My LD child with above average intelligence continues to underperform, fails SOLs, fails tests . . .

[Anonymous]

We are in Fairfax County and my son has been receiving special ed services for LD since 2nd grade. He has an above average IQ, but is not successful in the classroom and has failed his SOLs every year. The school is not concerned about his performance and is happy with his progress. We just received notice that he failed his most recent SOLs. IMO, the school is not teaching him. He's had a consistent history of failure and below grade level performance, bit they keep passing him to the next grad even though he hasn't mastered benchmarks. Extended school year and summer school have never been offered to him.

I've voiced my concern at conferences and meetings and the school assures me all is well and he's fine. His most recent SOL (received last week) sent me over the edge. My son saw his failing scores and cried. He thinks he's stupid and doesn't want to go to school next week.

What should I do? What can I do?

[Anonymous]

Does he have an IEP? What kind of supports is he getting? At the very least the school should be providing one on one tutoring. Can you get him a tutor?

[Anonymous]

Yes, he has an IEP. He has had an IEP since 2nd grade.

The school feels like he is successful so why would they offer him a tutor?

Will the school pay for a private tutor if I request it?

[Anonymous]

OP again. My son is in a general education classroom. There is an assistant in the class who helps kids with IEPs.

[Anonymous]

Does he have accommodations for the SOLs? Like a reader or circling the answer in the workbook rather than bubbling it? Do you think he knows the material but can't show it on the test or do you think he does not know the material?

What does his IEP include for goals?

My DC is similar he has LDs and above average intelligence. When he was in Elementary school, there were two kinds of things that he was learning. One was the curriculum (math, science, social studies, Language Arts) and one was the remediation for his reading and writing. To access the curriculum we (school and parents) read to him and he dictated any required answers. To get better with his reading he had daily tutoring in his reading program (at school, 2-3 times a week after school with a private tutor and at home). He was pulled out for language arts until 6th grade and writing was addressed there, but we also worked on the mechanics of typing at home.

If you haven't, I suggest you go to wrightslaw.com. They are a great resource and help show what should be expected of schools and how to get a better IEP and how to work with the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does he have accommodations for the SOLs? Like a reader or circling the answer in the workbook rather than bubbling it? Do you think he knows the material but can't show it on the test or do you think he does not know the material?

What does his IEP include for goals?

My DC is similar he has LDs and above average intelligence. When he was in Elementary school, there were two kinds of things that he was learning. One was the curriculum (math, science, social studies, Language Arts) and one was the remediation for his reading and writing. To access the curriculum we (school and parents) read to him and he dictated any required answers. To get better with his reading he had daily tutoring in his reading program (at school, 2-3 times a week after school with a private tutor and at home). He was pulled out for language arts until 6th grade and writing was addressed there, but we also worked on the mechanics of typing at home.

If you haven't, I suggest you go to wrightslaw.com. They are a great resource and help show what should be expected of schools and how to get a better IEP and how to work with the school.

Yes, he has accommodations.
I will need to review his IEP goals, but teacher says he makes improvement each quarter. His classes are in the general education classroom so he is not getting individualized instruction. His IA makes sure his accommodations are in place and help him highlight text, reread passages, and helps him with math.

[Anonymous]

OP, same thing here, more or less, in Arlington, although DC is of average intelligence. Your posts raise a lot of good questions. Our DC has had an IEP since 1st grade and the results have been less than stellar. One thing that you could do is demand that the school system give your DS access to a free service called bookshare.org, which pairs audio with text -- lots of good books are available. We occasionally have had DC dictate to us but more often DC has typed. In our experience, the issue isn't the teachers (who by and large have been a dedicated bunch) but rather the methods that the school system makes available.

I will say that, unfortunately, the law does not require schools to ensure that children realize their full potential or make available the best services -- all that's required, alas, is that schools make available a "free, appropriate public education." The standard, IMO, is way too low/lenient. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does he have accommodations for the SOLs? Like a reader or circling the answer in the workbook rather than bubbling it? Do you think he knows the material but can't show it on the test or do you think he does not know the material?

