Hey guys
The weather is looking scary...I hope you all stay safe and warm this weekend!
As many of you know I am working toward Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) status. I am learning so much. I wanted to share some of that with you today.
I know many times we see behavior occur and think "why is that child doing that?". Well I found some answers for you! This comes from Andrew Davis B.Sc.HJM.ADS, Geneva Centre for Autism-www.autism.net.
There are 4 main functions of behavior...
1. Sensory:
What it does for the child--Provides preferred sensory experiences: behavior feels good to do!
When does it happen--Anytime, even when alone. Especially if the child is anxious.
2. Escape:
What it does for the child--Removes undesired activities or interactions.
When does it happen--When a task is too hard, easy, boring or scary.
3. Attention:
What it does for the child--Provides access to people or interactions.
When does it happen--When the child wants social interaction.
4. Tangibles:
What it does for the child--Provides preferred items or activities.
When does it happen--When the child wants a preferred item or activity.
I know this doesn't answer the all important question of what to do about negative behavior, but if we begin to analyze what is at the root of the behavior, we can make plans to put changes into place. Keep in mind our students are going to provide us with the behavior that most efficiently gets them the reinforcer they have in mind, whether it be a cookie or simply to get out of doing a math sheet.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
wow
Hey guys
Wow! Lots of interesting stuff happening in Special Education these days. As you may have heard, we are going to have MORE forms changes! I think these will be very positive as they will be eliminating a lot of the redundancy on the current forms. Forms being revised at this time are: Evaluation Programming Conference Decision Form, Informed Consent, Existing Data Review and Committee Report for SLD.
Westside will be piloting these forms, so that means we will have the inside scoop on the changes. I will let you guys know as I get new information. I believe training is the first part of December (for me).
Westside's monitoring went well. I have a powerpoint for training. I will forward it to everyone very soon. Basically, be sure to check all your boxes, make your PLOP and Impact statement SPECIFIC to the standard on the goal and never copy/paste from the Student Profile or from one goal to the next.
It was a great monitoring! Way to go Westside.
Today I wanted to bring to your attention one of the other major monitoring ideas: meaningful parent participation.
In Doug C. v. Hawaii Dep't of Educ., No. 12-15079, 2013 WL 2631518 (9th Cir. 6/13/13) the concept of meaningful participation was put to the test. The parent was sick during IEP meeting and asked to reschedule. A meeting by phone or online was offered, however the parent felt they were too sick to participate in either of those capacities. The meeting was convened in the parent's absence and the student's placement was changed. Later, the parent rejected the IEP in its entirety. As you may expect, the parent won this argument.
Parent participation in IEP and the placement process is considered "critical". For this reason, Districts are charged with documenting all efforts to accommodate and include parents in IEP meetings. Deadlines are not an excuse to meet without the parent. If the parent wishes to attend the meeting, the parent's potential ability to participate takes priority. The court determined the District must make "a reasonable determination of the course that promotes IDEA purposes and is least likely to harm the child" when meeting deadlines and lack of parental participation are in conflict.
Remember new rules regarding Notice: 14 day notice for every conference. If you have not heard back from the parent on day 7, send another notice. If the parent does not come on the scheduled day, do another 7 day notice. If the parent does not attend, at least one notice must be sent certified. Please continue during the process to call parents, make arrangements for phone conferences, home visits, whatever is necessary.
Please continue to make every effort to meet with parents regarding placement, programming and all other due process matters. Document all efforts.
Thanks for all your hard work, guys! I hope the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful for you all!
CK
Wow! Lots of interesting stuff happening in Special Education these days. As you may have heard, we are going to have MORE forms changes! I think these will be very positive as they will be eliminating a lot of the redundancy on the current forms. Forms being revised at this time are: Evaluation Programming Conference Decision Form, Informed Consent, Existing Data Review and Committee Report for SLD.
Westside will be piloting these forms, so that means we will have the inside scoop on the changes. I will let you guys know as I get new information. I believe training is the first part of December (for me).
