Welcome to the New Heights Show on Education. I'm Pamela Clark, founder and director of the New Heights Educational Group, and I'm here with David Smith, the founder of Silicon Valley High School, who has helped us get these podcasts produced and delivered to you. Yes, Pamela, when we saw the great things that you and your army of volunteers were achieving at New Heights, we wanted to get involved. We're happy to work with you to leverage the internet and make quality education accessible and affordable to everyone, everywhere.
Thank you, David. We appreciate Silicon Valley High School helping us to get these podcasts out to the hundreds of thousands of listeners from all over the world. So I hope you enjoy the show. In this week's episode, we will discuss education reform on mission.
Hello, everyone. This is Dana Washington coming to you live from the Buffy Williams office. Just sitting around thinking about life and trying to become better people tonight. So check it out.
Welcome back. You're on the air with Buffy Williams. You have been listening to the New Heights Show on Education. We have been discussing the show's purpose on mission.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is your host, Buffy Williams, and you're listening to the New Heights Educational Group, the New Heights Show on Education. Tonight's topic is a review of the IEP process and augmenting our previous show on the IEP process. On last week's show, we discussed lifelong learners and how we grow and evolve as learners in an informal way.
On tonight's episode, we're taking a deeper look into the IEP process and continuing on with the conversation. So join us in the discussion and call us at 917-948-7542 or drop your comments in the chat or tag us on social media using the hashtag NHEG or post your comments on Twitter at Buffy underscore Awaken or on Spreaker, Instagram or YouTube. Remember that my fellow New Heights host, Erica Hansen's show airs on Thursdays at 2 o'clock Mountain Standard Time, 1 o'clock p.m. Pacific Standard Time and 4 o'clock Eastern Standard Time.
I know that we're going to get into the show and discuss the IEP process, and I know that a lot of parents may have some anxiety around the new school year, as we all do, especially if you have children within the education field. So I can only imagine how your anxiety may be exacerbated by thinking about how you are going to implement everything that your child needs and be able to advocate for your child within the framework of whatever educators have decided to do in the coming fall. So my heart and mind are with you parents as you try to figure out what is going to be the best solution for your child. As a parent, I know that that is a pretty stressful thing for you to have to go through.
So I want you to know that we are definitely here to support you. And I hope that other parents support each other. I think it's important when we're thinking about our children and students within the education system that we remember that most of us who are on this side of education are advocates for children in general and students in general. And so in a lot of ways, we can find solutions just by mingling with each other and talking with each other and collaborating on what's the best process.
We know that the role of a parent who is seeking out additional services for their children can be a challenging process in itself. But if your child has special needs, that's an additional thing that parents have to work with the educators and their child's teacher and the school administration on getting the best IEP process that they can. And on one of our previous shows, and I think it was around December, maybe the second week in December where we did our show on the IEP process at first. And we had kind of 10 steps that we talked about as far as, you know, what is the structure of the IEP process?
Just giving our listeners to understand what is the individualized education plan. And that's what IEP stands for. And so individualized education plan just simply is a way for teachers to be able to implement an education program that's going to best fit the child. And we know that with this, educators are involved, the parents are involved.
And then in some ways, of course, legislation is what mandates this because it's all derived from the individuals with Disabilities Act in education, which ensures that any child from the ages of three through age 21 can receive the required services. And schools are required to identify and support those students if they have special needs. And so early intervention services are offered for parents as early as age three. And on that show, we also outlined the kind of structure that goes into the IEP process.
And we talked about the nuts and bolts of, you know, what parents could do from the start of the IEP process and kind of what to expect with that also. So I encourage you to go back and listen to that show if you haven't. But one of the other things that on this show, one of the reasons why we want to kind of explore some of the topics that we've already discussed is that sometimes we don't get a chance to explore all the things that we would like to cover within one show. So if there's something that, you know, intrigues you about the previous show and you feel like maybe there are some gaps in that and you could learn some additional information, I do encourage you to go to the resources that I list each time on each show to get additional information because I'm simply a sounding piece for you guys to kind of give you ways to explore additional resources that are out there for free for parents and educators alike and administrators, of course, already know about these resources.
But sometimes you just get overwhelmed and you have so many things that you have analysis by paralysis, right? You have so many resources, you don't really know where to start. And I always encourage you to definitely start with the U.S. Department of Education, which is ed.gov.
And then I have an additional resource for tonight, which is idea.ed.gov. And that just simply gives you additional information on the effective educational programs for students. And it also has questions and answers for parents. And also it has an exceptional children's assistance center.
