Thank you. Yes, thank you very, very much.Kareem: Thanks for having me, y'all. This is great.Julian: This has been "The Opportunity Gap," a part of the Understood Podcast Network. You can listen and subscribe to "The Opportunity Gap" on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Marissa: If you found what you hear today valuable, please share the podcast. "The Opportunity Gap" is for you. We want to hear your voice.Go to u.org/opportunitygap to find resources from every episode. That's the letter U, as in Understood, dot O R G slash opportunity gap.Julian: Do you have something you'd like to say about the issues we discussed on this podcast? Email us at opportunitygap@understood.org. We'd love to share and react to your thoughts about "The Opportunity Gap."Marissa: As a nonprofit and social impact organization, Understood relies on the help of listeners like you to create podcasts like this one, to reach and support more people in more places. We have an ambitious mission to shape the world for difference. And we welcome you to join us in achieving our goals. Learn more at understood.org/mission. "The Opportunity Gap" is produced by Andrew Lee and Justin D. Wright, who also wrote our theme song. Laura Key is our editorial director at Understood. Scott Cocchiere is our creative director. Seth Melnick and Briana Berry are our production directors.Julian: Thanks again for listening.
IEP goals for reading: What they look like
Your child has reading issues and just qualified for an IEP. You know the plan will include goals for progress. But what does a typical IEP goal for reading look like?Different kids can struggle with different skills related to reading — like decoding, comprehension, or fluency. Each child’s IEP should have specific goals related to each area of weakness. But all IEP goals for reading share some common features:Like other annual IEP goals, they generally should be based on the state academic standards set for all students in your child’s grade. The purpose of special education is to help your child read at the same level as other students.They should also be SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound) as well as strengths-based. Each goal should draw on two pieces of information. One is your child’s present level of performance (PLOP) in reading. The other is where you’d like your child to be — typically, a state reading standard.Below are sample IEP goals associated with six reading skills.1. Reading skill: DecodingAcademic Standard: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. Decode multisyllabic words.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the IEP period, when given a list of 40 multisyllabic words containing closed, open, consonant-vowel-e, and vowel team syllable types, the student will be able to decode 36/40 words correctly as measured by teacher records.What This Means: This sample IEP goal focuses on the ability to decode longer words. It lists several types of syllables. The goal is that the student will be able to correctly sound out 36 out of 40 of the words with these types of syllables.2. Reading skill: FluencyAcademic Standard: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the school year, the student will read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression at 90 words per minute with 90% accuracy, as measured by teacher records on three consecutive occasions.What This Means: This sample IEP goal aims to have a child read quickly and accurately by the end of the year. It’s specific about how progress will be measured.3. Reading skill: Finding key ideas and detailsAcademic Standard: Determine the main idea of a text. Recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the IEP period, when given a grade-level nonfiction passage, the student will identify the main idea and provide at least three details related to the main idea with 90% accuracy in three out of four trials.What This Means: This sample IEP goal focuses on the ability to find the main idea of a text. (This skill is important for reading comprehension.) Three times out of four, the student needs to be able to correctly identify the main idea plus three details that support the main idea. 4. Reading skill: Making inferencesAcademic Standard: Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the third quarter, given a grade-level text, the student will support inferences with at least three pieces of text-based evidence with 80% accuracy on two out of three assignments or assessments.What This Means: This sample IEP goal targets making inferences. That’s the ability to “read between the lines” when reading. The student needs to state what the text literally says — plus what it might really mean. Two times out of three, the student must back up those inferences with evidence, with at least 80 percent accuracy.5. Reading skill: ComprehensionAcademic Standard: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in grade-level text complexity band, proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the year, the student will demonstrate grade-level independent reading ability on literature passages as measured by the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI-5), or the Star Reading assessment.What This Means: Reading at grade level is a major challenge for many students with IEPs. This sample IEP goal measures comprehension with a variety of research-based reading tests, like the DRA, QRI-5, and Star. Using measurement tests is common in IEP goals for reading.6. Reading skill: VocabularyAcademic Standard: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade-level reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.Sample IEP Goal: By the end of the school year, the student will use context clues and other strategies, such as consulting a dictionary, to help determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, with 80% accuracy in four out of five opportunities.What This Means: This sample IEP goal aims for a child to use strategies to figure out the meaning of unknown words or phrases. The student might use a dictionary or look at other words in the sentence (“context clues”). Four times out of five, the child must correctly determine the meaning of at least 80 percent of the words or phrases. Learn more about setting annual IEP goals, plus other ways you can play a role in the IEP process. Then, find out what actions you can take if the IEP doesn’t seem to be working.
The Opportunity GapIEPs and English language learners
The IEP process often comes with its share of unique challenges for English language learners and their families. Learn more.The IEP process can leave English language learners and their families with lots of questions. But the more families know about the purpose of IEPs, the more involved they can be in getting their child the best support.In this episode, we speak with Juliana Urtubey. Juliana is a special education teacher. She was named the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. Listen as Juliana explains:Challenges English language learners face during the IEP processWhy culturally responsive IEPs are importantAnd ways parents can actively participate in supporting their childRelated resourcesAre IEPs different for English language learners?How to help if English language learners are struggling in schoolEnglish language learners in special education: 4 things to know about partnering with familiesEpisode transcriptJulian: Welcome to "The Opportunity Gap." Kids of color who have ADHD and other common learning differences often face a double stigma. On this show, we talk with parents and experts and offer tips to help you advocate for your child. My name is Julian Saavedra. I'm a father of two and an assistant principal in Philadelphia, where I've spent nearly 20 years working in public schools. I'll be your host. Hey OG family, we are back with an incredible new episode. I'm so, so hyped for this one. This has been a long time coming, so I'm just really happy. Today, we're really taking a deep dive into understanding IEPs for English language learners. To talk us through this conversation, we have a very special guest, Juliana Urtubey. Juliana is a special education bilingual teacher. She was named the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. Y'all heard that, right? Not state, this is National Teacher of the Year, and rightfully so. And in 2022, President Biden appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. Welcome to the show, my good old friend Juliana. How's it going? Juliana: Hi, Julian. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Julian: You know, it's been a minute since we've gotten a chance to connect, but I've been a big-time cheerleader for your work from afar, and now up close. So, I'm just really excited that you chose to join us and talk through some of this. Juliana: Well, I have to tell you, I'm a big fan of "Opportunity Gap." I teach teacher residence, and we're frequently tapping into the podcast episodes just to have a wider, more holistic lens. So, I appreciate the work you're doing. Julian: Awesome, awesome. So, Juliana, one of the things that we always start out the podcast with is just asking folks, you know, reflecting on their day, what brought you joy today?Juliana: That's a great question, I love that. Yeah. So, I live in Arizona and we have this tree called the palo verde — it's native to this region — and when it starts getting real hot, the tree just fills up with these tiny yellow flowers and it gets a little bit windy and the flowers fall down and it kind of looks like snow and ends up leaving a bright yellow blanket underneath the trees. And so that's currently happening right now. And it just gives me so much joy to take a moment, go outside, and watch these little flowers fall, and just enjoy the beautiful colors of the desert. Julian: I love it, I love it, it makes me think for me, when I first met you, you had just finished creating a garden for your students. And, you know, we talked a lot about gardening and the joy that nature brings in. And today, my children, eight and ten-year-olds, they came with me to get all of our stuff to start our garden, right? Because it's early spring, and so we're getting ready to put our seeds in. The three sisters: corns, beans, and squash. And we got some kale. We have four different types of tomatoes. And, you know, the kids are just so excited because they now know what to do. And it was just really joyful to see that now they got to pick themselves instead of Dad having to do it all on his own. So, I feel that nature vibe. It just, it brings so much joy to all of us.Juliana: Yeah. For sure. Julian: So, Juliana, can you share what your teaching journey is all about? Tell us how you got to this point. Juliana: Yeah, I'm gonna take you way back, because I think so much of who we are as educators is informed by our life experiences. So, I was born in Bogotá, Colombia. I came to the United States with my family when I was about five. I'm the youngest of three, so I think I had the easiest out of my sisters and I, in terms of learning English and just figuring out how to navigate this, you know, this new country. And then growing up, my parents always really valued us speaking Spanish. So, at home we only spoke Spanish. In fact, it feels odd and strange to speak to my parents or my tías in any other language besides Spanish. And I always had to navigate this world between home and school, and it was almost like I was two different people. And in fact, my name is Laura Juliana. And that school, all through school until high school, I was Laura. And then it wasn't until college that I was like, nobody in my family calls me Laura. Not even Laura, Laura. I, my name is Juliana. And I had kind of that autonomy to really name myself, right? To tell people this is who I am. I'm Juliana. So, when it came time to decide, you know, what I wanted to do with my life, there was an obvious answer, and that was being a teacher. I wanted to become a teacher because I wanted a bridge culture, language, and school for kids like me. First-generation Latino students like me. And so, I very quickly got into bilingual general education. And there I am doing my student teaching. And in my student teaching class, there's a student who is bilingual and brilliant, and he can read and spell about five words. And I'm like, what's going on? This kid is so smart. How did this happen? How do you get to fifth grade and not have those resources afforded to you? And I quickly went into the world of special education. And that's why I became a special education teacher. And I loved being able to teach in English and in Spanish. I haven't always taught at bilingual schools, but I've always brought my bilingual self to all the schools. I love teaching kids with learning and thinking differences. I think that it is the absolute joy of my career to teach a child how to read, to teach a child how to be confident and like who they are. And I love to be able to do that with communities that mirror mine. Julian: I love that, I love that, you know, the crux of your journey it really was informed by your identity. I feel like that's this unifying thing. So many of us jump into this because of our past experiences. So, here you are. You know, you are a bilingual special education teacher doing your thing. You are also the host of a podcast, Season 3 of "Understood Explains." Can you tell us all about that show? Juliana: Yeah, look, it has been so exciting to learn about the world of podcasts. It was something new to me, so I got to be a learner. But I'll tell you the other name of the podcast, it's "Understood. Explica." This podcast is available in English and in Spanish and it's not translated. We actually recorded separate episodes in English and in Spanish to be able to speak directly to the hearts of families, learning to navigate the special education process, right? For me, it was a huge point of pride to help create a resource to a very overlooked and underserved community, which is the Latino community, particularly first-generation Latinos who, you know, maybe on their journey of learning English, but they're more comfortable in Spanish, and we don't have enough resources in schools to support those families, let alone to guide them through the special education process. So, these episodes really go from, does your child need an IEP? What's an IEP? What's a 504? What are some common goals that you might see in IEPs? How do we accommodate students? What do you do if you disagree with the school? How do you advocate for your child? How do you collaborate with the team so that you can best serve your child, right? What happens if your child has behavior challenges? All of these things just kind of broken down and explained in really transparent language, welcoming language, where we all acknowledge we're learners in this process, and it invites families to feel more comfortable, more included, and more confident in understanding what services and resources might be best for their children. You know, as teachers we're constantly told, "Meet your students where they are. Have an asset mindset about your students." But as educators, we don't spend enough time and energy and resources on extending that mindset to their families and the communities of our students. Julian: Yeah. Juliana: You can't apply an asset mindset to just a student and expect them to succeed if we're not also embracing their families and their communities, right? Instead of saying, "Oh, you have to learn English to gain access," now, we can have the capacity to provide resources in the language that you feel the most comfortable in. And yeah, I'm proud to be part of that work. Julian: Exactly. So, let's talk about IEPs for English language learners. Thinking about some of those unique challenges that English language learners face during the IEP process, can you narrow down a couple of those challenges that often come up? Juliana: So, there's a lot of complexity to the intersection between being linguistically gifted, as I like to call it, meaning that, you know, another language other than English, and you are somewhere on that journey of developing English and special educational needs. There's a lot of intersection because all populations experience people who learn and think differently. So, I think when we're looking at populations that are commonly called the English language learner groups, right, we we need to understand who they are as people, what their journey has been and what their learning journey, right? So, for me, for example, I learned Spanish first, but I learned Spanish in a nonacademic family setting, right? I didn't really go to school in Spanish. So, the way I speak Spanish reflects that. There are children who maybe did go to school in a Spanish-speaking country, or even in the U.S. in a dual-language classroom, right? And then it's important to understand that, and then how the child developed English. How old were they? What skills did they already have in their first language? You know, a lot of my students were simultaneous bilingual speakers, meaning they were born in the U.S., in at their homes they spoke Spanish or another language, and outside of their homes they learned English and they come to kindergarten already having an understanding of both languages. So, understanding what the language development is for a child is really important. Taking the time to really learn from the family what that was. Sometimes, oftentimes kids have interruptions in their schooling. You know, depending on what your migration journey was like, depending on how you know, much access you had once you moved to the U.S. to find schools, to find housing. You know, there's a lot of a lot of nuances that can really inform why a child might be presenting challenges at school. A lot of the times, kids who have learning and thinking differences and are also linguistically gifted will present the challenges in both languages. That's something that tells me this child needs more supports. And the other thing, too, is making sure that just because a child is developing English and may score whatever score they have, that doesn't exclude them from receiving special education services. In a lot of places, there's a fear of identifying too early before the child has gotten a chance to develop English. If a child is presenting a special educational need, the school has to respond, be it with an intervention, be it with an evaluation, etc. I think too often, and this is the population that I serve the most often. Too often our students aren't really taken seriously in terms of their learning needs till fourth, fifth grade. I served so many students that were reading at pre-primary levels in third, fourth, and fifth grade, didn't get the services they needed for that reason because they hadn't developed English yet. That's not a precursor, and that's not something that should hold us back from supporting students the way they need to be supported. Julian: Got it. Got it. So, an IEP should be an individualized experience, right? Like it's an individualized plan. And you know, when we think about multilingual learners or as you said, linguistically gifted students, it can be somewhat difficult to spell out what does that actually look like? Can you give us an example or like a description of what that might look like in practice? Juliana: Yeah, absolutely. I think the way you organize an IEP can show that. So, for example, when I was the case manager of a student, I made sure that I built a relationship with that student's family ahead of time before I even sent any documents home. And when I did send a document home, I would always call the family and be like, "Look, you're going to get this paper. It's going to look really intimidating. But I've highlighted the really important parts. Here's an overview. If when you get it you want to talk it through, let me know and we can talk it through."And so, it's building that partnership ahead of time. I think that that's one of the most culturally responsive practices that we can engage in, is just making sure that we're moving at the pace of understanding of the families that we're working with, knowing that they're navigating a completely new route. And even for people who were born in this country and raised in this country, our school systems aren't always the clearest. So, it's important to tell people what's happening. And the other thing too, is looking at, for example, goals, really thinking about that, students preferences, goals, their family, their families, aspirations for that child, and figuring out a way to really think of that child holistically. So, the most culturally responsive thing we can do is truly get to know the families that we work with so that those nuances of culture we're aware of. Julian: So, let me ask then, if I'm a teacher and I don't have the same cultural background as my students yet, I'm still trying to be culturally responsive for, linguistically gifted students, what are a couple of things that I could do to signal that I'm trying to build trust with the family, and I'm trying to build that rapport? What can I do as an educator to meet the needs of the family? Juliana: I'll tell you two things that I think are mind frame shifts versus things you have to do. It's how you look at the world. The first is that there is no normal. There is no normal language, no normal ethnicity, no normal anything, right? Those of us who are special education teachers thrive on this concept of breaking normative thought, right? No one that I approach is subcategorical or otherized. Julian: That's a word, subcategorical. Remember that one, listeners. All right, keep going. Juliana: Right? Like I don't know about you, but I grew up in Arizona and I think I internalized this idea that white and English was normal. Therefore I was subcategorical. And that's not a healthy mindset. I don't want my students to ever feel like that. So, I think for educators that's first, is there is no normal and there is no subcategorical. Secondly, I think that the most important thing to acknowledge is being a learner. When you are a lifelong learner, you're humble, you're open, you're curious, you're respectful. You're observant, right? You learn how to ask questions. You learn how to earn trust. So, I'll give you another example. When I moved out to Las Vegas, I hadn't had a whole lot of opportunity to engage with the Filipino community. When I moved to Vegas, there's a huge Filipino population and we don't speak the same language. There are some commonalities in our culture, but, you know, there's a lot of differences. And so, I really approached the community with a humbleness about wanting to understand who they were, their history, their languages, their family structures, and really just meet them where they're at. But also acknowledge that they had something to teach me. So, I think that there isn't an easy answer, because, right, there's some schools where there's over 100 different languages spoken. Let's really embrace that. And not just like talk pretty about it. Let's make sure our actions really embrace linguistic diversity and preserving that linguistic diversity, right?Julian: Right. Thinking about your experience for our linguistically gifted — I love that term. I'm going to use it all the time. But thinking about linguistically gifted students and their families, so say they're at a meeting and they might not feel comfortable in using English. Are they allowed to have a translator, or are they allowed to have services at the meeting to help them? Juliana: Not only are they allowed to. Schools are required to provide in-language interpretation for families. Julian: I knew that one too, I just wanted to make sure you said it.Juliana: They have to do it. They have to do it. And we're talking about a day in technology where it's so accessible. I mean, it's not ideal, but like a language line where you have an interpreter over the phone is acceptable. It's not the best, but it works. You have different apps that translate. At this day and age, we have no excuse to not reach the families and not provide those services. But here's what I see happening a lot. Sometimes the families will have like a strong conversational English, and they'll want to appear, you know, like they know English and of course that they do. But as we know, IEPs can be very technical and very academic. Look, I would probably struggle translating a meeting into Spanish without doing some studying and without having like a cheat sheet, right? Like it's a lot of technical terms. Julian: It's hard for me and I speak English and it's hard when it's in English. Yeah. Juliana: It's OK if you speak English, but you're more comfortable in another language to request interpretation in that language. And that interpreter doesn't have to speak the whole time and interpret everything. They can just be somebody who you look at when something was said that you didn't get. You know, there is a spectrum of language abilities and it's OK. It is OK to be on anywhere of that spectrum. And, you know, even if you're in the IEP meeting, you didn't request a translator and you're like, "Look, I'm not comfortable. We need to reschedule with an interpreter," That's OK too. Julian: Those of you listening that may have a friend or other family member that is going through this process, and they happen to speak Spanish. Guess what? There is a season of podcasts that explains all of this in Spanish. Make sure you share. But Juliana, can you share again, you've led IEP meetings, you've you've probably taken part in hundreds of them. Thinking about the most successful ones, anything else that you can share with families that really made the process successful? Juliana: So, when families can unquestionably understand that that educator cares about that child, sees their strengths, leads with their strengths, I think families are more willing to not have to be defensive, to not have to put up fronts and just collaborate with you. I think oftentimes, unfortunately, IEPs can go really negative really fast. And we get over-focused and overwhelmed by how quote-unquote delayed or, you know, behind a child may be. It takes real skill but mostly real love to say, "Look, this is where your child is. Here are their strengths. I know that this is what we're working towards in a year, but here's our plan to get there." And so, it's that reassurance to the families that you're an expert in this field. You understand how to guide a child through their needs, but you see the human in them. You know, I think that the most successful meetings are the ones I got to loop with my students. It was my favorite part. So, sometimes I would start with them in like second grade, and I'd work with them until they're in fifth grade and ready to go to middle school. And there was tears shed by everybody at that table because that child was ready for full inclusion after four intensive, positive, difficult years of supporting that child through a gradual inclusion model, right?Julian: Can you explain for the listeners like what is full inclusion? Juliana: Absolutely. So, kids can have special education services in different settings. One would be in the general education classroom, where they would be fully included with students who do not have IEP services. And then there's a lot of students who have like a mix. So, they'll have a general education teacher and they'll spend the majority of the day with that teacher in that class, but then they might leave the class and get resource supports in a small classroom with other kids who do have IEPs. And then there's some students who go to school in a self-contained placement. So, they have a classroom that is only for students with IEPs and have more intensive educational needs. And so, kids can go in and out of all of those settings and placements during their entire career as students. And it's just about meeting the kids' needs. Julian: So, I could see those tears happening right in that this is two, three, four years working with the same kid, and now they're ready to kind of go off and be fully included. That must be a great feeling. Juliana: That was a really great feeling. I mean, the child I'm thinking about particularly, he's twice exceptional. So, he's gifted, right? His IQ is exceptionally high and then he also is on the spectrum, right?, And so for him to really be able to harness his strengths and know what he likes and know also how to regulate his emotions and make connections with his peers and be able to do that in middle school. That's my stamp of approval as a teacher. You can give me whatever title you want, but you know, I did right by that kid. Julian: There you go. There you go. So, listeners, I feel very confident that we've learned a good amount about what we can do to support families and their children in the IEP process if they are linguistically gifted. Juliana, before we go, though, I'd love to explore more of your work since you stepped out of the classroom, right? So, now with 2021 being this amazing experience that, saw you traveling across the country to different schools and different programs, getting to meet policymakers, you've gotten like, a bird's eye view of what the educational landscape looks like across the country. And I'd love to hear about your work with the President's Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. That's a mouthful. Tell us about what you see. And do you see where do you see things going? Do you have hope that things will be getting better? Juliana: Yeah. I mean, if we could write a book about that question, right? Because it's so layered. I, to answer the biggest question I heard there is, do I have hope? And absolutely do I have hope. There's no doubt that I have hope. You know, Mariame Kaba talks about hope being a practice, not an emotion. And so, I feel hope every day because I see in action what it means to persevere, what it means to move forward. I listen to people my age and people much younger than me and how they advocate for their identity. And I'm like, "We're going to be all right," right? So, I think that there are some really big tellers about some positive action moving forward. I'm a big fan of our secretary of education, doctor Miguel Cardona. He's Puerto Rican. He came up through the school system as a teacher and administrator. Julian: He's from my home state of Connecticut. Connecticut, stand up. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Juliana: And you look at the work he's doing with language preservation, right? If you look at how he approaches education from an asset mindset and our communities from an asset mindset. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. There are a lot of injustices that our families face. You know, when I first started teaching, I taught in Arizona at the height of the 1070 Show me your papers bill passing, and just the the fear that was very rightfully so apparent in our community about deportations, right? Like, I supported families through deportations, and it's not easy. The fears are real. The injustices are real. And so is our work towards creating that joy, that justice. People underestimate the impact that education can have, and they also underestimate the way first-generation communities value education. You know, when you ask families, "Why did you come to this country? What was your biggest reason, aside from maybe asylum and seeking refugee status and violence, etc.?," it's for education. So, I know the narrative is education doesn't matter these days, this and that. But when I look at a class of 30 students looking at me and most of them look like me, and I can see how much they care about what they're learning and and what they're going to be, you can't tell me education doesn't matter, right? So, I'm always going to be blissfully hopeful because I get to reflect the work teachers are doing across this country to elevate communities, communities of color, communities with special educational needs. Julian: I feel like, you know, sometimes we can talk all about the problems, but we have to make sure that we highlight where we're going and what we're seeing and how there's so much positivity and so much forward motion and where we're going with our work that it's just incredibly important to make sure that we keep focused on that. And I agree with you. I mean, if you're ever feeling down, walk into a classroom and your mood will change automatically, automatically. No matter what, walk into a classroom, spend three minutes with some kids and you'll see exactly like you said, we'll be all right. We're going to be just fine. Juliana, I could talk to you all day long. I just think it's such a pleasure to see how far you've gone with your work. I'm just so proud of you. And so proud of the work that you've put in on the behalf of those that don't have the platform that you do. You've got a chance to just stay true to yourself. And I think that's the most important thing, like staying true to who you are, staying true to the work, because the work is what really matters. And so, I'm just looking forward to hearing more about where you take this and what you do. And we're looking forward to more seasons of "Understood Explains." And we really hope that you check out the latest season of "Understood Explains" or "Understood Explica," because it really is a powerful piece of work. Juliana is a natural. Your presence is perfect, and our community needs to hear more voices in their language so that they can be seen, heard, and felt. Please check out all the resources that we will link in the show notes. Juliana, thank you so much. We appreciate you. Juliana: Muchas gracias.Julian: Until next time, OG family! We'll be back soon. Thanks so much for listening today. We love hearing from our listeners. So if you have any thoughts about today's episode, you can email us at opportunitygap@Understood.org. And be sure to check out the show notes for links and resources to anything we mentioned in the episode. This show is brought to you by Understood.org. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. Learn more at Understood.org. "The Opportunity Gap" is produced by Tara Drinks and edited by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Our theme music was written by Justin De Wright, who also mixes the show. Ilana Millner is our supervising producer. Briana Berry is our production director. Neil Drumming is our editorial director. Our executive directors are Laura Key, Scott Cocchiere, and Seth Melnick. Thanks again for listening.
