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Special Education Parent/Community Training Night: Preparing for IEP Annual Reviews

Added Jan 16, 2022 •

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12/8/21: Mr. Kyler, Director of Special Programs, presents information about preparing for your child's IEP Annual Review

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all right good evening everybody my name is Lee Kyler I am the director of special programs at Tupper Lake Central school today is Wednesday on December 8th 2021 this is our fourth in a series of parent training nights and tonight we are going to present about preparing for a CSE annual reviews so I have a presentation that my screen is shared and the quality is not so great because I scanned in a paper presentation I could not find the PowerPoint I apologize for that but hopefully it doesn't take away from the message the first thing to point out is that there's a process to annual reviews and there's a couple of examples later in the slides that will highlight what I'm talking about better than I can explain the picture that is showing right now is the process once a referral is received for cpse or cse committee on special education or committee on preschool special education so once the district receives referral or a notice and consent from from a parent guardian we have a clock that starts ticking to perform that evaluation of the student and that the clock is 60 days so once we are aware that we have timeline or consent we have those days to evaluate the student and then determine eligibility for Special Education Services mental ability is discussed at the initial eligibility meeting at that meeting will determine if the child is recommended the committee will decide if the child is recommended to have special education support we Implement that meeting and within one calendar year of that IEP being finalized we hold what's called an annual review that actually has to be held a little bit less than one year from the start of the annual review IEP an individual education plan must occur whenever necessary but not less than once a year so we must hold these in order and at least once a year in an annual review meeting these are question marks should we have an interview so the first one is Bob's mom reports he's upset about the attention he gets from his 1218 in class doesn't want to come to school anymore do we need to hold an annual review meeting know that is a case  Jason should have a discussion with the special education teacher maybe even the director of special programs or an administrator to discuss this before so that Aid is provided to the student in class the next one is Kaylee's progress report show he is not making progress. annual goals in reading and writing that is the case where a review meeting would be appropriate to discuss the goal and to update the goals as needed so what is an annual review meeting I should pause here and reiterate as we've discussed in previous training that everything we do in special education falls under a couple of different umbrellas the first big umbrella is federal law ID and the second is New York state law and that's covered primarily in special education under Section 200 so this guidance and I'm referencing right now comes from 200.1 part c o in the valuation conducted at least by the committee for special education of the status of each student with a disability and student thought to have a disability and it's necessary to recommend a continuation modification or termination of the provision of special education programs and services for the student to the board of education so once the CSE makes a recommendation that recommendation goes to the Board of Education Board of Education approved those recommendations of the CSE makes that's when the IEP is implemented what is the purpose of annual reviews so there's a lot of purposes the first is to review all aspects of the current IEP to determine whether or not the goals were met during the current school year consider any new information about the student in the educational needs of the students so perhaps a student has a new medical diagnosis or a new testing to reconsider will consider all that new information and making recommendations and if the student continues to need special education support we write a new IEP that describes all aspects of the program for the upcoming school year so that should be drafted before the annual review for the most part presented to the committee off of the committee to make recommendations based on what's been drafted there certain things that we covered this back in September the first part of the the meeting the IEP is the present levels of performance and they're broken up into a couple different areas to academic social physical and management needs a student filter all drafted prior to the CSE meeting presented to the committee and based on that information in any evaluations the committee makes recommendations at the meeting so notice related to annual review prior to the meeting actually taking place to see if they shall notify the parent of its intent to review the students program and placement that's done through a meeting notice so we send you a paper that tells you when the date of the meeting is and who will be in attendance and because we send that I noticed we are required to make sure that those people included on the attendance at enzyme and if there's any changes that attendance are you as a guardian need to approve those changes after the annual review was completed the cfd will notify the parents of the recommendation that were made during the CSE meeting this is done through something called a prior written notice recommendation so not only will you receive the finalized IEP after the meeting but you will receive something called prior written notice which is essentially a legal summary of what was discussed at the p a c table the annual you as discussed in section 204 is review and revise annual goal so the goals for the student should be we like to use the word threaded throughout the IEP threaded throughout the documents so if a has a math goal that than earlier in the IP discuss any academic portion of the present levels of performance we should see some mat on what's a deficit but things that I like I need for math annual goal and we should see that threaded throughout in the math goal should be to be a smart goal so we should it should be specific and measurable and there should be data accumulated to