Re: IEPS and EEI

[Guest guest]

Late sending this to those needing IEP info

http://www.margaretkay.com/didyou1.htm

Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. Psychologist

Diplomate, American Board of Psychological Specialties with Forensic

Specialization in Educational & School Psychology (DABPS)

Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP)

Pennsylvania Licensed Psychologist

Did you know that the formula to determine eligibility for special

education services prevents " prevention " ? What good does it do to identify

children who are " at risk " for reading failure if the law requires them to

experience reading failure before they can become eligible for effective

intervention? (LDA Perspectives, Winter 1999)

Did you know that the greatest obstacle to effective intervention for

students with learning disabilities is the " discrepancy formula " ?

Hehir (OSEP) has called it a " wait and fail model, " Mather observed

that it requires children to " cross the threshold of failure, " and Jack

Fletcher has said that " the only thing the discrepancy formula prevents is

prevention. " (LDA Perspectives, Winter 1998)

Did you know that the reauthorize IDEA now requires that the " IEP Team "

include " an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of

evaluation results " and that the IEP contain " a statement of...supports for

school personnel that will be provided for the child " ? These two changes

allow parents and advocates to introduce concerns regarding the use of

research-based methods and inquire as to the credentials of staff to deliver

informed instruction. How can one " interpret instructional implications "

without having knowledge of current research? (LDA Perspectives, Winter 1998)

Did you know that " the failure to use an approach that will provide...the

tools to become ...an independent reader is alone a reason why the...IEP does

not provide an appropriate education? Therefore, informed research-based

instruction is an issue of appropriateness rather than a request to impose a

" preferable educational method " . Recently an administrative law judge in New

Jersey ordered a school district to provide " three Orton-Gillingham

instructional sessions per week " and " an extended school year for the Summer

of 1998 " consisting " entirely of one-to-one O-G instructional sessions given

by an experienced O-G practitioner five hours per week " . (R.E. vs. Jersey

City Bd. of Ed. OAL DKT NO. EDS 7018-97). (LDA Perspectives, Winter 1998)

Did you know that learning disabled students entering college are often

unable to receive accommodations and assistance unless they have had full

psychoeducational evaluations completed, which are no more than 3 years old?

Even if such students had been previously identified and served as

individuals with learning disabilities, updated evaluations are necessary to

show that processing deficits still exist and need to be addressed

programmatically at the college level. ( F. Pagels, Ph.D. Special

Services Program Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University, Georgia).

Parental Rights to an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

A parent has a right to an independent educational evaluation (IEE) at

public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the

school district.

A school district may initiate a hearing to show that its evaluation

is appropriate. If the decision is that the school district's evaluation is

appropriate, the parent has the right to obtain an independent educational

evaluation but not at public expense.

If parents obtain an IEE at their expense, the results of the

evaluation must be considered by the school district in any decision made

with respect to the provision of a free and appropriate public education of

the child.

A parent can request information from the school district about where

an IEE may be obtained. Districts must provide parents with a list of

qualified evaluators, so long as the list is responsive to the child's needs

and the list is exhaustive.

When the district fails to list all qualified evaluators within a

given geographic region, parents may choose qualified evaluators who are not

listed.

Districts cannot delay a parent's request for an IEE, nor can

districts require parents to allow them time to conduct additional

evaluations as a precondition to an IEE at public expense.

When a district normally utilizes classroom observations during the

course of its own evaluation or when regulations require classroom

observations, an independent evaluator is also afforded the opportunity to

conduct classroom observations.

© Copyright 1999 Margaret J. Kay. All rights reserved.

HOW TO RE-READ THE EXPERT'S REPORT

By Murray Grossan, MD E-mail: hydromed@...

You have the expert's report. What do you check for? How do you evaluate

for authenticity?

What are his/ her degrees? Is it a degree you are familiar with? DOM is

not doctor of osteopathy. Is the PhD in engineering or natural healing? If it

is in psychology from U.C. Berkeley, easy to verify.

What is his specialty? Is he a member of the Board of Orthopedic Olympic

Reconstruction? Or Neurologic Best Evaluation? The American Board of Medical

Specialists maintains a list of accepted board designations and members and

these can be checked at the web site

http://www.certifieddoctor.org/verify.html. Sometimes there is a claim of

being president of the American Certified Neuro Ortho Evaluators of which not

only is he the president, but also the sole member.

What are the tests that support the conclusions? You never heard of a

Neuro-Valvo Diagnosticator? Ask at the local medical school or teaching

hospital. If they never heard of it either, think carefullybefore accepting

the report, much less paying for the test. When no one else does the test,

you can obtain whatever conclusions you wish. Medline won't help you here

because they don't have any articles on the Neuro-Valvo or other " private "

testing devices.

If the report doesn't sound right, check the curriculum vitae. True story:

He listed himself on staff of a prestigious hospital. Knowing this person's

poor reputation, I didn't feel he would be accepted to this staff. Turns out

he wasn't on staff and had never ever been. This deception was brought out at

trial. Most hospitals do a fair job of checking their staff applications so

staff membership can be important.

Articles published. Article submitted for publication is not the same as

articles published. Where were these published? Archives of Orthopedics is

strictly peer reviewed. The South Bolivia Journal of Hematology may not be.