Download: IEP goal tracker
Your child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) includes annual goals. The school is required to update you on progress toward the goals. But you may want to keep track on your own, too.This downloadable IEP goal tracker can help you stay on top of your child’s progress throughout the year. It can also help you keep track of questions or observations you might want to raise with the IEP team.What’s in this downloadThis printable IEP goal tracker has three parts:A blank form that is digitally editable, so you can fill it in by typing or writing A filled-in example tracking an IEP goal about academicsAnother filled-in example that tracks an IEP goal about behaviorHow to get startedChoose one goal to focus on in the tracker. Fill out the first page using the information in your child’s IEP: Present level of performanceAnnual goalAny smaller milestones that are listed in the IEP Specially designed instruction or servicesAccommodations and other key parts of the IEPUse the second page of the tracker to take notes on your child’s progress throughout the year. There is also room on this page to write down the questions and observations you want to share with the IEP team.Tracking annual goals and smaller milestonesIEPs have to include annual goals. But some states also require IEPs to include smaller milestones. These are often called benchmarks or short-term objectives. If these smaller milestones are optional in your state, you can ask to include them in the IEP. They can help you see if your child is on track to meet the annual goal.One key detail is to make sure the goals and smaller milestones are measurable. Learn how to tell if your child’s IEP goals are SMART.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Resolving IEP disputes
Discover your options for when you disagree with the school about something in your child’s IEP. You and the school may not always agree on every detail in your child’s IEP. If you’re having trouble working things out, it’s good to know your option for resolving a dispute. On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will go through your dispute resolution options and how to handle common disagreements. She’ll also share information on advocates and attorneys who can help you in a disagreement. Timestamps[01:39] Dispute resolution options[05:41] Disagreeing about evaluation results[08:07] Changing a child’s placement[09:32] Reducing a child’s services [10:40] Special education advocates and attorneys [12:09] Key takeaways Related resources6 options for resolving an IEP disputeIndependent educational evaluations (IEEs): What you need to know10 smart responses for when the school cuts or denies servicesThe difference between special education advocates and attorneysEpisode transcriptJuliana: You and the school may not always agree on every detail in your child's IEP. So, if you're having trouble working things out, it's good to know what your options are for resolving a dispute. And I'm going to explain them to you. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this episode, we're talking about how to resolve IEP disputes. My name is Juliana Urtubey, and I'm your host. I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year, and I'm an expert in special education for multilingual learners. As a reminder, all of the episodes this season are available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. We're going to start this episode by looking at how parents and schools need to work together to develop a child's IEP or Individualized Education Program. Then, we'll do an overview of all the different ways you can work things out if there's a dispute. And after that, we'll talk about three common situations where disagreements tend to happen and what you can do about it. OK, so the big picture here is that you have the right to disagree with the school about any part of your child's IEP. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, is very clear that you're a part of the team that develops the IEP. You have to be invited to all IEP meetings. You have to get looped in before the team can make any changes. And there are key moments where the team cannot move forward unless you give the go ahead.Special education is set up to encourage families and schools to work together, and when disagreements come up, it doesn't always mean that there has to be a big fight. [01:39] Dispute resolution optionsThe law lays out six options for resolving disputes, and they range from pretty low-key, like requesting another IEP meeting all the way up to filing a civil rights complaint. We're going to look at each of these options starting with the least formal one. And that's good old-fashioned negotiation. This includes having a conversation with the team trying to talk things through. You can do this by asking for another IEP meeting. You can use the meeting to talk about how you want to fix whatever problem you're having with the IEP. It's as simple as that. If the issue doesn't get resolved, the next step up is to ask for a mediation meeting. This is where you sit down with a neutral third party called the mediator. This person doesn't take sides or tell anybody what to do. Instead, their job is to try to come up with a solution that works for you and the rest of the IEP team. You can ask for mediation at any time. It's a voluntary process, so you get to choose whether you want to go this route. But I want you to keep in mind that the decisions made during mediation are legally binding. This means once you reach an agreement, you can't back out of it.Option number three is a due process hearing. This is a formal process that starts with you filing a written complaint. And this complaint has to include why you think the school isn't doing what IDEA says it needs to do. And here are some examples of ways you might think the school violated your child's rights. Like if your child didn't qualify for special education, or if your child qualified but you think the school isn't providing appropriate services, or maybe you think your child isn't being educated in the least restrictive setting. And by the way, we're going to get into more detail about each of these examples later in this episode. OK, so you file your due process complaint. The next step is to have a resolution session with the school where both sides try to reach an agreement. But if you can't agree, then there will be a due process hearing. And this looks kind of like a courtroom trial. Evidence is presented. There are witnesses, and there's a hearing officer who acts like a judge and will make a decision on the case. Now, as you can probably tell, due process involves a lot of knowledge about the law. You need to know your rights under IDEA. So, if you're thinking of going this route, it's a good idea to speak with a special education advocate or attorney before you file a complaint. OK, resolution option number four is a lawsuit. You can file a civil lawsuit, but you can't do this until after you've gone through due process. And it's a really good idea to hire a lawyer if you're going to file a lawsuit. Another way you can resolve an IEP dispute is by filing a state complaint. You write a letter explaining why you think the school violated IDEA, and you send it to your state's Department of Education and ask them to do an investigation. You can file this complaint on your own, or you can file it with other parents if you see a situation at school that affects more than just your child. Once a complaint is filed, the state may investigate and decide if the school violated the law. The last dispute resolution option I want to mention is filing a civil rights complaint. This option is similar to filing a state complaint, but this one escalates the issue even higher to the federal government. You send the complaint to the U.S. Department of Education, then its office for Civil Rights, or OCR will decide whether to investigate the school. OK, so those are the six main options for resolving an IEP dispute. And I get that most of these options sound very formal. But I want to emphasize that the first option, negotiation, includes a bunch of informal strategies that can help you work out a dispute. There's a good Understood article outlining these options, and I'll put a link in the show notes. [05:41] Disagreeing about evaluation resultsNow that we're done with the overview, I want to talk about three common things that can lead to a dispute between families and schools. And the first one is disagreeing about your child's evaluation results. It can be frustrating to go through a lengthy evaluation process, only to be told that your child doesn't qualify for special education. Or maybe your child qualifies, but the results don't seem to accurately describe your child. If you disagree with the results of your child's initial evaluation, you have the right to request what's called an independent educational evaluation, or IEE. The school must consider the results of the IEE, and these results can also be used as evidence if you end up using a formal dispute resolution option, like a due process hearing. Broadly speaking, families get IEEs if they think the school didn't test the right things, didn't test in the right ways, or aren't interpreting the results correctly. And let me give you a couple of examples. Let's say you requested an evaluation for anxiety and trouble staying focused, but your child was only tested for academic challenges. Or maybe your child was only evaluated in English and not in their home language. Whatever the reason, you have the right to get an IEE. You'll most likely have to pay for it, but there are some situations where the school may be required to cover that cost. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more about IEEs, including how you can request one at public expense. Another way an evaluation dispute can come up is if the school says your child no longer qualifies for an IEP. You might hear the team refer to this as "exiting special education," and it can happen after your child is reevaluated for special education, which happens at least once every three years. Now, I know many parents worry about their child's IEP being taken away too soon, but I want you to try to be objective and remember this can be a good thing. If your child has made a lot of progress and is meeting grade-level standards, that's a reason to celebrate. I also want to mention that many kids switch from an IEP to a 504 plan, which can offer a lot of the same supports. But if you think your child still needs an IEP, you may want to go get a private evaluation or consider using your dispute resolution options. [08:07] Changing a child’s placementAnother common source of IEP disputes is when the school wants to change your child's placement. This is the term for where your child will be taught. Examples include general education classrooms and self-contained classrooms where all the kids have IEPs. If the school wants to change your child's placement, there are two key rights for you to know about. First, your child has the right to be educated in the least restrictive environment. And your child also has the right to stay put while you and the school work out the disagreement. It's important to note the school cannot change your child's placement without telling you ahead of time and giving you a chance to discuss it at an IEP meeting. I want to pause here for a moment and talk about bias. Research shows that students who are Black or Hispanic are more likely to be placed in self-contained classrooms than white students. So, parents and guardians of Black and Hispanic kids need to be extra aware and know your rights. In particular, I want you to listen to the previous episode about IEPs and behavioral supports. I also want to mention that placement changes tend to happen slowly. So, chances are the team will tell you well in advance, so you'll have opportunities to ask questions and weigh in. [09:32] Reducing a child’s services OK, there's one more common reason that families in schools get into disputes, and it's reducing or denying services. Understood has a good article on ten common but incorrect reasons schools may give to try to cut or deny services. I'll put a link in the show notes so you can check it out. The article gives you sample responses you can say to the IEP team. For example, if the team says "We don't have enough funding for that," you can respond with, "The U.S. Department of Education says that even if the school has budget concerns, that doesn't change its legal obligations to my child." This is an example of how knowing your rights can help you negotiate with the school.Another strategy is to wait to sign the IEP. The team cannot move forward without you. You can ask for more time to gather more data to help you make a decision. And speaking of data, use it to help you negotiate. When you present test scores and other data, it's harder for the school to say no. [10:40] Special education advocates and attorneys OK, so we've talked about different options for resolving IEP disputes. And we've talked about common situations where families may disagree with the school. As you think about your options, you might wonder, "Do I need to hire somebody to help me? Do I need a special education advocate?" or "Do I need an attorney?" Advocates and attorneys can do a lot of the same things. Both can negotiate with the school on your behalf. Both can write letters on your behalf or help you write them, and both can advise you on strategies for working with the school. But there are some big differences. One example is training. Attorneys have a law degree, but advocates may not have any formal training. They tend to be parents with kids who've been through the special education process. Or maybe they know how to navigate the system because they used to work at a school. Another difference may be in how the school reacts. Some schools are open to working with advocates and having them participate in meetings, but many schools are wary of attorneys. So, if you bring an attorney to a meeting, expect the school might want to bring its attorney, too. If you're trying to find an advocate or lawyer, you may want to start by reaching out to the special education parent group in your school district. Understood also has a list of questions to ask before hiring an advocate or an attorney. I'll link to it in the show notes. [12:09] Key takeaways OK, before we go, let's sum up with some key takeaways. You have six main options for resolving an IEP dispute: negotiation, mediation, a due process hearing, a lawsuit, a state complaint, and a federal civil rights complaint. If you disagree with the school about your child's evaluation results, you may want to get an independent education evaluation. If you disagree about your child's services, you can ask for another IEP meeting and use informal negotiation strategies before you consider a more formal route. If you disagree about a change in your child's placement, you may want to use your stay put rights while you work out the dispute with the school. And last but not least, special education advocates and attorneys can do some of the same things, but be sure to research which one is most appropriate for your situation. All right. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." I hope you'll join us next time when we'll talk about IEPs and multilingual learners. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs". This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at Understood.org/mission. Credits Understood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
The IEP meeting: An overview
The IEP meeting is one of the most important parts of the special education process. In this meeting, school staff and parents come together to discuss, develop, and review a student’s IEP. They make sure the IEP meets the student’s needs.There are rules for IEP meetings. They cover who must attend and what happens. The best way to understand these rules is to remember the goal of the meeting. The school and parents are working together to plan a student’s special education experience at school.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: English language learners and IEPs
Learn how IEPs can help kids who are learning English as an additional language. Many kids in the U.S. are learning English as an additional language. For some, it may be their second, third, or fourth language. Their English skills can vary widely, too. Some kids may speak conversational English and need to learn academic words, like “add” and “subtract.” And others may be learning a lot of words in English and in their home language at the same time. So there can be a lot of different starting points for what some schools call English language learners or multilingual learners. As a parent, it can be hard to tell if you’re seeing common challenges that come with learning a new language. Or if you're seeing signs of a learning difference, like dyslexia or ADHD. Fortunately, schools can help in both of these areas. And part of that help could include an IEP, or Individualized Education Program. On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will share how. Timestamps[01:52] School supports for multilingual learners [04:32] Myths and facts[07:47] Evaluations and IEPs[10:24] Your rights as a parent or guardian [12:00] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesFor ELL families: Why and how to partner with teachersListen: Understanding common IEP challenges for families of colorHow to help if English language learners are struggling in schoolEpisode transcriptJuliana: Many kids in the U.S. are learning English as an additional language. For some kids, English may be their second or third or even fourth language. Some kids may speak conversational English and need to learn academic words like "add" and "subtract," and some kids may be learning a lot of words in English and in their home language at the same time. So there can be a lot of different starting points for what some schools call English language learners. As a parent, it can be hard to tell if you're seeing common challenges that come with learning a new language, or if you might also be seeing signs of a learning difference like dyslexia or ADHD. Schools can help in both of these areas, and I'm going to tell you how. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this episode, we're talking about IEPs and multilingual learners. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. Before we get into this episode, a quick vocab note. A lot of schools use a term "English language learner," but I prefer the term "multilingual learner." And here's why. When I first started teaching, I had a student who I'll call Jessica. Jessica was in third grade and she spoke four languages. She was using American Sign Language at home with her parents, who are both deaf. She spoke Tagalog with her Lola, her grandmother from the Philippines, and Spanish with her abuelita from Mexico, and she was learning English at school. Jessica was so much more than just an English language learner. She's what I like to call linguistically gifted.So, I want to start this episode by giving a shout out to all the multilingual learners who, like Jessica, have many strengths that aren't always fully recognized in school. [01:52] School supports for multilingual learners OK, there are two kinds of school supports I want you to know about for multilingual learners. First, there's English language development, and this is the class that helps students learn how to listen, speak, read, and write in English. Some schools call it English as a second language or ESL. There's also English as a new language, and some schools call it English for multilingual students. So, this class can be called many things, and it teaches two kinds of language skills that you might hear the school talk about. First, there's BICS, which is short for Basic interpersonal communication skills. BICS is a term for conversational English. It involves common words that people use in everyday life, like saying you want to eat an apple or that you can't find your backpack. Kids tend to develop these social language skills pretty quickly, often within six months to two years. The other set of language skills you may hear the school talk about is called CALP. This is short for cognitive academic language proficiency, and this is the term for more formal language that gets used in classrooms and textbooks. CALP covers academic language. According to Jim Cummins' BICS and CALP theory, these language skills can take a lot longer to develop. A lot of kids may have not learned these academic words in their home language in school. They may even take 5 to 7 years to reach this kind of fluency in English. OK, so BICS and CALP are important acronyms for parents to know, and schools can help kids develop both of these kinds of language skills. Now there's a totally different type of school service called special education. And this is designed to meet the unique needs of each child who has a disability. This might involve teaching some of the same skills that are taught in ESL class, but these skills are taught in a different way. Here's an example. Let's say a child is a native Spanish speaker and has dyslexia. So, the regular way of teaching reading in English class won't be enough to help them make progress. They need specialized instruction, just like a native English speaker with dyslexia would. Special education and ESL aren't the same thing. But your child can get supports in both if they need them, and your child can get both at the same time, like getting specialized reading instruction in Spanish while they keep working on their English skills in their language acquisition class. Later in this episode, we'll get into specifics on how to tell if your child needs English language instruction and special education, and how these services can fit together. But first, I want to spend the next section busting a few myths about disabilities. [04:32] Myths and facts Earlier this season we had a whole episode about special education myths. I want to mention four myths that are especially important for families of multilingual students to know. Myth number one: Speaking more than one language can confuse kids to the point of causing some sort of disability. I know a lot of families worry about this, so I want to be really clear here. Talking with your child in your native language while they're learning English can not cause a learning difference or disability. Our kids learn languages at different paces and that's OK. It's actually good for your child's brain to learn more than one language. So keep exposing your child to more words and ideas in your native language. The more knowledge your child builds, the more knowledge they can transfer into English. Myth number two: You can tell someone has a disability just by looking at them. This myth goes along with another common misconception that only kids with severe physical or intellectual disabilities qualify for special education. But the truth is that many students have disabilities like ADHD and dyslexia. These are hard to notice just by looking at someone, unless you see them trying to read out loud. You may not know that they have a reading disability like dyslexia, and unless you can climb inside their head and see all the thoughts racing around, you may not know that they have ADHD. These kinds of learning differences are very common, and kids can thrive in school if they get the right support. Myth number three: Kids who are well-behaved don't need more support in school. For example, in Spanish-speaking cultures, when someone is polite and kind, we say "Es muy educado." This means that they're very educated. If a child is well-behaved, many Latino families may think it's a sign that their child is doing well in school. But the truth is that many kids are quietly struggling in school. Their struggles can be overlooked. Or maybe the teacher has noticed but can't do more until you give permission. I know many families may think it's not their place or their role to ask the school if their child needs more support. But the key thing to remember here is that in the United States, teachers want to hear from you. Understood has a good article on why teachers want to partner with multilingual families, and tips to help you do this. I'll put a link in the show notes. Myth number four is about immigration enforcement. A lot of families worry that getting school services may increase the risk of getting deported. Things like meeting with the school and signing paperwork can be a big source of worry. If there's a member in the family who is undocumented. But the truth is that all children have a right to a free and public education, regardless of whether the student or their parents are citizens. And schools, as well as school bus stops are sensitive locations. This means immigration enforcement cannot happen in these places. Schools also have to follow rules about confidentiality. They cannot share paperwork with police or immigration enforcement unless there's a big emergency, like a threat to national security or public safety. So, remember, schools are safe places and they want to help your child succeed. Understood has an article with even more myths about special education and English language learners. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to dive deeper. [07:47] Evaluations and IEPsThere are four things I want families to know about evaluations and IEPs for multilingual learners. First, you don't have to wait for your multilingual learner to be evaluated for special education. Schools often want to wait and see if skills like reading and writing improve when a student's English improves. But this could leave your child struggling for years without the right support. So, you don't have to wait. You can ask for an evaluation now. Second, you can help the school understand your child. As a parent, you know a lot of things about your child's history that are very important to share with the evaluation team. Sharing this information can help the team tease apart challenges that are related to language acquisition and challenges that are related to something else, like ADHD or dyslexia. And here are some of the kinds of details you can share. You can talk about your child's developmental milestones. For example, when your child was a baby or a toddler. Did you have any concerns about when they started walking or talking in their home language? You can also help by telling the school what you've been noticing at home. For example, if your child struggles with reading or following directions in your home language. Another way you can help is by telling the team about your child's schooling up until now. Did your child ever go to a school where their home language is spoken? If so, up until what grade? And it's also important to tell the team if your child has missed a lot of school. For example, maybe you moved around a lot. Or maybe it took a long time to get to the United States from your home country. It will help the school know if there are gaps in your child's education. You can also talk to your child's language instruction teacher and make sure they play a big role in the evaluation process. You can also ask the school to evaluate your child's skills in English and in your home language. OK, here's a third important thing I want you to know. If your child qualifies for an IEP, make sure the IEP includes both language acquisition goals and special education goals. Ask the team how much time your child will get, language services, and how much time your child will get special education services each week. The IEP should give you a really clear idea of what your child's school day will look like. And last but not least, ask the school if your child can get specialized instruction in subjects like reading or math in your home language. This might not be possible in every school, but you can advocate for what you think your child needs. Understood has a good article on how to help multilingual learners who are struggling in school. The article includes some really important questions to ask. I'll put a link in the show notes. [10:24] Your rights as a parent or guardian As a parent or guardian, you have many rights under special education law, and I want to highlight a few that are especially important for parents of multilingual learners. One of the most important rights involves the very beginning of the special education process. The school cannot evaluate your child for special education unless you give permission. And if your child qualifies for an IEP, the school cannot start providing special education services until you sign off on the plan. And this leads me to another really important right. You have the right to understand what's happening with your child's education, so you shouldn't sign off on your child's IEP until you understand and agree with what's in it. And you can also ask to get frequent updates from the IEP team. Maybe once a month or once each quarter. Think about how often you'd like to get updates. But right about now, you may be wondering "What if my English isn't very good?" You have the right to ask for a translator to help you understand what's happening at IEP meetings. So, if you aren't 100% comfortable speaking or understanding English, ask for a translator. The school must provide you one. The school also needs to translate any letters it sends to you about your child's IEP, and the school should translate your child's IEP too. If the school doesn't do this automatically, you can show them a letter from the U.S. Department of Education that says schools should translate IEPs. I'll put a link in the show notes, and if you want to learn more about special education terms and legal rights that are important for all parents to know, go back and listen to Episode 6. [12:00] Key takeawaysOK, before we go, let's sum up with some key takeaways. Learning another language cannot cause a learning difference or disability. Disabilities can be hard to notice, and even kids who are well-behaved may need more support in school. If you're multilingual, child is getting evaluated for special education. Make sure they're getting tested in English and in your home language. As a parent, you have a lot of rights, including having the school translate information into your native language. And finally, schools are safe spaces. Getting school services will not increase your risk of immigration enforcement. All right. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." I hope you'll join me next time when we'll talk about IEPs for young kids, for tweens, and for teens. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at Understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Beyond IEP meetings: How I connect with my son’s general education teachers
I’ve learned a lot from advocating for my son in public school throughout the years.I’ve educated myself about his learning differences: dyslexia and dysgraphia. I’ve also learned how to navigate special education. Occasionally I joke that I must have earned some sort of degree by now!One important lesson I’ve learned is that you have to be proactive. That’s especially true when reaching out to general education teachers.Why is this so important to me?Let me take a step back. My son goes to high school in a big public school system. On average, each high school teacher sees 100+ kids every day. When you add up the students in all their classes, a teacher might have 200+ kids total. Throw the students’ parents or guardians into the mix, and that’s a lot of people.And don’t forget about IEPs. Most kids with IEPs spend the majority of their day in general education classrooms. So teachers in my son’s school may be on several IEP teams. I get overwhelmed just thinking about how many people they must be in contact with and all the work that takes!I didn’t want my son to get lost in the shuffle. I wanted to find a way to really connect with his teachers and make it easier for them to get to know him. So here’s what I’ve been doing since my son was in grade school:About a month before the start of school, I ask for a meet-and-greet with as many of my son’s teachers as possible. This isn’t an IEP meeting. This is a “let’s get to know each other” meeting.I try to get all his teachers, teaching assistants, aides, and case managers into one room, even if just for a short time. I even invite the gym and music teachers — anyone who’s going to spend time with my son.When the meeting starts, I thank everyone for coming. I share how helpful this kind of meeting has been in the past to our family. I tell them we just want to open the lines of communication.Then I give them all a handout. Over the years, the information on the handout has changed. But it typically includes:Our contact informationA brief description of dyslexia and dysgraphiaA list of my son’s strengthsA list of his challengesA copy of the accommodations page from his IEPI try to look at things from the teachers’ perspective. I want to make sure I’m helping them as much as I can. And they’ve almost always been very receptive to what I’ve had to say.Over the years I’ve gotten better at sharing who our son is and what his learning differences look like in the classroom. I’ve learned the educational jargon, which helps me speak the same language as teachers. And I’ve shifted from focusing on my son’s struggles — what he cannot do — to focusing on what he can do.By far the biggest change to these meetings, though, was the addition of my son’s chair to the table.My son, Noah, started attending the meeting in sixth grade. Since then, he’s taken over question-and-answer time. It makes sense for him to be the primary source when it comes to talking about his learning differences and how he learns best. After all, he’s the one who lives and breathes this every day!I know not every parent is going to be able to set up this type of meet-and-greet with teachers. But there are simpler ways to reach out that can also be very effective. For example, you can have one-on-one meetings or write an introduction letter for your child.A brief email to a teacher may even do the trick, depending on your child’s situation. There are plenty of ways to go beyond the IEP to get your child the support he needs. For me and my son, taking that extra step has been invaluable.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: The 13 disability categories