report progress towards those we should discuss the progress of the onexton again in that the present levels for forming the strength and the needs of the student the student's ability to participate in instructional programs specifically in general education the parent concerns and student concerns stupidly the student the transition age age 14 and above and it should address the students need for testing accommodations grades 3 and up need for a system technology as well as others for those might be paraprofessional support classroom accommodations classroom modifications things like that and we as a committee certainly not just me as the Director not just the special education teacher determines recommend placement in the least restrictive environment we could spend a long time and in our monthly hours talking about least restrictive environment what that means potentially what it boils down to is that the committee for special education must reccommend an academic setting that is the most appropriate for the student and in the least restrictive environment so here's some of the considerations that the CSE must consider when it comes time for the annual review a lot of this again is reading throughout the IEP so all of these things that were talking about I should not just be in one section of the IEP but again should should be highlighted throughout the first is the strengths of the student and an IEP should really be strength on the second is the concerns of a parent and again I would, put a, in their concerns of the student in the student parent voice is important to incorporate our results of the initial or most recent evaluation so if there's been a psychological psycho-educational test evaluation that's required every three years but we use the results of that evaluation to inform the decisions at the table we use the results of the students performance and any General State or district-wide assessment I would again astrix with that that we know that assessments are only a snapshot in time so a committee should not be making changes based solely on any of these things would really not just her just not on any performance on an assessment thing is academic Developmental and functional needs of the students so I would I would summarize that a thing incapable of what is what are their strengths but what what are the needs of the student one of the strengths of the student any special factors so when I think about that I think of other any medical consideration Behavior considerations we have to consider numbers 7 educational progress and achievements and number eight since ability to participate and instructional programs in the general education setting and in the least restrictive environment that's a l r e means there's more special factors that are continued in subsection 3 and these are hard to see I apologize with strategies to address behaviors that impede with learning strategies might be classroom accommodations like preferential or understanding refocusing redirection they might also be something more sensitive like a behavior intervention plan we must also consider the language needs of the student and if they're limited English proficiency proficiency do we consider something like a exempt from a language other than English destruction of the use of Braille for student who is visually impaired, communication needs for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and the need for assistive technology Services revising the eyepiece A1C information has been reviewed the IEP must be revised in order to address certain things so the lack of expected progress toward a single goal in the Gen Ed a curriculum and then for preschool students are some differences Revolt results of re-evaluation information about the student provided to or by the parents didn't anticipate the needs and other things like that accommodations those are reasons to review as soon as I pee the quality indicators for annual review these are our things that if done right this is what it should look like for the information when did at the end of a few describes the current strengths and needs of the students we should not be looking back to school years ago or you know if if we're talking about a high school student we shouldn't be referencing 5th grade this should be the current needs and strength of the students based on current data are presented and considered again concerns of the student was appropriate should also be presented in the IEP on the results of the most recent evaluations are considered at the meeting and those evaluations could be presented by a school psychologist occupational therapist physical therapist speech and language pathologist outside valuations or internal evaluations I've been completed those results should be shared with the committee and considered with making recommendations in this is this is opinion this is not a fact but the students record on state assessment grades those are important I would argue that they are less important maybe then reason evaluations and student strength and then on top of that also is discipline considered at the meeting is important to consider especially if work nothing just a referral or information contained within a a behavior intervention plan or something like that more quality indicators so the prior IEP in progress toward meeting annual goals is considered you look at on the progress toward achieving goals in that school year before considering what goals 22 on draft for the next year's IEP I'm all the information is used to determine the suitability Gandy ability that unit participate in the general education curriculum and in the least restrictive least restrictive environment each share the IEP is revised me the current needs as to pick to buy the information presented at the meeting we can talk about this later but I may forget but programs and services accommodations and modifications those are things that should be considered by the committee on special education and should know be drafted prior to the meeting without consensus in discussion at the meeting so here are some guiding questions at the annual review and this is the job of me the person chairing the meeting but is the information available on the student's progress are we discussing the student's strengths and needs and parent and student concerns have we identified new annual goals and are those annual goals directly tied to it patient presented in the present levels of academic performance or or social or physical performance are