Reading services not being provided

[StephVn]

I am working with a family to ensure their 3rd grade student is receiving the supports she needs to learn how to read. She is dyslexic, and is not reading on grade level. The previous IEP was not done well (which the school admitted to), and progress was not monitored at all last year.

However, the IEP does say that she is to receive 30 minutes 4x per week of "classroom instruction" that is outside general education. (Trust that the next IEP will be more specific.)

The issue at this point is that she hasn't received this "outside general education INSTRUCTION" since, as far as we can tell, November. However, the school is refusing to share actual dates and times she DID receive this service this year. (We literally just asked AGAIN in an email and the response was "we have not refused to provide any information"...while, in fact, refusing to provide the information asked for.) For all of January, we were told that she was pulled out for testing, a teacher was absent, there were snow days, etc. When asked how "testing" accounts for "instruction" we were told that the Special Educator doesn't have time to do both. (Ok, I understand. I've been there. You can't clone yourself. However, this child is now further behind in reading, and is not getting the services on her IEP.) The school is saying that because they provided 3 hours of testing one week, that makes up for an hour another week, etc.

The Special Ed supervisor for the school district is now involved, and is doubling down on the "proctoring testing counts as this OGE instruction time". And we're left with a child falling further behind.

Any suggestions? In the IEP meeting last week, we did not ask for an increase in services- just that she actually receives what actually is on her IEP- and they told us they would have to adjourn the meeting for a time when the supervisor could be there.

[Carolyn Rowlett]

Wow.  For a second there, I thought one of my clients had hired an additional advocate, because this is so eerily similar to a situation I have!

1.  You don't have to wait for "the next IEP" to get more specific language inserted.  An IEP document is fluid and can be amended at any time.  Ghost write and then have your client send the team an email as to how you want the language changed.  It can be done without a meeting, but I'm guessing that won't happen in this case.  lf they refuse, ask for a meeting to discuss the requested change.  If they refuse during the meeting, request that a PWN be sent documenting this refusal.  If a PWN isn't sent (or isn't sufficient), send an email requesting a new one and the reasons why it is insufficient.  (They may refuse this, as well, but at least you now have in documented in YOUR email.)

2.  I don't know what state you're in, but most IEP documents (in addition to the Goals section) will have a specific "box" for number of minutes, as well as location (which should be stated as "in the special education setting"), which should cover your concerns in that area.  However, I agree that you should also make sure the goal states "special education setting" rather than "outside general education."

3.   As far as documentation of minutes, I'll address the "easy" issue first.  Being pulled out for testing does NOT count as instruction time.  Period.  And not having time to do both is not an excuse for not providing instruction required under the IEP - and your state DOE would agree.  Call the compliance division for your state's special education department within the DOE and ask.   Then you can tell the school district that it's not just you stating this - the state agrees with you.  Staffing is tough these days, but have they tried to hire another spec ed teacher?  Have they looked into contracting out the services?  A few weeks of missed instruction might be excused due to staffing issues, but certainly not beyond that.  And even then your client would be entitled to comp minutes.

4.  As far as documentation of minutes overall, YES, the school district MUST be doing this!  How else can they prove they are providing FAPE?  How else can they prove that compensatory minutes are not owed?  If a state complaint were filed asserting failure to provide minutes, the state would request an accounting of minutes provided.  My suggestion would be to send a final email requesting documentation of the minutes and that if not received, they have given you no choice but to file a state complaint.  Then do it.

[JSD24]

Are they willing to say what program or methodology they are using with the OGE instruction?  You want to check out the research on the program they are using because remediating dyslexia should result in the gap closing - not getting bigger.  These programs don't work with every student so if there's no progress, you want to change up what they are doing.  (If what's in the IEP is happening & you aren't getting good results, you need to know so the student is not stuck with ineffective instruction.  If the instruction isn't happening, you can't tell if it will help.)  Does the IEP say who provides this remedial instruction?  Maybe your ask is:  who provides the instruction?  From there, you can see what the provider's credentials are as well as asking the student how often they meet with this person.  I was working with a family where no one in the school district was trained in an O-G based remedial program.  In other words, there was no way to provide an IEP for SLD in reading because they employed no one trained to do this.  District has 2100 students so not very big.