Your child will need to fit into at least one disability category to qualify for an IEP. In this episode, we’ll explain how it all works. There are 13 disability categories listed in a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. And to get an IEP, or Individualized Education Program, your child will need to fit into at least one of them.These categories can have some hard-to-understand names, like “specific learning disabilities” or “other health impairments.” But on this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will share what these categories mean and why they relate to IEPs. She’ll also share what to do if your child doesn’t qualify for any disability category, or if they qualify for more than one. For more resources, including a transcript formatted for easy skimming, visit the episode page on Understood.org.Timestamps[00:43] Why do IEPs have disability categories?[02:42] What are the 13 disability categories in IDEA?[07:21] Are disability categories the same in every state?[09:28] Can my child’s IEP include more than one disability?[10:32] What if my child doesn’t qualify for any disability category?[11:43] Key takeawaysRelated resources13 disability categories (explainer article with infographic)Parent training centers: A free resource in your stateTemplate to request an independent educational evaluation at public expense6 options for resolving an IEP dispute Episode transcriptJuliana: To get an IEP, kids need to meet the criteria for at least one disability category. But what if your child fits into more than one or doesn't fit into any? From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." In this episode, we're going over the disability categories that schools use when deciding if a child qualifies for special education. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners, and I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:43] Why do IEPs have disability categories?Why do IEPs have disability categories? So, before we look at the specific categories, I want to explain why schools use them. The key word here is eligibility. Your child can't get an IEP, an Individualized Education Program, unless they meet the criteria for at least one disability category. This requirement comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA. This law has 13 disability categories, and as a parent, you'll encounter these categories when you go to your child's eligibility determination meeting. The team will run through the categories and say if your child qualifies for any of them. You may hear the term Disability Classification. And for many families, this is a very emotional part of the meeting. It can be hard to hear that your child has a disability, but you can always ask for a short break to collect your thoughts. We're going to go over each of the categories in a minute, but before we do that, there are a few big-picture things I want you to know about them. First, IDEA has 13 disability categories, but that doesn't mean it only covers 13 disabilities. The categories cover such a broad range that even the rarest condition could fit in somewhere. Second, having these categories helps weed out kids who are struggling for reasons other than a disability, like missing a lot of school or having trouble learning English as an additional language. There are other ways to support these students but to get an IEP, kids need to have a disability. The next big thing I want to mention is that some disability categories may come with more funding than other categories, but your child's disability category cannot be used to limit your child's services. Disability categories are gateways to special education, and your child just needs to fit through one of these gates to get access to whatever kind of specially designed instruction or services that they need. [02:42] What are the 13 disability categories in IDEA?So, what are the 13 disability categories in IDEA? I'm going to start with the four most common categories. And to help you understand how common they are, I want you to picture a pie that represents the millions of school-age kids with IEPs. And by far, the biggest slice of this pie is kids who have specific learning disabilities or SLDs. About a third of kids with IEPs qualify for special education because they have a learning disability. And some common examples include dyslexia, which some schools may call a reading disorder or a specific learning disability in reading. Dyscalculia is a math disability or math disorder. There's also dysgraphia and written expression disorder, where kids may have a lot of trouble getting their ideas down on paper. OK, so kids with learning disabilities make up about one-third of the special education pie. The second biggest slice is for speech or language impairments. Nearly one-fifth of kids with IEPs are in this category. This group includes a lot of kids who need speech therapy. This group also covers language disorders, which can make it hard to do things like learn new words or grammar rules or understand what people say. But I want to mention that language disorders can also fall under the learning disabilities category. So, if your child has a language disorder, choosing the category can be a bit of a toss-up. OK, so the special education pie that we're slicing up, it's already half full. And that's just with kids in two of the 13 categories, specific learning disabilities and speech or language impairments. Now, the third biggest slice is called other health impairments or OHI. And it covers about 1 in 6 kids with IEPs. And this is a really important category for neurodivergent families because it includes a lot of kids who struggle with attention. IDEA lists a bunch of examples that fit in the OHI category, including ADD and ADHD. It also mentions asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, lead poisoning, and sickle cell anemia. And these are just some of the examples that are mentioned in the law. So OHI is a really broad category. OK, moving on to the fourth biggest slice of the pie, and it's autism, which covers about 12% of kids with IEPs. This means about one in 8 or 9 kids with IEPs qualify for special education because they're autistic. Now, I want to pause here for a moment and point out that these four disability categories — learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, OHI, and autism — they make up about 80% of the pie. So what about the rest of the 13 categories? Well, there's intellectual disabilities, which is a pretty small slice, at 6% of the pie. So that's about 1 in 16 kids with IEPs. And some examples that might fit in this category are Down syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome. Then, there's emotional disturbance, which is a bit smaller of a slice at 5% of the pie — or 1 in 20 kids with IEPs — and it covers things like anxiety and depression. And then there are seven other categories that are all tiny little slivers of the pie. There's orthopedic impairment. There's visual impairment, which includes blindness. There's hearing impairment, which includes deafness. And then there's deafblindness, which gets its own category. There's also traumatic brain injury. And there's multiple disabilities, which by the way isn't a category you'd use if you have, say, ADHD and dyslexia. Multiple disabilities is more likely to be used for something like intellectual disability and blindness, or any other combination that's likely to require a highly specialized approach. And last but not least, is developmental delays, which is the only category in IDEA that comes with an age limit. And I'm going to say more about this in a minute. But for now, I want to remind you that not everyone with a disability qualifies for an IEP. The disability needs to impact your education enough to require specially designed instruction. So here's an example. Let's say you have ADHD. Do you need specially designed instruction on things like how to get organized and stay on task? Or do you just need some classroom accommodations, like sitting near the teacher and away from distracting windows or hallways? If you don't need specialized instruction, the school will say you don't qualify for an IEP, but you can get a 504 plan. If you want to learn more about how kids qualify for IEPs. Check out the previous episode. And if you want to learn about the difference between IEPs and 504s, go back and listen to episode 2. [07:21] Are disability categories the same in every state?Are disability categories the same in every state? The short answer is no. Disability classification can happen a bit differently from state to state. Some of these differences are pretty minor.For example, some states use the phrase "disability category" and other states use the term "exceptionality." And some states have more than 13 categories because they do things like split speech or language impairment into two categories. Another difference is in how states handle developmental delays. States are not allowed to use this category after age nine, but some states have earlier cutoff dates. So, for example, I used to live in Nevada, where kids could be classified as having a developmental delay up through age five. And after they turned six, it was my team's job to determine if any other disability categories would fit their needs. Most often, these students would switch to specific learning disabilities. But in Arizona, which is where I live now, kids can keep receiving services under the category of developmental delay up until their 10th birthday.There's another big difference I want to mention, and it involves the way states classify kids with specific learning disabilities. Some states still evaluate kids for learning disabilities using what's called a discrepancy model. This is where you compare a child's IQ, or intellectual ability, to their academic achievement. So an example of a discrepancy would be a fifth grader whose IQ falls in the average range but is only reading at a second-grade level. But some states don't let schools use a discrepancy model. And that's because there can be cultural biases and other problems with IQ testing, including testing kids who speak a language other than English at home. So these are some of the ways eligibility criteria can differ from state to state. If you want to find out what your state's eligibility requirements are, ask your school's parent liaison or you can contact a Parent Training and Information center. These centers are free resources for families, and every state has at least one of them. I'll put a link in the show notes to help you find one that's closest to you. [09:28] Can my child’s IEP include more than one disability?Can my child's IEP include more than one disability? Yes. If your child has more than one disability, it's a good idea to list each one of them in the IEP. This can make it easier for the IEP to include all of the services and supports your child needs. The IEP team may need to rank the disabilities in terms of which one affects your child's education the most. But labels like "primary" and "secondary" cannot be used to limit what services your child gets. It's mainly a data collection tool, so states can get a broad idea of who's getting services for what. And if you're not sure which disability category should be listed as a primary one, think about what would be the most helpful reminder for teachers about your child's needs. The other thing I want to mention is that your child's primary disability category can change as they get older. One example is young kids who get an IEP for speech or language impairment, and then they shift to a specific learning disability, as are challenges with reading and spelling become clear over time. [10:32] What if my child doesn’t qualify for any disability category?What if my child doesn't qualify for any disability category? So, you might hear this after your child's initial evaluation. Or if your child already has an IEP, there needs to be a reevaluation at least once every three years. And part of the reason is to see if your child doesn't need specialized instruction anymore. If the school says your child doesn't meet the criteria for any of the disability categories, there are few things you can do. The first thing is you can go back and look at the evaluation report. Was the school looking at the right trouble spots? Maybe the team needs to do more testing in more areas. You can also request something called an Independent Educational Evaluation or IEE. This is done by someone who doesn't work for the school. You'll most likely have to pay for it, but in some cases the school may be required to cover the cost. Understood has a good template to help you write this kind of request. I'll include a link in the show notes. The other thing you can do is learn about dispute resolution options. We have a whole episode on this later this season, but we'll link to an article here to help you get started. [11:43] Key takeawaysOk, so we've covered a lot of territory in this episode. So before we go, let's sum up what we've learned with a few key takeaways. IDEA has 13 disability categories, but that doesn't mean it only covers 13 disabilities. Your child's disability category is a gateway to special education. It doesn't limit what kind of services your child can receive. Your child's IEP can include more than one disability and the primary category can change over time. All right, that's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Next time, we're talking about key terms in legal rights that every parent should know if their child qualifies for an IEP. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission.CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Surprising IEP and 504 plan accommodations to help kids self-regulate and manage emotions
Kids who struggle with self-regulation and managing emotions may get accommodations in school. That happens through an IEP or a 504 plan. Schools often have a set list of accommodations for these challenges. But sometimes, kids get unique supports that fit their very specific needs.We asked parents in the Understood community to share the surprising accommodations in their child’s IEP or 504 plan. Accommodation ideas from our community “We keep bags of carrots in the school office fridge. When my son becomes agitated and needs sensory stimulation, he goes to the office and sits under the desk of the secretary, munching on carrots till he’s calm enough to return to class.” — Rachel“Using mechanical pencils rather than regular pencils because the sound of regular pencils makes his skin crawl.” — Robin“Having the entire fourth grade rearrange recess so that my daughter had it at the end of the day when her ADHD meds start to wear off. The school offered it!” — Christine“My son can wear a ball cap and carry a weighted backpack all day.” — Stephen“Someone lets my son know just before there’s to be a fire drill. He has auditory processing issues. If the alarm catches him off-guard, he can (and usually does) have a meltdown.” — Susan“A break card that lets him walk around school by himself and get away from people and recharge.” — Sofie“Using a toilet in the school that didn’t flush automatically. Thankfully, she outgrew that!” — Michele“My son gets to listen to his own music during free work times. Even with his noise-reducing headphones, free time was overwhelming for him.” — Kristen
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: How IEPs can help with behavior challenges
Learn the many ways that IEPs can help with your child’s behavioral challenges, and help them make progress in school. Does your child have trouble following the teacher’s rules? Are you getting a lot of calls from the principal? An IEP, or Individualized Education Program, can do a lot of things to help with behavioral challenges in school. But as you explore getting an IEP and putting it into action, things can get confusing. Along the way, you might run into wonky terms like FBA, BIP, and manifestation determination. Those terms might all sound confusing now. But in this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will help you understand what they mean and how they can help your child make progress in school. Timestamps[00:46] Does my child need behavioral support at school?[04:20] Can my child get an IEP for ADHD?[05:50] What is a functional behavioral assessment?[06:58] What is a behavior intervention plan?[08:50] Can schools discipline kids with IEPs?[10:33] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesWhat is PBIS?School discipline rights for kids with IEPs and 504 plansPodcast: Understood Explains Evaluations for Special EducationTranscriptJuliana: Does your child have trouble following the teacher's rules? Are you getting a lot of calls from the principal? IEPs can do different things to help with behavior. Along the way, you might run into some wonky terms like FBA, BIP, and manifestation determination. But by the end of this episode, you'll understand what these things mean and how they can help your child make progress in school. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." My name is Juliana Urtubey, and I'm your host. I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year and I'm an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And a quick reminder all of the season's episodes are available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:46] Does my child need behavioral support at school? Does my child need behavioral support at school? This is a really important question, and as a teacher, I wish more parents would ask about this. Many families have a pretty old-fashioned idea of what special education is. They may think it helps mainly with academics or services like speech therapy, but there's a lot more that special education can do. If your child qualifies for special education, the team will customize your child's IEP or Individualized Education Program, and this plan can help with pretty much any type of behavior challenge like how to get started on tasks, how to get along with other kids, and even how to ask for help. The important thing to keep in mind is that behavior is a form of communication. Kids often have trouble expressing how they feel or what they need, and the IEP team can help translate what your child is trying to say. So, if you're debating whether your child needs behavioral support, here's a key question to ask, "Does my child's behavior interfere with their learning or with other kids learning?" If the answer is yes, then by law, the team must consider ways to address those behaviors. And in particular, the team needs to consider using a system called PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to learn how PBIS works. But the big picture here is that there's a positive way to help kids with behavior challenges instead of just disciplining them. Schools can teach kids how to behave and reward them for meeting expectations. And this is all really important because behavior challenges can get in the way of making progress at school, even if it's something that doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Like cracking jokes to get out of schoolwork. Whatever the behavior challenge is. Talk with the IEP team about it. Together, you and the school can develop IEP goals that can help your child learn how to replace challenging behaviors. Now, earlier this season, we talked about using the SMART acronym to help develop annual goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-bound. The team can use this acronym when developing annual goals for behavior, too. And let me give you an example of a behavior goal for a fifth grader who has trouble getting started on tasks. It might read "By June 1st, when Ariana is given a task or direction, she will start that task within one minute, and with no more than one verbal prompt from a school staff member. She will succeed in doing this in four out of five opportunities as measured by a teacher or paraprofessional."Here's another example, and this one's for a 10th grader who often calls out in class. "By April 30th, Jalen will track his behavior for a week and wait to be called on in five out of seven daily classes, as measured by his teachers." Now, what do we like about these goals? They're specific. They're measurable. They're all the things you want in a SMART goal. And if you want to learn more about how to set annual goals in your child's IEP, go back and listen to the previous episode. And remember, you are an equal member of your child's IEP team. So, if you have an idea for a behavior goal, suggest it. And if a new behavior issue pops up after you've already finalized the IEP, you can always request another meeting and talk about adding more goals. You don't have to wait. You can advocate for what your child needs now. [04:20] Can my child get an IEP for ADHD? One question I hear a lot from parents,"Can my child get an IEP for ADHD?" And the answer is yes. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, has 13 disability categories, and ADHD is part of the category called "Other Health Impairments," which we talk about in episode five. We also talked about how IEPs can include more than one disability. So, let's say your child has dyslexia and ADHD. It's important for the IEP to include both. The big thing to remember here is that to qualify for an IEP, the disability needs to affect your child enough to need specially designed instruction and supports. And with ADHD, that instruction could involve being taught skills or strategies for things like organization or impulse control or task completion. But if the ADHD symptoms are relatively mild, your child might not qualify for an IEP. And if this happens, the school might recommend a 504 plan instead. This type of school support is easier to qualify for and can provide classroom accommodations, like sitting near the teacher and taking tests in a quiet room with fewer distractions. A lot of kids with ADHD have IEPs, and a lot of kids with ADHD have 504 plans. If you want to learn more about the difference between these kinds of school supports, go back and listen to Episode 2. [05:50] What is a functional behavioral assessment or FBA? What is a functional behavioral assessment, or FBA? This is a term you might hear if your child is having behavior challenges at school. And the goal of an FBA is to figure out why a child is behaving in disruptive or challenging ways. As part of the FBA, the school interview the student and family, observe the student in class, and analyze any behavior incident reports, like getting sent to the principal's office. There might be some additional testing too. Sometimes schools will do an FBA as a part of the evaluation process to see if a child qualifies for special education. And the school may need to do an FBA for a child who already has an IEP if a new behavior concern arises. But as a parent or guardian, you can also request an FBA. And it's a good idea to put this request in writing and to keep a copy for your records. Remember, the goal of an FBA is to figure out what's fueling the behavior. This information will help the school develop a support plan, and we'll talk more about that in the next section. [06:58] What is a behavior intervention plan? So, what is a behavior intervention plan? This is a formal written plan that teaches and rewards positive behavior. Lots of teachers like me call it a bip, but you might hear it called BIP. BIPs are designed to help prevent behaviors that get in the way of learning. There are three key parts to a BIP. It names the challenging behaviors, describes why they're happening, and it puts into place strategies or supports to help.For example, BIPs can be great for students who struggle with social skills and aren't sure how to connect with others. One of my former students, who we'll call Eduardo, often hit others and called them names because he had trouble expressing what he needed or wanted. So, as a part of his behavior intervention plan, I taught him how to take turns and interact with his peers. I also made a daily chart where the words would reflect on his goal of speaking respectfully to others. There was also space in his chart for his general education teachers to give him feedback. And every day we'd write a quick note to his family to celebrate his growth. We also set up his BIP so he could earn special activities to help him stay motivated. But the ultimate motivation was the positive connections he started making with his peers. Eduardo made so much improvement that year thanks to his BIP and like an IEP, a behavior intervention plan will bring together a whole team of people to focus on your child's needs. And this team approach can help address teacher bias too. If you look at federal data, it shows that Black and Latino students get disciplined more often than other kids. So, if your child is having behavior challenges, a BIP is one way to make sure that your child is treated fairly and gets the support that they need in school to succeed. [08:50] Can schools discipline kids with IEPs? Can schools discipline kids with IEPs? The answer is yes, but IEPs come with some protections if kids break school rules. These protections kick in if a child gets suspended for more than ten days total, or if there's a pattern of suspending a child for the same behavior, even if it's less than ten days. If either of these things happen, the school needs to have a special meeting. This meeting is called a manifestation determination. And there are three things that I want you to know about this meeting. First, the team will decide if the behavior is caused by the child's disability, and if so, the team needs to create a BIP and the child can return to school. This is why earlier this season, we mentioned the importance of documenting all of your child's disabilities in the IEP. Second, if the team decides the behavior was caused by not following the IEP, the school has to fix the situation right away and the child can return to school. And third, if the team decides the behavior wasn't caused by the child's disability, the time away from school can continue, but the child must keep getting the services in their IEP. For example, if a child has dyslexia, the school needs to keep providing specialized reading instruction even while the child is suspended. The key thing to remember is that the school needs to figure out what caused the behavior, and look for ways to address it. I'll put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more about school discipline and the rights of kids with disabilities. [10:33] Key takeawaysOkay, before we go, let's sum up what we learned today with a few key takeaways. Behavior is a form of communication, and schools can take a close look at it to figure out where kids need more support. As a parent, you can ask the IEP team to include annual goals for behavior. You can also ask for a functional behavioral assessment and a behavior intervention plan. And if your child gets suspended, you'll want to know what special education law says about manifestation determination, and discipline in kids with IEPs. All right. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Next time, we'll talk about resolving IEP disputes, including what to do if you think your child's IEP isn't working. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at Understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Understanding IEPs
For kids to receive special education services, they need an IEP — an Individualized Education Program. If your child has been evaluated, the process of getting an IEP has already begun. But there’s still a lot to learn about how the IEP process works and what your role will be.This guide is designed to help you through every step of your IEP journey. It offers basic information, while also leading you to more detailed information and insights.The more you know about the purpose of IEPs, the more involved you can be in getting your child the best support possible.The purpose of an IEPIf you just started learning about IEPs, you’ll likely hear about many things that are unfamiliar to you. And you’ll probably have lots of questions. Who gets an IEP in school? What’s the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan? What’s the purpose of an IEP?Having answers to your questions can help you decide if you want to pursue an IEP for your child. It can also help you advocate for your child with more confidence.Get basic information about IEPs.How to get an IEPThe process of getting an IEP for your child can be confusing. It’s important to know what happens — and when. The first step is having an evaluation for special education. Then the school must decide whether your child qualifies for services and supports.How will the school make that decision? What happens if the school decides your child isn’t eligible?Learn about the process of how kids get IEPs.What’s in an IEPIf you’ve never seen an IEP before, the various documents can be hard to decipher. They cover many areas, using terms and information you’ll likely have questions about. But all of those pieces — from testing results to goals for progress — add up to the best school program of instruction and supports for your child.The information in an IEP can give you a deeper understanding of your child’s strengths and challenges. And it should lay out exactly how the school plans to help your child improve and build skills.Discover what’s in an IEP.IEP meetingsYour child’s special education program kicks off with an IEP meeting. The entire IEP team will be there. You may also hear from professionals at school who were part of the evaluation process. Some might provide services or supports for your child. And that’s just the first of many IEP meetings you likely will attend over the course of your child’s school years.IEP meetings can be stressful for some parents. Knowing what happens at IEP meetings can make it easier to navigate them.Learn how to navigate IEP meetings.Staying on top of an IEPThe IEP journey continues well after your child’s plan is put into place. From here on, you’ll play a key role in making sure the plan is working and your child is making progress. But what does that involve? What should you be looking for or asking about?The IEP will change over time (and your role might as well) along with your child’s needs. You’ll also be involved in crafting a plan for transitioning out of an IEP toward the end of high school. But you’ll still be your child’s number-one advocate throughout the school years — and beyond.Find out how to stay on top of your child’s IEP.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Does my child need an IEP?
Get tips from a special education teacher on how to tell if your child needs an Individualized Education Program (IEP) — or if you may want to wait.If your child has been struggling in school, you might be wondering if they need special education. And once you start exploring special education, you’re going to run into the term IEP, which stands for Individualized Education Program.But what exactly is an IEP, anyway? On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will cover IEP basics and how to figure out if your child needs this kind of support. Timestamps[00:57] What is the purpose of an IEP?[03:27] What’s in an IEP?[05:42] Does my child need an IEP?[07:42] Should I wait to get my child an IEP?[10:05] What if my child is learning English? [11:36] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesUnderstanding IEPsAre my child’s struggles serious enough for an evaluation?How to help if English language learners are struggling in schoolSeason 1 of Understood Explains: Evaluations for Special EducationEpisode transcriptJuliana: So, your child is having some struggles in school and you're wondering if they might need an IEP. But what does this mean? On this episode of "Understood Explains," we'll cover IEP basics and how to figure out if your child needs this kind of support. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners, and I'm so excited to be your host for this season of "Understood Explains."Quick note about how we're going to structure the season: Most of the episodes focus on information that's important for all parents or guardians to know. But we also have a few episodes that are tailored for different groups of families: families with younger kids, older kids, and multilingual learners. And all the episodes are available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:57] What is the purpose of an IEP?So, what's the purpose of an IEP? Before we answer that question, I want to quickly explain what an IEP is. IEP stands for Individualized Education Program. It's a formal plan that details the special education instruction, supports, and services that are designed to help a student with a disability make progress in school. IEPs are covered by a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. This law applies to all public schools in the U.S., including charter schools. If your child qualifies for an IEP, you'll work with the school to develop annual goals and monitor your child's progress throughout the year. So the purpose of an IEP is basically to be a road map, showing how the school will help your child catch up with their peers. It might surprise you to know that IEPs are very common. Nearly 1 in 6 public school students has an IEP. That means millions and millions of kids have Individualized Education Programs. And each IEP is customized to a student's needs. So if your child has dyslexia, the IEP might specify an hour of special reading instruction a few times a week. Or let's say your child has ADHD and autism. Maybe you and the school think your child needs to be in a smaller classroom to get more individualized instruction throughout the day. These are the kinds of details that get spelled out in an IEP. And it's important to know that most kids who have IEPs spend most of their day in general education classrooms. By law, IEPs need to keep kids with their peers as much as possible. There's one other really important thing that all parents need to know. Having an IEP is not a sign of low intelligence. I've taught many, many kids, and all of my students have unique strengths and needs. But sometimes, people's strengths can be overlooked if they have a learning difference. For example, during my first year of teaching, I had a student named Abelardo, who really struggled with reading and writing. The most I had ever seen him write was "Yes," "No," and his name. But one day, we discovered that Abelardo was selling candy and fun school supplies out of his backpack. And he was so good at it. He even had charts to keep track of his inventory and charts to show what was the most popular. And his charts were even color-coded. It was clear to me that Abelardo had incredible math, reasoning, and entrepreneurial skills. But he needed formal supports to help him with reading and writing. So remember, kids can do really well in some areas and still need an IEP to help them thrive in school. [03:27] What's in an IEP?Let's get into a bit more detail and talk about what's in an IEP. There are lots of important parts, but I want to give you an overview of four key things in an IEP. First, there will be a section detailing your child's present level of educational performance. This is the jargony term for how your child is doing in school. You might hear the school use acronyms for this, like "PLOP," or "PLP," or "PLAAFP," which is short for "Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance." This part of the IEP outlines the student's strengths, challenges, and how their classroom scores compare to their peers. This section may also mention some of your child's behaviors or interests, like the subjects they enjoy and how they get along with other kids. Next, there will be an "Annual Goals" section. This describes what progress the IEP team is hoping to accomplish. It will list each goal and break down shorter-term objectives to reach along the way. And later this season, we'll have a whole episode on how you can help the school come up with these goals. The third main part of an IEP is the "Services" section. This part details how the IEP will help your child meet the annual goals. This section lists any services your child will get and for how long, such as 30 minutes of speech therapy twice a week. There are also a gazillion different kinds of services that can go into an IEP. Anything from mental health counseling to physical therapy to training in things like social skills or time management. Remember that “I” in IEP is short for "Individualized," which means the IEP can include whatever special services your child needs to make progress in school. And last but not least, is the section that details the accommodations, which are changes in how your child does things at school. This section of the IEP is often called "Supplementary Aids and Services." It could include things like more time on tests and a seat at the front of the classroom to help your child pay attention. It could also include assistive technology like text-to-speech software or audiobooks. The other important thing to note is that an IEP is a legal document. And later this season, we'll have an episode about your rights during the special education process. [05:42] Does my child need an IEP?All right, here we go. One of the biggest questions: Does my child need an IEP? Sometimes the answer to this question is very clear: "My child is blind and needs to be taught how to read Braille." But sometimes the question is harder to answer. Here's an example: "My child has ADHD and needs a lot of support to get organized and follow directions. Will classroom accommodations be enough to help my child make progress in school? Or does my child need specialized instruction?" Schools look at a bunch of different kinds of data to figure out which kids qualify for an IEP. And to help you understand this process, I recommend you listen to the first season of "Understood Explains," which is all about evaluations for special education. We'll include a link in the show notes. But the school cannot evaluate your child for special education unless you give permission first. So you play a very important role here. If your child is struggling in school and you're wondering if these struggles are serious enough to need an IEP, I want you to ask yourself a few questions:Why an IEP now? What got you thinking about this? Was it something a teacher said or that your child brought up? Are your concerns new or have you been worried for a while? Thinking about what prompted your concerns can help you talk about them with your child's school or health care provider. How are your child's struggles getting in the way at school? Is your child having trouble with a certain subject like reading or math? Is your child struggling socially or with things like concentrating in class? Try to write down a few examples, even if you don't know the root cause. What are you observing at home? Does homework take hours and hours and often end in tears? How often is your child worried about school? How intense are these worries? Is your child wanting to stay home from school because it's too hard? These are the kinds of questions that can help you get ready to talk to the school about giving your child more support. [07:42] Should I wait to get my child an IEP?Should I wait to get my child an IEP? OK, so you've noticed your child is struggling and you think school supports might help. There's a very common question that parents ask themselves next: Is now the right time, or should I wait? I've worked with a lot of parents who wanted to wait because they were hoping their child would grow out of their challenges. But I found that the sooner we meet children's needs, the better. Being proactive can help kids in many different ways: academically, socially, emotionally. So if you're wondering if your child needs an IEP now or if you can wait, I want you to do three key things:First, ask the school what kind of interventions they've tried with your child and for how long. Interventions are much more formal than simply giving a student some extra help. They typically take place over several weeks, and during that time the school keeps track of your child's progress. If you think your child's skills are improving with the intervention, you may decide to wait to ask for a special education evaluation. But you don't have to wait. You can ask for an evaluation at any time. The second thing I want you to do is find an ally at your child's school, whether it's a teacher or an aide or another staff member. Sometimes schools have family liaisons. You can ask the front office to guide you to one. Having a relationship with someone you trust at the school will help you understand the process, ask questions, and get help for your child. And the last thing I want you to think about is time of year. Remember, you have the right to request an evaluation at any time, but practically speaking, it's better to avoid asking during the first few weeks of the school year unless you had concerns from the previous year. And likewise, it's better to avoid asking for an IEP at the very end of the school year, when school's winding down for the summer. So, those are a few concrete things you can do to help you think about whether now is the right time to talk about an IEP, or if you want to wait. As a general note, I know many families may be reluctant to speak up or be seen as the squeaky wheel at school. And in particular, I know some Latino families may not feel like it's their place to tell the school how to educate their child. But I want to be really clear here. Schools in the U.S. want families to tell teachers when they're worried about their child's progress. And teachers want to partner with families. So I encourage you to talk with your child's teacher and share your concerns — whether you're asking for an IEP or not. [10:05] What if my child is learning English? So, this next question is near and dear to my heart: What if my child is learning English? Before we dig into this, I want to note that schools use different terms to describe students who speak languages at home, in addition to, or other than English. Many educators use the term "English language learners." I prefer the term "multilingual," and better yet, "linguistically gifted."The important thing to keep in mind is that all children learn languages at different rates, and that's OK. It can be hard to become fluent in English while also learning to read, write, and do math in that new language. But there are ways to tell if a child's struggles are due to a language barrier or something else, like a learning difference, such as dyslexia. We're going to talk more about this later this season, but for now, I'm going to put a link in the show notes to an Understood article to read if your multilingual learner is struggling in school. It includes lots of good questions to help think about whether your child might need an IEP. And there's one more thing I want to mention while we're on this topic. Learning more than one language cannot cause a learning difference or disability. All children, even children with learning and thinking differences, can be multilingual. Families often ask me if they should stop speaking to their child in their native language because they worry it's causing harm. That's just not true. In fact, educational experts recommend that families keep using their home languages. Speaking multiple languages is good for a child's learning and brain development. [11:36] Key takeaways OK, we've covered a lot of information in this episode, so I want to wrap up with a few key takeaways to help you think about whether your child needs an IEP:Think about how much or how often your child is struggling. Being proactive can help your child in the long run, not just academically, but also socially and emotionally. Kids can do really well in some areas and still need an IEP to thrive in school. All right. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Tune in for the next episode to learn the difference between IEPs and 504 plans, which is another common type of school support. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. Credits Understood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon.Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