Westside's monitoring went well. I have a powerpoint for training. I will forward it to everyone very soon. Basically, be sure to check all your boxes, make your PLOP and Impact statement SPECIFIC to the standard on the goal and never copy/paste from the Student Profile or from one goal to the next.
It was a great monitoring! Way to go Westside.
Today I wanted to bring to your attention one of the other major monitoring ideas: meaningful parent participation.
In Doug C. v. Hawaii Dep't of Educ., No. 12-15079, 2013 WL 2631518 (9th Cir. 6/13/13) the concept of meaningful participation was put to the test. The parent was sick during IEP meeting and asked to reschedule. A meeting by phone or online was offered, however the parent felt they were too sick to participate in either of those capacities. The meeting was convened in the parent's absence and the student's placement was changed. Later, the parent rejected the IEP in its entirety. As you may expect, the parent won this argument.
Parent participation in IEP and the placement process is considered "critical". For this reason, Districts are charged with documenting all efforts to accommodate and include parents in IEP meetings. Deadlines are not an excuse to meet without the parent. If the parent wishes to attend the meeting, the parent's potential ability to participate takes priority. The court determined the District must make "a reasonable determination of the course that promotes IDEA purposes and is least likely to harm the child" when meeting deadlines and lack of parental participation are in conflict.
Remember new rules regarding Notice: 14 day notice for every conference. If you have not heard back from the parent on day 7, send another notice. If the parent does not come on the scheduled day, do another 7 day notice. If the parent does not attend, at least one notice must be sent certified. Please continue during the process to call parents, make arrangements for phone conferences, home visits, whatever is necessary.
Please continue to make every effort to meet with parents regarding placement, programming and all other due process matters. Document all efforts.
Thanks for all your hard work, guys! I hope the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is wonderful for you all!
CK
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Long time no see!
Hey guys
No I have not dropped off the face of the earth! As many of you know, Westside is due for monitoring this month, so I am spending lots of time with them. If you need me, I am only a phone call, text or email away.
Today I wanted to drop you a quick note about behavior problems. I know this is a subject that is on all our minds. I think behavior tops my number one list of frequently asked question topics. It seems like it gets worse and worse every year. I'm not sure what the cause is, but I do know we are going to have to work smarter to get ahead of it.
With some of the kiddos I see, we are constantly in a reactive mode. Trying to deal with behavior that has already happened. I'm telling you, if we get to this point, we have already failed. Our concentration needs to be on figuring out what causes the behavior and preventing it. The kids we are dealing with daily on behavior do not seem to have many coping mechanisms. I'm currently reading RTI and Behavior: A guide to Integrating Behavioral and Academic Supports by Jefferey Sprague, et al. One of the most important topics in this book is the impact data-based decision making can have. If we put in the time before hand, maybe we can see some of these growing behavioral issues decrease.
If you're getting fed up with constantly having to react to behavior, let's get together and see what we can come up with. I'm sure we can make some long-lasting changes if we combine our efforts!
Have a great week!
Carla
No I have not dropped off the face of the earth! As many of you know, Westside is due for monitoring this month, so I am spending lots of time with them. If you need me, I am only a phone call, text or email away.
Today I wanted to drop you a quick note about behavior problems. I know this is a subject that is on all our minds. I think behavior tops my number one list of frequently asked question topics. It seems like it gets worse and worse every year. I'm not sure what the cause is, but I do know we are going to have to work smarter to get ahead of it.
With some of the kiddos I see, we are constantly in a reactive mode. Trying to deal with behavior that has already happened. I'm telling you, if we get to this point, we have already failed. Our concentration needs to be on figuring out what causes the behavior and preventing it. The kids we are dealing with daily on behavior do not seem to have many coping mechanisms. I'm currently reading RTI and Behavior: A guide to Integrating Behavioral and Academic Supports by Jefferey Sprague, et al. One of the most important topics in this book is the impact data-based decision making can have. If we put in the time before hand, maybe we can see some of these growing behavioral issues decrease.