And with that center, they have covered just about everything that goes within the IEP process. And for those who were not able to join us on the previous episode, the simple, I'm going to give you the basic steps is kind of like the pre-referral component of the IEP process. And this is when a child is actually in a classroom and maybe the teacher is just documenting that the child is having some difficulty. And they also are evaluating how the child actually relates within the current accommodations that are within the classroom.
And they're also assessing whether or not a different teaching method may be the best option to aid that child. And so in the pre-evaluation stage, they're basically seeing what is the child's baseline, where are they operating from, and can they actually stay on pace and on target with the goals and objectives that they have for a particular lesson or a particular time of that particular subject in the classroom area. So that could be that first nine weeks that they're actually exploring, you know, if the child is able to learn in a different manner and if they feel like they're having continual difficulty after they change their teaching style, then that is when the actual referral is initiated by the teacher. And so that's a very important time because sometimes as parents, you may know that your child may have a learning disability and maybe it may be so mild that you really haven't had an assessed whether or not they can master a certain area, especially when mathematics and things like that are in play.
And so you may not know these things sometimes until later in life, but it's the teacher's responsibility once they identify that to kind of evaluate your child and then identify if they need additional supports. And so at that point, so that's kind of the pre-referral stage. And then at that point, the teacher would actually give a referral. And so once that referral is done, that that's the official referral process that the teacher goes through and they not only observe your child, they look at their grades, they look at how they're tested on certain required tests and exams, and they also identify a baseline for your child at that point.
And if it's determined based on that referral and based on those assessments that your child has deemed a need for special services, then they would put together a team. And we discussed that team could be, you know, advocates that you deem would be a good role model for your child. They can attend the IEP meeting with the parent's permission, of course, administrators and their current teacher. And so that's kind of how everything starts.
And that's a very, that can be a very overwhelming process for a parent, especially when you think that your child is on target and your teacher, your child's teacher may have identified that in some way, they may need some special services. And they break down also those services that fall within those categories. There are 13 categories, and I'm going to list them off for you, but I do encourage you to go onto the site to see what those actual categories are and to see if your child fits into those categories. If you're thinking that your child needs any of these services, it's very good to kind of just acquaint yourself with the process and kind of see how that process is going to, what it's going to look like.
Because sometimes it can be intimidating because you don't really know what the process is like, but once you demystify it and kind of go through the steps and kind of understand what goes along with each role and what everyone is trying to achieve, everyone starts off with, you know, that same goal in mind for your child to be able to seek out the services that they need and have the best quality education possible. And so by you going to the site and kind of getting yourself familiar with the process, it kind of helps as you go along. But once Success Stories Tutoring Services. To learn more, please visit newheightseducation.org and contact us.
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And tonight's topic is a review of the IEP process that we have spoke about on the show in December of last year. And we're providing additional information for you and hopefully some encouragement as you explore the IEP process going into this coming fall. We also spoke about Exceptional Children's Assistance Center and the Department of Education website and ideaa.gov, which I encourage you listeners to go to. And we talked about the starting point for the IEP process.
And so in continuing on with that, once you have developed the, understood what your child's areas of need are based on the evaluations that they've had within the classroom or within their schools, then you want to work on actually identifying the goals for your IEP process. It's called the development of the IEP process. And you want to look at what is the least restrictive environment for your child. And with that, you want to also make sure that the accommodations are outlined within the IEP process and what the goals are.
And those goals are labeled as short-term and long-term goals. Each IEP process is evaluated yearly and the parents can also request a reevaluation before that year is up. So let's say you and the teachers and the administrators come up with a plan for your child and the IEP process is developed. And you deem that your child needs additional assistance or additional time taking exams and you see that that process is not working, then you would revisit your IEP process and see if there is something else that you all could do as a team to make that, to find a better solution for your child.
But you don't want to just go into it without having time to give the teachers and educators the time to kind of strengthen your child or get them on a different course and have them succeed at a different pace. So you want to give your child time to be able to adjust to the new system, give the teachers time to work with their child and anyone else that is deemed a part of the team. Give them time to kind of work with your child and work through the process before you actually go in and automatically think it's not working. So it's going to take some time of adjustment.
I'm not saying, you know, wait so long that your child is, you know, so far behind that they can't catch up. But I do encourage you to try to give the team time to implement the program that you've deemed necessary for your child within developing that IEP process. And so you want that to be the least restrictive environment possible. And then the next step is going to be the actual implementation of the plan.