With IEPs, Good People Can Disagree
Zoey is a perky, talkative third grader. She regularly updates school staff on her afterschool plans, how many times she has seen them in the hall that day and which kids are absent from class. Her worldview is completely unique.As the speech pathologist at her school, I began seeing Zoey in kindergarten, focusing on IEP goals related to her language disorder. Along with her teachers, I worked with her on reading and listening comprehension. We also helped her practice how to explain things in a way that makes sense—telling events in order, staying on topic and including details.Early on, it seemed that Zoey might only need support for language. But midway through second grade, she began struggling with math and writing, too. Her mother, Caroline, requested a special education evaluation.Our special education team doubted Zoey needed additional IEP services. But we agreed that an evaluation might reveal needs we just weren’t seeing.That’s exactly what happened. Zoey’s academic needs were more severe than we realized. We wrote a new IEP, including math and writing goals. It actually felt very good to learn more about Zoey. We all loved working with her, and she was making progress. We saw her as a success story.But when Zoey started third grade, it became clear that Caroline wasn’t so sure. As Zoey’s parent, Caroline was a full member of the IEP team. To discuss her concerns, she requested an IEP team meeting.“I think Zoey should repeat a grade,” Caroline said at the meeting. Zoey’s teachers and I were quiet for a moment. We knew that retention, or holding a child back, can often do more harm than good for kids with learning and thinking differences. Then Caroline continued. “Third grade is a big step. The homework is much harder and Zoey needs a lot more help to get it done.”The classroom teacher spoke first. She said Zoey was on grade level for reading and progressing in math and writing. Then Zoey’s special education teacher shared the research on retention and its effect on kids. The team suggested alternatives to meet Zoey’s needs in her third-grade classroom. After much discussion, we agreed to increase her IEP time in math and writing, measure progress more frequently and report to Caroline on a weekly basis.At school, we thought things were going well. But at a midyear school conference, Caroline painted a different picture: “Zoey’s having nightly meltdowns. The homework is too hard for her. Every morning, she tells me she doesn’t want to come to school. That’s just not like her.”Caroline wondered aloud if Zoey would have been better off repeating a grade.Again, the school team offered ideas, such as services from the school psychologist or modified homework assignments. Caroline liked our ideas, but wasn’t convinced they would make up for Zoey’s challenges. She was still very concerned.At the end of the conference, Caroline thanked us for our hard work and support. Then she told us she had made an appointment with the principal to request that Zoey repeat third grade next fall. There was no anger in her voice. We disagreed, but we understood what she was saying and we respected her.I’ve had the privilege of working with many families in my career. And you can’t work in a school for all the years I have and never have a disagreement in an IEP meeting. It just won’t happen.There are so many amazing and unique kids out there. And there are so many parents and school staff who have their best interests at heart. But not everything will be perfect. Sometimes there is no magic bullet. I believe that sometimes good people disagree. But I also think we can still work together as a team, in a child’s best interests, even when things get very hard.Any opinions, views, information and other content contained in blogs on Understood.org are the sole responsibility of the writer of the blog, and do not necessarily reflect the views, values, opinions or beliefs of, and are not endorsed by, Understood.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Setting IEP goals
Learn how IEP teams set annual goals and how the IEP will measure a child’s progress. Plus, see how you can get involved. Setting IEP goals can feel tricky. They should be attainable, but not too hard or too easy — it's a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.However, setting these goals is a big part of developing your child’s IEP, or Individualized Education Program. In this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey breaks down how IEP teams set annual goals, how parents can help, and how the IEP will measure a child’s progress. Timestamps[0:44] How do IEP teams set annual goals?[4:22] How can parents help set annual goals?[7:01] Are my child’s IEP goals aiming high enough?[8:24] How will the IEP measure my child’s progress?[11:30] What do multilingual families need to know?[12:31] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesHow to tell if your child’s IEP goals are SMARTFAQs about standards-based IEPsDownload an IEP goal trackerEpisode transcriptJuliana: A big part of developing your child's IEP is setting annual goals. But how can you tell if these goals are aiming high enough and if your child is getting enough support to reach these goals? From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this episode, we're going to talk about how to help set IEP goals and measure your child's progress throughout the year. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm your host. I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year, and I'm an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And as a reminder, all this season's episodes are available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [0:44] How do IEP teams set annual goals? How do IEP teams set annual goals? Each year, you and the school will work as a team to develop your child's IEP or Individualized Education Program. As a team, you'll prioritize which skills your child will work on over the next 12 months. These are the annual goals, and the IEP also provides specially designed instruction or SDIs to help your child meet these goals. I like to think of IEP goals as a staircase. Each step is one of your child's, strengths and we go step by step, floor by floor, until your child catches up with their peers. And there's a whole team of people who develop these goals. The IEP team includes a special education teacher, a general education teacher, and a school psychologist, or some other type of expert who can interpret your child's progress data. As a parent or guardian, you're a member of the IEP team too, and together you'll talk about three key things that go into setting each goal. The first is looking at your child's present level of performance. The team needs to know what your child can do right now. This includes looking at academics as well as social and emotional skills. And a quick vocab note: As the team talks about your child's present levels of performance, you may hear acronyms like PLOP or PLP, or you may hear PLAAFP, which is short for Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance. And here's the reason why goal setting starts by looking at your child's present levels. For every need that gets identified now, there should be a plan to address it. OK, so that brings us to the second key part, which is setting the annual goal or target to reach a year from now. The team will set annual goals that are ambitious but attainable. We want to aim high but also be realistic. And this is where special educators like me do something called backwards planning. We look at where we want your child's skills to be a year from now, and then we plan out all the steps we need to take to help your child reach those goals in this time frame. And that leads us to the third big part of setting IEP goals, which is specifying benchmarks or short-term objectives. These are the smaller steps that will help the team measure your child's progress over the course of the year. We're going to talk more about how to help set these annual goals or targets, and also how to track your child's progress. But before we do that, I want to remind you that IEPs are about setting goals and providing supports. The IEP team knows how to help kids make progress without overwhelming them. And here's an example. Let's say you have a fifth grader who has dyslexia. We'll call her Ariana. Ariana's reading skills are several grade levels behind where they need to be. The team will set goals for which skills to improve, like reading smoothly and accurately. The IEP will specify how much-specialized instruction Ariana will get to help make progress in these areas. Let's say the team decides she'll meet with a reading specialist for one hour, twice a week. But the IEP will also specify what assistive technology she'll get, like audiobooks, so she can keep up with her classmates in things like science and social studies. And the IEP will include accommodations, too, like getting extra time on tests or giving oral reports instead of writing out her answers. These kinds of supports will help Ariana keep learning fifth-grade materials as she works on meeting her IEP goals. [4:22] How can parents help set annual goals? So, how can parents help set annual goals? It's OK if you're not an expert in education. You're an expert in your child. You're also an equal member of the IEP team and here are some of the ways that you can help set the annual goals. First, you can suggest different kinds of goals. Academics are important, but so is getting organized, managing emotions, replacing negative behaviors. These are all common goal areas in IEPs. Remember that IEPs are individualized. So, you can advocate for whatever it is you think your child needs. I once had a student who was afraid of climbing stairs. So, we set an IEP goal about practicing using the stairs to get from one class to another. As you're thinking about which goals to prioritize, I want to be clear that there is no maximum number of goals in an IEP. But the trick is finding the right number of goals for your child. You want a number that's manageable and not overwhelming. Another thing you can do is ask how you can help at home. Should I be reading to Ariana? How can I set up a homework area to help her get her work done? What do I do if neither of us understands the directions for her homework? You and the school can also look for ways to help your child enjoy what they're learning. To try to keep it fun and feeling like these goals are reachable. Another way you can help is by asking about SMART goals. Now, SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-Bound. Setting SMART goals can help the team avoid using vague or hard-to-measure goals. Smart goals are very precise. For example, here's a SMART goal for reading fluency: By June 1st, Ariana will read 115 words per minute with 95% accuracy on four out of five tries. The goal can include other details too, like the grade level of the text she's reading, and maybe also the type of text like fiction or nonfiction. And remember that the IEP will include the present level of performance. So, it will say what Ariana's starting point is, like 80 words per minute with 85% accuracy. So, the IEP will show exactly how much progress the team is aiming for in a year.You can help by using the SMART acronym to ask questions like "Is this goal specific enough? Is it measurable?" etc. If you want to learn more, I'll put a link in the show notes to an Understood article that shows the difference between a SMART goal and a not-so-SMART goal. [7:01] Are my child's IEP goals aiming high enough? Are my child's IEP goals aiming high enough? So, this is a really tough question. In the SMART acronym that we just talked about, the A stands for Attainable. But writing attainable goals can feel a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It can be tricky to make the goals not too easy, not too hard, but just right. So, there are two things that I want you to keep in mind when it comes to setting goals that are aiming high enough but are attainable. First, your child's IEP goals must be tied to the standards of their current grade level. Think back to Ariana, our fifth grader. Even though her reading fluency is a few grade levels behind, her IEP goals need to be tied to fifth-grade standards. Schools want kids to stay connected to what their peers are learning, and ultimately to stay on track to graduate. But the second thing I want you to know is that there's still some flexibility here. Just because Ariana's IEP goals are tied to fifth-grade standards doesn't mean she has to achieve grade-level reading this year. She just needs to show steady progress towards achieving grade level. Understood has a good article about standards-based IEPs. I'll put a link in the show notes and in the next section we're going to talk about what you can do if you think your child is not making enough progress. [8:24] How will the IEP measure my child's progress? So, how will the IEP measure my child's progress? At the beginning of this episode, I mentioned that annual goals need to do three key things: Look at your child's current skill levels, set goals or targets to reach a year from now, and include short-term objectives or benchmarks to monitor your child's progress.I want to focus on the last part now. You may hear the school use different terms for this, like benchmarking and progress monitoring. Benchmarks are many goals or milestones that can help the team measure how much progress the student is making towards reaching the annual goal. Some states may require a certain number of benchmarks for each goal. For example, I taught Nevada for many years, which required three benchmarks or milestones for each goal. As a parent, you can ask the team about the benchmarks in the IEP. You can also ask for the IEP to include how often you'll receive progress updates. For my students, I would send out IEP progress reports so that they would arrive at the same time as quarterly report cards. I timed it this way so families could look at their child's grades and general education, and at the same time see the growth their child was making on their special education goals. OK, so we've talked about setting goals and using benchmarks to help monitor your child's progress. Now let's look at Ariana again. Earlier in the episode we talked about a SMART goal for reading fluency. It said that by June 1st, Ariana will read 115 words per minute with 95% accuracy on four out of five tries. As part of setting this goal, we need to come up with benchmarks to hit along the way. The benchmarks could be reaching 85 words per minute by December 1st and 100 words per minute by March 1st. And these are building up to reach that June 1st goal of reading 115 words per minute. OK, so let's say it's March 1st and Ariana is still far below that 100-word benchmark. The team may want to meet and talk about options. Like whether to adjust the goal or possibly add more services or supports, like maybe a third session each week with the reading specialist. But remember, the team is looking for ways to support your child without overwhelming your child. You can always reach out to the special education teacher or case manager to ask about your child's progress. It's good to be in touch with them on a regular basis. But you also have the right to request an IEP meeting and suggest things like more goals or services. The team doesn't have to say yes to your request, but it does have to explain in writing why it thinks the current plan is sufficient. And if you disagree with the school's decision, we've got a whole episode about that later this season. But for now, I want to encourage you to use Understood's IEP goal tracker. This is a good template for keeping track of benchmarks or mini goals and other progress monitoring data. And it can help you jot down any questions or observations you have along the way. I'll include a link in the show notes. [11:30] What do multilingual families need to know about setting IEP goals? What do multilingual families need to know about setting IEP goals? There are a few quick things I want to mention if your child's learning English. First, if you need a translator at the IEP meeting, the school needs to provide one for you. And the school should translate the IEP for you too. Second, the IEP should be clear on how much time your child will spend getting special education services. It will also specify how much time your child will spend getting language acquisition services. Special education and language acquisition aren't the same thing. The team should explain to you what a typical school day will look like for your child. And last but not least, you can ask the school to provide specially designed instruction in your child's home language. This might not be possible, but it's good to ask. It's also good for your child to keep learning in more than one language. OK, before we go, let's wrap up with a few key takeaways. [12:31] Key takeawaysIEP goals are created using three key components: Looking at how your child is performing in school now, setting goals to reach a year from now, and specifying smaller steps towards reaching those goals. IEP goals should be SMART, specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound. And there's no limit on the number or type of goals that should be in an IEP. It all depends on what your child needs. All right! That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Next time, we're diving deep into how IEPs can help with behavior. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Download: IEP binder checklist
One of the best ways to prepare for IEP meetings and track your child’s progress is to put together an IEP binder. The binder will help you keep key documents handy, along with details about phone calls and other interactions with the school. Use this checklist to organize — and update — your IEP binder. Print the checklist and put it in the front of your binder. You can use it to keep track of documents you need to update and file.Learn more about organizing an IEP binder with this guide.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: The difference between IEPs and 504 plans
Learn the key differences between two common plans for school support, and which one might be right for your child. The terms IEP and 504 plan may come up a lot when you’re looking into special education for your child. These school supports do some of the same things, but one can provide more services and the other is easier to get. And it’s important to know the differences in order to get your child the support they need. On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will break down the differences between IEPs and 504 plans, and which one might be right for your child. Timestamps [00:53] What is a 504 plan?[02:16] What’s the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?[08:15] Can my child have an IEP and a 504 plan at the same time?[09:36] Should my child switch from an IEP to a 504 plan?[10:45] What do multilingual learners need to know about IEPs and 504 plans? [11:58] Key takeawaysRelated resources504 plans and your child: A guide for familiesThe difference between IEPs and 504 plans (comparison chart)10 smart responses for when the school cuts or denies servicesUnderstood Explains, Season 1: Evaluations for Special EducationEpisode transcriptJuliana: As you look into getting your child more support at school, you're likely to run into the terms IEP and 504 plan. They do some of those same things, but one has a lot more stuff and the other is a lot easier to get. On this episode of "Understood Explains," we explore how these plans are similar and how they're different, and which one might be right for your child. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." Today we're going to learn about the differences between IEPs and 504 plans. My name is Juliana Urtubey, and I'm your host. I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year and I'm an expert in special education for multilingual learners. And speaking of languages, I want to make sure everyone knows all the episodes this season are available in English y en español. Let's get started. [00:53] What is a 504 plan?OK. So, what's a 504 plan? Before we get into the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan, I want to quickly explain what a 504 plan is. This is a tailored plan that removes barriers to learning for a student with disabilities. The goal is to give the student equal access to learning. To do this, a 504 plan often includes assistive technology, meaning things like screen readers, noise-canceling headphones, or speech-to-text software. Many 504s also include accommodations, which are changes in the way things get done. A common example is getting extended time on tests or getting to leave the classroom to take short breaks. And the other thing I want to mention is that some 504 plans include services like speech therapy or study skill classes. This doesn't happen all that often, but services can be part of a 504. So, the basic components of a 504: Assistive technology AccommodationsServicesRight about now, you may be thinking that 504s sound a lot like IEPs, Individualized Education Programs. And you're right. These two plans have a lot in common and can provide a lot of the same supports. But there are some key differences. And that's what the whole next section is about. [02:16] What’s the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan?OK, so what's the difference between an IEP and a 504 plan? I'm going to focus on three key differences: First, IEPs provide special education services. Students with IEPs may spend a lot of time in general education classrooms, but the heart of an IEP is the specially designed instruction to help a student catch up with their peers. For example, a student with dyslexia might get specialized reading instruction a few times a week. The IEP also sets annual goals and monitors the student's progress towards reaching those goals. So the key thing here is that IEPs provide special education. 504s on the other hand, do not provide special education. There are no annual reports or progress monitoring with 504s. What 504s do is remove barriers to the general education curriculum. So 504s can be good options for, say, a student with ADHD or written expression disorder, who doesn't need specialized instruction but does need accommodations, like sitting in a less distracting part of the classroom, or showing what you know in a different way, like giving an oral report instead of taking a written test. To give you a more detailed example, I want to talk about a student of mine named Brian. He had a 504 plan to help accommodate his vision impairment. To make the plan, I talked to Brian about what he needed, and I worked with the school's assistive technology department to find some helpful tools. We learned that Brian had an easier time reading and writing when he used a slant board to help raise up the paper. He also benefited from having what's called "augmented worksheets." Rather than having a bunch of math problems on one sheet of paper, Brian would get several sheets, so the problems were spread out and enlarged and he could see them better. With these supports, Brian could do all the work on his own. And to create his 504, a school staff member wrote up the plan and included my suggestions for accommodations and assistive technology. And the only thing we needed to get started was his parents' consent. And this brings me to the second big difference between IEPs and 504s. They're covered by different laws, and IEPs come with a lot more rights and protections than 504s do. So, for example, IEPs are covered by the federal special education law, which is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. This law is very focused on education and one really important detail about IDEA is that it says parents are an equal member of the team that develops the IEP. But that's not true for 504s. 504 plans are covered by an important civil rights law called The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This law bans discrimination against people with disabilities in several key areas. It has a big section about employment. It has a big section about technology, and it also has a big section about education. This is where the name "Section 504" comes from. So, IEPs and 504 laws are covered by different laws. And one difference between these laws is how much schools are required to involve parents. With a 504 plan, parents don't have to be equal members of the team. Schools don't have to involve parents in creating this kind of plan. They just need a parent's consent before starting to use it. Although I want to mention that many schools encourage families to help create the 504 plan, schools aren't required to involve them. There are also different rules about what schools need to do to make changes to these plans. With 504s, schools have to let parents know if a significant change is being made to the student's 504 plan. But the school doesn't have to send a written notice about this. With an IEP, schools have to send parents a letter and have a meeting with the full IEP team before they can change the IEP. And if parents want to dispute the changes, the school has to keep the current plan in place while the dispute gets resolved. With either of these plans, families can ask to make changes, but families have more rights and protections with IEPs. We'll talk more about IEP rights and dispute resolution later this season. There's a third big difference I want to mention. IEPs are harder to get than 504s. The process for determining who is eligible for an IEP takes more time and it involves more steps. Students need to have a disability to qualify for either plan, but to get an IEP, kids need to go through the school's comprehensive evaluation process. You can learn all about this process in season 1 of "Understood Explains."OK, so kids need to be evaluated by the school to get an IEP. By contrast, kids don't need to get evaluated by the school to get a 504. This kind of plan is easier to get, but it's less likely to include specialized instruction. So for example, let's look at students with ADHD. The main thing they'd need to qualify for a 504 is a diagnosis from their health care provider. But to qualify for an IEP, those same students would still need to go through the full evaluation process through their school. It's the same thing with dyslexia or depression or a hearing impairment or any type of disability. It's pretty quick to start getting accommodations and assistive technology through a 504. It takes longer to see if a child qualifies for an IEP. We're going to talk more about this later this season, but for now, I want to briefly mention the two eligibility requirements to qualify for an IEP. The evaluation team has to determine that you have a disability and that the disability impacts your education enough to need specially designed instruction. OK, that's a lot of info, let's summarize quickly before we move on. 504 plans are meant to remove barriers in general education classrooms. IEPs provide specialized instruction. They take longer to get, but they come with more supports, including legal protections and annual goals. [08:15] Can my child have an IEP and a 504 plan at the same time?Can my child have an IEP and a 504 plan at the same time? Yes, it's technically possible to have both an IEP and a 504 plan, but it's unlikely your child would actually need both. That's because an IEP can include everything that's in a 504 plan and more. For example, if your child has speech impairment and ADHD, the IEP can include speech therapy as well as accommodations related to that ADHD, like reducing distractions in the classroom and helping your child get started on tasks. There are, however, some situations where it might make sense to have both kinds of plans. For example, if a child has an IEP and gets a temporary injury, like a broken hand and needs some writing accommodations until it heals. Rather than going through the hassle of adding and removing those accommodations from an IEP, the school might choose to add them via a 504 plan. Another example of when a school might use both an IEP and a 504 plan, is if the student has a medical condition that doesn't directly impact academics, like a peanut allergy. So, there are some special cases where both plans might be OK, but in general, if your child has an IEP, keep it to that single plan. It's easier for you and for teachers to manage just one plan instead of two. [09:36] Should my child switch from an IEP to a 504 plan?Should my child switch from an IEP to a 504? So, this happens a lot, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe your child has made a lot of progress and no longer needs specialized instruction. For example, let's say your child has dyslexia and their reading skills have improved, and now all they need are tools or accommodations. This can include extra time on tests and digital textbooks that can highlight the text as it's being read out loud. Both of the supports could be covered in a 504, but if you think your child still needs specialized instruction, you can advocate to keep the IEP. We'll get into more specifics about this later in the season, but for now, I'll just put a link in the show notes to Understood's article on what to do if the school wants to reduce or remove your child's IEP services. The other thing I want to mention is that it's possible to move from a 504 plan to an IEP, but your child will need to be evaluated by the school and it takes longer to qualify for an IEP. We have a whole episode coming up about deciding who qualifies for an IEP. [10:45] What do multilingual learners need to know about IEPs and 504 plans?There are two really important things that multilingual families need to know about IEPs and 504s: First, getting your child an IEP or 504 plan does not put you or your family members at any greater risk of immigration enforcement. It's completely understandable that families with mixed immigration status might have concerns about getting formal supports at school, especially if it involves filling out paperwork with personal information. But all students in the United States have a right to a free, appropriate public education, no matter their immigration status. Plus, schools are considered sensitive locations, which means immigration enforcement cannot take place there. I'm going to talk more about this in a later episode that is all about multilingual learners. But for now, the one thing I want to mention is that formal supports in school, whether they're part of an IEP or a 504, should happen in addition to being taught English as an additional language. It's not an either or situation. You don't have to choose between disability support and language instruction. If your child needs both, your child can and should get both. [11:58] Key takeawaysAll right. That's all for this episode. But before we go, let's wrap up with some key takeaways. 504 plans are covered by a civil rights law that bans discrimination against people with disabilities. 504s remove barriers to general education. IEPs are covered by special education law and provide specially designed instruction and services for kids with a qualifying disability. Both plans can provide accommodations and assistive technology. And last but not least, specialized instruction is a core feature of IEPs, but it's not very common in 504 plans. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains," tune in for the next episode on IEP myths. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. Credits Understood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Do IEPs cover extracurricular activities?