If you're getting fed up with constantly having to react to behavior, let's get together and see what we can come up with. I'm sure we can make some long-lasting changes if we combine our efforts!
Have a great week!
Carla
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Related Service information!
Good Morning!!!
I just wanted to clarify for you the circumstances in which the District is responsible for payment for PT and OT services.
PT and OT are only payable by the school IF the service is listed in the related services section of the IEP. The PT/OT should have provided goals for us. The services should be referenced on the 2nd page of the IEP (student profile) and on the Evaluation Programming Conference Form (p.1 under related services and p.2 in adverse affect AND programming recommendations).
The student will ONLY qualify for PT and OT to be a related service on the IEP IF the child needs the service in order to provide FAPE (access educational opportunity).
If you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to call me!
Have a wonderful day!
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Dyslexia and Autism
Hey everyone!
I hope you are enjoying your first week back. I know you are learning all kinds of wonderful things in your inservice week!
In my reading this week, I came across two very interesting things...
1) A New York case that has worked its way all the way through the US Court of Appeals:
A District was found to be in denial of FAPE because services they claimed to be providing were not listed in the IEP. I know I say it all the time, but it is so true. If it isn't written down, it isn't happening. Please review your IEP's, especially those for children with Autism, to be sure they would stand up in court or under an attorney's scrutiny. Be sure to give yourselves credit for all the wonderful things you are doing in the classroom.
This child was not receiving 1:1 ABA therapy. I know we provide ABA to all our children with Autism. Please be sure this is listed in their IEP's.
2) Arkansas Dyslexia Law Act 1294 S.B. 33. Arkansas Statutes Sections 6-40-101-102
The Act requires districts to screen all kindergarten through grade two students for dyslexia. This will be done using DIBELS. Also, all out of state transfer students will be screened and when a child grade 3 or higher is struggling with phonological and/or phonemic awareness, sound symbol recognition, the alphabet, decoding, rapid naming skills or encoding.
The law further requires if a student's screening shows markers for dyslexia, RTI must be used to meet the student's needs. If RTI further indicates the presence of dyslexia, an evaluation is to be ordered. If a student is found to have Dyslexia, therapeutic services are to be delivered.
If you guys need any help in the upcoming weeks, please call on me. I am always available.
I hope you are enjoying your first week back. I know you are learning all kinds of wonderful things in your inservice week!
In my reading this week, I came across two very interesting things...
1) A New York case that has worked its way all the way through the US Court of Appeals:
A District was found to be in denial of FAPE because services they claimed to be providing were not listed in the IEP. I know I say it all the time, but it is so true. If it isn't written down, it isn't happening. Please review your IEP's, especially those for children with Autism, to be sure they would stand up in court or under an attorney's scrutiny. Be sure to give yourselves credit for all the wonderful things you are doing in the classroom.
This child was not receiving 1:1 ABA therapy. I know we provide ABA to all our children with Autism. Please be sure this is listed in their IEP's.
2) Arkansas Dyslexia Law Act 1294 S.B. 33. Arkansas Statutes Sections 6-40-101-102
The Act requires districts to screen all kindergarten through grade two students for dyslexia. This will be done using DIBELS. Also, all out of state transfer students will be screened and when a child grade 3 or higher is struggling with phonological and/or phonemic awareness, sound symbol recognition, the alphabet, decoding, rapid naming skills or encoding.
The law further requires if a student's screening shows markers for dyslexia, RTI must be used to meet the student's needs. If RTI further indicates the presence of dyslexia, an evaluation is to be ordered. If a student is found to have Dyslexia, therapeutic services are to be delivered.
If you guys need any help in the upcoming weeks, please call on me. I am always available.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Welcome back!
Hey everyone!
This is your official welcome back note! This summer flew by.
I'm sorry I didn't get to see you all on the 5th. There were some scheduling conflicts. If you have specific questions regarding the Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses (Cross Battery Assessment) approach to determining SLD please contact Lori or Nichole to fill you in on their latest training. We will be implementing this method this Fall and we are very excited!