If going up the chain of command doesn't help, filing a state complaint is the next step.

[StephVn]

6 hours ago, Carolyn Rowlett said:

Wow.  For a second there, I thought one of my clients had hired an additional advocate, because this is so eerily similar to a situation I have!

1.  You don't have to wait for "the next IEP" to get more specific language inserted.  An IEP document is fluid and can be amended at any time.  Ghost write and then have your client send the team an email as to how you want the language changed.  It can be done without a meeting, but I'm guessing that won't happen in this case.  lf they refuse, ask for a meeting to discuss the requested change.  If they refuse during the meeting, request that a PWN be sent documenting this refusal.  If a PWN isn't sent (or isn't sufficient), send an email requesting a new one and the reasons why it is insufficient.  (They may refuse this, as well, but at least you now have in documented in YOUR email.)

2.  I don't know what state you're in, but most IEP documents (in addition to the Goals section) will have a specific "box" for number of minutes, as well as location (which should be stated as "in the special education setting"), which should cover your concerns in that area.  However, I agree that you should also make sure the goal states "special education setting" rather than "outside general education."

3.   As far as documentation of minutes, I'll address the "easy" issue first.  Being pulled out for testing does NOT count as instruction time.  Period.  And not having time to do both is not an excuse for not providing instruction required under the IEP - and your state DOE would agree.  Call the compliance division for your state's special education department within the DOE and ask.   Then you can tell the school district that it's not just you stating this - the state agrees with you.  Staffing is tough these days, but have they tried to hire another spec ed teacher?  Have they looked into contracting out the services?  A few weeks of missed instruction might be excused due to staffing issues, but certainly not beyond that.  And even then your client would be entitled to comp minutes.

4.  As far as documentation of minutes overall, YES, the school district MUST be doing this!  How else can they prove they are providing FAPE?  How else can they prove that compensatory minutes are not owed?  If a state complaint were filed asserting failure to provide minutes, the state would request an accounting of minutes provided.  My suggestion would be to send a final email requesting documentation of the minutes and that if not received, they have given you no choice but to file a state complaint.  Then do it.

Thanks! This is all exactly what I was thinking, but they have been pushing back so hard I wanted to be 100% sure.

[StephVn]

1 hour ago, JSD24 said:

Are they willing to say what program or methodology they are using with the OGE instruction?  You want to check out the research on the program they are using because remediating dyslexia should result in the gap closing - not getting bigger.  These programs don't work with every student so if there's no progress, you want to change up what they are doing.  (If what's in the IEP is happening & you aren't getting good results, you need to know so the student is not stuck with ineffective instruction.  If the instruction isn't happening, you can't tell if it will help.)  Does the IEP say who provides this remedial instruction?  Maybe your ask is:  who provides the instruction?  From there, you can see what the provider's credentials are as well as asking the student how often they meet with this person.  I was working with a family where no one in the school district was trained in an O-G based remedial program.  In other words, there was no way to provide an IEP for SLD in reading because they employed no one trained to do this.  District has 2100 students so not very big.

If going up the chain of command doesn't help, filing a state complaint is the next step.

The previous IEP (which I was not involved in at all) is very vague with literally everything. I'm insisting on much more explicit language in this one. The Special Educator is OG trained. But it's not particularly helpful if she's not getting the instruction...

[JSD24]

Asking for 'parent training' so home and school are on the same page & working together can help you find out what the school is doing as well as making the parent more helpful at home.

The school needs to follow the IEP.  (Problem is that Tier 1 leaves too many students needing help.  Not enough 'extra help' to go around for everyone who needs that.  This seems to be an issue in too many schools.)