And so this is when you're going to actually determine if what placement is needed. You might actually have to have one or two meetings for the IEP development in order to get everyone involved because if you need someone, let's say if you need someone to help your child with Braille because they are visually impaired or you need someone who is doing sign language because your child is hearing impaired, you want to make sure that everyone is at the table when you have the IEP development process. And you want to make sure that you understand and ask as many questions as possible because you are your child's advocate. And so you're the one, if you don't ask the questions, then they might not necessarily at that point identify, you know, what all your needs are.
So, you know, take some time, clear your head and come in with written plan or written questions and just simply ask the question. And they'll let you know what is allowable and what's not allowable and what they can do within the parameters of the services that they offer at that particular school. And so you just, as a parent, just advocate for your child and ask the question because there's no harm in asking the question. And so while they're implementing those services and those services are commencing, then the accommodations and modifications will be implemented at that time.
And then the last step is actually the review of the IEP process and reevaluation. And again, that is done annually, but it can be requested before the annual year is up if necessary. And then one of the other things that I really wanted to point out with the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center, which is at ED.gov, is that they have a lot of free downloadable resources for parents. And I want to encourage parents to go there.
Like I said, I know that sometimes you are bombarded with so many resources and information. It's always good to just identify a good quality resource and just stick with that until you can kind of filter through what is required for your child, knowing the laws is very important. And so looking through all that material and making sure you understand it for yourself. And so that's why it's good to just ask those questions.
And remember that your educators are there to provide a certified teaching approach. And so some of the things that you may want may not be within the actual parameters of what that actual teacher can do, but they may be able to pull your child out into a different classroom and be able to give them the services that they need within a particular area. So just ask, but they have free downloadable resources for helping families assess the right services and supports for them. So I do encourage you to go there.
They have a lot on the 504 fact sheet regarding, you know, federal civil rights and banning discrimination against persons with disabilities. And also tips for developing a good 504 plan. Any kind of modifications or adaptations that need to be implemented within your school. They have information so that you can kind of better understand once people start, if someone starts talking about acronyms, sometimes they do it and they don't mean anything by it.
It's just because they've become accustomed to using those acronyms. So it's okay to say, I'm sorry. So if I use the IEP process and you don't know what that is, then, you know, it's incumbent upon you to just stop me and say, I'm sorry, I don't know what that means. Could you tell me what IEP means?
And then it's my responsibility to identify that for you and say it's an educational, individual education plan. And so, and to explain that to you because sometimes we do do that as educators because we're so accustomed to it. So just stop us and ask, ask those questions. But they also have additional resources about advocates and they have tip sheets on anxiety fact sheets or attention and ADHD, autism spectrum, inclusion facts.
They have a plethora of information, free resources for parents on parent centered approaches or person centered approaches and placement decisions. So all of these resources are out there and they also have where you can actually call in or send in an email if you have questions and they have parent educators that can talk with parents one on one about any issues that they think that they may have or if they have an area where they want to actually just find out more information so that they can be more prepared as they go into the IEP process. So all that is out there for you and those are free resources. I know that again, as I talked about at the beginning of this episode, that parents are probably a little bit overwhelmed at this point because you may not, if you have persons who are assisting you with their children who are extended family, maybe you can't reach out to them at this point because of everything that is going on with COVID-19.
Maybe you're not getting your scheduled breaks and we've talked about that on previous episodes too and trying to be creative and finding ways to de-stress for parents and for children if you can. So I know that it's a lot to have to think about the IEP process or just for parents in general, even if you're not thinking about the IEP process, if you're just thinking about your child is going to be a senior next year or your child is going to be going into, you know, a different grade and how are they going to just adjust. Maybe they're just going to junior high or they're just going to the high school. So you parents and children alike have a lot of things that you have to deal with, with this upcoming year.
But remember that again, we are all in some way, shape or form pivoting the way that we do things and adjusting to the new normal. And we're working through it in the best way that we can. But one thing about change is that it forces us to invent new and innovative ways of interacting with one another and implementing things. And so this could be a major shift in a creative process for us all and how we interact with each other, being more compassionate for each other and understanding each other in a different way and also appreciating our children for the exceptional children that they are in so many different ways.
And so I know that your children during this time have taught you so many things about yourself. And I know that every time I encounter students, they teach me something. And so it's a beautiful time. It's a difficult time, but it's also a beautiful time of invention and inspiration so that so much can come from this time that we're going through.
And we know that all children are exceptional in their own way. So I want to encourage my listeners out there to stay encouraged, stay uplifted, and remember that, you know, this too shall pass and we can come out brighter and better for having gone through this time. Again, I want to thank all of those who are working with our loved ones, who are working and are essential to the world continuing to function as best we We hope you enjoyed today's show. Don't forget to rate us and follow us on your podcast player.
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