Do IEPs cover extracurricular activities as well as academics?Yes, IEPs do cover extracurriculars — but only when it comes to school-sponsored activities. That includes things like band, chorus, sports, and before- and after-care programs.Extracurriculars are a big part of the school experience for many students. They provide an opportunity to develop skills, be part of a team, and make new friends.In 2004, Congress acted to make sure kids with IEPs would be able to take part. It made changes to IDEA to cover extracurriculars.IDEA states that schools must take steps to give kids with IEPs an “equal opportunity to participate” in extracurricular activities. This means schools must give students with IEPs the help they need to take part. That includes both supports and services. The activities, along with the services and supports, however, must be in the child’s IEP. What kinds of services might a child need to participate in an extracurricular? It depends on what the IEP team decides is appropriate. For instance, if a child wants to join the drama club but has speech issues, the student could use speech therapy services that are in their IEP.In addition to getting services and supports through an IEP, kids have other protections. Schools can’t discriminate against kids with disabilities. They can’t have rules that would limit participation in extracurriculars based on stereotypes of kids with disabilities. For example, an illegal stereotype would be that kids with dyslexia can’t act in plays because they can’t read scripts. Again, kids with IEPs have the right to reasonable accommodations so they can take part. For a child with dyslexia, that may be audiobook versions of drama club scripts.Despite these protections, it’s important to keep in mind that students don’t automatically have a right to participate in any particular sport or activity. Many extracurricular activities, like sports, have tryouts. Just like other kids, a child with an IEP would have to make the team in order to participate.However, they do have the right to try out with needed supports. They also have the right to be treated fairly in the judging, and to get supports if chosen to be on the team.You can meet with your child’s IEP team at any time to discuss extracurriculars for your child. Talk about the activities your child wants to join, and the supports or services that should be in the IEP.The IEP team might invite other school staff, such as coaches or behavior specialists. They can help determine what types of supports your child may need. That might include related services, accommodations, or modifications. It’s also a good idea to invite the school staff who supervise the extracurricular activity.In case you’re wondering, kids with 504 plans have most of the same rights as those with IEPs when it comes to extracurriculars. Like kids with IEPs, they have the right not to be discriminated against. They also have the right to reasonable accommodations. In most cases, though, kids with 504 plans won’t get services for extracurricular activities.Learn ways to make extracurriculars successful for your child and how they can help build your child’s self-esteem.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: Getting emotional at IEP meetings
Learn how to handle the big feelings that may come up during the IEP process. IEP meetings can get very emotional. It can be hard to sit in a room full of teachers and talk about your child’s needs. Sometimes, these meetings can feel overwhelming, like everyone just wants to discuss what’s wrong with your child. However, if your child has an IEP, or Individualized Education Program, you’ll need to attend an IEP meeting at least once a year. And one important way to prepare is to get yourself ready emotionally.On this episode of Understood Explains, guest host Claudia Rinaldi shares some tips for making this process less stressful — and what to do if big feelings come up during the meeting. For more resources, including a transcript formatted for easy skimming, visit the episode page on Understood.Timestamps[00:55] Getting ready emotionally[02:32] Before the IEP meeting[07:51] During the IEP meeting[11:03] After the IEP meeting[12:23] Key takeawaysRelated resources10 defusing phrases to use at IEP meetingsListen: Why we cry in IEP meetingsThe IEP meeting: An overviewNavigating IEP meetingsEpisode transcriptClaudia: As an educator and a mom, I know IEP meetings can get very emotional. It could be hard to sit in a room full of teachers and talk about your child's needs. It could feel very negative, like everyone just wants to talk about what's wrong with your baby. But I'm going to share some tips on how to make this whole process less stressful, and what to do if big feelings come up during the meeting. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this bonus episode, we're going to talk about getting emotional at IEP meetings. My name is Claudia Rinaldi. I started my career as a teacher and now I'm a professor of education. I teach teachers how special education works. I'm also the mom of a child who learns and thinks differently. And I'm guest hosting this episode of "Understood Explains IEPs," which is available in English y en español. OK, let's get started. [00:55] Getting ready emotionally If your child has an IEP or an Individualized Education Program, you'll need to go to an IEP meeting at least once a year. And one really important way to prepare for these meetings is to get yourself ready emotionally. As a mother of two and as an educator, I know it could be overwhelming to hear people talk about your child's differences or disabilities. I remember one meeting in particular when my son was in 10th grade. He'd been having some behavioral challenges at the school, and the goal of this meeting was to gather all of his teachers and talk about how to support him. Now, this wasn't an IEP meeting. We still didn't know yet what exactly was fueling my son's behavior. It was actually a meeting that I requested. And we were there to discuss a topic that I know a lot about. Part of my job as a professor is to train teachers on how to provide behavioral supports. But this meeting was personal. We were talking about my child, and I could feel my throat tightening up, and it was hard for me to find the words I wanted to say in English. I'm an expert on this stuff, and I still needed to take a moment to center myself. I'm sharing this story to help show how common it is to have big feelings at these meetings. But there are lots of things you could do to help yourself stay calm or get back to feeling calm. And that's what we're going to spend the rest of this episode talking about. But the most important thing I want you to remember is that you don't have to be an expert in learning or behavior to participate in IEP meetings. You are an expert in your child, and your questions, your suggestions, and your lived experience can help the team support your child. [02:32] Before the IEP meetingOK, so if you've got an IEP meeting coming up. You may be feeling anxious or stressed about it, but I have a few tips to help you get ready emotionally before the meeting. Tip number one: Ask for more time if you need it. You don't have to rush through this meeting and finalize the IEP right away. You can always ask for another meeting if you need more time or more information, or maybe advice from an advocate or a friend. And here's the reason why this is my number one stress-relieving tip. I know IEP meetings can feel very high stakes. It may feel like this is your only chance for a whole year to help your child get the support that they need to thrive in school, but that's not true. You can always ask for another IEP meeting. You have the right to request an IP meeting at any time. Now, I know asking for another meeting may sound about as fun as asking the dentist to give you another root canal but trust me, it's better than feeling a lot of pressure to sign something you don't understand. Or that you aren't sure you agree with, or that you have more questions about. IEP meetings can feel extra stressful if you're worried your child isn't getting the right services or isn't getting those services often enough. So give yourself some grace. Ask questions if you're confused. Take the time you need to process the information so you can think clearly when it's time to make decisions. You may even want to talk some things over with your child. They may have thoughts or ideas that the team hasn't thought of. Even very young kids can have surprisingly helpful insights. Tip number two: Understand how their meeting is structured. Ideally, the person who is organizing the meeting will send an agenda ahead of time. And if the meeting is in a day or two, and you haven't gotten an agenda yet, you can ask your child's teacher or the IEP case manager to give you a preview. Earlier this season, we talked about how IEP meetings typically start by discussing a student's present levels of performance. As a parent, this part of the meeting can come across as very negative. It can feel like a long stretch of information where everyone is focused on how far behind your child is, all the skills they need to work on, and so forth. And it can feel especially daunting if you're the last person who gets to talk about how things have been going. I've been in IEP meetings where the parents listen to one staff member after another talk about their child's shortcomings. And parents get really quiet. They're trying to process all of the information, and they may be so overwhelmed that they don't say anything. But there are two important things that can help you power through this part of the meeting. First, remember that it's really important to know your child's current skill levels. The team uses this information to figure out which services and supports your child needs to help build those skills. Second, remember that you're an expert in your child. You may not know all the fancy jargon, but you know your child best, and the questions you ask and the observations you share can be a big help to the team. Tip number three: Try to talk with your partner or spouse before the meeting. Set aside some time to think about what each of you wants for your child. If possible, try to figure out what you agree on and what you disagree on. This may not be easy especially if you and your co-parent are no longer a couple. But knowing what you agree on and what you disagree on can help ease some of the stress heading into the IEP meeting. It's better to know ahead of time rather than be surprised in the moment. It can also help both of you think about what questions you might want to ask. For example, you might say "My partner and I disagree on 'X'. Can you give us more information to help us think more about it?"Tip number four: Bring a friend or a family member who can support you by doing things like taking notes or reminding you to ask a really important question. Having someone else focus on certain tasks during the meeting can help reduce your overall stress. And this could free up more of your brain to focus on what's being discussed at the meeting. I also recommend that you bring some supplies, like a small snack, in case you need a quick energy boost midway through the meeting, and a water bottle in case your throat gets dry. You may also want to bring your favorite pen or some Kleenex. Earlier this season, there was a really good episode that talked about all the practical things that you could do to get ready for IEP meetings, like bringing a friend and writing down a list of questions you want to ask. So, be sure to check out Episode 7 if you haven't listened to it already. Tip number five: Ask for an interpreter if you need one. Special education law says that schools have to provide an interpreter if you ask for one. This is really important because a language barrier can make IEP meetings even more stressful for parents. So, don't hesitate to ask for an interpreter if you need one. And a quick note here. If your child is learning English as a second language, Episode 11 has a lot of great info for multilingual families. It explains the difference between special education and ESL and how to tell your child needs both of these kinds of school supports. That episode also has lots of other background information and tips that can help you get ready for IEP meetings. [07:51] During the IEP meeting OK, so you arrive at the meeting. Everyone is sitting around the table and you're nervous your emotions might take over. What can you do? I have a few tips to help manage those big feelings during the meeting. First, I want you to remember that it's OK to cry at IEP meetings. You won't be the first parent to shed some tears at this kind of meeting. Teachers understand that you love your child and that it's tough to hear your child is experiencing challenges. The school staff is there to support you if you need it. Second, introduce yourself at the meeting. The school staff will probably start the meeting this way. But if they don't, you can ask everyone to introduce themselves. This can help ease some stress by making sure you know who all the team members are. You can also ask an icebreaker question. This kind of opening question can help everyone loosen up a bit and get ready to work together to support your child. For example, you could say "My name is Mrs. Rinaldi, but you can call me Claudia. I'd like to start the meeting with an icebreaker. What's one thing you enjoy about my child?" Or if some people in the room haven't worked closely with your child yet, you could ask "What's one thing you really enjoy about working with kids in this age group?" Or you could even start with something that doesn't have anything to do with school, like, "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" An icebreaker can help start the meeting on a positive note. OK, so the meeting gets underway. What can you do in the middle of the meeting if you start to feel a lot of emotions? I have tips on this too. First, use some simple calming techniques. Start by taking a slow, deep breath. Inhale as you count to four, hold your breath as you count to four, and exhale as you count to four. Breathing slowly and deeply can help your body calm down. Or you can repeat a mantra in your head. A mantra is a positive phrase that can help you crowd out negative thoughts. It could go like "I can think calm and be calm. I can think calm and be calm." You can also try softening your jaw muscles and squeezing each of your fingertips with your thumb and index finger. These kinds of small movements can help you relax a bit. You can also take a break during the meeting. A school staff member may suggest this if you start showing signs that you're feeling a lot of emotion, but you can always be proactive and ask to take a break by saying, "I need a minute to collect my thoughts." If you step out of the room, you can take a few deep breaths in the hallway, or maybe go for a short walk to stretch your legs. And the last tip I want to share is about getting your point across during the meeting. Be direct but polite. Have a few phrases handy that can help keep your frustration from boiling over. Here's one of my favorites "I may be misunderstanding. Can you show me which law or policy says that?" I'm also a big fan of "Can you clarify?" For example, you can say, "Can you clarify how often I would get updates on my child's progress?" Or "Can you clarify why you think my child only needs one speech therapy session each week?" This kind of wording can give your school a chance to step back and possibly change its approach. Another really useful phrase is "How can we work together to make this happen?" I'll put a link in the show notes to an Understood article on phrases you could use to help defuse the tension during an IEP meeting. [11:03] After the IEP meetingSo, we've been talking about things you could do before the IEP meeting and during the IEP meeting. But there's one strategy I want to encourage you to use after the meeting to help make the rest of the year less stressful. It's a really good idea to have frequent check-ins with your child's teacher or IEP case manager. And one goal in having these regular touchpoints throughout the school year is so you won't ever be surprised by something that comes up in an IEP meeting. And I want to be clear here about formal updates versus informal updates. Your child's IEP should include details on how often you will get progress reports throughout the year. Those are formal updates, but you can also set up informal check-ins that could just be a quick email or phone call. How often you have these check-ins really depends on how your child is doing. For example, you may need to have daily check-ins if behavior is a big issue. But if academics are the main issue and your child is on track to meet the annual goals of their IEP, you might only need to communicate with a teacher or a case manager once a month or once a quarter. So, talk with a teacher or case manager and see what works best for both of you. [12:23] Key takeaways OK, let's wrap up what we've learned from this episode with four key takeaways. First, remember that you are an expert in your child. You can help the team by asking questions and making suggestions at the IEP meeting. Second, you can always ask for another IEP meeting. You don't need to rush through and finalize the IEP right away. Third, remember that it's OK to cry during the meeting. You can always take a break and use some quick calming strategies. And lastly, you don't need to wait a whole year to find out what's going on with your child's IEP. You can ask for an IEP meeting at any time. You can also ask for frequent check-ins with a teacher or case manager, so you won't be surprised by anything at the next IEP meeting. OK, that's all for this bonus episode of "Understood Explains." I hope you'll check out the rest of this season, which has lots of practical tips that can help you understand the special education process and feel more confident about what to advocate for during IEP meetings. You'll be listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in this episode. "Understood Explains IEPs" was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniela Tello-Garzon. Daniela and Elena Andres led our Spanish production. Video is produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright. Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer. Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Julian Saavedra, and host Juliana Urtubey.Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at Understood.org/mission.CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Surprising IEP and 504 accommodations for note-taking, assignments, and tests
Taking notes, doing assignments, and taking tests are hard for many kids who learn and think differently. There are standard school accommodations they might get through an IEP or a 504 plan to help. But kids may also get unique supports that fit their specific needs. We asked parents in the Understood community to share surprising supports in their child’s IEP or 504 plan.Accommodation ideas from our community “Letting me put a limit on the number of problems he has to do on each piece of homework. Then having him be graded on only what he completed.” — Vicki“Oral questioning of incorrect answers on tests and quizzes. Our son takes tests and quizzes in a traditional manner. During the grading of the test, the teacher is required to check with our son privately on any missed answers. He gets a chance to explain or identify his knowledge. Then the grade is adjusted if necessary.” — Patricia“Using the phone camera to take photos of notes on the board.” — Lynn“The school calls/texts Mom if a form needs to be signed. The guidance counselor is stellar at making that happen!” — Jamie“My son uses an erasable pen and circles answers in the actual test booklets for tests instead of bubbling in the answers or taking computerized tests.” — Debby“My daughter’s study guide was the actual test, including the answers, given seven days in advance of the exam.” — Vicki“Having an extra day to turn in missing work once grades are posted. Turning in his notes for a copy of the teacher’s notes. Using a laptop for written assignments, and emailing or posting to Dropbox pictures of completed assignments.” — Jo Ellen“He can use his phone to take pictures of posted assignments and use a calendar/homework app to record dates immediately.” — Jeanette
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: How to prepare for IEP meetings
Learn the nuts and bolts of how to get ready for the important meeting. So you have an IEP meeting coming up, or you’d like to prepare for future ones. This is an important time to ask questions and advocate for what you think is best for your child. These meetings can be stressful and high-pressure for families. But knowing what to expect in the meeting and how to get ready can put you at ease. On this episode of Understood Explains, host Juliana Urtubey will go over the nuts and bolts of preparing to talk about your child’s IEP, or Individualized Education Program. Timestamps[01:13] What’s the purpose of an IEP meeting?[03:04] What happens in IEP meetings?[05:48] What role do parents play in IEP meetings?[07:20] Who can parents bring to the meeting?[10:18] What else can parents do to get ready?[12:39] Key takeawaysRelated resourcesThe IEP meeting: An overviewHow to organize your child’s IEP binder(article with video and downloads)FAQs about having your child attend IEP meetingsHow to find a special education advocateEpisode transcriptJuliana: So, you've got an IEP meeting coming up. This is an important time to ask questions and advocate for what you think is best for your child. And I'm going to tell you how to get ready for it. In this episode, we're preparing for IEP meetings. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners, and I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. Quick note, because there's so much to say about IEP meetings, we're splitting this topic into a few episodes. Right now, we're focusing on the nuts and bolts of how to get ready, like who and what to bring with you, and other key things to know. Our next episode dives deep into how you can help set annual goals, which is a really important part of IEP meetings. And later this season, we'll talk about how to prepare for the emotional side of an IEP meeting, and what to do if you disagree with the school. OK, onto the show. [01:13] What’s the purpose of an IEP meeting?What's the purpose of an IEP meeting? Before we get into tips on how to prepare for IEP meetings, I want to go over the basics, like what happens at these meetings and what your role is as a parent or guardian. The purpose of an IEP meeting is for you and the school to come together and develop your child's IEP or Individualized Education Program. This meeting is where you'll map out your child's special education for the year. As a team, you'll set annual goals based on your child's strengths and needs, and you'll also decide which services and supports the school will provide to help your child meet those goals. And the big picture goal is helping your child meet the standards for the grade they're in. So, for example, if your child is in third grade, the IEP goals will help them make progress towards meeting third-grade standards. But it's OK if it takes more than a year for them to catch up. Now, I know a lot of families can feel overwhelmed because they think their child is so far behind. But special educators like me are really good at something called Backwards Planning. We look at where we want your child to be a year from now, and then we plan backwards to reach those goals in this amount of time. And I'll get into more details about this in a minute. But first, I want to acknowledge that IEP meetings can be stressful for parents. That's why many special educators try to meet with families before the IEP meeting. We try to explain what's happening and answer questions in a more relaxed setting. So, I encourage you to talk to an ally. Maybe it's your child special education teacher or the school's parent liaison. And during the IEP meeting, you can always stop and ask them to explain things. Remember, you have the right to understand what's happening. And if you want to learn more about your rights and special education, go back and listen to the previous episode. [03:04] What happens in IEP meetings?What happens in IEP meetings? So let's start with how often these meetings need to happen. By law, the IEP team needs to meet at least once each calendar year. The team can meet more often than that. For example, if the team wants to change your child's IEP, it has to have a meeting first. And as a parent or guardian, you can request a meeting if there's something that you want to discuss with the team. But no matter who requested the meeting, the team needs to give you an opportunity to attend. This means giving you advance notice of the IEP meeting. It also means rescheduling if you explain why you can't be there. But if you don't respond at all, the team can meet without you. IEP meetings tend to take about an hour and you can attend by phone or video. But in my experience, it's better if everyone is in the same room. Being there in person can make it easier for the team to notice if you might be confused or need emotional support.Once you agree on a time to meet, the school will send you a letter or email confirming the meeting time and detailing what will be discussed. This is what's called Prior Written Notice, and it's required by law. Also, if your child just had an evaluation or a re-evaluation, the team needs to give you a copy of the evaluation report. And if the team already has drafted parts of your child's IEP, they should give you a copy as well. The school should send you these documents at least a few days before the meeting. But if the team doesn't do this, you can call your IEP case manager or the school's parent liaison to ask for a preview. Looking over these documents before the meeting can help you identify the questions you want to ask, or the suggestions you want to make on how to help your child. OK, so what happens during the meeting? The IEP team will discuss your child's present level of performance or PLOP. This is the jargony phrase for how your child is doing in terms of academics. The team will also look at your child's social and emotional development. And if your child's learning English as an additional language, the team will talk about your child's present level of language acquisition. The team will talk about your child's strengths and interests too, and how these can help your child make progress at school. You can help by sharing strengths you see at home, like maybe your child keeps their room organized or helps with younger siblings. Another big part of the meeting is setting annual goals. This is where you'll get into details like how often or how intensive your child's services will be. Does your child need to meet with a specialist once a day in a small group, or maybe twice a week, one-on-one? There's a lot more I want to say about this, so I hope you'll join me for the next episode, which is all about how you can help set the annual goals in your child's IEP. [05:48] What role do parents play in IEP meetings?OK, so we've talked about the basics of what happens in an IEP meeting. Now, I want to talk about your role in these meetings. As a parent or guardian, you're an equal member of the team that develops your child's IEP. You not only have a right to participate in these meetings, but you are the person who needs to sign off on the plan. The school can't start providing special education services until you agree in writing that you're OK with the plan. So, you're definitely a key player, and it's OK if you don't know a lot about teaching or curriculum. The teachers will help with that. You're an expert when it comes to your child. And here are three things you can do at the meeting to help the team help your child. You can ask questions, and keep asking until you understand what the school is recommending and why. You can share observations. For example, maybe you've noticed that your child has a hard time retelling stories or has trouble following directions that involve more than one step, like "Take out the trash and put away your shoes." You can also make suggestions about what you think your child needs, like maybe less math homework if it's a nightly battle. What you say at the meeting can help the specialists think about how to shape your child's IEP. And last but not least, I want you to know that you don't have to sign the IEP during the meeting. You can have more time to think about it. You can even request another meeting to keep talking about it. So don't feel pressured to sign right away. [07:20] Who can parents bring to the meeting?One way to get ready for an IEP meeting is to think about who to bring with you. But first, I want to quickly mention who has to be at the meeting. The IEP team has to include at least one special education teacher and one general education teacher. There will also be a school psychologist or some other type of expert who could interpret evaluation reports and progress data. If your child is learning English, someone will be at the meeting who can connect your child's IEP goals and language acquisition goals. Oftentimes, this will be the person who teaches what some schools call English as a Second Language or ESL. And speaking of languages, if you need a translator at the IEP meeting, the school needs to provide one for you. It's OK to request an interpreter if you aren't 100% comfortable in English. Just be sure to tell the school in advance so that they can arrange it. And last but not least, the IEP meeting needs to include an administrator who has the power to approve school resources for your child. OK, so we've been talking about who must be at the IEP meeting. But you can also bring other people if you want to. For example, you may want a friend or family member to take notes and provide emotional support. And if this person knows your child well, that's even better. I remember one great IEP meeting for a student named Joaquin. He was on the autism spectrum. His mom brought his older sister because she took care of Joaquin after school. And in the meeting, she shared some things that helped motivate him, plus some strategies that helped calm him down in stressful situations. I immediately started using these strategies at school, and this led to a huge difference in the way Joaquin connected to others and regulated his emotions. And most importantly, he started to love coming to school. Another person you can bring to the IEP meetings is a parent advocate. This is typically someone you hire. A lot of parent advocates have either worked at a school or have a child who has an IEP, so they know how the system works. If you're thinking of getting an advocate, Understood has some good questions to ask before you hire someone. I'll put a link in the show notes. And there's one other person I want you to think about bringing to the IEP meeting. And that's your child. By law, IEP teams need to include teens when they reach a certain age. But kids can get involved before then, too. The IEP meeting can be a great opportunity for kids to practice self-advocacy. Kids can stay for part or all of the meeting. I had some of my fourth and fifth graders come for the present-levels discussion. They share their own data, and they'd also talk about which accommodations they think would be helpful to include in their IEP. Most of my students would leave after that. I'll include a link to an Understood article that can help you think about bringing your child. And there's one more thing I want to say about bringing people to the IEP meeting. Let the team know ahead of time. Send a quick email with their names and what their relationship is to you. This can help the team think about how to involve them in the meeting. [10:18] What else can parents do to get ready?So what else can parents do to get ready for IEP meetings? I have five main tips for you. Tip number one, brainstorm with your child. Talk about what is and isn't working with their IEP and with school in general. You may be surprised at how insightful your child can be. One thing in particular you might want to ask about is accommodations. For example, is your child reluctant to use any of the accommodations that are in the IEP? These kinds of details are helpful to share with a team. OK. Tip number two, reflect on your child's progress. Look at your child's recent report cards, homework, behavior, incident reports, etc. Where are you seeing signs of progress? What are your biggest areas of concern? And by the way, Understood has some great resources to help you organize all this information in a three-ring binder that you can take to the meeting. There's an awesome how-to video, as well as some printables that you can use in your IEP binder. I'll put a link in the show notes. Tip number three, write down your questions so you don't forget any of them during the meeting, and put the questions in order so you can ask the most important ones first. And here's one question you might want to ask. In the meeting, the team will talk about how often your child will receive services and where they'll receive these services. But this can be hard for a lot of families to visualize. So you might want to ask, what will a typical school day look like for my child? Tip number four, prioritize your goals for the meeting. And I'm not necessarily talking about the annual goals in your child's IEP. Think about what you want for your child's school experience. Make a list of 3 to 5 things that are really important to you and your child. Here's an example. Let's say your child needs speech therapy. And let's say art class is the only thing that gets your child out of bed in the morning. You need to explain this to the IEP team, so that they'll try to avoid pulling your child out of art class to go to speech therapy. Tip number five, when you go to the IEP meeting, try to keep an open mind. If someone brings up an issue or solution you're not sure of, hear them out. Sometimes challenges come up in school that you don't see at home, but if you and the school work together, you can figure out how to support your child's needs. [12:39] Key takeawaysBefore we go, let's wrap up with three key takeaways. First, the purpose of the IEP meeting is to map out your child's special education for the year. Second, you're an equal member of the IEP team, and you can bring a friend or family member or parent advocate to help you during the meeting. And lastly, you can get ready by brainstorming with your child, writing down questions, and prioritizing your goals. I want to give one more plug for creating an IEP binder. It can help you get organized for the IEP meetings and stay organized throughout the year, and Understood has free resources to help you put it all together. I'll include a link in the show notes, where you can also find more tips to help you navigate IEP meetings. All right, that's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Next time, we'll talk about how you can help set annual goals and monitor your child's progress. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzon. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer. For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Are IEPs different for English language learners?
If you have recently moved from another country to the U.S., and your child’s teacher thinks your child may have reading issues, the teacher may suggest testing to see if your child qualifies for an Individualized Education Program (IEP). If your child gets an IEP, you may be wondering if it will be very different from an IEP for a native English speaker, and if there are any services that are commonly included to help with the language difference.An IEP should be individualized. This means it should spell out the services that are needed to address your child’s unique challenges. But here are a few things that are often included in IEPs for English language learners (ELLs).English as a second language (ESL): If your child qualifies for an IEP, the plan will note how much time your child will spend each week receiving ESL instruction. The IEP will detail how much ESL help will be provided in a small group outside of the classroom and how much, if any, will be provided as push-in support inside the classroom.Special education in one or two languages: The IEP will make clear which supports and services will be provided in English and which ones will be provided in the language your child speaks at home. For example, if your child has dyslexia, the IEP will specify whether a bilingual reading specialist is required.Testing accommodations: Talk with your child’s IEP team about how to help your child show what they know on tests. Common accommodations for ELLs include things like having the directions on a math test read in the child’s native language. Other types of tests, like a reading-comprehension test, may be provided in the student’s first language. Be sure to discuss extended time and other testing accommodations that aren’t specific to English language learners.
Understood Explains Season 3IEPs: How do kids qualify for IEPs?