weary considering any programs and services have we discussed least restrictive environment and is there a consensus common understanding about the recommendations being made at the by the committee on special education that's those are things that the parent Guardian you should not have to worry about those are those are things that I as a person sharing that the meeting on the 20th application needs to ensure I didn't bring the copy to show on the camera but I do have minutes that I keep during the meeting I'd be sure to record exactly what people are saying and the recommendations that we make you're certain check boxes that I have to make sure that we've covered things like does the student require special Transportation have we mailed and sent procedural safeguards to parents and Guardians and are we entering least restrictive environment many of these questions are embedded throughout the document that we use to keep Master at the meeting so so know that again this is this is my job to consider a but it's important that you also know that so now I'm going to go through a couple supplementary document that I thought were in point out so there's certain things that we are required to send send you and this sort of explains I'll leave it on the screen for a few minutes unfettered so if you need to take a screenshot of it work working another over talking about these are all requirements in part 200 per New York State education so procedural safeguards notice prior written notice the actual notice and consent and what we are required to send so last July we sent every student with disabilities in the district of procedural safeguards notice 40-plus pages and essentially just how do you exactly what your rights are as a parent of students with disabilities who are required to post that on our school website and must be provided upon request of the parents and upon initial referral for a relation if there's any complaints against special education we must also provide it then provided annually and in certain circumstances beyond that prior written notice again is wired parents in that case knows may choose to receive that electronically doesn't have to be mailed physically I I believe we only send it physically but it's required for for certain instances that are all the Scribe right there in there certain times when we must require prior written notice I'm meeting notice is required we are required to send out at least five years prior to a at the meeting and it must be on a form prescribed by the New York State education commissioner on so ours is pretty standard in the form must include certain things so it's a date and time and location of meeting the names of the people who'll be attending names and titles the people who'll be attending it will indicate that you have a right the speed of some member of that committee the parent on it'll say that you also have the right to invite anyone who you knowledgeable about the expertise on on your child and it also indicates that you have the right to request in writing a few days before the meeting at the presence of the school physician War as an additional pyramid additional member of the committee and if the meeting is conducted by subcommittee which we'll talk about a little bit you also said the right is a parent's request that it's a full committee you do not agree with the subcommittee in the last column is talking about consent so things that we need to get consent from for and those are all listed right there so initial evaluation including a functional behavioral assessment releasing any information outside agencies and and so on so that those are the differences between procedural safeguards notice prior written notice meeting noticed in consent and it even as someone I can through my an expert in this area it's still a lot of information so these are I just mentioned subcommittee versus full committee and misses the different so if we work our way right to left with the CPSE committee on preschool special education and the check marks are members who are required to be at a committee on preschool special education so you can increase through that and then we're talking about grades K through 12 K through 8 21 the members who are required to attend for CSE full committee on special education for a subcommittee on special education we started operating rcfe meetings as we operate by subcommittee unless the school psychologist is presenting an initial evaluation or re-evaluation for the re-eval duration we tried to combine that revaluation and annual review into one meeting if we can if the school psychologist is not required to attend by presenting an evaluation then we hold the subcommittee it's a school psychologist that ends it's because either they're presenting information or they see that student for counseling or some type of services they provide and they'll attend the committee on special education the check marks are people who must the meeting it said student is appropriate we always invite our student if they are aged 14 or up on the transition age but if we have a 13 year old student in the parent requested they attend the students choosing to attend then of course they are welcome to attend and again if somebody does not show for the meeting the parents I can agree to hold the meeting without that person there or the parent can choose to decline and we can reschedule the meeting in example is a general education teacher so if General future canceled at the last second I is the chairperson can gather information from a teacher and try to present it on their behalf but the parents still has to agree to hold the meeting without that teacher present so members at I'm not necessary and member excusal so this disorder discusses when the member who is invited is not necessarily need to be there when they can be excused in a dish provision so a parent always has the right to request or agree with the district to excuse a member due to an emergency such as an illness the daily meeting her complex adjust today for example we had a conflict remember on the committee could not attend and somebody else was able to present the information with parents still had the right to to agree with that change at the last second because it was not presented that in writing 5 days before so he is a chairperson meeting the second bullet on that the agreement should be documented in writing and it was so I presented the information to parents and documented it on a form for all of us to go see if that the area is