Should I share DS's evaluations with the school?

[Anonymous]

About a year ago, we started the IEP process for our DS who was in kindergarten. We had evaluations done that indicated he had some developmental delays and after receiving feedback from his teachers, it was clear that he wasn't learning to his potential. I'm not talking about him not scoring in the top percentiles, I'm talking about him being in the bottom 1-3% after LOTS of private interventions. The school refused to accept our private evaluations and refused to conduct their own because based on their casual observations of him, nothing about him stood out in the classroom. Thus began our battle with the school and our hiring of an educational consultant. DS subsequently received a diagnosis of ADHD from a private developmental pediatrician. In light of that diagnosis, the committee did an about-face, deteremined him eligible for Special Services and we worked to get an excellent IEP. Unfortunately, it was really too late in the school year to do DS much good.

This year, DS has an excellent Special Ed teacher and an excellent regular teacher. While we were battling the school for services, I made sure they had copies of all evaluations we had done and any updates to them (like updated OT goals, etc.). My inclination is to continue to provide to his teachers any new evaluations we have as well as updates. But, what I learned through the very painful screening/eligibility and IEP processes is that the school really isn't interested in what's best for DS. I think his teachers are fantastic and work hard at helping him but have to be careful in what they say or do. I totally understand the difficult position the teachers are in. It was clear from the screening committee meetings that they had to be very careful about what they said. I think the reports might be useful to the teachers but I also need to be strategic in what I provide. I'm still so new at this that I'm afraid of screwing something up. One report I have is from research study. The researchers flat out told me that we'd have problems getting services for DS because he's not distruptive, he's pleasant, engaging and social. He's not a kid that stands out. But, they absolutely agreed he needs the services and say so in the report. So, what do I have to lose by providing this to the school? I feel so burned by the experience that it's hard to keep the emotion out of my decision making. Know what I mean? I'd love to hear from folks who've been through this and can offer advice. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I work in a school. I would provide any all all private evaluation reports that you have. No one is going to use them to decrease your son's services. The reports will provide more information about your child and will only be beneficial in the long run.

[Anonymous]

A full time mom here who used to work in special education in an elementary school- I commend you for being so proactive and seeking intervention for your child early. How lucky the school is to have a parent who is so open to share and come together for a plan to help your child achieve. I think providing whatever you can to the school is the best- even if they can't "use" the scores per se for finding a child eligilbe or for current data for and IEP, the more information the better. And if your child is not disruptive, yea by the way, that just means he doesn't need a goal in that area- but certainly the inattention can be demonstrated in different ways and goals need to be addressed for that. I encourage you to keep advocating for your child, seeking what you know is best in helping him learn strategies to make him successful and independent! Good luck to you and your family.

[Anonymous]

With all due respect to the school personnel that posted previously, parents do question whether to share all information because most parents of sp ed students have come across beauracrats in the process that seem to be tasked with limiting special education services. Maybe this is to keep children from being incorrectly identified as needing special education services (admirable) or maybe in some cases this is an attempt to keep spending in check (not so admirable). However, these individuals are out there.
Generally, I think sharing all information is the right thing to do. We did and would do it again because it helps everyone see the whole picture . . . but use caution and don't assume that the information could not be misused by someone (we feel that it was in our situation). We have never seen info misused by the special education teachers or general education teachers and because they are the ones who will be working with your child, your child will benefit from them knowing as much as possible.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks so much for responding. My inclination was to share - and I will. I'll also keep documenting just in case. In our case, I really believe the school was trying to avoid the cost of yet another special ed kid. It was just so obvious that he wasn't working at the level he should (I'm aiming for average here, not G&T) and waiting until 3rd grade for him to fail standardized testing was not acceptable to us. I wish more people would recognize that early intervention is a societal benefit, not just an individual benefit.

Thanks, again, for your kind responses.

[Anonymous]

PP here - Yikes! I meant bureaucrats . . .
You child is lucky to have you advocating for him.
Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

I too agree that you should share, plus, if you have a respected/experienced principal and teacher - be open minded to their suggestions too. My son's tester gave a whole list of accommodations that he would need - I presented these to the school, and even I could see that some seemed a little over the top. We never tried for a full IEP, however, his teachers did help him with a few things and our school was very good about keeping me in the loop. He's in middle school now and doing great - you are doing everything you should do right now - and you will always need to keep an eye out to make sure things are not falling through the cracks.