Host Juliana Urtubey explains the school evaluation process for special education. Kids don’t just get an IEP all of a sudden.Schools have an evaluation process to decide if a child qualifies for special education services. This includes getting an IEP. On this episode of Understood Explains, join host Juliana Urtubey as she discusses the evaluation process and requirements for getting an IEP. She’ll also share what to do if the school says your child doesn’t qualify for an IEP and more. Timestamps[00:37] How do kids qualify for IEPs?[03:14] Does my child need a diagnosis to get an IEP?[04:45] How do I request an evaluation?[06:12] What if the school wants to wait to evaluate my child?[08:10] What if the school says my child doesn’t qualify for an IEP?[08:49] Key takeaways Related resources Understood Explains Season 1 on special education evaluationsDownload: Sample letters for requesting evaluations and reportsWhy your child’s school may deny your evaluation requestEpisode transcriptJuliana: Kids don't get an IEP all of a sudden. The school needs to do an evaluation and decide if your child qualifies for special education. I'm going to explain how this process works. From the Understood Podcast Network, this is "Understood Explains IEPs." On this episode, we'll talk about how to get an IEP and what to do if the school says your child isn't eligible. My name is Juliana Urtubey and I'm the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. I'm also an expert in special education for multilingual learners, and I'm your host for this season of "Understood Explains," which is available in English y en español. Let's get started.[00:37] How do kids qualify for IEPs?How do kids qualify for IEPs? There are two big things that need to happen to qualify for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP. The first thing is, your child needs to get an evaluation. Public schools have a whole process for evaluating kids using a team of professionals. It's free for families, and I'm going to talk more about this in a minute. The second big thing is called eligibility determination. This is what happens at the end of the evaluation process. To qualify for an IEP, the school needs to determine that your child has a disability and that the disability negatively impacts how your child is doing in school. There's a jargony phrase that schools use for this. "The disability needs to adversely affect your child's educational performance." And by the way, educational performance can be viewed very broadly. It's not limited to academics. Kids can qualify for IEPs because they have a disability that affects their attention, behavior, social skills, etc. So to recap, to get an IEP, your child needs to get evaluated by the school and the evaluation team needs to find that your child has a disability that adversely affects your child's education. OK, so where did these requirements come from? They're part of a federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. or IDEA. And there are three things that I want to highlight about this part of the law. First, public schools have a big responsibility. They must identify and evaluate any kids who may need special education. This is called Child Find, and it's the first step towards getting kids the support they need to thrive in school. Second, not all kids with disabilities will qualify for IEPs. Maybe your child doesn't need specially designed instruction or services. Maybe all your child needs is some assistive technology or classroom accommodations. If so, the school may recommend a 504 plan, which we talked a little bit about in Episode 2. Third, to qualify for an IEP, the school needs to determine that your child has a disability that falls into one of the 13 categories in IDEA. Now, this doesn't mean the law only covers 13 disabilities. It means that there are 13 really big buckets of disabilities. For example, ADHD is covered under the category called Other Health Impairments. This season we're going to have a whole episode about disability categories. But, for now I'll just say that even if your child has a really rare disability, they can still qualify for an IEP. The key thing is that the disability needs to adversely impact your child's education. [03:14] Does my child need a diagnosis to get an IEP?Does my child need a diagnosis to get an IEP? This is a very common question, and the official answer is no, or at least no in the way most families think about having to go to a doctor to get a medical diagnosis. Schools don't diagnose kids. They do something a little different, which is identify a child as having a disability. So no, you don't need to get a diagnosis from your health care provider. But if you want to, you can share a diagnosis with the school evaluation team. OK, so what does an evaluation look like? Schools do special education evaluations for free. And they have to complete them within a certain time frame, usually within 60 days. But this can vary a bit from state to state. The team will use this time to gather data from a bunch of sources to help decide if your child qualifies for an IEP. Evaluations often include special tests, observations in your child's classroom, and interviews with family members and teachers. And if your child is learning English, their language instructor will help with the evaluation too. As a parent or guardian, your participation is really important. The team cannot evaluate your child without your permission. And the more you work together, the more you can help keep the evaluation centered on your child's strengths as well as your child's needs. If you want to learn more about evaluations, check out the first season of "Understood Explains," which is all about getting evaluated for special education. [04:45] How do I request an evaluation?How do I request an evaluation? So, before we get into this, I want to mention that there are two ways to start the evaluation process. Either the school can reach out to you in what's called a referral, or you can request an evaluation. Season 1 of "Understood Explains" has a whole episode about this exact topic. Here are some highlights. The first step in requesting an evaluation is finding out who you should send the request to. Your child's teacher should know. But this is also a good time to ask the school's front office if there's a community liaison or a family support provider. Lots of school districts have this type of person who can help you navigate the system. The next step is to put your request in writing. Write an email or a letter that includes the month and day you sent it, because that date is important. By law, schools must respond within a certain time frame, which varies from state to state. As you're writing your letter, be sure to describe why you're requesting an evaluation. Try to be as specific as possible. You can say things like, "My child has a lot of trouble with spelling. He studies hard, but he can't remember how to spell even the most basic words. And I'm concerned he may have a learning difference or disability. He may need more support at school." If you need help getting started on your letter, we have some templates on Understood.org. I'll put a link in the show notes. [06:12] What if the school wants to wait to evaluate my child?What if the school wants to wait to evaluate my child? This can be a tough situation to be in. I know a lot of parents don't want to be seen as the squeaky wheel, or maybe feel like it's not their role to tell the school what to do. But you know your child best. So, if you think it's time to evaluate your child, advocate for it. And remember, special education law says that schools need to be actively looking for kids who may have a disability. Now, I want to be clear. Schools don't have to say yes to every request for an evaluation. But sometimes schools want to wait for reasons that aren't allowed. And I want to give you two examples. If your child is struggling, the school may try an instructional intervention. But here's the thing about interventions. They're designed to take several weeks so the school can see how your child responds to this kind of intensive instruction. The goal is to give the child effective support and time to show progress. But let's say you're pretty confident that you're seeing signs of dyslexia or ADHD or whatever you think might be going on with your child. You don't have to wait until the end of the intervention to ask for an evaluation. You can wait if you want to. Or you can remind the school that an intervention is not a valid reason to delay or deny your evaluation request. Another example is if your child is an English language learner, or what I prefer to call a multilingual learner. It's not uncommon for multilingual kids to fall behind their peers while they learn formal academic English skills. So, the school might just think your child needs more language instruction and not special education. But that's not a valid reason for delaying an evaluation. You can request an evaluation for special education even if your child is still learning English. One thing that can be a big help is to let the school know if your child is struggling with things like reading or speaking in your home language. Understood has an article about some common reasons why a school might deny your request and how you can respond. We'll put a link in the show notes. [08:10] What if the school says my child doesn’t qualify for an IEP?What if the school says my child doesn't qualify for an IEP? So, if this happens, you have some important rights. Schools have to explain in writing how they made their decision. If you disagree, you can get something called an independent educational evaluation. And in some cases, the school may even be required to pay for this private evaluation for you. You can also ask for mediation with a neutral third party or a due process hearing, which is kind of like a mini trial. And we're going to talk more about your dispute resolution options later in the season. [08:49] Key takeaways OK, before we go, let's sum up what we've learned with a few key takeaways. First, your child doesn't need a medical diagnosis to get an IEP. The school needs to do an evaluation and find that your child has a disability that negatively impacts their learning. You can ask the school to evaluate your child, but the team cannot get started until you give your consent. And lastly, you have a lot of legal rights in this process. Remember, you know your child best. And you can be a powerful advocate to help your child thrive. All right. That's it for this episode of "Understood Explains." Next time we're talking about IEP disability categories. You've been listening to "Understood Explains IEPs." This season was developed in partnership with UnidosUS, which is the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. Gracias, Unidos! If you want to learn more about the topics we covered today, check out the show notes for this episode. We include more resources as well as links to anything we've mentioned in the episode. Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who learn and think differently discover their potential and thrive. Learn more at understood.org/mission. CreditsUnderstood Explains IEPs was produced by Julie Rawe and Cody Nelson, with editing support by Daniella Tello-Garzón. Video was produced by Calvin Knie and Christoph Manuel, with support from Denver Milord.Mixing and music by Justin D. Wright.Ilana Millner was our production director. Margie DeSantis provided editorial support, and Whitney Reynolds was our web producer.For the Understood Podcast Network, Laura Key is our editorial director, Scott Cocchiere is our creative director, and Seth Melnick is our executive producer.Special thanks to the team of expert advisors who helped shape this season: Shivohn Garcia, Claudia Rinaldi, and Julian Saavedra.
Download: IEP or 504 plan snapshot for your child
You may be familiar with your child’s IEP or 504 plan, but is your child? This one-page IEP or 504 plan snapshot can help kids better understand their services and accommodations in school. It can also help them learn more about their strengths, challenges, and IEP goals.Print the snapshot and fill it out together with your child. It includes a sample and a blank version. Kids can take the snapshot to school and refer to it when advocating for the support they need. (If your child tends to misplace papers, you might not want to put your child’s name on it.)If your child hasn’t started attending IEP meetings yet, sit down and go over the accommodations together. You can also talk through the strengths and challenges that the IEP or 504 plan addresses.Once the snapshot is complete, you can use it for your own reference, too. (Keep in mind this snapshot is only a summary and not a legally binding document. It doesn’t replace an IEP or 504 plan.)
- Understood Explica el IEP
El IEP: Las 13 categorías de discapacidad
Es necesario que su hijo tenga discapacidad que corresponda a alguna de las categorías de discapacidad para poder calificar para un IEP. En este episodio, explicaremos de qué se trata. Existen 13 categorías de discapacidad enumeradas en una ley federal llamada Ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades, comúnmente conocida como IDEA por sus siglas en inglés.Para obtener un Programa de Educación Individualizado o IEP, su hijo tiene que cumplir con el criterio de tener una discapacidad que se ajuste a alguna de esas 13 categorías.Los nombres de esas categorías pueden ser difíciles de entender, como “discapacidades específicas del aprendizaje” u “otros impedimentos de salud”.En este episodio de Understood Explica, su presentadora Juliana Urtubey hablará de lo que significan esas categorías y cómo se relacionan con el IEP. También explicará qué hacer si su hijo no califica en ninguna categoría de discapacidad o si califica en más de una.Marcas de tiempo:[00:48] ¿Por qué el IEP tiene categorías de discapacidad?[03:25] ¿Cuáles son las 13 categorías de discapacidad en IDEA?[09:46] ¿Las categorías de discapacidad son las mismas en todos los estados?[12:51] ¿El IEP de mi hijo puede incluir más de una discapacidad?[14:19] ¿Qué pasa si mi hijo no califica para ninguna categoría de discapacidad?[16:00] Puntos clavesRecursos relacionadosLas 13 categorías de discapacidad en IDEA (articulo con infográfico)Centros de capacitación para padres: Un recurso gratuito en su estadoDescargar: Modelos de cartas para solicitar evaluaciones y reportesOpciones para resolver una disputa del IEPTranscripción del episodioJuliana: Para obtener un IEP, los niños tienen que cumplir con el criterio de tener al menos una categoría de discapacidad. Pero, ¿y si la capacidad de su hijo corresponde a más de una categoría? ¿Y si no corresponde a ninguna? Desde la red podcast de Understood, esto es "Understood Explica el IEP". En este episodio, revisaremos las categorías de discapacidad que utilizan las escuelas al decidir si un niño califica para recibir educación especial. Mi nombre es Juliana Urtubey, y soy la Maestra Nacional del año 2021. También soy experta en educación especial para estudiantes multilingües y soy la presentadora de esta temporada de "Understood Explica", que está disponible en español y en inglés. Bueno, comencemos.[00:48] ¿Por qué el IEP tiene categorías de discapacidad?¿Por qué el IEP tiene categorías de discapacidad?. Antes de revisar cada una de las categorías, quiero explicar por qué las escuelas las utilizan. La palabra clave es "elegibilidad". Su hijo no puede obtener un IEP, es decir, un Programa de Educación Individualizado, sino cumple con el criterio de al menos una categoría de discapacidad. Este requisito proviene de la ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades o IDEA, por sus siglas en inglés. Esta ley tiene 13 categorías de discapacidad. Los padres escucharán hablar de esas categorías cuando asistan a la reunión de determinación de elegibilidad de su hijo. El equipo revisará las categorías y dirá si su hijo califica para alguna de ellas. Es posible que escuche el término "clasificación de discapacidad". Para muchas familias, ese es un momento muy emotivo de la reunión. Puede ser difícil escuchar que su hijo tiene una discapacidad, pero siempre pueden pedir hacer una pausa para calmarse y ordenar sus ideas. En un minuto revisaremos cada categoría, pero antes de eso hay algunas cosas generales que quiero que sepan sobre ellas. Primero, IDEA tiene trece categorías de discapacidad, pero eso no significa que solo cubra trece discapacidades. Estas categorías son tan amplias que incluso la condición más inusual podría encajar en alguna parte. Segundo, a veces las dificultades que tienen los niños no son causadas por una discapacidad. Por ejemplo, faltar mucho a la escuela o tener dificultad para aprender inglés como idioma adicional. En esos casos existen otras maneras de ayudar a esos estudiantes, pero para obtener un IEP los niños deben tener una discapacidad. Lo siguiente que quiero mencionar, es que algunas categorías de discapacidad puede que reciban más financiación que otras categorías, pero la categoría de discapacidad de su hijo no puede usarse para limitar los servicios de su hijo. Las categorías de discapacidad son puertas a la educación especial y su hijo solo necesita pasar por una de estas puertas para calificar, así tendrá acceso a cualquier tipo de instrucción especialmente diseñada o servicios que necesite. [03:25] ¿Cuáles son las 13 categorías de discapacidad en IDEA? Entonces, ¿cuáles son las 13 categorías de discapacidad en IDEA? Voy a empezar con las cuatro categorías más comunes, y para ayudarlos a comprender lo comunes que son, quiero que se imaginen un gráfico circular. Esto representa a los millones de niños que tienen un IEP. La porción más grande de este gráfico son los niños que tienen discapacidades específicas del aprendizaje o SLD, por sus siglas en inglés. Aproximadamente, un tercio de los niños con IEP, califican para educación especial porque tienen una discapacidad del aprendizaje. Algunos ejemplos comunes incluyen la dislexia, que algunas escuelas llaman un trastorno de la lectura o una capacidad específica del aprendizaje de la lectura. La discalculia es una discapacidad matemática o un trastorno matemático. También existe la disgrafia y el trastorno de la expresión escrita, donde los niños pueden tener mucha dificultad para expresar sus ideas en un papel. Bien, entonces, los niños con discapacidades del aprendizaje representan aproximadamente un tercio del gráfico circular de la educación especial. La segunda porción más grande es para los impedimentos del habla o del lenguaje. Casi una quinta parte de los niños con IEP están en esta categoría. Este grupo incluye a muchos niños que necesitan terapia del habla, también incluye a los trastornos del lenguaje que pueden dificultar de aprender nuevas palabras o reglas gramaticales o comprender lo que dice la gente. Los trastornos del lenguaje también pueden entrar en la categoría de discapacidades del aprendizaje. Por lo tanto, si su hijo tiene un trastorno del lenguaje, puede que sea un poco complicado elegir la categoría. Bueno, entonces ya está lleno la mitad del circulo de educación especial que estamos dividiendo, y solamente con los niños que pertenecen a dos de las trece categorías, discapacidades específicas del aprendizaje e impedimentos del habla o del lenguaje. Ahora, la tercera porción más grande se llama Otros Impedimentos de Salud, OHI por sus siglas en inglés. Incluye alrededor de 1 de cada 6 niños con IEP. Esta es una categoría muy importante para las familias, porque incluye a muchos niños con TDAH, la ley IDEA enumera una serie de ejemplos que encajan en la categoría de "otros impedimentos de salud", incluyendo TDA y TDAH. También incluye asma, diabetes, epilepsia, intoxicación por plomo y anemia falciforme. Estos solo son algunos ejemplos que se mencionan en la ley, esta categoría es muy amplia. Bien, continuemos con la cuarta porción más grande del círculo, que es el autismo. El autismo incluye aproximadamente al 12% de los niños que tienen un IEP. Esto significa que alrededor de 1 de cada 8 o 9 niños con IEP califican para educación especial porque tienen autismo. Ahora, quiero hacer una pausa y señalar que estas cuatro categorías de discapacidad — las discapacidades del aprendizaje, los impedimentos del habla o del lenguaje, otros impedimentos de salud y el autismo — representan alrededor del 80% del círculo. Entonces, ¿qué pasa con el resto de las categorías? Bueno, están las discapacidades intelectuales que ocupan una porción bastante pequeña, el 6% del círculo, es decir 1 de cada 16 niños con IEP. Algunos ejemplos que podrían estar en esta categoría son el síndrome de Down y el síndrome de alcoholismo fetal. Luego está el trastorno emocional, que representa una porción un poco más pequeña, el 5% del círculo — es decir 1 de cada 20 niños con IEP — y cubre cosas como la ansiedad y la depresión. Y luego hay otras 7 categorías que representan porciones muy pequeñas del círculo. El impedimento ortopédico. El impedimento visual, que incluye la ceguera. El impedimento auditivo, que incluye la sordera. La sordoceguera, que tiene su propia categoría y la lesión cerebral traumática. También hay discapacidades múltiples, esta categoría no se usa si el estudiante tiene TDAH y dislexia. Es más probable que discapacidades múltiples se utilicen para algo como discapacidad intelectual y la ceguera o cualquier otra combinación que probablemente requiere un enfoque altamente especializado. Y por último, están los retrasos en el desarrollo, que es la única categoría de discapacidad en IDEA que incluye un límite de edad. Hablaré más sobre eso en un minuto. Pero por ahora les quiero recordar que no todas las personas con una discapacidad califican para un IEP. La discapacidad debe afectar su educación lo suficiente como para necesitar una enseñanza especialmente diseñada. Este es un ejemplo. Supongamos que su hijo tiene TDAH. ¿Necesita enseñanza especialmente diseñada para poder organizarse y enfocarse en lo que está haciendo? O solo necesita algunas adaptaciones en el aula, como sentarse cerca del maestro y alejado de ventanas o pasillos que lo distraigan. Si no necesita enseñanza especializada, la escuela dirá que no califica para un IEP. Pero puede obtener un plan 504. Si desea obtener más información acerca de cómo los niños califican para un IEP, escuche el episodio cuatro. Y si quiere aprender más sobre las diferencias entre el IEP y el plan 504, escuche el episodio dos. [09:46] ¿Las categorías de discapacidad son las mismas en todos los estados?¿Las categorías de discapacidad son las mismas en todos los estados? La respuesta corta es no. La clasificación de la discapacidad puede ser un poco diferente dependiendo del estado. Algunas de estas diferencias son bastante pequeñas. Por ejemplo, algunos estados usan la frase "categoría de discapacidad" y otros usan el término "excepcionalidad". Y algunos estados tienen más de 13 categorías, porque hacen cosas como dividir el impedimento del habla o del lenguaje en dos categorías. Otra diferencia es como los estados utilizan la categoría de retrasos en el desarrollo. A los estados no se les permite utilizar esta categoría después de los nueve años, pero en algunos estados la edad límite es menor. Por ejemplo, yo vivía en Nevada, y ahí se podía clasificar a los niños con retraso en el desarrollo hasta los cinco años. Y cuando cumplían seis años, mi equipo tenía que determinar si otra categoría de discapacidad se ajustaba a sus necesidades. En la mayoría de los casos, esos estudiantes cambiaban a discapacidades específicas del aprendizaje. Pero en Arizona, que es donde vivo ahora, los niños pueden seguir recibiendo servicios bajo la categoría de retrasos en el desarrollo hasta que cumplan 10 años de edad. Hay otra gran diferencia que quiero mencionar, y tiene que ver con la forma en que los estados clasifican a los niños con discapacidades específicas del aprendizaje. Algunos estados todavía evalúan a los niños para las discapacidades del aprendizaje, utilizando lo que se conoce como modelo de discrepancia. Esto consiste en comparar el coeficiente intelectual o la capacidad intelectual de un niño con su rendimiento académico. Un ejemplo de discrepancia, sería un estudiante de quinto grado con un coeficiente intelectual promedio, pero que lea en segundo grado. Pero algunos estados no permiten que las escuelas utilicen un modelo de discrepancia. Esto se debe a que puede haber sesgos culturales y otros problemas con las pruebas del coeficiente intelectual, incluidas las pruebas que se realizan a los niños que hablan un idioma distinto del inglés en la casa. Así que estas son algunas de las formas en que los criterios de elegibilidad pueden diferir de un estado a otro. Si desea saber cuales son los requisitos de elegibilidad de su estado, pregúntele a la persona encargada en la escuela de conectar a los padres con el personal escolar o comuníquese con un centro de información y capacitación para padres. Estos centros, conocidos como PTI, por sus siglas en inglés, son recursos gratuitos para las familias. Cada estado tiene al menos uno. Voy a poner un enlace en las notas del programa, para ayudarlo a encontrar el centro más cercano. [12:51] ¿El IEP de mi hijo puede incluir más de una discapacidad?¿El IEP de mi hijo puede incluir más de una discapacidad? Sí. Si su hijo tiene más de una discapacidad es recomendable mencionarlas en el IEP. Esto puede facilitar que el IEP incluya todos los servicios y adaptaciones que su hijo necesita. Es posible que el equipo del IEP necesite clasificar las discapacidades según cual afecta más la educación de su hijo. Pero no se pueden usar etiquetas como "principal" y "secundaria" para limitar los servicios que recibe su hijo. Es principalmente una herramienta de recopilación de datos para que los estados puedan tener una idea más amplia de quién recibe servicios y para qué. Y si usted no está seguro de cuál categoría de discapacidad debería incluirse como principal, piense que es lo más importante que los maestros deben tener en cuenta para apoyar a su hijo. Otra cosa que quiero mencionar, es que la categoría principal de discapacidad de su hijo puede cambiar a medida que crece. Un ejemplo es que los niños pequeños que tienen un impedimento del lenguaje podría cambiar a discapacidad específica del aprendizaje a medida que sus dificultades con la lectura o la ortografía se definan mejor con el tiempo. [14:19] ¿Qué pasa si mi hijo no califica para ninguna categoría de discapacidad?¿Qué pasa si mi hijo no califica para ninguna categoría de discapacidad? El equipo puede decidir esto después de la evaluación inicial de su hijo. O, si su hijo ya tiene un IEP, es necesario realizar una reevaluación, al menos cada tres años. Y parte del motivo es para ver si su hijo ya no necesita enseñanza especializada. Si la escuela dice que su hijo no cumple con los criterios para ninguna de las categorías de discapacidad, hay algunas cosas que puede hacer. Lo primero es que revise el informe de la evaluación. ¿La escuela examinó las áreas problemáticas correctas? Quizás el equipo necesite realizar más pruebas en otras áreas. También puede solicitar una evaluación educativa independiente, conocida como en inglés por sus siglas IEE. Esta evaluación la realiza alguien que no trabaja para la escuela, lo más probable es que la tenga que pagar, pero en algunos casos la escuela debe cubrir el costo. Understood tiene un buen modelo para ayudarlo a redactar este tipo de solicitudes. Voy a incluir un enlace en las notas del programa. Estos modelos de carta están disponibles en español y en inglés. Otra cosa que puede hacer es conocer las opciones de resolución de disputas. Más adelante en esta temporada tendremos un episodio completo sobre esto, pero voy a incluir el enlace a un artículo para ayudarlo a comenzar. [16:00] Puntos clavesHemos cubierto muchos aspectos en este episodio. Por ello, antes de concluir, voy a hacer un resumen de lo que hemos aprendido. IDEA tiene trece categorías de discapacidad, pero eso no significa que solo cubra trece discapacidades. La categoría de discapacidad de su hijo es una puerta a la educación especial, no limita el tipo de servicios que puede recibir su hijo. El IEP de su hijo puede incluir más de una discapacidad y la categoría principal puede cambiar con el tiempo. Bien, esto es todo por este episodio de "Understood Explica". La próxima vez, vamos a hablar sobre términos importantes y derechos legales que todos los padres deben conocer si sus hijos califican para un IEP. Acaba de escuchar un episodio de "Understood Explica el IEP". Esta temporada fue desarrollada en colaboración con UnidosUS, que es la organización de defensa de derechos civiles hispanos más grande de todos los Estados Unidos. ¡Gracias, Unidos! Si desea más información sobre los temas que cubrimos hoy, consulte las notas del programa de este episodio. Ahí encontrará más recursos, así como enlaces a los temas mencionados hoy. Understood es una organización sin fines de lucro dedicada a ayudar a las personas que piensan y aprenden de manera diferente, a descubrir su potencial y progresar. Conozca más en understood.org/mission.CréditosUnderstood Explica el IEP fue producido por Julie Rawe y Cody Nelson, con el apoyo en la edición de Daniella Tello-Garzón. Daniella y Elena Andrés estuvieron a cargo de la producción en español.El video fue producido por Calvin Knie y Christoph Manuel, con el apoyo de Denver Milord.La música y mezcla musical estuvieron a cargo de Justin D. Wright.Nuestra directora de producción fue Ilana Millner. Margie DeSantis proporcionó apoyo editorial. Whitney Reynolds estuvo a cargo de la producción en línea.La directora editorial de la Red de Podcast de Understood es Laura Key, el director creativo es Scott Cocchiere y el productor ejecutivo es Seth Melnick.Agradecemos especialmente la ayuda del equipo de expertos, cuyos consejos dieron forma a esta temporada de podcast: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi y Julián Saavedra.
