Lydia: Are Tri Annual and IEPs separate and should they be held separately?
IEPs: IEP TRIENNIAL REVIEW
Special Education Law and Advocacy
My sons school refuses to send us documentation to complete his triennial evaluation stating that we need to provide them with the areas they need to evaluate him in. I thought it was suppose to be comprehensive so I’m confused as to what I need to provide.
My child’s triennial reviews did not entirely reflect accurate data. Providers made a big effort to highlight bad and unsafe behavior of child but declined to include that sickness affected behaviors. (there is data supporting this.)
The triennial was reflective of only the seven weeks my child had bad behaviors because he needed oral surgery, had several ear infections and had Covid-19. The triennial report did not state true and accurate statistics- we requested they would add facts to the report to reflect a clear picture of who our child is in school. The Special Ed District Director declined but, offered to add comments in the parent input section with our disagreement. Can they decline to add accurate feedback from parents to the triennial?
Please read this article by special ed advocate Pat Howey:
https://www.wrightslaw.com/howey/written.opinions.htm
I have a concern about my students triennial evaluation. The psychologist based her opinion stating that my student did not attend school either on-line or in person for three months last year. My student did attend every school day on line that was offered by the school district. The attendance report in the triennial is evidence of his attendance. I have spoken to his Educational Specialist and she has tried to contact the psychologist who is out on maternity leave. Who should I talk to next. I feel his triennial evaluation is based on false attendance reporting by the psychologist.
“Truancy” should never be a factor in determining if the child is eligible for special education services.
IDEA includes the Child Find mandate that requires schools to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth through age 21.
The Child Find mandate applies to all children who reside within the State, including children who attend private schools and public schools, highly mobile children, migrant children, homeless children, and children who are wards of the state. (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3))
This includes all children suspected of having a disability, including children who receive passing grades and are “advancing from grade to grade.” (34 CFR 300.111(c)). Learn more about Child Find Mandate here:
https://www.wrightslaw.com/info/child.find.index.htm
Atypical school attendance is an exclusionary factor for Special Education so I am confused about your statement, “Truancy” should never be a factor in determining if the child is eligible for special education services.
“Atypical school attendance” is not an “exclusionary factor”. Lack of appropriate instruction in reading, or math can exclude a student. But the IEP team must look at all data carefully. If a child is not attending because of anxiety, school phobia, health issues, bullying, or poor parenting skills, they might still be eligible
Interesting how this varies between states, which led to my confusion. GA regs specifically state the following as an exclusionary factor:
Atypical educational history (such as irregular school attendance or attendance at multiple
schools) [See 34 C.F.R. § 300.309(a)(3)
Being “out on maternity leave” does not relieve the psychologist of her ethical responsibilities to this child.
I suggest you request a meeting with the school principal. If this is not successful, request a meeting with the Special Ed Director, then the Superintendent.
If they IEP is nit done at the three year reevaluation meeting, within how many days after the meeting should the IEP mtg.take place?
As soon as possible.
During COVID 19, we are being told to not hold annual IEPs and some Triennials. Is that legal?
Unless the state education agency is saying this, it is not legal.
IEPs can be postponed. The last IEP in place when schools closed is the current IEP and will stay in place until the child’s team can develop a new IEP based on current info.
Are children with disabilities in your district back in school and getting face-to-face services in their last IEPs? If you aren’t there yet, you don’t have valid information about the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.You can’t develop appropriate IEPs until you have that info.
After schools reopen, kids with disabilities need to be evaluated to determine where they are functioning now, what they lost, how much they regressed, during a year when they did not receive the services they needed. The IEP team will need to make decisions about compensatory education and need current info from evals to make these decisions.
I don’t know how schools will accompplish this. There have been shortages of school psychologists, SLPs and OTs for decades. Schools will need to consider contracting with evalutors in the private sector.
Nobody answered the question. It is my understanding (from a SELPA Director) that the triennial is just the third annual. So you have an two annuals and then the 3rd year a triennial.
We are due for a Tri Annual evaluation for my Sophomore. How far in advance can the evaluation testing be done before the actual meeting. Every school we have attentdend seems to do testing the week before leaving us no time to adequatly go over the results. I never feel prepared going in to discuss and help set up an appropriate IEP. What is the legal time allotted for testing and giving parents the results?
Thank you.
There is no timeline in federal rules, but your state could have a timeline. However, the intent of the law is that parents are active, informed members of the IEP team, and process. So if that is not happening parents should write their concerns, and requests to the principal, and district special ed director. You also need to learn the federal, and state options for disagreeing with IEP decisions. If you do not understand all of the documents, and discussion, a parent can also disagree until they feel they understand.
The second purpose of reevaluation is to help determine the content of the IEP – that is, what specific supports and services the student needs to succeed in the general education curriculum.
If the Team does find that the student continues to be eligible, the Team should next focus on this second purpose. They should use the evaluation data to build the student’s IEP.
There may be times when this does not happen at the same meeting – maybe a lot of areas were assessed or the Team is time-constrained, and there’s not enough time to get through both reviewing the evaluations and developing the IEP. If this happens, the Team should meet again soon, and pick up where they left off.
Lydia –
I believe you are asking if the tri-annual reevaluation should be reviewed and the IEP should be reviewed and developed in the same meeting? If so, the answer is yes, they should.
Reevaluation has a dual purpose. The first purpose is to determine if a child is still eligible for special education – that is, that the child continues to have a disability and required specially-designed instruction and/or related services to succeed in the general education curriculum.
During the meeting, the Team should first focus on this first purpose. The reevaluation results should be reviewed, and the Team should come to an agreement about the student’s eligibility.