The Law Office of Lillian E. Wong
A Massachusetts Special Education Attorney

Summer is a wonderful time of year, but research is mounting that summer  vacation takes a toll on learning.  The National Summer Learning Association reports that all students suffer from summer learning loss, and that learning loss disproportionately affects low income students.  Read more about these findings here.

While all children may experience summer learning loss, some children are so negatively affected by extended periods away from school that they require extended school year services, or ESY for short.  Learn more about ESY here.

Yesterday the Alexa Posny, the assistant secretary for the federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, announced that Ms. Melody Musgrove  had been named the Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). 

What does OSEP do?
In a nutshell, OSEP administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA).  You can find more about OSEP here.

Who is Ms. Musgrove?
Formerly, Ms. Musgrove was the State Director of Special Education in Mississippi, a due process hearing officer, an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Federal Programs for the Lawrence County School District, an Assistant Principal, and a special education teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels.  Melody has been noted for her work to reduce the achievement gap for traditionally under-performing students, conducted statewide self-assessments, and designed and implemented a focused system of monitoring local districts.  You can find Ms. Musgrove's LinkedIn profile here. 

I've personally heard good things about her from several attorneys in Mississippi.  Let's hope she is able to live up to her reputation. 

Just because your child receives testing accommodations on their IEP doesn't mean your child will receive accommodations for the PSAT, SAT,  AP Tests, or ACTs.  Most colleges and universities require some of these tests, so it is very important that your child's scores accurately reflect their potential.

The accommodations on your child's IEP or 504 plan refer to accommodations for school administered tests and for the MCAS .  Read more about MCAS accommodations here.

In order for your child to receive disability based accommodations on the PSAT, SAT, SAT II subject tests, or AP Exams you must first apply for accommodations with the College Board.   Use of accommodations without prior approval will result in the cancellation of test scores.  With limited exceptions, once approved for accommodations, students remain approved and do not have to apply again when they apply for another College Board test.   Apply Early!  Documentation is required and review can take approximately seven weeks.  PSATs and AP Exams may be administered during a child's 9th grade year.  Find out more information here.

Similarly, the ACT requires prior documentation and approval of testing accommodations.  Find out more information here.

I was a sophomore in high school when I became part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP). As a student I did not understand the IEP and what rights I held. Today, I understand that an IEP contains many components. An IEP statement consists of the child’s present levels of academic achievement, measurable annual goals, how the child will meet those goals, the services and accommodations the child will be served, and measurable post-secondary goals. Today, I also know what the IEP team consists of the parents of the child with a disability, one or more regular education teacher(s) of the child, one or more special education teacher(s), a qualified representative of the local educational agency, an individual who can interpret any evaluations being presented, and anyone else who has knowledge or special expertise regarding the child and the child if necessary. 20 U.S.C. § 1414.

My Experience

Most of my high school career I really didn't understand my disability. I also didn’t understand the whole IEP process and why I was given accommodations. I just believed I was inept and I could not do anything by myself.

My mother insisted that I attend my IEP team meetings. To me, attending IEP team meetings was fun because I did not have to attend class. Attending the meetings was also hard. No one took the time to explain to me what these team meetings were about. It was not my parents' fault because no one really took the time to explain to them either. It was difficult to sit there and listen to people who barely knew me talk about me like they knew everything about me.  It was also disturbing to hear these people talk about my strengths and weaknesses and plan out the rest of my high school career. Not once did the “team” ask me my thoughts when I was sitting right there. Since my confidence and self-esteem was already shot down by some of my teachers and my peers and I did not know how to stick up for myself, I was not confident enough to participate in these “team” meetings.

Reflections

Attending the meetings was very discouraging. I was at a disadvantage because I did not know my disability until my senior year when I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and ADD. So until then I just thought I was incompetent.  To me, the IEP meetings were just time out of class where people, who supposedly knew me so well, could discuss how I could not handle a normal classroom and how much help I needed.  This was very hard to listen to.  But not attending the meeting would have been difficult too. If I knew that there were people in a room talking about my life, future, and education and I was not involved that would have been difficult too.

Before a child attends an IEP meeting, someone should discuss the purpose of the meeting with him or her. Many students with disabilities have the ability to articulate their needs and describe how their disability affects them. Still, the process is intimidating, so students should prepare for the meeting.  One idea is to prepare a student agenda to distribute to the team.

Students who have disabilities along with their parents need to learn about their rights. Parents especially need to learn the process of advocating for their child's education.  If it is appropriate for a child attend the team meetings, it is important to explain the purpose of the meeting to the child, help the child prepare for the meeting, and discuss the experience afterward.

Parents have 30 days to review and to make a decision about the IEP. Parents can accept the IEP, reject the IEP or accept in part/reject in part.

When parents reject an IEP in whole or in part, the school must notify the Board of Special Education Appeals (BSEA).  After receiving the rejection, the school must notify the BSEA within 5 DAYS.  603 CMR 28.08(3)(b).  The BSEA then notifies parents and the school of their right to request a hearing and/or mediation. To read more on rejecting an IEP click here,  and feel free to leave any comments.