- Understood Explica el IEP
El IEP: Establecer las metas del IEP
Entérese cómo el equipo del IEP establece metas anuales y cómo usted puede participar en la decisión. También conozca cómo el IEP medirá el progreso de su hijo. Establecer las metas del IEP puede resultar complicado. Deben ser alcanzables, pero ni demasiado difíciles ni demasiado fáciles. Es un poco como el cuento "Ricitos de oro y los tres osos".Sin embargo, establecer estas metas es una parte importante del desarrollo del IEP o Programa de Educación Individualizado.En este episodio de Understood Explica, la presentadora Juliana Urtubey describirá cómo el equipo del IEP establece las metas anuales, cómo los padres pueden ayudar y cómo el IEP medirá el progreso de su hijo. Marcas de tiempo:[00:55] ¿Cómo el equipo del IEP establece las metas anuales?[05:46] ¿Cómo los padres pueden ayudar a establecer las metas anuales?[09:32] ¿Las metas del IEP de mi hijo son lo suficientemente ambiciosas? [11:28] ¿Cómo medirá el IEP el progreso de mi hijo?[15:58] ¿Qué necesitan saber las familias multilingües?[17:17] Puntos clavesRecursos relacionadosCómo saber si las metas del IEP de su hijo son SMART Preguntas frecuentes sobre los IEP basados en estándaresDescargar: Registro de meta del IEP Transcripción del episodioJuliana: Una parte muy importante de la elaboración del IEP de su hijo es establecer metas anuales. Pero ¿cómo saber si estas metas son lo suficientemente ambiciosas? ¿Y cómo saber si su hijo está recibiendo apoyo suficiente para alcanzarlas? Desde la Red de Podcast de Understood, esto es "Understood Explica el IEP". En este episodio vamos a hablar de cómo establecer las metas del IEP de su hijo y cómo evaluar su progreso a lo largo del año. Mi nombre es Juliana Urtubey y soy la presentadora de este podcast. En 2021 fui seleccionada Maestra Nacional del Año y soy experta en educación especial para estudiantes multilingües. Les recuerdo que todos los episodios de esta temporada están disponibles en español y en inglés. Bueno, comencemos. [00:55] Cómo el equipo del IEP establece las metas anuales Cómo el equipo del IEP establece las metas anuales. Cada año, usted y la escuela trabajarán en equipo para desarrollar el IEP o Programa de Educación Individualizado de su hijo. Ustedes van a decidir las habilidades prioritarias en las que trabajará su hijo durante los próximos 12 meses. Estas son las metas anuales. También el IEP proporciona enseñanza especialmente diseñada o SDI, por sus siglas en inglés, para que su hijo pueda alcanzar estas metas. Me gusta imaginarme las metas del IEP como una escalera en la que cada escalón es una de las fortalezas de su hijo y avanzamos escalón por escalón hasta que su hijo alcance a sus compañeros. Hay un equipo de personas para desarrollar estas metas. El equipo del IEP incluye un maestro de educación especial, un maestro de educación general, un psicólogo escolar u otro experto que puede interpretar la información sobre el progreso de su hijo. Los padres o el representante legal del estudiante también son miembros del equipo del IEP y juntos hablarán sobre tres aspectos claves en la creación de cada meta. El primero es examinar el nivel actual de desempeño de su hijo. El equipo necesita saber qué es lo que puede hacer su hijo ahora, tanto al nivel académico como en cuanto a sus habilidades sociales y emocionales. Y aquí quiero mencionar brevemente ciertos términos. Cuando el equipo esté hablando del nivel actual de desempeño de su hijo, puede que escuche siglas como PLOP o PLP, o tal vez escuche PLAAFP, que es la sigla en inglés para referirse al nivel actual de logros académicos y rendimiento funcional. Y esta es la razón por la cual el establecimiento de metas empieza examinando los niveles actuales. Por cada necesidad que se identifique, tiene que haber un plan para cubrirla. Y esto nos lleva al segundo aspecto clave, que es establecer la meta o el objetivo a alcanzar en un año. El equipo va a establecer metas anuales ambiciosas pero alcanzables. Queremos apuntar la palabra alto, pero también hay que ser realistas. Aquí es donde los maestros de educación especial como yo, hacemos algo llamado Backwards Planning, que podríamos traducir al español como planificación inversa. Analicemos cuánto queremos que mejoren las habilidades de su hijo en un año. Luego planificamos todos los pasos necesarios para ayudarlo a llegar ahí en ese periodo de tiempo. Y esto nos lleva al tercer aspecto clave del desarrollo de las metas del IEP, que es determinar los puntos de referencia u objetivos a corto plazo. Estos son los pasos más pequeños que ayudan al equipo a medir el progreso de su hijo a lo largo del año. Más adelante vamos a hablar más de cómo establecer estas metas anuales y también de cómo dar seguimiento al progreso de su hijo. Pero antes me gustaría recordarles que el IEP establece metas y brinda apoyo. El equipo del IEP sabe cómo ayudar a los niños a progresar sin abrumarlos. Este es un ejemplo. El IEP especificará cuánta enseñanza especializada va a recibir Adriana para ayudarla a progresar en esas áreas. Supongamos que su hija está en quinto grado y tiene dislexia. Llamémosla Adriana. Las habilidades de lectura de Adriana están retrasadas varios grados de lo que deberían estar. El equipo va a establecer metas para las habilidades a mejorar, como leer con fluidez y precisión. Supongamos que el equipo decide que Adriana se va a reunir con un especialista en lectura durante una hora, dos veces por semana. Pero el IEP también va a especificar qué tipo de tecnología de asistencia va a recibir. Por ejemplo, audiolibros para que pueda seguir el ritmo de sus compañeros en asignaturas como ciencias y estudios sociales. El IEP también va a incluir adaptaciones. Por ejemplo, tener más tiempo en los exámenes o responder de forma verbal en lugar de tener que escribir sus respuestas. Este tipo de apoyos van a ayudar a Adriana a seguir aprendiendo las lecciones de quinto grado mientras trabaja para alcanzar sus metas del IEP. [05:46] ¿Cómo los padres pueden ayudar a establecer las metas anuales? Entonces, ¿cómo los padres pueden ayudar a establecer las metas anuales? Usted no tiene que ser un experto en educación. Usted es un experto en su hijo. Además, usted es un miembro igualitario del equipo del IEP. Hablemos entonces de algunas maneras en las que puede ayudar a establecer las metas anuales. Primero, puede sugerir tipos de metas diferentes. Lo académico es importante, pero también es importante poder organizarse, controlar las emociones y cambiar conductas negativas. Todas estas son tipos de metas comunes de un IEP. Recuerde que el IEP es individualizado, así que usted puede pedir que se incluya lo que usted considere que su hijo necesita. Una vez tuve un estudiante que tenía miedo de subir escaleras. Así que incluimos una meta del IEP sobre practicar el uso de las escaleras para ir de un salón a otro. No se limite cuando esté pensando en las metas más importantes para su hijo. No existe un número máximo. La cuestión es encontrar la cantidad adecuada de metas para su hijo, un número que sea manejable y no abrumador. Otra cosa que usted puede hacer es preguntar cómo puede ayudar en la casa. "¿Debería leerle Adriana? ¿Cómo preparar un lugar que le ayuda a hacer sus deberes? ¿Qué puedo hacer si ni ella ni yo entendemos las instrucciones de su tarea?" Usted y la escuela también pueden buscar maneras de ayudar a su hijo a disfrutar lo que está aprendiendo. Trate que sea divertido y que también su hijo sienta que las metas son alcanzables. Otra forma que usted puede ayudar es preguntando acerca de las metas SMART. SMART son las siglas en inglés de Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results Oriented y Time Bound, que en español serían específicas, medibles, alcanzables, orientadas a resultados y en un tiempo específico. Establecer metas SMART puede ayudar al equipo a evitar usar metas imprecisas o difíciles de medir. Las metas SMART son muy precisas. Por ejemplo, una meta SMART para la fluidez lectora podría ser: Para el 1 de junio, Adriana va a leer 115 palabras por minuto con un 95% de precisión en cuatro de cinco intentos. La meta también podría incluir otros detalles, como el nivel de grado del texto o tal vez el tipo de texto como ficción o no ficción. Y recuerde que el IEP va a incluir el nivel actual de desempeño, así que dirá cuál es el punto de partida de Adriana. Por ejemplo, 80 palabras por minuto con un 85% de precisión. De esa forma, el IEP va a especificar el progreso exacto que el equipo está esperando alcanzar en el plazo de un año. Usted puede ayudar haciéndose preguntas basadas en las siglas SMART. Por ejemplo, "¿Es esta meta lo suficientemente específica, medible?" etc. Si quiere aprender más, voy a incluir en las notas del programa un enlace a un artículo de Understood que explica la diferencia entre una meta SMART y una que no lo es. [09:32] ¿Las metas del IEP de mi hijo son lo suficientemente ambiciosas? ¿Las metas del IEP de mi hijo son lo suficientemente ambiciosas? Bueno, esta pregunta es difícil de responder. Como acabamos de ver, la "A" en SMART quiere decir "alcanzable." Pero redactar metas alcanzables puede ser un poco como ocurre en el cuento de "Ricitos de oro y los tres ositos". Podría ser complicado lograr que las metas no sean ni muy fáciles ni muy difíciles, sino simplemente correctas. Así que hay dos cosas que es importante tener en cuenta para establecer metas ambiciosas pero alcanzables. Primero, las metas del IEP de su hijo deben ser acordes a su grado escolar actual. Pensemos otra vez en Adriana, nuestra estudiante de quinto grado. Aunque su fluidez lectora está retrasada varios grados, las metas de su IEP tienen que ser acordes con los estándares del quinto grado. Las escuelas quieren que los niños se mantengan conectados con lo que están aprendiendo sus compañeros y que a fin de cuentas, sigan encaminados hacia la graduación. Pero lo segundo que quiero que tengan en cuenta es que si hay cierta flexibilidad, el hecho de que las metas del IEP de Adriana tengan que ser acordes con los estándares del quinto grado, no significa que tenga que alcanzar el nivel de grado en lectura este año. Solo necesita mostrar un progreso continuo hacia el nivel de grado escolar. Understood tiene un artículo muy bueno sobre el IEP basado en estándares. Voy a incluir el enlace en las notas del programa y en la siguiente sección vamos a hablar de lo que puede hacer si cree que su hijo no está progresando lo suficiente. [11:28] ¿Cómo medirá el IEP el progreso de mi hijo? Entonces, ¿cómo medirá el IEP el progreso de mi hijo? Al comienzo de este episodio, mencioné que las metas anuales deben cumplir tres cosas: analizar los niveles de habilidad actuales de su hijo, establecer metas u objetivos alcanzables en el plazo de un año e incluir parámetros de referencia o metas a corto plazo para monitorear el progreso de su hijo. Ahora me quiero enfocar en esta última parte y tal vez la escuela de su hijo use términos diferentes para referirse a esto como "benchmarking", que se podría traducir como parámetros de referencia o indicadores y "progress monitoring", que es seguimiento del progreso. Los indicadores son metas o logros más pequeños que ayudan al equipo a medir qué tanto ha avanzado el estudiante hacia la meta anual. Algunos estados exigen un cierto número de indicadores para cada meta anual. Por ejemplo, en el estado de Nevada, donde yo trabajé muchos años, el requisito era tres indicadores por meta. Los padres pueden preguntar al resto del equipo acerca de estos indicadores o metas más pequeñas del IEP. También puede solicitar que el IEP incluya la frecuencia con la que usted va a recibir informes sobre el progreso. En mi caso, yo les envía a mis estudiantes los informes de progreso del IEP junto con las boletas de calificación del trimestre. Así, las familias podían revisar las calificaciones de educación general de sus hijos y al mismo tiempo el avance de sus metas de educación especial. Bien, hemos hablado sobre el establecimiento de metas y el uso de indicadores para monitorear el progreso del niño. Volvamos al ejemplo de Adriana. Al principio del episodio, les di el ejemplo de una meta SMART para la fluidez lectora. Decía que para el 1 de junio Adriana iba a leer 115 palabras por minuto con un 95% de precisión en cuatro de cinco intentos. Al crear esta meta también tenemos que proponer logros a corto plazo que deben alcanzarse a lo largo del camino. Estos indicadores o metas a corto plazo podrían ser que para el 1 de diciembre, Adriana lea 85 palabras por minuto y 100 palabras por minuto para el 1 de marzo y así va aumentando hasta llegar a las 115 palabras por minuto para el 1 de junio. Supongamos que llega el 1 de marzo y Adriana está lejos de alcanzar las 100 palabras establecidas. Es posible que el equipo quiera reunirse y discutir opciones como la posibilidad de hacer ajustes a esa meta o posiblemente añadir más servicios o apoyos, como una tercera sesión semanal con el especialista en lectura. Pero no olvide que el equipo está tratando de encontrar formas de apoyar a su hijo sin abrumarlo. Siempre puede preguntar por el progreso de su hijo al maestro de educación especial o al coordinador de servicios. Es recomendable estar en contacto con ellos de forma regular. Pero además, usted tiene derecho a solicitar una reunión en cualquier momento para sugerir que se agreguen más metas o servicios. El equipo no está obligado a aceptar su solicitud, pero sí tiene que explicar por escrito por qué considera que el plan actual es suficiente. Y si usted no está de acuerdo con la decisión de la escuela, vamos a hablar de esto más adelante, en otro episodio que estará dedicado a este tema. Pero por el momento le sugiero que use el registro de metas de IEP que ofrece Understood. Es un buen formato para monitorear los indicadores o metas a corto plazo, así como otra información para dar seguimiento al progreso de su hijo. Además, puede ayudarlo a anotar cualquier pregunta u observación que surja. Voy a incluir un enlace en las notas del programa. [15:58] ¿Qué necesitan saber las familias multilingües sobre el establecimiento de metas del IEP? ¿Qué necesitan saber las familias multilingües sobre el establecimiento de metas del IEP? Hay algunas cosas que quiero mencionar brevemente si su hijo está aprendiendo inglés. Primero, si usted necesita un intérprete en la reunión de IEP, la escuela tiene que proporcionárselo. Y la escuela también tiene que darle el IEP traducido al español. Segundo, el IEP debe especificar claramente cuánto tiempo pasará su hijo recibiendo servicios de educación especial. También cuánto tiempo pasará su hijo recibiendo servicios de adquisición del lenguaje. La educación especial y la adquisición del lenguaje no son lo mismo. El equipo tiene que explicarle cómo será un día escolar típico para su hijo. Y por último, usted puede pedirle a la escuela que le proporcione enseñanza específicamente diseñada en la lengua materna de su hijo. Puede que eso no sea posible, pero no se pierde nada con preguntar. También es beneficioso que su hijo continúe su aprendizaje en varios idiomas. Vamos a hablar más de esto en otro episodio. [17:17] Puntos clavesBueno, antes de concluir vamos a resumir algunos puntos claves. Las metas del IEP se elaboran teniendo en cuenta tres aspectos esenciales: observar cómo es el desempeño actual de su hijo en la escuela, establecer metas para alcanzar dentro de un año y especificar pasos más pequeños para cumplir estas metas. Las metas del IEP deben ser SMART: específicas, medibles, alcanzables, orientadas a resultados y en un tiempo limitado. No hay un número máximo de metas, ni tampoco un tipo determinado de metas que deba incluir el IEP, depende únicamente de las necesidades de su hijo.Bueno, esto es todo por este episodio de "Understood Explica". La próxima vez vamos a profundizar en cómo el IEP puede ayudar con el comportamiento. Acaba de escuchar un episodio de "Understood Explica el IEP." Esta temporada fue desarrollada en colaboración con UnidosUS, que es la organización de defensa de derechos civiles hispanos más grande de todos los Estados Unidos. ¡Gracias Unidos! Si desea más información sobre los temas que cubrimos hoy, consulte las notas del programa de este episodio. Ahí encontrará más recursos, así como enlaces a los temas mencionados hoy.Understood es una organización sin fines de lucro dedicada a ayudar a las personas que piensan y aprenden de manera diferente a descubrir su potencial y progresar. Conozca más en Understood.org/mission.CréditosUnderstood Explica el IEP fue producido por Julie Rawe y Cody Nelson, con el apoyo en la edición de Daniella Tello-Garzón. Daniella y Elena Andrés estuvieron a cargo de la producción en español.El video fue producido por Calvin Knie y Christoph Manuel, con el apoyo de Denver Milord.La música y mezcla musical estuvieron a cargo de Justin D. Wright.Nuestra directora de producción fue Ilana Millner. Margie DeSantis proporcionó apoyo editorial. Whitney Reynolds estuvo a cargo de la producción en línea.La directora editorial de la red de Podcast de Understood es Laura Key, el director creativo es Scott Cocchiere y el productor ejecutivo es Seth Melnick.Agradecemos especialmente la ayuda del equipo de expertos, cuyos consejos dieron forma a esta temporada de podcast: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi y Julián Saavedra.
Navigating IEP meetings
Now that your child is getting an IEP, you’ll want to understand the basics of IEP meetings. By attending these meetings, you can help shape the program and monitor your child’s progress. Keep reading to learn how to prepare for IEP meetings and be ready to advocate for your child.The purpose of IEP meetingsThe initial IEP meeting begins your child’s special education program. It must take place within 30 days after the school decides your child is eligible. Once the IEP is finalized, your child will receive services and supports. After that, the special education law IDEA requires annual IEP meetings. But you can ask for meetings anytime. These yearly meetings review your child’s progress and discuss next year’s plan. The goal is to revise and update your child’s IEP so that it continues to meet their needs.Read more about how IDEA protects your child.What happens at IEP meetingsThere’s no set way that IEP meetings must be run. But they do have to cover certain bases. To begin with, the school must give you advance notice of the time and place of the IEP meeting. They should also try to schedule it at a time when you can attend.At the meeting, participants will review the draft of the IEP together. It’s a draft because discussion during the meeting may result in changes. If it’s your child’s first IEP, the team may go over and explain the evaluation results.The team will also review these three things:Present level of performance (PLOP)Annual goals (the best goals are SMART and strengths-based)The types of supports and services needed to meet those goalsEveryone will share their ideas and suggestions. The team leader will note changes to the draft that the whole team, including you, has agreed to. You’ll be asked to sign the IEP document to show you approve of it. You don’t need to sign it right then and there. You can ask to take it home and review it. There are certain things you should double-check before signing. And if you don’t agree with the draft, it’s OK to decline to sign.Download a checklist of what to consider when developing IEP goals.The IEP teamSeveral people attend IEP meetings and form your child’s IEP team. One of the team members from the school will act as your child’s case manager. That person will oversee the process and make sure your child is getting the services and supports in the IEP. The case manager can be your go-to person when you have questions or concerns.Several teachers who know how your child learns are part of the team. One is your child’s general education teacher. Another is at least one of your child’s special education teachers. Someone from the district who can approve the resources in the plan will attend the meeting. And someone who can interpret evaluation results will also be there.While you don’t have to attend, your child’s school must invite you (parent or guardian) to each IEP meeting. Attending lets you give input on the help your child is receiving and their progress. You can also bring helpful people to the meeting, like a relative or a special education advocate. If you need to, you can also ask for a translator to attend.By the time your child is 16, the meeting will also include transition planning. At that point (if not sooner), your child will be at the IEP meetings. Learn more about the IEP team. How to prepare for IEP meetingsCome prepared with all the things that can help you have a productive meeting. These include a notepad or recording device (if your state allows one), your child’s last IEP, and a list of accommodations you’d like to propose. Having a binder of all the materials can help. You should also be prepared to ask questions and point out your child’s strengths, talents, and abilities. This can help the team understand your child better. The team can also use that information to weave strengths-based goals into the IEP. Know that an IEP meeting may be emotional. It’s common for some parents to either get upset or cry at meetings. Even when you know the IEP will provide help, it can be hard to accept that your child needs it. Finally, people may disagree over aspects of the IEP. Having a good working relationship tends to keep everyone focused on what’s best for your child. Brush up on phrases that can defuse the situation when people disagree over aspects of an IEP. Preparing for what’s nextLearn how to stay on top of your child’s IEP. That’s the next important step. You can also connect with experts and other parents to find out how they’ve navigated the process in Understood’s Wunder app. Explore a collection of IEP personal stories.
- Understood Explica el IEP
El IEP: Resolver disputas del IEP
Averigüe cuáles son sus opciones cuando no esté de acuerdo con la escuela sobre algo en el IEP de su hijo. Es posible que usted y la escuela no estén de acuerdo con todos los detalles del IEP de su hijo. Por ello es importante que conozca sus opciones para resolver una disputa.En este episodio de Understood Explica, la presentadora Juliana Urtubey habla de las opciones para resolver disputas y cómo manejar desacuerdos comunes. También explica cómo los defensores y abogados pueden ayudarlo en caso de un desacuerdo.Marcas de tiempo[00:44] Opciones para resolver disputas[07:30] Desacuerdo sobre los resultados de la evaluación [10:46] Cambiar la colocación de un niño[12:35] Reducción o negación de servicios[14:06] Defensores de educación especial y abogados [15:59] Puntos clave Recursos relacionadosOpciones para resolver una disputa del IEP¿En qué consiste una evaluación educativa independiente?¿Qué hacer cuando la escuela reduce o niega servicios?En qué se diferencian los abogados de los defensores de educación especialTranscripción del episodioJuliana: Usted y la escuela podrían estar en desacuerdo en ciertos detalles del IEP de su hijo. Entonces conviene conocer cuáles son sus opciones para resolver una disputa y se las voy a explicar. Desde la Red de Podcast de Understood, esto es "Understood Explica el IEP". En este episodio, vamos a hablar de cómo resolver disputas sobre el IEP. Mi nombre es Juliana Urtubey y soy la presentadora de esta temporada. En 2021 fui seleccionada Maestra Nacional del Año y soy experta en educación especial para estudiantes multilingües. Y recuerden, todos los episodios de esta temporada están disponibles en inglés y en español. [00:44] Opciones para resolver disputasOpciones para resolver disputas. Quiero comenzar este episodio hablando de cómo los padres y la escuela tienen que trabajar juntos en el desarrollo del IEP o Programa de Educación Individualizado de su hijo. Después voy a hacer una descripción general de las distintas formas de resolver las cosas cuando hay una disputa y al final vamos a hablar de tres situaciones que suelen causar desacuerdos y qué pueden hacer en cada caso. Bien, entonces, la idea principal que quiero destacar es que usted tiene derecho a estar en desacuerdo con la escuela acerca de cualquier parte del IEP de su hijo. La Ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades o IDEA, por sus siglas en inglés, determina claramente que usted forma parte del equipo que elabora el IEP. Tienen que invitarlo a las reuniones del IEP. Tienen que informarle antes de que el equipo pueda hacer cualquier cambio. Y hay momentos claves en los que el equipo no puede avanzar a menos que usted dé su visto bueno. Así que la educación especial está diseñada para promover la colaboración entre las familias y las escuelas. Y cuando surgen desacuerdos, no significa que tiene que terminar siempre en conflicto. La ley estipula seis opciones para resolver una disputa. Y van desde algo tan sencillo como solicitar una nueva reunión hasta presentar una queja de derechos civiles. Vamos a revisar estas opciones comenzando con la menos formal. Y con esto me refiero a una buena negociación a la antigua usanza. Hable con el equipo. Trate de resolver las cosas conversando y usted puede hacerlo solicitando una nueva reunión del IEP. La reunión puede servir para hablar de cómo solucionar cualquier problema relacionado con el IEP. Así de simple. Si el asunto no se resuelve, el siguiente paso sería solicitar una reunión de mediación. Esto es, cuando usted se reúne con una tercera parte neutral llamada "mediador." Esta persona no está del lado de nadie ni dice qué tienen que hacer. Su labor es tratar de llegar a una solución que funcione tanto para usted como para el resto del equipo del IEP. Usted puede solicitar una mediación en cualquier momento y es un proceso voluntario. Así que usted decide si ese es el camino que quiere seguir. Pero es importante tener en cuenta que las decisiones tomadas durante el proceso de mediación son legalmente vinculantes. Esto quiere decir que una vez que llegan a un acuerdo no se puede dar marcha atrás. La tercera opción es una audiencia de debido proceso. Esto consiste en un proceso formal que comienza cuando usted presenta una queja por escrito. En esta queja, usted tiene que explicar por qué considera que la escuela no está cumpliendo con la ley IDEA. Y estos son algunos ejemplos de lo que usted podría considerar una violación de los derechos de su hijo por parte de la escuela. Por ejemplo, si su hijo no calificó para educación especial o si su hijo si calificó, pero usted piensa que la escuela no le proporciona los servicios apropiados, o quizás cree que su hijo no está recibiendo educación en el ambiente menos restrictivo. Vamos a hablar más en detalle de cada uno de estos ejemplos más adelante en este episodio. Entonces, supongamos que usted presentó una queja de debido proceso. El siguiente paso es una sesión de resolución con la escuela en la que ambas partes tratan de llegar a un acuerdo. Pero si no llegan a un acuerdo, entonces habrá una audiencia de debido proceso. Y esto es algo parecido a un juicio en una corte. Se presentan evidencias y hay testigos. También hay un oficial de audiencia que actúa como juez y tomará una decisión sobre su caso. Ahora, como pueden imaginar, el debido proceso implica mucho conocimiento legal. Usted tiene que conocer bien sus derechos según la ley IDEA. Por ello, si usted está considerando seguir este camino, es recomendable consultar primero con un defensor o abogado especializado en educación especial. En un momento vamos a hablar más sobre estas personas. Bueno, continuemos. La cuarta opción para resolver disputas es una demanda. Usted puede presentar una demanda civil, pero no puede hacerlo sino hasta después de haber pasado por el debido proceso. Si va a presentar una demanda civil, es recomendable contratar a un abogado. Otra opción para resolver una disputa del IEP es presentar una queja a nivel estatal. En este caso, usted tiene que escribir una carta en la que explica por qué considera que la escuela incumplió la ley y debe enviarla al Departamento de Educación de su estado de residencia, solicitando que investiguen. Usted puede presentar esta queja por su cuenta o la puede hacer en conjunto con otros padres si hay una situación que afecta a otros niños además de su hijo. Una vez que presentó la queja, el estado investigará y determinará si la escuela violó la ley. Bueno, y la última opción para resolver una disputa que quiero mencionar es una queja de derechos civiles. Esta opción es similar a la de presentar una queja estatal, pero en este caso, usted lleva su solicitud a una instancia superior, que es el gobierno federal. Usted envía su queja a la Oficina de Derechos Civiles en el Departamento de Educación de los Estados Unidos y en la Oficina de Derechos Civiles, conocida como OCR, por sus siglas en inglés, quien va a decidir si se va a investigar a la escuela. Bien. Estas son las seis opciones principales para resolver una disputa del IEP, y sé que la mayoría de ellas parecen muy formales, pero me gustaría destacar que la primera opción, la negociación, incluye muchas estrategias informales para ayudarlo a resolver una disputa. Hay un muy buen artículo de Understood que explica estas opciones. Voy a incluir el enlace en las notas del programa. [07:30] Desacuerdo sobre los resultados de la evaluación Desacuerdo sobre los resultados de la evaluación de su hijo. Ahora que ya terminamos con la descripción general, quiero hablar de tres cosas comunes que pueden conducir a las disputas entre la escuela y las familias. La primera es no estar de acuerdo con los resultados de la evaluación de su hijo. Puede ser frustrante pasar por el largo proceso de la evaluación para que al final le digan que su hijo no califica para la educación especial. O quizás su hijo si califica, pero los resultados no parecen describir correctamente a su hijo. Si no está de acuerdo con el resultado de la evaluación inicial de su hijo, usted tiene derecho a solicitar lo que se denomina una evaluación educativa independiente o IEE, por sus siglas en inglés. La escuela debe tener en cuenta los resultados de la evaluación educativa independiente y estos resultados también pueden servir como evidencia si usted termina recurriendo a una opción formal de resolución de disputas como una audiencia de debido proceso. Por lo general, las familias solicitan una evaluación educativa independiente cuando piensan que la escuela no examinó las cosas necesarias o no las examinó de manera correcta o no interpretó los resultados correctamente. Voy a darles algunos ejemplos. Supongamos que usted solicitó una evaluación por ansiedad y problemas de atención, pero a su hijo solo le hicieron pruebas para los desafíos académicos. O quizás su hijo fue evaluado solo en inglés y no en su idioma materno. Sea cual sea el motivo, usted tiene derecho a obtener una evaluación educativa independiente. Es probable que la tenga que pagar, pero en algunos casos la escuela tiene que cubrir este gasto. Voy a incluir un enlace en las notas del programa sobre la evaluación educativa independiente, incluyendo cómo solicitarla a expensas del estado. Otra situación que puede conducir a una disputa es si la escuela dice que un niño ya no califica para un IEP. Podría escuchar que el equipo se refiere a esto como "salir de la educación especial." Esto puede ocurrir después de que su hijo sea reevaluado para educación especial. Lo que ocurre al menos una vez cada tres años. Sé que a muchos padres les preocupa que se termine el IEP de su hijo antes de tiempo. Pero traten de ser objetivos y recuerden que esto puede ser una buena señal. Si su hijo ha progresado mucho y ha alcanzado los estándares de su nivel de grado, esto en realidad es un motivo de celebración. También quiero mencionar que muchos niños cambian de un IEP a un plan 504, el cual puede ofrecer muchos de los mismos apoyos. Pero si usted cree que su hijo todavía necesita un IEP, tal vez quiera obtener una evaluación privada o bien utilizar sus opciones de resolución de disputas. [10:46] Cambiar la colocación de un niñoCambiar la colocación de un niño. Otro motivo común de disputas sobre el IEP es cuando la escuela quiere cambiar la colocación de un niño. Y esto es solamente un término para referirse a dónde se le enseñará a su hijo. Algunos ejemplos de esto son aulas de educación en general y aulas de educación especial donde los niños tienen un IEP. Si la escuela quiere cambiar la colocación de su hijo, hay dos derechos importantes que debe conocer. Primero, su hijo tiene derecho a recibir educación en el ambiente menos restrictivo. Además, su hijo tiene derecho a quedarse donde está mientras resuelven su desacuerdo. Esto se conoce como "derecho stay put". Además, la escuela no puede cambiar la colocación de su hijo sin avisar con suficiente antelación para que usted lo pueda discutir en una reunión del IEP. Quiero detenerme en este punto un momento y hablar de los prejuicios. Los estudios de investigación muestran que los estudiantes hispanos o negros tienen más probabilidades de ser colocados en aulas de educación especial que los estudiantes blancos. Es por ello que los padres o representantes legales de estudiantes hispanos y negros tienen que estar muy atentos y conocer bien sus derechos. En particular, me gustaría que escucharan el episodio anterior sobre el IEP y los apoyos para la conducta. También quiero mencionar que los cambios de colocación suelen ocurrir lentamente, así que es muy probable que el equipo le avise con bastante antelación y usted tenga la oportunidad de hacer preguntas y dar su opinión. [12:35] Reducción o negación de serviciosReducción o negación de servicios. Bueno, hay otra razón de desacuerdos bastante común entre las familias y las escuelas. Es la reducción o negación de servicios. Understood tiene un artículo muy bueno sobre diez razones comunes pero incorrectas por las que las escuelas pueden tratar de reducir o negar servicios a su hijo. Voy a agregar el enlace en las notas del programa para que lo pueda revisar. En este artículo también encontrará ejemplos de respuestas que usted le podría dar al equipo del IEP. Por ejemplo, si el equipo dice: "No tenemos suficientes fondos para esto", usted puede responder: "Según el Departamento de Educación de los Estados Unidos, las obligaciones legales de la escuela hacia mi hijo no cambian por preocupaciones con el presupuesto". Este es un ejemplo de cómo conocer sus derechos puede ayudarlo a negociar con la escuela. Otra estrategia es retrasar la firma del IEP. El equipo no puede avanzar sin usted y usted puede pedir más tiempo para reunir más información que lo ayude a tomar una decisión. Y hablando de información, úsela a su favor al negociar. Cuando usted presenta resultados de exámenes y otros datos, es más difícil para la escuela decir que no.[14:06] Defensores de educación especial y abogados Defensores de educación especial y abogados. Bien, hemos hablado de diferentes opciones para resolver disputas sobre el IEP y también de situaciones comunes en las que las familias pueden estar en desacuerdo con la escuela. Al analizar sus opciones, tal vez se pregunte: "¿Tengo que contratar a alguien que me ayude? ¿Necesito un defensor de educación especial o necesito un abogado?" Tanto defensores como abogados pueden hacer muchas de las mismas cosas. Ambos pueden negociar con la escuela en su nombre. Ambos pueden escribir cartas en su nombre o ayudarlo a escribirlas, y ambos pueden aconsejarle estrategias para colaborar con la escuela.Pero hay algunas diferencias importantes. Una de ellas es la formación profesional. Los abogados tienen un título en derecho, pero los defensores podrían no tener ninguna formación profesional. Suelen ser padres que han pasado por el proceso de educación especial o quizás conocen el sistema educativo porque solían trabajar en una escuela. Otra diferencia es la forma en que reaccionan las escuelas. Algunas escuelas están dispuestas a trabajar con defensores y dejarlos participar en las reuniones, pero muchas escuelas desconfían de los abogados. Así que si usted lleva a un abogado a una reunión, la escuela también llevará a su abogado. Si usted está buscando un defensor o abogado, tal vez quiera comunicarse con el grupo de padres de educación especial de su distrito escolar. Understood tiene también una lista de preguntas antes de contratar a un defensor o abogado. Voy a agregar el enlace en las notas del programa. [15:59] Puntos clave Bueno, antes de concluir este episodio, voy a resumir algunos puntos importantes. Usted tiene seis opciones principales para resolver una disputa del IEP: negociación, mediación, audiencia de debido proceso, demanda, queja estatal y queja federal de derechos civiles. Si usted está en desacuerdo con los resultados de la evaluación de su hijo, tal vez quiera optar por una evaluación educativa independiente. Si usted está en desacuerdo con los servicios que recibe su hijo, puede solicitar una nueva reunión del IEP y recurrir a estrategias de negociación informales antes de considerar seguir un camino más formal. Si usted está en desacuerdo con un cambio en la colocación de su hijo, puede utilizar sus derechos "stay put" mientras intenta resolver la disputa con la escuela. Y por último, los defensores de educación especial y los abogados pueden hacer algunas de las mismas cosas. Averigüe cuál es el más apropiado para su situación. Bueno, eso es todo por este episodio de "Understood Explica". Espero que también nos acompañe en el próximo episodio en el que hablaremos del IEP para los estudiantes del idioma inglés. Acaba de escuchar un episodio de "Understood Explica el IEP". Esta temporada fue desarrollada en colaboración con UnidosUS, que es la organización de defensa de derechos civiles hispanos más grande de todos los Estados Unidos. ¡Gracias Unidos! Si desea más información sobre los temas que cubrimos hoy, consulte las notas del programa de este episodio. Ahí encontrará más recursos, así como enlaces a los temas mencionados hoy. Understood es una organización sin fines de lucro dedicada a ayudar a las personas que piensan y aprenden de manera diferente a descubrir su potencial y progresar. Conozca más en Understood.org/mission.CréditosUnderstood Explica el IEP fue producido por Julie Rawe y Cody Nelson, con el apoyo en la edición de Daniella Tello-Garzón. Daniella y Elena Andrés estuvieron a cargo de la producción en español.El video fue producido por Calvin Knie y Christoph Manuel, con el apoyo de Denver Milord.La música y mezcla musical estuvieron a cargo de Justin D. Wright.Nuestra directora de producción fue Ilana Millner. Margie DeSantis proporcionó apoyo editorial. Whitney Reynolds estuvo a cargo de la producción en línea.La directora editorial de la Red de Podcast de Understood es Laura Key, el director creativo es Scott Cocchiere y el productor ejecutivo es Seth Melnick.Agradecemos especialmente la ayuda del equipo de expertos, cuyos consejos dieron forma a esta temporada de podcast: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi y Julián Saavedra.
