I found and printed off the Mn Dept of Ed website about how they HAVE to evaluate Andre even if it must be in his own language. they have to evaluate him in whatever way gathers the most information. and it specifically addresses english language learners.(for which they have done NOTHING to help our kids as ELL students) I will bring that with me when I go to the meeting on Friday. Then when they hand me their line of bull about him having to be here for 3 years I can show them that nope thats a lie. evaluate my kid. Eric is going with me so that will give me strength and he is very diplomatic with people. We say diplomacy is the art of LETTING the other guy have it YOUR way. he can say things in a way that makes you think you wanted that all along. too bad he doesnt use that more often in his parenting! (I do it plenty, less so now that the kids are getting older but he used to be amazed at the things I could get them to do when they didnt want to)
Today is Ben and Sophie's IEP meeting. his teacher (and myself) want him to keep his aid for the rest of the year. they work well together. and he is soooooo slow walking that they cant wait the rest of the class for him to get where they are going. she also helps him academically and I dont know if he would be where he is if he didnt have that one on one help. he is meeting all standards and benchmarks. I dont know if he could do that alone....
Oh my. Sounds like you are having all kinds of fun. It doesn't matter how slow he is. His needs are independent of the class. They can not determine his goals, what he is working on or IF he works on something based on the class. If he needs to walk (which he does) and if that requires one on one then so be it. They can't say anything about staffing, the other students, etc. As far as assessments go - here in KY if the parent asks for an assessment then they get one. That is that. They can not be denied an assessment unless there was one completed recently (less than 12 months) without a change in status. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI didnt realize you were still fighting the district for a formal evaluation. Put your request, in writting to the superintendent, the head of special education and school principal. By law, they have a set amount of time to complete the evelation- I believe it's 60 days. Many districts have parent advocates as well, other parents who have been down the same road who will guide you. If you know other families in your town you could ask if they know of such a thing. Good luck and keep pushing! Noone will fight for your kids like you will
ReplyDeleteI am fighting for Andre. Ben already gets services. Ben is physically disabled and Andre is struggling academically in Kinder. I have a meeting oN friday as I did put it in writing that i wanted him evaluated. they keep pulling the language card. so I am intending to go in with all sorts of back up ammunition in case they try to keep on with that crap.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all the best for the Friday meeting. Of course he must be evaluated! How else can they know what help he needs? Just basic common sense. You go in their fighting, Mamma! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI've walked down this road. We finally hired a professional advocate and even won compensatory ed for all the dawdling. Big hugs.
ReplyDeleteOur daughter had been home for 2 years when we had her independantly tested, The school refused for 1.5 years. She was 8 when she came home and did have some schooling while in Kazakhstan but we saw and still see major gaps in her learning that are not related to speech or language barriers. The thing we have told everyone we've talked to is that MATH IS THE SAME IN EVERY LANGUAGE. They still didn't test her. So now we've moved and her new school is more than ready to have all the testing done after watching her since September. Keep pressing them because in the long run it will benefit Andre. (When Oksana was evaluated we learned that she didn't know some basic shapes either in Russian or English.) Which poses the question, could it be a learning disability or just major gaps that have been overlooked so that all new information can't be learned due to not having the foundational building blocks to begin with. :) (Both in Oksanas case and Andres) ?? Hope that you guys are able to win over the school soon!
ReplyDeleteCatherine
andre had no formal schooling before coming here. I truly believe it is more than language barrier. thanks for your thoughts.
ReplyDeletejust keep swimming! just keep swimming!
Hi! It is a pain to fight the school district to get ones chldren the services they need to be successful as adults.But some IU educational units have paid parent advocates who really aid the parents. Also local support groups in your area should have advocates who can help parents.I know Iu5? in Edinboro Pa has a parent advocate who is super. She knows the ropes.Good luck, Pat
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