New advocate

[Kaitlyn]

Hello, I am a new advocate and I have my first client. This student is in 7th grade but at a 1st grade level for reading and writing. The student is in resource room for reading and writing. All of subjects she's in Gen ed. The school is "going away with the learning model " and putting her in Gen ed full time with push in services.  
OHI and SLD are the eligibility categories. Student has had an IEP since kindergarten. Any advice for an advocate moving forward with this would be appreciated ! 

[JSD24]

I think you need to ask to see the progress reports for prior years as well as the SDI that has been provided to the student.  It sounds like the remedial intervention through the IEP they have had for 8 years hasn't been helping.

When was the student identified as needing help with reading?  What level were they at back then?  How much progress have they made?  Do they have an intellectual disability that prevents them from being receptive to the special instruction in reading that has been provided?  What has the school been doing?  What are the teacher's certifications and/or qualifications to provide remedial reading services?

It's great that they are changing the SDI in the IEP given that is sounds like they have not responded well to prior intervention.  I would ask to see the evidence/research on this push-in protocol and how it will do a better job with closing the gap between this child's present levels and where classmates are.  Given how far behind they are, the school needs to be doing something different/better to catch this student up.

With the bullying that goes on in the MS grades, I would hesitate to do push-in IEP services.  It could cause this student to become a target where they will start having mental health issues from the bullying in addition to the SLD.

In your shoes, I would also look at how the school is accommodating the student's deficit areas with things like talk to text software and audiobooks.  If these are not in place, they will not have access to general education material.

My gut says that a child who is 6 years behind needs to be placed in a private special education school at public expense because it seems like the school has tried and failed this student.  They need to start making 2 years of progress in reading each year so they can be caught up by the time they graduate.  Given what the school wants to do, my feeling is that this student will drop out and never graduate.  They will not be able to hold very many jobs with reading at this low a level given how important reading is.  Would they even be able to fill out a job application if they don't start making better progress?

[Kaitlyn]

This response is just what I needed. As a very noice advocate I feel this case may be a bit over my head but this is a very common issue I will run into with families so I'm fully investing in this and will try my best. I hope I serve this family well ! Again thank you for your reply. 

[JSD24]

It shouldn't be a common issue unless the school doesn't employ teachers who are trained in Orton-Gillingham based remedial instruction.  I found out there are school districts in my area who fail students by not providing research/evidence based instruction by a properly trained teacher.  If you see it often in a district, it could be worth seeing if a special ed attorney would take this on a contingency.  These sort of cases (with may students not being provided the right services) can also be handled as a class action lawsuit by the ACLU or your state's Ed Law Center (if they have one).  The Arc has also gotten involved in cases like this.