being discussed the written input from the member who would be excused on could be submitted to the parent for review and consideration a reasonable time before the meeting but again the parent consent is still up it's a required to give paint and here is a Assisi process timeline so this is a ton of information in this was presented in a different format and an earlier training and it goes sort of throughout the entire process from referral to evaluation eligibility and recommendation and IP implementation in order for you and revaluation so the timeline I'm of what we must do it again this is this is mandated by by walk this there's there's no choice in there if a school exceeds a timeline well first of all we must let you know that we must inform the parents and they're in there certain processes that have to take place so going on a case-by-case if we work our way left right once we as a school district to receive written referral to special education my job is to notify the building principal and then it sort of start the clock if if that makes sense once we receive that consent to evaluate by a parent or Guardian it starts the clock that that evaluation must be add within 60 calendar days of receipt of that consent so let's pretend we received consent to evaluate student on December 1st we would have to present the results of that evaluation and determine eligibility January 29th no later than January 29th 60 days the meeting notice in that case would have to go out no later than January 24th to the parent and we must go back to your team meeting to determine eligibility IPM fermentation will occur within 60 days of that initial consent to evaluate and the board of education has to approve it within 30 school days of the receipt of the recommendation so if we evaluated in and determine eligibility on January 29th the board of education is 30 days from January 29th to receive that recommendation and implemented the annual review must occur no less or no more than one year from the date of the initial eligibility and a re-evaluation done by our school psychologist must be done at least once every three years and more often 15 appropriate so if there's significant regression in the student we cannot with parent consent to hold on to do an evaluation sooner than that within all this document there's a ton more cab you're welcome to read through that at your leisure Hope they've been on the screen long enough for you to screenshot it or pause the video to read through it and if you would like a paper copy or you would like to get a copy of any of these 10 pages I'm happy to provide it and this is essentially the same this last Friday's do not this last sheet is essentially the same information presented in a more visual so the green is sort of the big thing so receipt a parent went to initiate evaluation use the term the clock start so most times I will talk to a parent Guardian on the phone before mailing that consent to evaluate so if I call you when I say hey are concerned we are going to be mailing you consent to evaluate that does not start the clock you on the phone saying shoe or mail it or yes I agree does not start the clock once we physically received your signed permission to that's when the clock starts we actually stamp it we put it in our system and his little tiny days that show up on our screen that they you know what the timeline is within 60 calendar days not school days calendar days we must hold in initial eligibility meeting to determine if that child is eligible for special education services that timeline that you noticed will astrix does not apply if parents Italy fails or she's has produced the student for valuation that can mean a lot of things but if there are components of the initial evaluation that cannot be completed because the parent refuses that timeline gets pushed then the wheels school district have the right to extend that 60 calendar days and we can agree to another evaluation time length if a child moves to another District during the evaluation in that the time I would be extenuating circumstances and the IEP would be developed the Board of Education a range of programs and services and implemented its as soon as possible but not later than 60 days from the receipt of the gallon of the receipt evaluate within 30 days of the Board of Education receiving it has implemented and within one year of an initial meeting we must hold an annual review what I would like to briefly. Gus is your role at the annual review meeting and I'll tell you how I personally run in your dream eating I start the meeting by explaining the purpose of the meat if its initial eligibility I will say we are here to determine whether or not Billy is eligible for special education services we're going to present these evaluations and will come back as a committee to discuss that initial algebra which which most people have already been through if it's an annual review meeting I'll start the meeting by saying we are here to me on Billy to discuss his performance in the past year and to consider special education supports for the next school year depending on the members present I I'd like to start with a special education teacher for annual reviews who most likely have the best pictures best current picture of what the students performance is but there are caveats to that if there's reports to be presented by the school psychologist occupational therapist speech language pathologist will prevent those reports first idea you have already at the parent Guardian been given copies of those reports review and consider before we meet at the committee and if you have questions we will meet as long as you need to be able to answer this question if the student another caveat to starting a special ed teacher is if Soon Is 40 you're older if their transition age student sometimes it's appropriate to start with the student with a billy and then go around the table and make sure that every voice is heard including the parent Guardian general education teacher anybody who's at that meeting should have a voice and my job during the meeting is to document what people are saying so during the meeting probably see a lot of the top of my head because I'm. what people are saying taking minutes of the meeting as required by law so after we we talk but let's break it up again if its initial eligibility once everybody has spoken and presented information generally like to stay the committee does anyone disagree with any of the information presented or have any concern and