I will be checking folders each time I come to your building. Please let me know if you have specific folders you want me to check first.
I missed you guys!
This is your official welcome back note! This summer flew by.
I'm sorry I didn't get to see you all on the 5th. There were some scheduling conflicts. If you have specific questions regarding the Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses (Cross Battery Assessment) approach to determining SLD please contact Lori or Nichole to fill you in on their latest training. We will be implementing this method this Fall and we are very excited!
I will be checking folders each time I come to your building. Please let me know if you have specific folders you want me to check first.
I missed you guys!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Hey all!
Hope you are having a wonderful week after testing! Things are heating up and moving so quickly it's hard to keep my head above water these days. If I haven't seen you in a while, please forgive me. If you need me, please call or email me.
Big things in the Special Education World. Arkansas SB 33 To Ensure That Children With Dyslexia Have Their Needs Met By The Public School System was delivered to the governor 04/12/13 and is now Act 1294. I encourage you to read the text of the law and to be sure we are ready for what is coming. I feel like we have an amazing head start on this next chapter of Arkansas Education, but I want you to all feel prepared.
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2013/2013R/Acts/Act1294.pdf
There have been/will be a lot of changes in this legislative session. I hope this one has a very positive impact on our students. It's really kind of exciting! If you would like additional training on dyslexia interventions/treatments, please let me know and we will work together to find you some. I have heard The Apple Group is offering additional training this summer to help meet some of this growing need.
Here is contact and training info. If you are interested, call Cherry or Mary Margaret and get more details and then let me know. :)
http://theapplegroupfordyslexia.org/info/events.php
Have a great week you guys!
Hope you are having a wonderful week after testing! Things are heating up and moving so quickly it's hard to keep my head above water these days. If I haven't seen you in a while, please forgive me. If you need me, please call or email me.
Big things in the Special Education World. Arkansas SB 33 To Ensure That Children With Dyslexia Have Their Needs Met By The Public School System was delivered to the governor 04/12/13 and is now Act 1294. I encourage you to read the text of the law and to be sure we are ready for what is coming. I feel like we have an amazing head start on this next chapter of Arkansas Education, but I want you to all feel prepared.
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2013/2013R/Acts/Act1294.pdf
There have been/will be a lot of changes in this legislative session. I hope this one has a very positive impact on our students. It's really kind of exciting! If you would like additional training on dyslexia interventions/treatments, please let me know and we will work together to find you some. I have heard The Apple Group is offering additional training this summer to help meet some of this growing need.
Here is contact and training info. If you are interested, call Cherry or Mary Margaret and get more details and then let me know. :)
http://theapplegroupfordyslexia.org/info/events.php
Have a great week you guys!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Hey guys
Happy Benchmark Week! I hope it goes quickly and painlessly for you all.
I know the next thing on the agenda is Annual Review. Please review and print the previous blog regarding those fun events. Send me your annual review schedule if you think of it. I'd like to attend some! If there are special cases you NEED me to attend, I'll be glad to. Let me know quickly so I can get them on my calendar.
Please remember to bubble the LEA and building number on your parent surveys and get them ALL completed. We need 100% participation on this. If you run out of forms you can access the form online while the parent is there and they can complete it via internet
https://arksped.k12.ar.us/applications/Surveys/FamilySurveyLogin.aspx
This is the web address for the survey. You can call special education department at ADE (501) 682-4225 for the user id and password.
I know the end of the year is crazy, but we are in the home stretch now. If you need me, you know where I am!
Carla
Happy Benchmark Week! I hope it goes quickly and painlessly for you all.
I know the next thing on the agenda is Annual Review. Please review and print the previous blog regarding those fun events. Send me your annual review schedule if you think of it. I'd like to attend some! If there are special cases you NEED me to attend, I'll be glad to. Let me know quickly so I can get them on my calendar.
