Special Ed and the FCPS Community Survey 2014

[Anonymous]

I found it really difficult to complete the FCPS Community Survey 2014 https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/commsurvey14e . I’m bitter from the experiences I’ve had with special ed and it colors my entire perception of FCPS. I’ve got one NT kid that is really well served by FCPS. I have two kids with SNs/IEPs that are not. Both kids have had IEPs since K, are of at least average intelligence with no cognitive or intellectual disabilities. DH and I are actively involved and work with them extensively. Yet, both have been below grade level for years in core academic areas – this is despite the fierce efforts we and our educational consultant have made to get FCPS to provide more intensive interventions. The position of the school team is that, even though they continue to fail, my kids are making progress - even though their ‘knowledge acquisition’ trajectory shows they will never catch up. If that level of ‘progress’ is acceptable to FCPS? Why bother asking me if:

• The district has made progress in students’ gaining essential life skills (technology, leadership, resiliency, respect)

• The district has made progress in students’ academic skills (math, science, English, social studies)

• The district has made progress in students’ understanding of their responsibility to the community (citizenship, environmental stewards, participants in community)


My kids are entering middle/high school without the foundational skills they must have for accessing middle/high school curricula. How could I possibly agree with the statements:

• FCPS is providing students with the right education for the 21st century.

• FCPS teachers are effective in preparing students for the future.

• FCPS operates in the best interests of all students.

• FCPS is innovative.

I’m a woman that likes a plan. You’ve gotta have a plan to achieve a goal, right? I tell the school teams that the goal is for my kids to graduate from high school with a regular diploma. How are we going to ensure my kids do that? They’re failing now, what will be different in middle/high school that will change that? No one can answer. That’s a problem for a different IEP school team. Why doesn’t the school identify kids like mine who, although they’ve made ‘progress’, aren’t on track to have the skills needed for middle/high school and focus on remediating those deficits? It would be so much less costly (resource-wise and emotion-wise) to do this in elementary school rather than wait until middle/high school. Has anyone surveyed middle/high school teachers to get their opinions on students coming to them with skill deficits like my kids have? How does FCPS intend to provide my kids with the right education for the 21st century and to prepare them for the future? I feel so bitter and cynical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found it really difficult to complete the FCPS Community Survey 2014 https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/commsurvey14e . I’m bitter from the experiences I’ve had with special ed and it colors my entire perception of FCPS. I’ve got one NT kid that is really well served by FCPS. I have two kids with SNs/IEPs that are not. Both kids have had IEPs since K, are of at least average intelligence with no cognitive or intellectual disabilities. DH and I are actively involved and work with them extensively. Yet, both have been below grade level for years in core academic areas – this is despite the fierce efforts we and our educational consultant have made to get FCPS to provide more intensive interventions. The position of the school team is that, even though they continue to fail, my kids are making progress - even though their ‘knowledge acquisition’ trajectory shows they will never catch up. If that level of ‘progress’ is acceptable to FCPS? Why bother asking me if:

• The district has made progress in students’ gaining essential life skills (technology, leadership, resiliency, respect)

• The district has made progress in students’ academic skills (math, science, English, social studies)

• The district has made progress in students’ understanding of their responsibility to the community (citizenship, environmental stewards, participants in community)


My kids are entering middle/high school without the foundational skills they must have for accessing middle/high school curricula. How could I possibly agree with the statements:

• FCPS is providing students with the right education for the 21st century.

• FCPS teachers are effective in preparing students for the future.

• FCPS operates in the best interests of all students.

• FCPS is innovative.

I’m a woman that likes a plan. You’ve gotta have a plan to achieve a goal, right? I tell the school teams that the goal is for my kids to graduate from high school with a regular diploma. How are we going to ensure my kids do that? They’re failing now, what will be different in middle/high school that will change that? No one can answer. That’s a problem for a different IEP school team. Why doesn’t the school identify kids like mine who, although they’ve made ‘progress’, aren’t on track to have the skills needed for middle/high school and focus on remediating those deficits? It would be so much less costly (resource-wise and emotion-wise) to do this in elementary school rather than wait until middle/high school. Has anyone surveyed middle/high school teachers to get their opinions on students coming to them with skill deficits like my kids have? How does FCPS intend to provide my kids with the right education for the 21st century and to prepare them for the future? I feel so bitter and cynical.

I agree. Plus, one of the questions usually identifies us as a parent of a child with special needs and the surveys re generally much worse among out constituency - so much so that they tend to discount them as "bitter" or "expect too much", "unrealistic".