Educational Testing through MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

So, I'm writing the below because it sounds like you don't already have an IEP? It's not clear to me that the "educational hearing" you think is scheduled is an IEP meeting. Sometimes MCPS tries to convince parents that they are doing their best by holding an EMT meeting and telling the parents during the meeting that they can't get an IEP or testing because there's no disorder, no adverse educational impact (the no failing grades argument) or no need for special instruction (because they are already helping him). All these tactics are illegal but happening outside of any formal recorded channels if you haven't asked for an IEP in writing.

If you haven't made a written a formal request for an IEP meeting and full educational assessment in a letter or email that includes 1) what his disorder is 2) what the adverse impact on education is (doesn't have to be grades) and 3) what the need for special instruction is, write the following:


"Dear Principal:

I am writing to request an initial evaluation for an IEP (to include a full educational assessment in all areas of suspected disability) for my son, Larlo, who is in 7th grade.

Larlo has been diagnosed by his physician with ADHD, depression and anxiety. Our family is addressing Larlo's medical needs with his treating physician, but we find that Larlo also has educational needs related to his disability. We suspect that, in addition to ADHD, depression and anxiety, he may have dyslexia or some other undiagnosed learning disability.

Larlo has great trouble trouble reading, understanding directions, remembering, recalling and focusing. As parents, we spend an unusually large amount of time at home supporting Larlo in doing his homework and preparing for exams -- far beyond what seems reasonable given his age and intelligence level. Larlo's teachers agree that he is having difficulty and are doing them best to offer him help informally - he is offered chances to retake exams and gets extra time. It is only through this extremely high level of effort by us -- Larlo, his parents and teachers --- that Larlo has been able to maintain As and Bs in his classwork.

We believe that, although Larlo's teachers are doing their best to support him, Larlo may need special instruction in reading or special instruction in methods to organize and express his thoughts, break tasks into manageable parts, and use of graphic organizers for writing. Larlo may also need accommodations that he currently receives (extra time, test retakes) formalized on an IEP plan as well as other accommodations.

I have been informed by Ms. Counselor that Larlo is unlikely to receive educational testing because he is getting As and Bs. I was told by Ms. XXX that MCPS will only conduct educational testing if Larlo is failing. It seems like an unwise idea to tell Larlo to forgo all the help he is already receiving in order to allow his grades to fall and therefore qualify for an IEP. The advice we are receiving that Larlo must have failing grades is exacerbating Larlo's depression and anxiety.

I'm sure you, Mr. Principal, know that under IDEA, Section 300.101(c)(1) "Each State must ensure that FAPE is available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade, and is advancing from grade to grade." Therefore, MCPS may not require students to have failing grades in order to qualify for an IEP or educational assessment. Many students with As and Bs in MCPS have IEPs. I am sure you are also aware that under disability law, MCPS has an obligation to evaluate Larlo's impairment in his unmitigated state or what is assumed to be his unmitigated state -- that is to say that if Larlo manages to achieve As and Bs only with mitigating measures, then we cannot say that there is no adverse educational impact. In addition, IDEA section 300.304(b)(2)states that the public agency must, "Not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability ". Thus, looking only at Larlo's grades to determine IEP eligibility and educational testing is impermissible.

A meeting has been scheduled to discuss Larlo's needs. I look forward to meeting the members of the IEP team. I will be participating as well as (fill in the blank -- Larlo's educational advocate, Larlo's dad, Larlo's dog, whatever.....). We will be taping the meeting and look forward to receiving the required paperwork and data the team wishes to discuss at the meeting in advance of the meeting as required by law. Specific data to be provided in advance to us should include, inter alia: teacher referral forms prepared for the IEP meeting, any data regularly collected by the school such as MAP-R and MAP-M scores, PARCC scores, any other data that will be discussed at the meeting, etc.

I look forward to working together collaboratively to address Larlo's educational disability so that I do not have to resort to due process options.


