504 vs. basic expectations for teacher organization

[Anonymous]

Trying to keep DDs 504 as streamlined as possible. 7th grade ADHD and dysgraphia.

One huge difference between her (and us) staying on top of work instead of falling behind is based on the organization level of the teacher and how they present assignment information to the class as a whole.

Some teachers have timely weekly overviews AND post assignments at the "main level" of Canvas. There is variety in how they do this but for the most part it makes it easy to stay on top / plan for work.

Other teachers have assignments / tests deeply imbedded in documents or power points (e.g. might have to open and 20-30 slides of a class presentation) to see what is due (and then in some cases hasn't been clear if its work vs. graded). This is pretty much always a recipe for disaster (especially since a parent often can't open them on the "viewer" account) OR just incredibly labor intensive to go through and "hunt for the work."

Thinking of the the best way to approach...

[Anonymous]

Your kid should be able to go online to their class area and clearly see what is due and when. Grades should also be posted in a timely manner. No one should be surprised at report card time anymore.

I would go speak to the teacher, then the principal, as digging through 20-30 pages to find the assignment is unreasonable. If they give you the “this is life training” bs, then let them know online organization and clear labeling are an expectation in the workplace in 2026. If this is a bunch of teachers not posting correctly, I would go straight to the principal.

We had this problem too.

[Anonymous]

This was a huge issue in FCPS with Schoology in HS and we never found any good solutions. No, we were never successful with any meetings or IEP accommodations and eventually found an organized private school.

[Anonymous]

This continues to be a struggle in college for my DD. It’s very frustrating.

[Anonymous]

Part of learning executive function is precisely digging through materials to find out what you need to do. I wouldn’t try to force it in a 504. Set up a weekly time to review assignments with her and work on writing them down in a planner.

If you do have a 504 already the more important thing to have in there is home-school communication so that if something truly falls through the cracks, you have something to fall back on to better ensure the teacher responds to you.

That said, I have found that teachers are responsive to reasonable requests for clarification about assignments without having to rely on our IEP. But you do need to plan this. Frantically emailing the night before the grade book closes isn’t going to be helpful.