IEP GOALS FOR TRANSITION TO MIDDLE SCHOOL

[Chris Converse]

We suddenly have our daughter's IEP tomorrow.  We can't postpone because tomorrow is the last day the yearly IEP can be held. 

We hope to get her into a private school next year as she transitions into middle school.  I would like to include some goals that will work with the private school, or at least be tolerable for them. Regardless of whether or not she attends private or public school the need is about the same.

1) How can we write goals that will allow her to only have to complete 50% or 60% and still pass her classes. This would be across the board  to include science, social studies, math, and reading.   Science and social studies both have a lot of reading as well as the math in science.  How can we write goals that address this?

2) Next year our school district is doing away with tier 3 math and totally mainstreaming.  They justify it by putting tier 3 kids into a math lab where they get extra help. That will not work if the material is not understandable in the first place. She is at about 7th percentile so regular 6th grade math will be over head from day one.  How can we write goals and objectives that forces the school district to put her in a tier 3 math class for her main math class besides giving her a math lab?

3) This school district absolutely cannot be trusted.  My daughter's IEP is always in March. This past September we got a PWN that said they were holding a meeting to have my daughter's IEP changed to match what the school was doing which was mainstream her in everything except speech. They held the meeting when they knew I wouldn't be able to attend.  About two years before the IEP team wanted to put my son into 100% behavior support.  After looking at the data, which was excellent, it was determined that he attend his regular classroom in the morning for the first two hours and also during the last hour. The IEP was written and signed by all that he would be in behavior support only 50% of the time or less.  They then rewrote the IEP to change it to put him in behavior support 100% of the time without letting us know. When I found out a few months later (I had trusted they were doing things as we all had originally agreed.) they refused to admit what they did as they had destroyed the original IEP.  I had the only copy which magically disappeared when I was not looking.   We had no recourse. Now you see why we want to get our kids out of the public school system here. 

 

HELP!

[EmilyM]

1. I recommend goals that focus on subject mastery. Fewer but more in depth questions that give her less work to do but allow a demonstration of understanding.

2. I don't know how to make this a goal, but a math lab ain't Tier 3. Take that to your district sped department.

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Wow.  There is a lot to unpack here. Before getting into specific questions, what do you mean by "we suddenly have our daughter's IEP tomorrow"?  Did the school district not give you the required days' notice (should be at least 7 days or longer if your specific state requires it)?  If so, that's their problem, not yours.  You are entitled to the required days' notice.  If that puts them out of compliance, so be it.  They're also out of compliance when they don't provide you with sufficient notice.

1. As for goals, I'm going to assume she has a reading disability and if so, I think accommodations are more what you need than goals (at least for what you're asking about in this question).  First, make sure she has the accommodation of text-to-speech at school and at home so she doesn't have to read so much.  Second, ask for shortened assignments once mastery is shown.  Third, due to her disability, she should only be required to do 1.5 times the amount of homework that her peers are required to do (so if reading takes her a long time, her assignments need to be shortened).  All three of these are accommodations.  And all three are required due to her disability, otherwise it's discrimination (sometimes that word gets their attention).

2. IEP's are Individual Education Program.  They are not a one-size-fits-all.  It doesn't matter what your school has decided to do with respect to other students.  If your daughter needs Tier 3 (I would argue she needs more if she's in the 7th percentile), then that is what she should get.  Data is what drives the goals - not the school's decision to mainstream.  Look at the data for baselines to see what goals should be set.  What concepts in  math does she understand and what does she still need to work on?  If the school's data isn't good, then ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation at no cost to you.  Also, I wouldn't want her in the math lab at all.  You are correct - they will be going over concepts she doesn't understand (and won't be able to understand as long as she's at the 7th percentile), so it will be a waste of time.  She should be getting specialized instruction during that time.

3. Again, IEP's cannot be written to match what the school is doing for other students.  HER data has to show she can be mainstreamed - not just because it is now the school's "policy."  (Speaking of which, I would ask for their written policy on this - I'm guessing it doesn't exist.)  As far as holding an IEP meeting when you can't attend, this is totally contrary to the IDEA, as well as (I assume) your state's rules and regs.  The parent is an integral part of an IEP team and the school district has to make an effort to schedule a meeting at a time the parent can attend.  As to amending the IEP document, they don't have to hold a meeting, but they do have to inform you in a Prior Written Notice.  Finally, as far as destroying the original IEP, that is a violation of so many laws I don't know where to begin.

Action items for you:

1. Do a FERPA request for all your son's school records.  That way you either get the original IEP document or have proof that they don't have it.

2. File a state complaint regarding the fact that the school district did not notify you of the change to the original IEP document.

3. File a state complaint regarding your daughter's IEP process (even if you are going to a private school - this will help other parents who follow you) for both the meeting notice failures and failure to include you in the meeting.

4. Ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation for your daughter's math levels if they refuse to provide her with specialized instruction (a math lab is NOT specialized instruction).

5. Look for an advocate in your state to assist you.  What the school district is doing is wrong, and an advocate might get that turned around.  You could call your state department of education and ask them for suggestions on agencies that provide this service.