FCPS Special EDge Hot Sheet
Brief Info blasts about Special Education
Special Education & Psychological Services Professional Learning Calendar 2016-2017
It is linked here: Professional Learning Calendar 2016-2017
New Updated Procedural Safeguards 2016
MSDE has released a comprehensive UPDATED version (July 2016) of the Maryland Procedural Safeguards Notice, in both English and Spanish.
For your convenience, the documents can be found on FormFinder.
- Please destroy ALL previous versions of the procedural safeguards notice and begin using this version for all IEP meetings immediately.
- Special Education Teachers: Please share with support staff who coordinate IEP meetings.
- For now, please print and copy the Parental Rights Safeguards Notice for all IEP meetings.
- Note that printed copies will arrive at your school late August or early September.
- Upon receipt of printed copies, additional copies of this document will be available for you to order directly from Terry McDermid @Terry.McDermid@fcps.org.
- Go to the Special Education Website Home Page to see what's NEW in the Procedural Safeguards 2016 including changes and explanations.
Supporting Our Instructional Framework: Google Chrome Read&Write Extension
In order to further support access and equity for students with disabilities, FCPS has secured licenses for Google Chrome Read&Write Extension.
Students with disabilities will benefit through the use of this tool to help them gain confidence with reading, writing, studying and research, including:
- Hear words, passages, or whole documents read aloud with easy-to-follow dual color highlighting
- See the meaning of words explained with text and picture dictionaries
- Hear text translated into other languages
- Get suggestions for the current or next word as you type
- Turn words into text as you speak
- Highlight text in documents or the web and collect for use in other documents
- Create and listen to voice notes directly inside of Google Docs
- Simplify and summarize text on web pages
Currently, an implementation plan is being developed by The Department of Special Education and the Augmentative Communication Technology Team for an anticipated roll out this fall.
New Eligibility Worksheets for IEP Meetings
The Emotional Disability (ED), Intellectual Disability (ID), Other Health Impairment (OHI) and Autism eligibility worksheets have been updated and are located on FormFinder under the heading Special Education. Please destroy ALL old versions of the worksheets and use the 2016 revised worksheets.
There is also a new eligibility worksheet for Developmental Disability (DD).
County IEP Referral UPDATE 2016
The CIEP Referral and Presentation form (SE 11B) has been updated to include more instructional information. It can be located on FormFinder under Special Education. Please destroy all old forms and begin using the new one.
Initial Eligibility Timelines
Special Education Indicator 11 is the percent of children with parental consent to evaluate, who were evaluated within 90 days of the written referral and 60 days from the parental consent; whichever comes first.
Let’s celebrate together FCPS Indicator 11 compliance was 100% for the 2015-2016 school year! Let’s challenge ourselves to meet the timeline again at 100% this school year.
Our FCPS rigorous goal for the 2016-2017 school year is 100% of children for whom we have parental consent to evaluate, be evaluated and have their eligibility determined within 60 days. Anything less than 100% requires a Corrective Action Plan, or CAP, when the reason for delay is unacceptable.
You can learn more about the compliance expectations at the Compliance Monitoring Indicator 11 Tutorial located on our Special Education Website, under Special Education Resources tab, Initial Eligibility Indicator 11 Compliance.
PARCC Appendix D Eligibility Tool for IEP and 504 Teams 2016-2017
Remember the IEP and 504 Teams must meet and complete the PARCC Appendix D Eligibility tool for any student who meets requirements for Human Reader of EntireTest, Text-to-Speech or Interpreter accommodations on the PARCC English Language Arts (ELA).
Find more information about the process at the PARCC LiveBinder.
Service Animal Requests
School administrators complete an SE:37 Service Animal Request Form, located on FormFinder under the heading Special Education.
Regulation 200-19 Service Animals has been updated, a corresponding standard operating procedure (SOP) is located on the home page of the Special Education Website.
FCPS Rolls Out 504 Tracker Website
FCPS 504 Coordinators will be trained in early September on the new 504 Tracker Website for 504 development. This system was piloted during spring semester 2016.
Rochelle’s Special Education Legal Tips
TIP #1 The start of the school year is none too soon to take action if you know a student has not been receiving all IEP-mandated services. Notify the parents and make arrangements to make-up the services. This can occur because you are having trouble filling a position, or a provider is ill, or a teacher is absent covering other students’ meetings. You are less likely to draw the ire of parents if you are upfront, rather than waiting for them to learn about the missing services.
TIP #2 If a student is not making progress in reading, determine if the teacher is implementing the reading program with fidelity. Reading programs usually come with recommended protocols for implementation (days per week, minutes per day). Failure to implement the program with fidelity may explain why the expected reading progress is not being made.
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