Sincerely,
Larlo's mom"


I got so freaking tired of hearing that MCPS is pulling the same old $%^&$* that I wrote the entire letter for you...... sorry, I got carried away. Adapt as necessary for your specific situation. The letter makes a clear case for an IEP and testing and also politely gets it on the record that the school is lying to you about what it takes to qualify for an IEP, that you know your rights and that you are prepared to go to due process (i.e. sue or otherwise file complaint) if you have to.

Hire an advocate if you think you need to!

Good luck!

An MCPS mom who has heard all of the above and more in the past 10 years and is pretty sick of it.

OP Here. Thank you SO much. Your incredible effort is very much appreciated. We already have a 504. My main goal is to get more information about what else is wrong since it seems to be more than ADHD (or an extreme case of ADHD perhaps). We've been going to therapists and psychiatrists and I can honestly say we are no better off than we were three years ago. In fact things are worse in just about every way. We had a basic neuropsych test through Kaiser but I know it didn't really look for everything. We may go the private route but I feel like MCPS should be trying to help kids who are working so hard and who just can't seem to do it all without some additional assistance at school. Our son asks for (and gets) a lot of help from his teachers. Last year only one teacher refused to follow his 504 so they switched him to another teacher who also refused to follow the 504. She just gave him As on everything so she didn't have to deal with it and hoping I'd stay quiet. This is what kills me about MCPS. They hand out As so easily so kids with real issues are tucked away and parents think all is well. I know better. I appreciate the opportunity for kids to retake tests because I feel like they do learn it in the end. However, it is used against them when they need help and in some cases, gives them a false sense of confidence about how well they are coping with the curriculum.

His reading scores were average to above average early on at his private elementary school but started to plummet in 4th or 5th grade. His Lexile scores are in the 4th grade range despite him being in 7th grade. That has to indicate something!! His vocabulary is excellent but his actual reading skills stink and we require him to read 20 minutes a night so it's not from lack of trying.

thanks again!


Thank you for your letter. I will definitely use it.

Ugh. Your story is so similar to ours. Our DC too came in reading above grade level and then started to slip, although he didn't fall as far behind as your DC. I too believe that MCPS should be meeting its obligations to students -- that's why I wrote you the letter.

BUT, our experience also mirrors other PPs. MCPS often doesn't know its legal obligation nor does it have the slightest understanding, IMO, how to remediate reading difficulties.

You have a strategic decision to make -- do you want to force MCPS to do the testing itself or do you want to provide your own privately conducted testing. Private testing is expensive -- usually about 3-5K depending who does it. You may pay less if you can call around and provide the testing you have already had done by your insurer and ask psychs or neuropsychs what else they would recommend to round out what you have already had done. Price it out. Any office should be comfortable looking at what you have and quoting you a price w/at least some parameters of what that price covers in terms of testing. The advantage of private testing is that you can have the testing done on your schedule, you typically get to discuss the results with the provider prior to the final report being written. Legally the IEP team must consider the private testing, but that is not the same as saying they must follow it. However, practically speaking, usually the IEP team accepts the results of the testing done, rather than insisting that the MCPS psychologist must do more testing (they are just too busy). The IEP team may accept the testing but argue whether meets the three prongs of the IEP test - 1)disorder 2) adverse educational impact and 3) need for special instruction.

The other option is to force MCPS to do the testing. It is free. It's hard to predict the quality. Personally, I have had bad experiences with MCPS testing and with MCPS psychologists and speech/language pathologists doing inadequate testing and then using the wrong legal standard to measure adverse impact on education. However, if you can't afford private testing, you can let MCPS test and then request an Inependent Educational Evaluation, which MCPS is obligated to provide for free. There is a process for that, and there are a whole new set of tricks MCPS tries to pull in this process, but it does get you a private assessment for free. However, then you have 2 diverging sets of testing on the record -- MCPS and your private. That just makes things trickier to navigate. If you do want to do the MCPS testing, it's another strategic decision do you ask them to provide a list of all suggested assessment prior to your consent, so that you know that they are doing everything you think they should do or do you ask them what they're doing prior to consent and just keep your mouth shut if it is crappy because you are going to IEE anyway.