Please remember to bubble the LEA and building number on your parent surveys and get them ALL completed. We need 100% participation on this. If you run out of forms you can access the form online while the parent is there and they can complete it via internet
https://arksped.k12.ar.us/applications/Surveys/FamilySurveyLogin.aspx
This is the web address for the survey. You can call special education department at ADE (501) 682-4225 for the user id and password.
I know the end of the year is crazy, but we are in the home stretch now. If you need me, you know where I am!
Carla
Monday, March 11, 2013
Hey guys!
It's annual review time!!! I can't believe it's already almost here! I will be bringing parent surveys to you asap, so be sure to have all of them filled out. We need 100% participation in this please!
Here are a few things to remember when doing Annual Reviews:
1) Remember to put as much information on the Annual Review form as possible. The monitors want to be able to KNOW the child after reading that form and the PLAAFP.
2) I f a child is placed under a disability category that requires an adaptive/behavioral deficit, do NOT say the child has normal adaptive skills on the Annual Review form (even if the child is speech only). Refer back to the Evaluation Programming Conference Decision form or the Adaptive protocol if you need help. Also, use the information you get from the regular education teachers on the Classroom Based Assessment for this purpose. Look at the WHOLE child.
3) Send out the Classroom Based Assessments to regular education teachers quickly if you have not already done so. This is a very busy time of year for them and they will need time to complete these forms thoughtfully. Review the forms with them when completed to be sure you have all the information you need.
4) Be sure to state on the bottom of the Annual Review form the programming recommendations for the next school year (what the IEP says). Do not leave out SBMH, OT, PT, Speech, Transportation, etc...) if these are related services.
5) Be sure to invite OT, PT, Speech, SBMH, nurse or any other necessary related service personnel to the conference. If the party cannot attend, an excusal form must be completed and signed by the parent, AND the party MUST provide a written statement of their input to place in the folder.
6) If you can only reach the parent by phone, do not just state they could not come to conference, GET some input from them while they are on the phone and document this. We have to prove the parents had MEANINGFUL input in decision making.
7) If you have students who qualify for ESY by regression, severity, etc... but you do not wish to provide the service, let me know. It's not ethical to state students do not need services just because we personally do not wish to work in the summer. We can try to find someone to do it. On the other hand, if you want to work the summer, please let me know...just in case we need you. ESY does not cost the school anything. The department reimburses the school for your summer pay. Just get with me prior to offering services so we can discuss particulars. There are rules regarding how much time we can offer students in the summer. Don't state on the form the child did not show regression so they don't qualify for ESY. Regression is NOT the only factor in determining a child's ESY eligibility. Please review the ENTIRE checklist. If you are doing ESY, do not forget to complete the ESY summary report (2 pages) on SEAS. Fax these to me when complete.
8) When constructing the new IEP, remember Benchmark accommodations MUST be daily modifications. If a student is portfolio assessed 3-8, 11-- please have the student's parent sign the Special Factors Page.Lets try to all use READ ALOUD this year on IEP's where it is necessary. I know we have been told several ways to do this, but at this time it seems to be the most acceptable wording for this mod.
9) Remember everyone gets goals AND objectives this year.
10) The PLAAFP page of the IEP is EXTREMELY important. The monitors want to be able to pick up this page (with annual review and PLOP on goals) and create a lesson plan for the child. Make sure yours pass that test. Tell what the student CAN and CANNOT do (specific skills) relating to the common core standards. Look to the unpacked standards referred to in an earlier blog if you are having trouble with this. Be sure to include the most recently available Statewide Assessment scores. Be sure and include adaptive deficits on this page...we are not just looking at academics or speech language errors. Remember to program for the WHOLE CHILD.
11) Be sure to include Behavior plans for students with any disability category that requires a behavioral component in order to qualify, (OHI for ADHD, ED, AU, etc...). When we are looking at changing behavior, we are not necessarily discussing DISCIPLINE. Only a behavior that is negatively impacting social, academic or developmental achievement.