Strengths-based IEPs: What you need to know
Imagine an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that focuses as much on your child’s strengths as it does on your child’s weaknesses. Unfortunately, that’s not the norm for most students yet.In a typical IEP meeting, not much time is given to looking at a child’s strengths. Strengths are covered at the beginning of the meeting, and the rest of the time is focused on deficits.But more and more schools are shifting the focus from deficits to a strengths-based approach. This kind of IEP gives much more weight to a student’s strengths, interests, and preferences. The team not only identifies strengths but leverages them to help address weaknesses.Here’s what you need to know to help develop a strengths-based IEP for your child.What strengths-based IEPs areA strengths-based IEP looks at abilities as well as weaknesses. It looks at what students can do, what the team wants them to do next, and how strengths might be used to set goals to help address a particular need.A strengths-based IEP often boils down to a shift in mindset. Schools have been focused for many years on areas of need because that’s what qualifies kids for IEPs. But by shifting the focus and putting a big emphasis on strengths, this new kind of IEP helps adults — and kids — see that there’s more to these students than their weaknesses.To do this, IEP teams often need to gather more information. This likely means asking students to help identify their strengths, interests, and preferences. Students can also help the team think about how to use these strengths to develop strategies for success. And this process promotes self-awareness and self-advocacy that can help kids in school and beyond.How strengths-based IEPs workThere’s no one way to develop a strengths-based IEP. But here are some common elements and approaches.Use a strengths finder before the IEP meeting. These kinds of student self-assessments can help IEP teams develop a strengths-based IEP. A strengths test not only tells the IEP team about kids’ abilities. It also tells the kids about their own abilities. And these insights can be a guiding force throughout the IEP meeting.Find out if your child’s school already has access to a strengths finder. If not, you and your child’s case manager can look for a free strengths assessment online. (You can also try a fun hands-on activity to help identify your child’s strengths.)Give students a leadership role in IEP meetings. Having students actively participate in parts of the IEP meeting can help in many ways. For example, students can lead the part of the meeting where they share what they discovered about themselves when taking the strengths test.Student involvement in IEP meetings can deepen the discussion about strengths. It can also give kids a sense of ownership when they get to help make decisions about their IEP.Student-led IEPs also underscore the importance of self-awareness. This can help kids think about new ways to develop their strengths and work on their weaknesses.Many parents encourage kids to attend at least the first part of the IEP meeting. This is when the team discusses a student’s strengths, interests, and preferences. Older students are more likely to participate in or lead more parts of the IEP meeting.Reframe the way the IEP team talks about strengths. Too often, IEP teams discuss a student’s strengths by saying things like “What I like about Elana is….” And these kinds of comments can be hard to connect to the rest of the IEP in actionable ways.But IEP teams can reframe the strengths discussion so it focuses on abilities: “What does Elana do well?”The paragraphs in the IEP’s present level of performance are likely to be the first things new teachers read about your child. Emphasizing strengths throughout this section as well as weaknesses not only sets a positive tone. It helps teachers get a better sense of how to help your child move forward.For example, if Elana struggles in math, what does she do well in that subject? Can she work independently? Does she prefer to work in groups? Is she able to use a calculator? Strengths-based IEPs aim to start with a strength for each of the skill sets discussed in this section.Weave strengths into IEP goals. This is the heart of a strengths-based IEP. IEP goals are built around what the student can do and how the team can use that ability to work on an area of weakness.It’s important for IEP goals to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-bound). Incorporating your child’s strengths into SMART goals can make the goals even stronger. It helps kids see how to make progress by leveraging what they’re good at.Here are a few examples of how a strengths-based IEP goal could differ from a SMART goal that isn’t strengths-based:The common goals and the strengths-based goals set the same expectation for student progress. But only the strengths-based goals use the student’s abilities and interests to help chart a path to progress.The potential of strengths-based IEPsStrengths-based IEPs aren’t widely used yet. But as more schools make strides in student-led IEPs and other areas, they may inspire more districts to rewrite their IEP templates. Adjusting these templates can help ensure that strengths are discussed throughout the IEP meeting, not just in the first section.In the meantime, you don’t have to wait for your child’s school to change its IEP template. There’s a lot you can do right now.For starters, you can get answers to common questions about having your child attend IEP meetings. You can also learn more about how to develop SMART IEP goals, and then help steer the IEP team to include strengths in at least a few of your child’s goals. And you can advocate for more teacher training in strengths-based IEPs at your child’s school or in your local district.Explore eight ways to be an effective advocate for your child at school.
- Understood Explica el IEP
El IEP: Cómo el IEP puede ayudar con los problemas de conducta
Conozca las muchas maneras en que el IEP puede ayudar con los problemas de conducta de su hijo y a que progrese en la escuela. ¿Su hijo tiene dificultad para seguir las instrucciones del maestro? ¿Recibe muchas llamadas del director?El IEP puede hacer muchas cosas para ayudar con los problemas de conducta en la escuela.Pero cuando esté averiguando cómo obtener un IEP (Programa de Educación Individualizado) o cómo implementarlo, es posible que escuche nuevos términos como FBA, BIP y determinación de la manifestación.No saber lo que significan esos términos puede ser angustiante. En este episodio de Understood Explica, la presentadora Juliana Urtubey aclarará qué significan y cómo esos apoyos pueden ayudar a su hijo a progresar en la escuela.Marcas de tiempo:[01:16] ¿Mi hijo necesita apoyo conductual en la escuela?[06:11] ¿Mi hijo puede obtener un IEP para el TDAH?[08:07] ¿Qué es una evaluación funcional de la conducta?[09:45] ¿Qué es un plan de intervención conductual?[12:13] ¿Las escuelas pueden disciplinar a los niños que tienen un IEP?[14:07] Puntos claveRecursos relacionados¿Qué es PBIS?Disciplina escolar y los derechos de los niños con un IEP o plan 504Transcripción del episodioJuliana: ¿Su hijo tiene dificultad para seguir las reglas del maestro? ¿Está recibiendo muchas llamadas del director? El IEP puede hacer muchas cosas para ayudar con el comportamiento. Es posible que durante el proceso se encuentre con algunos términos extraños como FBA, que son las siglas de Functional Behavior Assessment y significa evaluación funcional de la conducta. BIP son las siglas de Behavior Intervention Plan y significa plan de intervención de comportamiento y determinación de la manifestación. Pero al final de este episodio ya entenderá lo que significa todo esto y cómo pueden ayudar a su hijo a progresar en la escuela.Desde la Red de Podcast de Understood, esto es "Understood Explica el IEP". En este episodio, vamos a hablar del IEP y la conducta. Soy Juliana Urtubey y soy la presentadora de este podcast. En 2021 fui seleccionada como Maestra Nacional del Año y soy experta en educación especial para estudiantes multilingües. Y les recuerdo que todos los episodios de esta temporada están disponibles en español y en inglés. Bueno, comencemos. [01:16] ¿Mi hijo necesita apoyo conductual en la escuela? ¿Mi hijo necesita apoyo conductual en la escuela? Esta es una pregunta muy importante y como maestra me gustaría que más padres preguntaran esto. Muchas familias tienen una idea un poco anticuada de lo que es la educación especial. Podrían pensar que ayuda principalmente con lo académico o con servicios como la terapia del habla, pero la educación especial puede hacer mucho más. Si su hijo califica para educación especial, el equipo va a personalizar el IEP, o Programa de Educación Individualizado de su hijo. Y este plan puede ayudar con prácticamente cualquier tipo de desafío de conducta. Por ejemplo, cómo comenzar con la tarea, cómo llevarse bien con otros niños o cómo pedir ayuda. Lo importante a tener en cuenta es que el comportamiento es una forma de comunicarse. A menudo los niños tienen dificultad para expresar cómo se sienten o qué necesitan. Y el equipo del IEP puede ayudar a descifrar lo que su hijo está tratando de decir. Así que si se está preguntando si su hijo necesita apoyo conductual, hágase esta pregunta, "¿El comportamiento de mi hijo afecta su aprendizaje o el aprendizaje de otros niños?" Si la respuesta es sí, entonces por ley, el equipo del IEP tiene que considerar formas de abordar esos comportamientos y, en particular, el equipo debe considerar utilizar un sistema llamado PBIS que son las siglas de Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports y significa intervenciones y apoyos conductuales positivos.Voy a incluir un enlace en las notas del programa. Si quieres saber cómo funcionan las intervenciones y apoyos conductuales positivos. Pero la idea principal es que hay una forma positiva de ayudar a los niños que tienen problemas de conducta. En lugar de disciplinarlos, las escuelas les pueden enseñar a comportarse y recompensarlos por cumplir con las expectativas. Y todo esto es realmente importante porque los desafíos de comportamiento pueden obstaculizar el progreso en la escuela. Incluso si parece ser algo sin mucha importancia, como hacer chistes para evitar ponerse a trabajar. Cualquiera que sea el problema de comportamiento, hable con el equipo del IEP al respecto. Juntos, usted y la escuela pueden desarrollar metas del IEP que ayuden a su hijo a aprender cómo reemplazar las conductas inapropiadas. Ahora, al inicio de esta temporada hablamos sobre cómo usar el acrónimo SMART al crear las metas anuales. ¿Se acuerdan? SMART significa que las metas deben ser específicas, medibles, alcanzables, orientadas a resultados y en un tiempo específico. Y el equipo también puede seguir este modelo al desarrollar las metas anuales del comportamiento. Voy a darles un ejemplo de una meta de comportamiento para una niña de quinto grado que tiene dificultad para empezar a trabajar. Podría ser algo como "Para el 1 de junio, cuando se le asigne una tarea o se le dé una indicación, Adriana se pondrá a hacer lo que le pidieron en un lapso no mayor de un minuto y con solo una indicación verbal de parte de algún miembro de la escuela, y logrará completarla en cuatro de cada cinco ocasiones, de acuerdo con lo observado por el maestro o asistente".Este es otro ejemplo. En este caso, es un estudiante de décimo grado que suele interrumpir en clase. "Para el 30 de abril, Julián va a revisar su comportamiento durante una semana y va a esperar que le den la palabra en cinco de siete clases al día, según lo reportado por sus maestros". ¿Qué es lo que nos gusta de estas metas? Que son específicas y medibles. Incluye todo lo que se busca en una meta SMART. Si usted quiere conocer más sobre cómo establecer metas anuales en el IEP de su hijo, le recomiendo escuchar el episodio anterior. Y recuerde, usted es un miembro igualitario del equipo del IEP de su hijo. Así que si usted tiene una idea para una meta de comportamiento, sugiérala. Y si surgen nuevos problemas de comportamiento después de haber terminado de redactar el IEP, siempre puede solicitar otra reunión y proponer que se añadan más metas. No tiene que esperar. Puede solicitar ahora lo que su hijo necesita. [06:11] ¿Mi hijo puede obtener un IEP para el TDAH? ¿Mi hijo puede obtener un IEP para el TDAH? Una pregunta que escucho mucho de los padres es: "¿Puede mi hijo obtener un IEP para el TDAH?" Y la respuesta es sí. La Ley de Educación para Individuos con Discapacidades, conocida en inglés como IDEA, incluye 13 categorías de discapacidad y el TDAH forma parte de una categoría llamada "Otros impedimentos de salud" de los cuales hablamos en el Episodio 5. También hablamos sobre cómo el IEP puede incluir más de una discapacidad. Así que supongamos que su hijo tiene dislexia y TDAH. Es importante que el IEP incluya ambas. Lo más importante a recordar sobre esto es que para calificar para un IEP, la discapacidad tiene que afectar a su hijo lo suficientemente para necesitar enseñanza y apoyos especialmente diseñados para él. Y en el caso del TDAH, podría incluir que aprenda habilidades o estrategias para la organización, el control de impulsos o completar tareas. Pero si los síntomas del TDAH son relativamente leves, es posible que su hijo no califique para un IEP. Y si eso sucede, la escuela podría recomendar un plan 504. Es más fácil calificar para este tipo de apoyo escolar y puede brindar adaptaciones en el aula. Por ejemplo, sentarse cerca del maestro y realizar exámenes en un lugar tranquilo con menos distracciones. Muchos niños con TDAH tienen un IEP. Y muchos niños con TDAH tienen un plan 504. Si quieres saber más sobre las diferencias entre estos tipos de apoyo escolar, les recomiendo escuchar el Episodio 2. [08:07] ¿Qué es una evaluación funcional de la conducta? ¿Qué es una evaluación funcional de la conducta o FBA, por sus siglas en inglés? Si su hijo tiene problemas de comportamiento en la escuela, es probable que escuche este término. Y el objetivo de esta evaluación es descubrir por qué un niño se está comportando de manera disruptiva o desafiante. En el proceso de reunir información, la escuela va a entrevistar al estudiante y a su familia, va a observar al estudiante en clase y va a analizar todos los informes de incidentes de conducta como haber sido enviado a la oficina del director. Es posible que también realicen algunas pruebas adicionales. A veces, las escuelas realizan una evaluación funcional de la conducta como parte del proceso de evaluación para identificar si un niño califica para recibir educación especial. Es posible que la escuela tenga que hacer una evaluación funcional de la conducta cuando el niño ya tiene un IEP si surgen nuevas preocupaciones sobre el comportamiento. Pero los padres o representantes legales también pueden solicitar una evaluación funcional de la conducta, es aconsejable presentar esta solicitud por escrito y guardar una copia para sus registros. Recuerde que el objetivo de una evaluación funcional de la conducta es descubrir qué está causando el comportamiento. Esto ayudará a la escuela a desarrollar un plan de apoyo, que es de lo que vamos a hablar ahora. [09:45] ¿Qué es un plan de intervención de comportamiento? Entonces, ¿qué es un plan de intervención de comportamiento? Es un plan formal por escrito que enseña y recompensa el buen comportamiento. Muchos maestros, como yo lo llaman Bip, pero también podría escuchar que lo llamen BIP. El plan de intervención de comportamiento está diseñado para prevenir conductas que pueden obstaculizar el aprendizaje. Hay tres partes importantes en un BIP. Nombra las conductas problemáticas, describe por qué ocurren e implementa estrategias o apoyos para ayudar. El BIP puede ser excelente para estudiantes que por ejemplo, tienen dificultad para socializar y no saben cómo relacionarse con los demás. Uno de mis exalumnos, a quien vamos a llamar Eduardo, solía golpear a otros niños y los insultaba porque no sabía expresar lo que necesitaba o lo que quería. Así que como parte de su plan de intervención, le enseñé cómo esperar su turno e interactuar con sus compañeros. También hice una gráfica para que Eduardo reflexionara cada día sobre su meta de hablar respetuosamente con los demás. También había espacio en la gráfica para que sus maestros de educación general escribieran sus comentarios. Y todos los días escribíamos una nota breve a su familia para celebrar sus avances. Para ayudarlo a mantenerse motivado, su BIP le permitía ganarse el privilegio de tener actividades especiales. Pero la motivación principal fueron las relaciones positivas que empezó a establecer con sus compañeros. Eduardo avanzó mucho ese año gracias a su BIP y al igual que un IEP, un plan de intervención de comportamiento reúne a todo un equipo de personas que se enfocan en las necesidades de su hijo. Y este enfoque de equipo también puede ayudar a abordar los prejuicios de los maestros. Cuando revisamos los datos a nivel federal, vemos que los estudiantes latinos y negros son disciplinados con más frecuencia que los demás niños. Por eso, si su hijo presenta problemas de conducta, un BIP ayuda a garantizar que su hijo reciba un trato justo y obtenga el apoyo que necesita para progresar en la escuela. [12:13] ¿Las escuelas pueden disciplinar a los niños que tienen un IEP? ¿Las escuelas pueden disciplinar a los niños que tienen un IEP? La respuesta es sí, pero el IEP brinda algunas protecciones si los niños incumplen las reglas de la escuela. Estas protecciones se aplican cuando un niño es suspendido por más de diez días en total, o si hay un patrón de suspender al niño por el mismo comportamiento aunque sean menos de diez días. Si sucede cualquiera de estas cosas, la escuela debe convocar una reunión especial. Se llama determinación de la manifestación. Hay tres cosas que me gustaría que usted sepa sobre esta reunión. Primero, el equipo determinará si el comportamiento es causado por la discapacidad del niño. Si es así, el equipo debe crear un BIP y el niño podrá regresar a la escuela. Por esto, al principio de esta temporada mencioné la importancia de documentar todas las discapacidades de su hijo en el IEP. Segundo, si el equipo determina que el comportamiento fue causado por no seguir el IEP, la escuela tiene que solucionar la situación de inmediato y el niño puede regresar a la escuela. Y tercero, si el equipo determina que el comportamiento no fue causado por la discapacidad del niño, la suspensión puede continuar, pero el niño debe seguir recibiendo los servicios incluidos en su IEP. Por ejemplo, si un niño tiene dislexia, la escuela debe continuar dándole la enseñanza especializada en lectura, incluso mientras esté suspendido. Lo importante a recordar es que la escuela debe averiguar qué causó el comportamiento y buscar formas de resolverlo. Voy a incluir un enlace en las notas del programa por si quiere averiguar más sobre la disciplina escolar y los derechos de los niños con discapacidades. [14:07] Puntos clavesPuntos claves. Bien, antes de terminar quiero resumir lo que aprendimos hoy en algunos puntos claves. El comportamiento es una forma de comunicación y las escuelas pueden examinarlo de cerca para determinar dónde los niños necesitan más apoyo. Los padres pueden pedir al equipo del IEP que incluyan metas anuales de comportamiento. También puede solicitar una evaluación funcional del comportamiento y un plan de intervención de comportamiento. Si suspenden a su hijo, es importante saber qué dice la ley de la educación especial sobre la determinación de la manifestación y cómo se permite disciplinar a los niños con IEP. Muy bien. Eso es todo por este episodio de "Understood Explica". La próxima vez vamos a hablar de cómo resolver disputas sobre el IEP, incluyendo qué hacer si cree que el IEP de su hijo no está funcionando. Acaba de escuchar un episodio de "Understood Explica el IEP". Esta temporada fue desarrollada en colaboración con UnidosUS, que es la organización de defensa de derechos civiles hispanos más grande de todos los Estados Unidos. ¡Gracias Unidos! Si desea más información sobre los temas que cubrimos hoy, consulte las notas del programa de este episodio. Ahí encontrará más recursos, así como enlaces a los temas mencionados hoy. Understood es una organización sin fines de lucro dedicada a ayudar a las personas que piensan y aprenden de manera diferente a descubrir su potencial y progresar. Conozca más en Understood.org/mission. CréditosUnderstood Explica el IEP fue producido por Julie Rawe y Cody Nelson, con el apoyo en la edición de Daniella Tello-Garzón. Daniella y Elena Andrés estuvieron a cargo de la producción en español.El video fue producido por Calvin Knie y Christoph Manuel, con el apoyo de Denver Milord.La música y mezcla musical estuvieron a cargo de Justin D. Wright.Nuestra directora de producción fue Ilana Millner. Margie DeSantis proporcionó apoyo editorial. Whitney Reynolds estuvo a cargo de la producción en línea.La directora editorial de la Red de Podcast de Understood es Laura Key, el director creativo es Scott Cocchiere y el productor ejecutivo es Seth Melnick.Agradecemos especialmente la ayuda del equipo de expertos, cuyos consejos dieron forma a esta temporada de podcast: Shivohn García, Claudia Rinaldi y Julian Saavedra.
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