Aside from arranging the assessement, your next biggest hurdle is collecting evidence of "adverse educational impact". That is the second prong of the IEP test. You already have this evidence (the reading score), but you will need to collect more. The slide in reading Lexile (presumably you got the Lexile score from the MAP-R) and the fact that he is now behind grade level in reading is evidence that your child is "behind grade level" and thus is experiencing and "adverse educational impact" from his disorder and needs "special instruction" (because he has fallen to 3 levels behind grade with "general instruction" the presumption is that "general instruction" is not working).

You can start collecting data now on your child. Under another federal law called FERPA, you have a right to see any educational record connected with your child. I would start by asking for a copy of the "student academic record" which is not the transcript but an electronic file that MCPS keeps with all internal testing data on it -- MAPr and m, parcc, etc. Write a simple email to teacher, IEP coordinator or principal asking for the following -- student academic record, all MAP-R and MAP-M scores current and historical, PARCC, MSA or other annual testing related to federal data collection requirements, each quarterly assessment in English (and any other class where you think your child is impacted). Ask not only to see the MAP scores but the underlying breakdown of types of skills that only the school/teacher has access to (it exists, MCPS doesn't acknowledge so to parents. It forget what it is called. Ask for the MAP Student Progress Report with sub-category breakdowns. Start taking screen shots regularly of your student's my MCPS grades for each class so that you can preserve information about grades for each assignment instead of just the quarterly grades. Start keeping a journal documenting the problems you are having at home with homework and parental support. Start emailing the teacher each time he/she refuses to provide 504 accommodations. (These emails should be polite, factual, reattach the 504 plan and offer to meet with the teacher if she wishes to discuss the plan, but otherwise you expect compliance with the law. First email is polite to teacher. Second offense gets letter to principal with 1st offense attached and teacher copied, 3rd offense gets email to county-wide Section 504 compliance officer with prior two offenses at bottom and copy to teacher and principal.) Sometimes the teacher will tell you you can't see unit tests or the quarterly assessments because they are written at the county level and they are secure. This is false. You have a legal FERPA right to see these; however, you may have to come to school to see them, you may not be allowed to copy them and you may be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. All of these things create records of things that MCPS doesn't normally want on the record or doesn't want you to know is already part of the record.

As you can see, it takes time to collect data, but data is your friend in the IEP meeting. MCPS often argues that the psychological assessment doesn't actually measure "adverse educational impact" and that your kid is experiencing no impact if they are getting As and Bs. If you are going to schedule a private assessment, it usually takes 2-3 months to find an opening and then another 6 weeks to get the final written report. In the meanwhile, collect data. And, reassure your son. He may have ADHD but he is smart and can learn if he is taught the right way for HIM. Let him know about the assessment and that it will be an opportunity to see how his brain learns best. Re-assure him that while you do want him to make an effort, his bad grades right now aren't going to hurt his future options. Middle school is the perfect time to practice figuring out how to learn most effectively. Some kids can do that easily at school, but other kids need different tools and instruction. You are working on getting him that. It will take time, but it will get better. If he does badly at tests, look at them together, not as a form of punishment but as a way of analyzing how he learns -- does he make copying errors? does he use his extra time effectively? is his hand computation in math weak? does he need books on tape (ask your school to qualify you for Bookshare and after consider buying a subscription to Learning Ally, etc.) Take the pressure off him, not in the sense of "you can't do this, so don't try" but in the sense of "this way doesn't work for you and it doesn't work for a lot of people, so we are going to try something different).

Depending on what the assessment says, you may wish to think about private tutoring if reading or writing is a problem. IME, MCPS has NO IDEA how to teach these skills to language learning impaired students.

If you're unsure about the neuropsych assessment done by Kaiser, start a new thread and post some info about it (tests done, scores) and get some info from other parents. Also, even if it was good, psych assessments should be updated every few years for a variety of reasons.


FWIW, what you describe in your DC is very similar to my DC's profile who was very bright with very good vocabulary but couldn't read or write on grade level. If you are looking at private schools, I would advise you visit Siena School. If nothing else, it will show you what kind of instructional programs really work for kids with language learning disorders. Also, IME, the full breadth of our DC's strengths and weaknesses was only captured by putting together both a neuropsychological assessment AND a full speech and language assessment.