12) Review your reevaluations...make sure all are current prior to Annual Review. If something isn't right you may need to flag these for fall testing as the referral deadline is the Friday before spring break.
13) Remember to PRE and POST test your students each year. I will be looking for this information as I check folders. It's necessary to show this growth on AR form and PLAAFP.
14) Do NOT hand write notices or IEP's. Some handwriting may be necessary on certain pages, but handwriting entire documents as a rule will be reported to principals. The monitors HATE it and it just looks bad.
Lastly and most importantly:
The IEP is written IN the Annual Review BY the committee. You may carry in a DRAFT of an IEP, however be sure it is marked clearly as a draft and point out to parents it is NOT a final product. Parents must have MEANINGFUL participation in the development of the program. The IEP MUST be completed in the committee meeting. I have heard rumors of back pages being signed with no actual IEP being completed. I hope this is not happening in our schools as it is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
That's plenty for today. Please let me know if you have questions, concerns or if I can help you in any way! I'm here for you!!!
Have a fantastic spring break next week!!!
It's annual review time!!! I can't believe it's already almost here! I will be bringing parent surveys to you asap, so be sure to have all of them filled out. We need 100% participation in this please!
Here are a few things to remember when doing Annual Reviews:
1) Remember to put as much information on the Annual Review form as possible. The monitors want to be able to KNOW the child after reading that form and the PLAAFP.
2) I f a child is placed under a disability category that requires an adaptive/behavioral deficit, do NOT say the child has normal adaptive skills on the Annual Review form (even if the child is speech only). Refer back to the Evaluation Programming Conference Decision form or the Adaptive protocol if you need help. Also, use the information you get from the regular education teachers on the Classroom Based Assessment for this purpose. Look at the WHOLE child.
3) Send out the Classroom Based Assessments to regular education teachers quickly if you have not already done so. This is a very busy time of year for them and they will need time to complete these forms thoughtfully. Review the forms with them when completed to be sure you have all the information you need.
4) Be sure to state on the bottom of the Annual Review form the programming recommendations for the next school year (what the IEP says). Do not leave out SBMH, OT, PT, Speech, Transportation, etc...) if these are related services.
5) Be sure to invite OT, PT, Speech, SBMH, nurse or any other necessary related service personnel to the conference. If the party cannot attend, an excusal form must be completed and signed by the parent, AND the party MUST provide a written statement of their input to place in the folder.
6) If you can only reach the parent by phone, do not just state they could not come to conference, GET some input from them while they are on the phone and document this. We have to prove the parents had MEANINGFUL input in decision making.
7) If you have students who qualify for ESY by regression, severity, etc... but you do not wish to provide the service, let me know. It's not ethical to state students do not need services just because we personally do not wish to work in the summer. We can try to find someone to do it. On the other hand, if you want to work the summer, please let me know...just in case we need you. ESY does not cost the school anything. The department reimburses the school for your summer pay. Just get with me prior to offering services so we can discuss particulars. There are rules regarding how much time we can offer students in the summer. Don't state on the form the child did not show regression so they don't qualify for ESY. Regression is NOT the only factor in determining a child's ESY eligibility. Please review the ENTIRE checklist. If you are doing ESY, do not forget to complete the ESY summary report (2 pages) on SEAS. Fax these to me when complete.
8) When constructing the new IEP, remember Benchmark accommodations MUST be daily modifications. If a student is portfolio assessed 3-8, 11-- please have the student's parent sign the Special Factors Page.Lets try to all use READ ALOUD this year on IEP's where it is necessary. I know we have been told several ways to do this, but at this time it seems to be the most acceptable wording for this mod.
9) Remember everyone gets goals AND objectives this year.
10) The PLAAFP page of the IEP is EXTREMELY important. The monitors want to be able to pick up this page (with annual review and PLOP on goals) and create a lesson plan for the child. Make sure yours pass that test. Tell what the student CAN and CANNOT do (specific skills) relating to the common core standards. Look to the unpacked standards referred to in an earlier blog if you are having trouble with this. Be sure to include the most recently available Statewide Assessment scores. Be sure and include adaptive deficits on this page...we are not just looking at academics or speech language errors. Remember to program for the WHOLE CHILD.
