The Scoop
The Student Support Weekly Update - October 22, 2021
First Edition of The TISD Telegram is Out For Parents
We hope this quarterly newsletter will give parents information to better understand the Special Education process from a local perspective. We just completed our first parent advisory meeting with over 160 registered parents and will launch our Special Education Advisory board next month. Parent feedback on the quality of Special Education programming is important to us as a vital component for each child’s success.
Please find it on twitter and HERE
Principal Updates
Principals received information from Student Support this week on:
- The Student Support Dashboard that helps them review discipline risk ratios, academic risk ratios, wrap-around services, CAT usage, etc.
- The Panorama Dashboard to review response rates for the fall semester survey window that is open until November 1, 2021
- Updated information on HB 785 (guidance on restraint and time-out)
- Reports to ensure they are monitoring completion of IEP progress reports
Snapshot is here... next Friday!
All hands are on deck to make sure our reporting is accurate. Please work with your registrars to make sure your campus PIEMS are correct.
For 504 we recently sent guidance: The part on screen 54 in Frontline that will feed to eSchool is the top portion that says PEIMS 504 Indicator. You have to click edit and complete the dates. The Effective Date is the first day of school this year (August 17, 2021) IF they were in 504 last year and continuing this year, OR the date of their initial 504 meeting if it was this year.
Intervention is also working hard to make sure all are in alignment as well.
Cross Talk Wednesay, October 27th
YOU BE THE JUDGE:
Should MDR team have considered doctor's concerns about ODD?
On Jan. 30, 2018, a student with ADHD took a laptop from his classroom shelves without permission and took it to the office. There he demanded that a school employee remove all restrictions on the laptop. The student threatened to break every laptop in the class and then left, slamming the door behind him. The student ignored direction from the staff, eventually entered his classroom, and, without disturbing others, packed his belongings and left school.
Following this incident, a manifestation determination review was held on Feb. 6, 2018, as the student was eligible under the IDEA as a student with an other health impairment. The team reviewed the student's IEP; a summary of the behavior on Jan. 30, 2018; the student's functional behavioral assessment and behavioral intervention plan; a letter from the student's doctor; and a copy of the student's neuropsychological exam. At the MDR, the parent provided the district a four-sentence letter from the student's doctor that stated that the student had been diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. An IEP team member requested that the parent sign a release of information to permit the IEP team to obtain clarifying information from the doctor, but the parent refused.
The team determined that the conduct was not a manifestation of the student's disability. It based its determination on a number of factors, including the control exhibited by the student during much of the incident. The district then imposed sanctions for serious school misconduct under the student code of conduct. It expelled the student for 180 school days.
Under 34 CFR 300.502 , within 10 school days of any decision to change the placement of a child with a disability because of a violation of a code of student conduct, the local education agency, the parent, and relevant members of the child's IEP team must review all relevant information in the student's file, including the child's IEP, any teacher observations, and any relevant information provided by the parents to determine if the conduct in question was caused by or had a direct and substantial relationship to the child's disability or was a direct result of the LEA's failure to implement the IEP.
Did the district's disciplinary action violate the student's IDEA rights?
A. No. The team reviewed the student's actions based on all information that they had at the time and made a determination that the conduct was not a manifestation of the student's ADHD.
B. Yes. The team should have considered more information about ODD before making its determination on whether the conduct was a manifestation of the student's disability.
C. Yes. The 180-day expulsion was too severe given the circumstances.
Data Collection and Other Ways Paraprofessionals Can Support Students
Paraprofessionals must be appropriately and adequately prepared and trained (20 USC 1412 (14)(A)). This may comprise inclusion in more discussions about various skills necessary to support their teacher counterparts. Toward those ends, Holland offered these considerations:
Refining communication. Always be honest with the teacher. "It is okay to say, 'I don't understand,'" said Holland. When working one-on-one with a student, make sure instructions from the teacher are followed, she said. Ask when no instructions are given.
q Promoting independence. Paraprofessionals should prompt the student to listen to the teacher's instruction, rather than repeating the teacher's instructions to the students, said Holland.
q Individualizing supports. Holland said paraprofessionals should ask the teacher how a student learns best; not all students learn the same way. Check with the teacher to know what is expected of you when you are working with students in groups.
q Documenting progress. Paraprofessionals may maintain data sheets, collecting behavioral data and instructional data as directed by the teacher. Holland said that, using rubrics, paraprofessionals can document their observations and data collected per the student's IEP. The rubric may include the students class schedule and data on their progress toward goals specific to areas of needed support, such as health, behavior, instruction, or inclusion in general education activities.
Read the entire article from LRP/Special Educaton Connection HERE
Student Support Shout Outs!
Matt Marshall - Coach Marshall received a shout out this week from a principal: "I wanted to thank you for the support you provided our students during Bowling Day & every day. What impressed me most was watching you go above and beyond to calm the student but then also teach new skills so the child could experience success independently. We appreciate the value you bring to our program and the support you provide in helping our students become their very best selves."
TISD Maintenance Department - Thank you to the TISD maintenance department for moving over 600 boxes, metal shelving and much more this week to help begin our move to the Tomball Innovation Center. We so appreicate you!
Be sure and check out and read the other Smore Newsletters being produced by Student Support Staff: