SPrEaD the word
Vol. 1 Iss. 11 (04.14.2020) COVID-19 Week 5
Service Delivery
Providing services now is the most effective way to mitigate the need for compensatory services in the future. (DESE presentation 4/2/2020)
To date, DESE has not released specific guidance pertaining to the IEP minutes. I have also reached out to Felicia. In the absence of anything specific from DESE, she advises to the extent possible we are to provide as much as we can. She supports and encourages us to continue with what we have been doing. To review:
Related Service Providers
- Provide all of these services. This can be in the form of a live session, recorded session and/or emailing/sharing of resources with follow-up check-in with the family.
- Provide office hours.
- We must offer live and recorded sessions. If the family expresses a preference, we should do our best to accommodate. For example, it may be more helpful to a family if their child's PT services were recorded. This allows the family to access at a time that may be more appropriate for their home situation. The PT should then reach out to the family to check in on how the session went.
- If you are worried about the family's ability to work on something in a safe manner, please modify as much as possible or avoid doing the skill. We want our students and families to be safe.
A Grid Services - Consultation Services
- Provide all of these as this supports DESE's guiding principles - connecting with families and supporting them.
- Document this time! Even if the family does not participate. Take credit for what we are offering/providing.
B Grid Services - Gen. Ed. Classroom (Direct Services)
- This might be co-facilitating a live session with the general education teacher.
- Maybe it's a co-facilitated recorded session with the general education teacher. Please remember to follow-up with the student/family to check for understanding.
- It may be having the IA participate in the live/recorded session with the Gen. Ed. teacher.
- It may be Office Hours/extra help sessions for small groups of students.
- It could also be the special education teacher collaborating with the general education teachers to modify activities. It is important that special education teachers participate in grade level/department meetings. You would do this if we were in school. This is the best way to know what material and why the material is being presented.
- Document this time! Even if the student does not participate. Take credit for what we are offering/providing.
C Grid Services - Special Ed. and Related Services in Other Settings (Direct Services)
- This is the small group (special education students only) time where you are facilitating a lesson.
- This may be a live session.
- This may be recorded. Please remember to follow-up with the student/family to check for understanding.
- Perhaps it is a small group or one-on-one session facilitated by your IA.
- It might even be the daily check-ins you have assigned your IA to do on your behalf.
- Offer Office Hours where the student/family can connect with you and your IA.
- Document this time! Even if the student does not participate. Take credit for what we are offering/providing.
I know you are all putting forth your best effort. I am here to answer questions. I am open to attending planning times to help you and the general education teachers collaborate on this.
DId I mention DOCUMENTATION?
- document all your efforts!
- be sure you are updating your Service Delivery Log daily.
- If it isn't documented, it didn't happen!
IEP Meetings
**IEPs should be written as if school is in session. The N1 is to include information pertaining to the remote learning opportunities made available to and engaged in by the student.
IEPs should be completed within the timeframes we normally adhere to.
Evaluations
If assessments were completed prior to closure, please be sure the evaluation report is finished as soon as possible and uploaded to Aspen. At this time, all other assessments are on hold and we will not be sending out any testing consent.
Initial IEP meetings
At this time, we will not be holding initial meetings.
Three-Year Evaluations
Team chairs, please connect with the family and offer to hold an annual meeting and push testing off for 1-year. Within the N1, please document why an annual was held and the district's proposal to push the triennial evaluation out. Additionally, within the N1, please note the parent/guardian's response to the proposal to push out the evaluation.
Progress Reports
To date, Elmwood and Shaw should have finalized their Term 2 progress reports. These should have been posted. When we return, they will need to be printed and collated for mailing and filing.
Due Wednesday, April 15th: Jr./Sr. High school special education progress reports. These progress reports are to document student progress from February 10 through March 13. These are extremely important progress reports and should include data points. Please avoid anecdotal comments.
For all of you: Going forward, it is especially important to maintain good documentation about each student's participation in remote learning opportunities and document any barriers to a student's participation.
DESE Updates
TIMELINES
- No new guidance has been shared regarding timelines.
- Given these are not school days, evaluation timelines are on hold.
- If any additional information is shared, it will be passed along.
- We will continue to operate under our normal timelines as they pertain to finalizing the proposed IEP.
Contact the SPED Office
Email: kryan@millburyschools.org
Website: https://www.millburyschools.org/Page/63
Location: 12 Martin Street, Millbury, MA, USA
Phone: 508-865-0875
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MPS.SpED/
Twitter: @MPS_SpecialEd