11) Be sure to include Behavior plans for students with any disability category that requires a behavioral component in order to qualify, (OHI for ADHD, ED, AU, etc...). When we are looking at changing behavior, we are not necessarily discussing DISCIPLINE. Only a behavior that is negatively impacting social, academic or developmental achievement.
12) Review your reevaluations...make sure all are current prior to Annual Review. If something isn't right you may need to flag these for fall testing as the referral deadline is the Friday before spring break.
13) Remember to PRE and POST test your students each year. I will be looking for this information as I check folders. It's necessary to show this growth on AR form and PLAAFP.
14) Do NOT hand write notices or IEP's. Some handwriting may be necessary on certain pages, but handwriting entire documents as a rule will be reported to principals. The monitors HATE it and it just looks bad.
Lastly and most importantly:
The IEP is written IN the Annual Review BY the committee. You may carry in a DRAFT of an IEP, however be sure it is marked clearly as a draft and point out to parents it is NOT a final product. Parents must have MEANINGFUL participation in the development of the program. The IEP MUST be completed in the committee meeting. I have heard rumors of back pages being signed with no actual IEP being completed. I hope this is not happening in our schools as it is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
That's plenty for today. Please let me know if you have questions, concerns or if I can help you in any way! I'm here for you!!!
Have a fantastic spring break next week!!!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Transition
Hey guys
Glad we are all back again! Don't forget the Big G's Little g's conference on January 15...I'll make sure you guys get back before half day is up so you will only have to have a sub half day. :)
Today I'd like to talk about Transition...go ahead and tune out Elementary teachers!
Teresa Hendrix is our Transition Consultant from the state department. She is wonderful and always available to answer questions. Her email is thendrix@crmail.k12.ar.us if you'd like to reach her.
Teresa came to Riverside HS and talked with teachers before the break. She was extremely helpful and I think we all walked away from the table with a clearer understanding of what is needed regarding transition. I am working on getting dates for her to visit Westside and BIC. If you have a date that WILL NOT work for you, please let me know. We will only need a half day. Please talk with your principals and clear this with them.
Transition was the front page article this month on the Special Education Law Update!
These are a few of the tips given:
Glad we are all back again! Don't forget the Big G's Little g's conference on January 15...I'll make sure you guys get back before half day is up so you will only have to have a sub half day. :)
Today I'd like to talk about Transition...go ahead and tune out Elementary teachers!
Teresa Hendrix is our Transition Consultant from the state department. She is wonderful and always available to answer questions. Her email is thendrix@crmail.k12.ar.us if you'd like to reach her.
Teresa came to Riverside HS and talked with teachers before the break. She was extremely helpful and I think we all walked away from the table with a clearer understanding of what is needed regarding transition. I am working on getting dates for her to visit Westside and BIC. If you have a date that WILL NOT work for you, please let me know. We will only need a half day. Please talk with your principals and clear this with them.
Transition was the front page article this month on the Special Education Law Update!
These are a few of the tips given:
- Services should be "Individualized, create opportunities, have sufficient detail and be aligned to meet postsecondary needs".
- Be sure to talk with the student and parent and include their input in the plan. The student's preferences are vital to creating a meaningful plan.
- Offer transition services...teach self advocacy skills. Give students "general guidance about life".
- Try hard to bridge the gap between High School and postsecondary education.
- Be sure to align data with the Summary of Performance.
- Document the disability clearly and carefully.
- Plan campus visits and visit the office of disability when doing so.
I'd like to add the following:
- Make sure you have transition goals in your IEP.
- Be sure Transition is addressed in your PLAAFP.
I have never claimed to be an expert in the area of Transition. Each time I meet with Teresa or one of you wonderful HS teachers, I learn a little more about it. Be patient with me...one day I may get there!
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