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Health & Fitness

A Parent's Guide to Special Education in the Public Schools

Written By: Elissa Murnick M.S. CCC-SLP Certified Speech Language Pathologist, Director Murnick Speech & Language Associates

Special Education Services are available to children in the Public Schools who meet the designated criteria. The Public Schools can be a fantastic resource for parents of children in need. The Special Education Department in a Public School strives to work collaboratively to ensure that all of a child’s needs are met. This team includes the child’s parents, classroom teacher as well as all of the professionals that service the child. When an individual child is struggling academically, it is the responsibility of the school to determine the cause of the child’s struggle and provide assistance when appropriate. This article describes the Special Education process in its entirety. Keep in mind that the timeline and steps to the process may vary depending on the school district that is assigned to the individual child.

Steps for the Initial Referral:

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A child’s parent or classroom teacher will make a referral to the Special Education Department to further assess whether or not a child is eligible to receive additional services and accommodations  

·Typically, the classroom teacher needs to demonstrate to the team that certain interventions have taken place to try to assist the child in the academic areas he/she has struggled in. Data should be provided to prove that despite the interventions that have taken place, limited progress has been made

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· Often the Special Education Teacher can pull the child for Early Intervention Services in the academic area(s) of difficulty and document progress that is made.

To view additional steps for the initial referral, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

Steps for the Evaluation Process:

·At the Planning and Placement Team Meeting (PPT), the professionals that service the child will provide the child’s parents with documentation of progress and work samples. The parents have the opportunity to share insight into their observations of their child’s struggles at home and their attitude towards school. They can share any information and any evaluation reports provided by outside professionals.

· A copy of the Procedural Safeguards should be provided to the parents which outlines a parent’s rights related to Special Education in the schools.

· Parents may ask any questions they have about a child’s progress and share other concerns they may have about the child’s performance at school or behavior at home

To view additional steps for the evaluation process, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

Reviewing Evaluation Results:

· During the next PPT meeting, the professionals who evaluated the child will provide the parents with copies of each of their comprehensive reports and present to the parents detailed results of each of their evaluations. Parents are permitted to ask any questions they may have. Copies of the reports will be placed in the child’s academic file as well. Parents have the right to request a report up to 5 days prior to the PPT meeting. 

· Collaboratively as a team, with the parents being an active member, it is determined whether or not a child meets eligibility criteria to receive Special Education services and the main area of qualification will be designated (i.e. Speech Language Impairment, Learning Disability, Other Health Impaired, etc.) A child may be eligible to receive other services outside of the primary area as a related service. Eligibility is determined based on standard scores from standardized assessments (which compares performance to other children of the same age nationwide) as well as from informal measures such as parent/teacher checklists, structured classroom observations or observations during testing. The disability must adversely impact the child’s educational performance.

· If a child does not qualify for Special Education, it will be determined if it is still appropriate for the child to receive Early Intervention Services.

To view additional steps for reviewing evaluation results, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

 The Special Education Program:

· The professionals that service the child should collaborate with the classroom teacher to determine the optimal time to pull-out the child for services or to deliver the push-in support.  Typically a child is not allowed to be pulled out during specials (i.e. PE), recess or lunch. An exception to this rule are children who are seen for social skills groups “lunch bunch and are pulled with other children while eating their lunch. Children are typically seen in a small group with other children of similar age that are focusing on similar objectives. The classroom teacher will be provided with a copy of the child’s IEP as well.

·Progress notes will be sent home periodically in conjunction with report cards to provide the parents with periodic updates.

· Homework may be given by the individual professionals that service the child to help carryover goals targeted in sessions.

 To view additional steps for the Special Education Program, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

 The Re-evaluation Process:

· Every three years, a child receiving Special Education Services is mandated to receive a Triennial Review in which he/she will be re-evaluated to determine progress and continued eligibility.

· An additional PPT will be held to plan a child’s re-evaluation and similar to the initial process, the tests that will be utilized will be put into the plan. A parent will sign an additional consent form. It is often recommended that the initial tests that were chosen are repeated, if appropriate to enable an accurate determination of progress.

· Another PPT will be held to review the re-evaluation results. Reports will be provided and results will be reviewed. If it is determined that a child still qualifies to receive Special Education Services, new goals and objectives will be developed. Additional services may be recommended at this time as well as the possibility of elimination of individual services. (i.e. A child may no longer qualify to receive Occupational Therapy Services but still receive Speech Therapy Services) Service times, frequency and delivery may also be altered.

To view additional steps for the re-evaluation process, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

 Common Questions From Parents:  

· What subjects will my child miss while he/she is being pulled out for services and how will the work be made up?

·  Can homework be modified for my child?

· How often should I be practicing my child’s skills at home?

To view additional questions from parents, please visit Special Education Process on my website.

Elissa Murnick is a licensed, certified Speech Language Pathologist and the owner of Murnick Speech & Language Associates in Fairfield, CT. She has worked for almost 15 years with children of all ages with a wide range of speech and language disorders in a public and private school setting as well as private practice. For more information about scheduling an evaluation visit Murnick Speech & Language Associates on the web at www.murnickspeechandlanguage.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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