IEP Noncompliance

[TN Mom]

As this session draws to a close, students have been asked to review their grades in the Canvas Platform as well as PowerSchool to check for grades and/or missing assignments. Our student completed and submitted the one missing assignment for the class. When I questioned the grade he received, I was told that his clearly stated "any assignment for which he receives <70% can be resubmitted ". There is no ambiguity in that statement, nor an if, then clause. I was simply informed that the assignment was late, and the accommodation did not apply. I asked, in writing, for an explanation as to how the decision of applicability was determined. We've received nothing. Administrators and the state DOE have been contacted, however I am almost certain that there has been a failure to comply. An administrative complaint is an arduous task, however it is not an unfamiliar one. We are pending annual review and the situation is already strained. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

 

 

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[Carolyn Rowlett]

I am struggling a bit to give advice on this matter without seeing the documents.  From what you are sharing, the accommodation addresses the ability to submit another assignment when the grade received on the original work was less than 70%.  It does not address late assignments.  So the school district may be correct that this accommodation does not apply.  Unless your argument is that a late assignment results in 0%, and therefore another assignment should be permitted?  I think for clarity in the future, I would add an accommodation for late assignments/extended time to complete and how grading of late assignments will be handled.  If the student's disability (ADHD?) warrants this accommodation.

As far as this current situation, I think you are doing all that you can do by contacting administration and the DOE.  Make sure "administrators" included the Director of Special Education.  Also, send follow up emails every few days after no response is received.

[TN Mom]

Clarity is exactly what is needed. While each accommodation,  in my opinion,  left little room for ambiguity, I suppose that "a little room" is all that's needed for subjective inference to slip through. 

There is an accommodation for the submission of late assignments for up to two days without penalty...an accommodation that when needed, requires an email message from Mom for it to be applied.  He also has extended time, and a host of others written for the complexities of ASD.

No, I don't want another assignment.  It isn't necessary.  There is a common practice, as the session draws to an end, for the instructors to send out an email or Canvas LMS message requesting that students review their grades, check for and submit missing assignments. This is done without penalty. Well, it has been done without penalty until this point.

The assignment that I speak of was one that he hadn't submitted.  No errors,  however he was docked 50 points. It doesn't change his grade. He has a strong "A" in the course, but that isn't the point. 

Clear and air tight unambiguous is now my mantra....

Thank you for your suggestions. 

[JSD24]

Request a no meet revision to his IEP:  Please change XX's accommodation.  It currently is "any assignment for which he receives <70% can be resubmitted ".  It needs to be "any assignment for which he receives <70% can be resubmitted including assignments that were handed in after their due date".  I was under the impression that "any" included any assignment which would include any late assignment.  I feel the accommodation needs to be clarified.

Feel free to copy what I wrote.  He might still have points taken off due to the assignment being late.  Was this assignment under 70 due to points being taken off because it was late?  This might not help that situation.

[TN Mom]

My apologies for the delay in responding. 

I absolutely appreciate the  clarity suggested in your response and will take the offer to "copy/paste".

The points were deducted because the assignment was turned in late. I should add that at the end of the semester, each instructor sends a notification either by email or through the LIS to "look for and submit any missing assignments ".  There was no caveat stating that these assignments would be subjected to a reduction in points. He already had an "A" in the class, so having him submit the assignment was, in my opinion, an opportunity to  reinforce responsibility. 

What a hornets nest it quickly became.

The final result was my being told that the syllabus statement regarding late assignments superceded the accommodation. 

The specificity provided in how you've worded the accommodation is exactly what I've planned. 

Thank you for your suggestion...

[Carolyn Rowlett]

A statement on a syllabus cannot supersede an accommodation in an IEP.  Any accommodation in an IEP document must be followed regardless of class procedure.