Each field has its prestigious journals in engineering, materials testing,

etc.

Who did the actual testing? In today's world, the audiogram should be

performed by a state licensed audiologist. Otherwise the entire report may be

problematic. Audiometer should be calibrated and tested. Unless this is

observed, any sort of results can be obtained. Similarly in other fields

there are standards of testing that must be followed. In many area where the

tests are new, accepted standards of normal or abnormal may still be in

debate. A useful source for this information is the Northern Light search

engine at http://standard.northernlight.com. They have lay articles on

advanced subjects which are abstracted, but you can also get detailed

articles.

A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes

based (Tape recording)

A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes

based on the federal law. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia

permit an individual to record a conversation to which they are a party

without informing the other party that they are doing so. These laws are

referred to as " one-party consent " statutes, and as long as you are a party

to the conversation, it is legal for you to record it.

Twelve states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties

to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Delaware,

Florida, Illinois, land, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire,

Pennsylvania, and Washington. Be aware that you will sometimes hear these

referred to inaccurately as " two-party consent " laws. If there are more than

two people involved in the conversation, all must consent to the taping.

Twelve states have laws outlawing the use of hidden cameras in private

places: Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine,

Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Utah.

This guide provides a quick reference to the specific provisions of each

jurisdiction's wiretap law. It outlines whether one-party or all-party

consent is required to permit recording of a conversation, and provides the

legal citations for each wiretap statute

http://expertpages.com/news/taping_conversations.htm

Thirteen Principles to strengthen new behavior

1. Positive reinforcement principle: to improve or increase a

student's performance of a certain activity, arrange for an immediate

reward after each correct performance.

Facilitating new behaviors

2. Successive approximations principle: to teach a student to act in

a manner in which he/she has seldom or never before behaved, reward

successive steps to the final behavior.

3. Modeling principle: to teach a student a new way of behaving,

allow him/her to observe a respected person performing the desired

behavior.

4. Cueing principle: to teach a student to remember to act at a

specific time, arrange for him/her to receive a cue for the correct

performance just before the action is expected rather than after he

has performed incorrectly.

5. Discrimination principle: to teach a student to act in a

particular way under one set of circumstances but not another, help

him/her to identify the cues that differentiate the circumstances and

reward him only when the action is appropriate to the cue.

To maintain new behavior

6. Substitution principle: to reinforce a student with a previously

ineffective reward, present it just before (or as soon as possible)

you present the more effective reward.

7. Intermittent reinforcement principle: to encourage a student to

continue performing an established behavior with few or no rewards,

gradually and intermittently decrease the frequency which the correct

behavior is rewarded.

To stop inappropriate behavior you may choose from four alternative

principles

8. Satiation principle: to stop a student from acting in a

particular manner, you may allow him/her to continue (or insist the

student continue) until the student tires of the activity.

9. Extinction principle: to stop a student from acting in a

particular way, you may arrange conditions so that he/she receives no

rewards following the undesired act.

10. Incompatible alternative principle: to stop a student from

acting in a particular way, you may reward an alternative action that

is inconsistent with or cannot be performed at the same time as the

undesired action.

11. Negative reinforcement principle: to stop a student from

behaving in a particular way, you may arrange for him/her to

terminate a mild aversive situation immediately by improving his

behavior.

Other affective behaviors

12. Avoidance principle: to teach a child to avoid a certain type of

situation simultaneously present to the student, the situation to be

avoided (or some representation of it) and some aversive condition

(or its representation).

13. Fear reduction principle: to help a student overcome fear of a

particular situation, gradually increase exposure to the feared

situation while he/she is otherwise comfortable, relaxed, secure, or

rewarded.

Behavior Contracts

Developing behavior contracts is often an effective way to change

student behavior. Contracts should be developed by the teacher and

the student and my apply to the special classroom, regular classroom

or both. If both, the regular classroom teacher should participate

in writing the contract. The contract should spell out what, when,

where, and how much is to be done, how long the contract is to be in

effect and what the results of compliance and non-compliance will be.

Conditions of the contract may be taken directly from IEP goals. For

example, if the student's goal is to increase positive peer

relationships, the contract might include a statement such as:

" Student (name) will refrain from making comments to other students

in the MID classroom which may cause an argument or physical fight

for a period of two weeks. "

To increase on-task behavior:

" Given a reasonable amount of time,

agrees to complete daily Social Studies assignments in the regular

classroom. The teacher, agrees to ensure

that understands the assignment before

work is begun and to respond to appropriate requests for assistance

(i.e. had is raised and questions are asked in a quiet voice). "

The contract should state how long it is to be in effect. For

elementary students two or three days to one week may be an

appropriate length of time while middle or high school contracts

might continue for an entire six week marking period. The length of

time must take into account the student's ability to comply with a

contract and the behaviors covered.

The consequences for compliance and non-compliance must be included.

Rewards do not have to be expensive, complicated or even tangible.

Free time, happy notes home, extra time at the computer, opportunity

to participate in extra-curricular activities at school or trips to

Mc's with parents are all appropriate. Consequences for non-

compliance might include: loss of privileges, loss of computer or

free-time at school, loss of TV or play time at home, completion of

assignments at home, lowering of grades.

The student should have a voice in selecting rewards and consequences.