Advocacy During the COVID-19 Crisis: Documentation, Test Scores, Postponing IEP meetings (April 17, 2020)

The Special Ed Advocate: Advocacy During the COVID-19 Crisis:
Document, Test Scores, IEPs
April 17, 2020

Good Documentation is Essential to Your Success at IEP Meetings

hands of a woman writing in a journal

It's mid-April. Spring arrived but we barely noticed.

Millions of people have been laid off and are struggling to survive. Millions more are hanging on by a thread. Lives have been disrupted in ways we could not imagine a month or two ago.

Most of us are having trouble processing the sudden changes in our lives and we don't know what to expect.

At Wrightslaw, we worry about parents, grandparents, foster parents, surrogate parents, teachers, school nurses, and lunchroom ladies. Be patient with yourself. Try to slow down. Take a deep breath or two.

In this issue of The Special Ed Advocate, we take a closer look at parent advocacy during the COVID-19 crisis, including:

good documentation as your key to success - why you need to write things down when they happen;

A special offer on "Understanding Your Child's Test Scores" with Pete Wright; and

Q & A: "If we grant a parent's request to postpone an IEP meeting, will the school be out of compliance?"

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1. Advocacy Rule #1: Write Things Down When They Happen

Why? Because good documentation is essential to your success at IEP meetings.

Your goal at the next IEP meeting(s) will be to obtain additional special education and related services for your child. Your child is likely to need compensatory education to make up for the education lost when schools were closed.

A successful outcome at the next IEP meeting is likely to depend on the documentation you make available to the IEP team.

You can't wait until the last minute to prepare this documentation. In Parent Advocacy During the COVID-19 Crisis: Write Things Down When They Happen, an advocate teaches you how to document and what to include.

Learning to document is easier than most things we are dealing with but you need to start now. I'll turn the mic over to Sharon D, who knows how important it is to Write Things Down When They Happen.

You may also be interested in Protect Your Child's Interests: Create a Paper Trail.

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2. Understanding Your Child's Test Scores by Pete Wright - Special Offer! $10 Off

In this 1.5 hour program, Pete Wright teaches you about the bell curve, mean, and standard deviations. Pete will also teach you about standard scores, percentile ranks, subtest scores, composite or cluster scores, and subtest scatter.

bell curve

You'll learn how to draw the bell curve and how to use your child's test scores to create powerful progress graphs.

Understanding Your Child's Test Scores is available in the Wrightslaw Store.

"Wow! When I used this training about test scores, I got a new plan, a new evaluation, additional services in the IEP, all in one meeting."

More reviews of Wrightslaw training programs.

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3. COVID-19 FAQ: A Parent Wants to Delay Her Child's IEP Until Fall: Will the School Be in Compliance if We Grant her Request?

We answered this question but advised the questioner, "Will the school be in compliance if we grant her request," is not the most important question school staff need to ask and answer.

Schools closed to protect children, families and school personnel from the dangers of COVID-19.

In A Parent Wants to Postpone an IEP: Will the School Be in Compliance if We Grant Her Request, we advise about another danger:

"Principals, teachers and related service providers need to recognize another danger. If parents perceive you as more concerned about your legal "compliance" and less concerned about their children, if you don't maintain frequent contact and provide emotional support and practical assistance during this crisis, one outcome is likely to be loss of trust and major parent-school problems in the future."

If you are curious, we also provided a healthy handful of good questions for school staff to ask and a wee bit of advice in A Parent Wants to Postpone an IEP: Will the School Be in Compliance if We Grant Her Request.

You may also be interested in Coronavirus FAQs: Can IEP Meetings Be Postponed Until Schools Re-Open?

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Created: 04/17/20
Revised: 00/00/00


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