What does his IEP include for goals?

My DC is similar he has LDs and above average intelligence. When he was in Elementary school, there were two kinds of things that he was learning. One was the curriculum (math, science, social studies, Language Arts) and one was the remediation for his reading and writing. To access the curriculum we (school and parents) read to him and he dictated any required answers. To get better with his reading he had daily tutoring in his reading program (at school, 2-3 times a week after school with a private tutor and at home). He was pulled out for language arts until 6th grade and writing was addressed there, but we also worked on the mechanics of typing at home.

If you haven't, I suggest you go to wrightslaw.com. They are a great resource and help show what should be expected of schools and how to get a better IEP and how to work with the school.

Yes, he has accommodations.
I will need to review his IEP goals, but teacher says he makes improvement each quarter. His classes are in the general education classroom so he is not getting individualized instruction. His IA makes sure his accommodations are in place and help him highlight text, reread passages, and helps him with math.

Does your DC make his IEP goals? Are his IEP goals written so that they represent adequate yearly progress?

[Anonymous]

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

[Anonymous]

Do you have some idea what you think will work or what the problem is? It doesn't sound like you are being denied something you are asking for just that what you are getting isn't working. Have you gotten a neuropsych eval with recommendations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

I think that is part of the problem -- how do you define "adequate yearly progress?" It's a different standard than meeting IEP goals. DC has met few IEP goals (has LDs) but is deemed to make adequate progress. It seems if the goals are not being met, there's a problem, but the schools are able to say there's "adequate progress." That's a very low standard in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

I think that is part of the problem -- how do you define "adequate yearly progress?" It's a different standard than meeting IEP goals. DC has met few IEP goals (has LDs) but is deemed to make adequate progress. It seems if the goals are not being met, there's a problem, but the schools are able to say there's "adequate progress." That's a very low standard in my opinion.

Go to wrightslaw.com, there are very specific ways of determined AYP. It is not an art, there are specific guidelines in the law. It is not based on the opinion of the school or the parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

Does the school provide anything like this for kids who are not at grade level in reading and math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Parents you need to remember there are many other students in your child's regular education class who may have learning needs to such as ESOL and those in the middle average students who just could use a bit of one-on-one personal push, but do not quite have the scores to even merit an individualized look. You are not wrong to want the best for your individual child, but do recognize the demands across the board and also "the right" of each child in the classroom to a FAPE.

OP is there any model within the school where your son could be pulled out for language arts to a small, self-contained setting with a Resource Teacher? Your son is a classic example of the problem with today's education, his IEP places him on one level of reading and writing which is usually the appropriate one given the disability; while the classroom goals or state policy say "All children will....... and so he is trying to keep up on two different planes of learning, which is just very hard to do. And again if the testing is on grade level in terms of reading and related skills, of course he may fail them if has not reached those benchmarks in his core skills. It is a lot of needless pressure on a students wo can learn and master the skills but at a slower pace.

According to the law, only children with special needs designated by an IEP are guaranteed FAPE. FAPE does not apply to every child in a general ed class room. If the OP is trying to prove denial of FAPE, she needs to look at the goals on her DC's IEP to see if they have been met. If they haven't then that is a denial of FAPE. That is why it is important to have IEP goals that are appropriate and do not create a sense of lowered expectations. Under FAPE, children need to make adequate yearly progress and this is determined by the IEP goals. The IEP goal is supposed to be set at adequate yearly progress.

I think that is part of the problem -- how do you define "adequate yearly progress?" It's a different standard than meeting IEP goals. DC has met few IEP goals (has LDs) but is deemed to make adequate progress. It seems if the goals are not being met, there's a problem, but the schools are able to say there's "adequate progress." That's a very low standard in my opinion.

AYP is defined in the law as the IEP goal, if the IEP goal is not met then there is not AYP even if [i]some[i] progress has been made.