here is our recommendation by the committee the recommendation is Billy adult daughter special education services with classification does anyone disagree that yes as soon as eligible and here is their classification one of those 13 categories we then talk about programs and services to support that student in the least restrictive environment if it's an annual review meeting the student is still eligible for special education services we've determined that we've been discussed let's talk about programs and services which most likely means reviewing existing and making recommendations but think of an example so which is Billy is in a 12 11 classroom we need to determine is that still the most appropriate placement for for the student is there a least restrictive environment that suits should be in or less restrictive I should say we also been digging through the program Services classroom accommodations have seen combination modification Systems Technology. is there any other considerations that we must consider to best support  that student at the end of the entire meeting I will say something like is there anything else that anyone would like to consider for the sometimes there is sometimes most likely there's not everything pretty in that and then it's apparent it's important that you know what next so you will receive a copy of of the finalized iup in once you get that copy the finalized iup yes we talked about everything at the meeting yes you received the draft an IEP before the CSE meeting but it's still a comment that you as a parent Guardian true that IEP for anything that we may have missed as a committee I like to take copious notes I sometimes even like the update the IEP in real-time but it's possible that I missed something so please please look through that finalized look for mistakes look for emissions on and we can always make changes to that with your permission to make sure that we update it per what the conversation was during the committee on special education and that's it and then it's implemented then you will receive progress notes from the special education teacher at the special education case manager also want to touch on amendments sometime necessary to amend a student IEP during the school year I can think of a couple examples where maybe a paraprofessional support is needed in a class the recommendation is that Johnny needs while he's in biology lab so you may receive a phone call from the special education case manager or myself and say you know based on X Y and Z based on this here's the recommendation we're not required to home I'm meeting in those cases I can scent is all that's needed and I could be in writing through something like an email or in through Voice through a phone call you receive the copy in the mail in and you say you check the bus one or two boxes yes I agree go forward with that and Implement that changed or no I don't agree let's hold a meeting if you say let's hold a meeting the next thing that will probably happen is a phone call with Britney or the special education case just to clarify just to be sure that the information presented to you was clear because we would have already gotten consent before we mailed that so maybe we were unclear about how the information was presented in when you got it and writing it just makes sense and if that's the case then hopefully we cleared that up on the phone but absolutely you still have the right to request a review on a meeting I see you at the meeting to discuss the proposed changes at any time and that was writing a time and again we must hold a meeting in person is if we threw an amendment which we shouldn't be doing that change a setting a program in the service to a more restricted setting June is in full general education classes and you receive a phone call that we want to place your speed in a self-contained special education class that's the time when you really should be holding a meeting that should not be done through something called an amendment I can't think of any other specific changes that would be enough to stop that and my mentor versus a review on but know that if if it is unclear on the person you should reach out to you first is that it's a case manager for your child so that special education teacher related service provider and you're always welcome to contact me and discuss anything about your child now bear in mind that the case manager for your child knows your child best knows that student Best Buy interacting likely on a daily basis and I I kind of always have the the ground up or the sky down view maybe right so always communicate with the teacher or the case manager that's what I would do if you were to contact me that's not to say that you can't contact me if you have questions or concerns leading up to the annual review I hope that the annual review isn't the first time that we met or interacted and if it is I apologize for that I've been tended to reach out to my parents starting prior to meeting and and know that you have a voice at the at the meeting that's what I'll close with that that you are a member of that committee that that your voice is very important and by law should be included in the document IP your your concerns your wishes for the for your child and must be incorporated and valued so I know that we value parental and put parental feedback again it should be operated and student ID it certainly valued at the CFT table so we've been I've been talking for 40 minutes there's there's nobody here and there's nobody online so there's no question if you watch this video and you do have questions please get ahold of me you want a copy of the presentation materials you need any follow-up not the best way it's phone so my phone number at school at 359-3322 extension 2039 email is leek@tupperlakecsd.net We will be meeting again in January and the topic in January is discussing testing accommodations test taking strategies and preparing for midterm exams but Timely right before midterm exams start in in preparation for spring assessment on there was a parent request to hold a pair of training night specifically about Section 504 and will be will be doing that any feedback you have about this training or other trainings any suggestions you have or anything in general feel free to get a hold of me and thank you very much for watching

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Special Education Parent/Community Training Night: Preparing for IEP Annual Reviews

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