Special Education Action Page 18 of 21 - Children are our priority. Ensuring their needs are met is our goal. Children are our priority. Ensuring their needs are met is our goal. Providing parents and their children the tools to advocate for themselves is our mission. Improving Public Schools is our goal.

FCPS Teachers; Pay Inequity in a Time of COVID

09.30.2020

Technology has come a long way for students with special education needs. It’s revolutionized the school experience for many of these students.

I can’t thank the assistive technology specialists within the school system enough.

But . . . There’s another group we need to ensure the overall infrastructure is in place and running. In Fairfax County Public Schools, these individuals are often referred to as SBTS (School-Based Technology Specialists).

And this past spring, when teachers and students were sent home, the SBTS worked overtime to clean-up a mess that to-date has not been explained.

More Words on “Just Words”; When the Student has Dyslexia and the School Chooses a Program that the Publisher of the Program Doesn’t Endorse for Dyslexia

09.27.2020

Wilson, the publisher of the program “Just Words” has stated that the program is not for children with Dyslexia, and yet Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) in Virginia (and other school divisions) continues to recommend the program for students who have Dyslexia.

In two previous articles, I shared the article, “When It’s Not Dyslexia”, which appears in Wilson’s “Decoder” Newsletter; a partial IEP transcript, in which a FCPS Dyslexia Resource acknowledges that Wilson does not endorse “Just Words” for students with Dyslexia, and the final decision of a Due Process hearing, in which the hearing officer wrote:

” From the evidence presented at the hearing, I have learned there are several competing methodologies that address learning disabilities associated with dyslexia. But it is clear to this Hearing Officer that JUST WORDS is not one of them.”

If this isn’t enough to convince your school division that “Just Words” isn’t appropriate for your student with Dyslexia, there’s the following, straight from Wilson Reading System Instructor Manual, Steps 1-6.

Language Live, Part Deux; When the Data Collected Doesn’t Belong on IEPs

09.24.2020

“I wouldn’t count that”.

~Alicia Kuehn, Curriculum Resource Teacher
Region 1 Point of Contact
Office of Special Education Instruction
Fairfax County Public Schools

This quote refers to data Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) included in IEP Progress reports and in an IEP being developed for the coming year.

Not good.

I share it, and the story behind it (as with the article “If Your Child was Administered the Program Language Live, this Article is for You”), with hope that it will inform other families about data being culled from the program Language Live.

What’s on the IEP PLOP Page—and What Should Actually Be on the IEP PLOP Page?

09.20.2020

20 USC Sec. 1414(d)(1)(A)(i) states:

“The term “individualized education program” or “IEP” means a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with this section and that includes—
(I) a statement of the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including . . .”

It doesn’t state that it should include present levels from a year ago or two years ago. It states present levels—as in, where is the student NOW.

And yet . . . There are IEPs that don’t have baseline data at the start of each year to measure progress. They are void of PRESENT levels.

If you happen to have a child in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), there is an IEP page that is actually titled, “Information Related to Present Level of Educational Performance”.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has called out FCPS on its use of the page.

How to Choose a Reading Program that Addresses the Needs of a Student? Clue: Take “Convenience” and “Trust in Colleagues” Off Your List

09.18.2020

Let’s imagine you have a child who has that oh-so-unique wiring that is Dyslexia

And let’s imagine that the school division denied that child an evaluation three times between first and sixth grades.

And let’s imagine, too, that the child finally received an IEP and that you went to mediation and that the school division enrolled your child in a year-long reading elective during 7th grade and provided tutoring twice a week, one hour each time, after school, for a chunk of the school year.

And, last—but not least—let’s imagine that you uncovered problems with the implementation of that program

And, let’s imagine that after all this, the school has another program for your child.

What would you do?

Excel Did It; Teacher Attributes Curious Information in Comp Ed Tracking Spread Sheet to Auto-Population

09.17.2020

Do you remember the “Sesame Street” song, with the following lyrics?

“One of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn’t belong . . .”

In this article, you’ll find three different spread sheets—all tracking compensatory education services provided to the same student, for the same period, provided by the same teacher, but all with different data.

How did this happen?

Please join me as I share the tale of the teacher, the student, the mom, and the curious case of the auto-populating, compensatory-education-tracking spreadsheet.

The Special-Education-Cholera-Outbreak-John-Snow Connection

09.15.2020

So often, the answer is right in front of us—sometimes in our very hands—but we lack the imagination to look beyond the obvious.

With a little imagination, so much can be achieved with a low-cost, high-touch approach.

Do you know Dr. John Snow?

In 1854, a London cholera outbreak erupted, killing over 600 people in just over a week.

It had to be stopped.

But how? (And what does this have to do with special education?)

Dear Silverbrook ES: A Public List of Students Who Take Medicine is Not a Good Idea

09.14.2020

Silverbrook Elementary School (SES), in Fairfax Station, Virginia, has a history of sharing personally identifiable information about students, which is a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

On at least two occasions, since 2015, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has provided SES “FERPA/confidentiality training”.

Looks like SES needs more.

FCPS Disabled SEA-STARS’ Function that Tracks Login Information, Record Access, and Changes to Student Data

09.12.2020

Riddle me this: Why would you purchase a program to maintain special education records, if the function for tracking files, changes to files, and log-ins would “seriously degrade the operational performance of the system, largely making the system unusable for authorized users”?

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) did just that.

If you have a child who receives special education via (FCPS), you’re likely familiar with “SEA-STARS”, which is the program FCPS is always logging into to access your students’ information.

What you might not know, is that 10 years ago, FCPS disabled the function that tracks login information, record access, and changes to student data.

Worried About Hackers? FCPS has Been Breaching Students’ and Staff’s Privacy for Years

09.11.2020

For years, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has been aware of its failures to secure private information.

Hackers breaching its system is another breach in a long line of privacy breaches and failures to secure information.

This evening, news outlets reported that the hackers posted private information about students.

And yet . . .

FCPS has been releasing information about students—without their permission—for years.

Dear FCPS: Universal Screeners WILL NOT Identify Students in Need if the Data is Falsified, Misrepresented, or Misunderstood

09.10.2020

“Monies paid out during dispute resolution processes”

This headline appears in an internal FCPS report and precedes the following two entries about two Fairview Elementary School students (Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia).

For Student One:

“Lack of acceptance of dyslexia by teachers”

For Student Two:

“private dyslexia diagnosis; student parentally placed at [redacted school]”

That Time I Left an IEP Meeting and Forgot to Grab My Recorder (Which was Still Recording)

09.09.2020

8.15.18:

I attended an IEP meeting.

When I left the meeting room, I accidentally left behind my recorder, which was still recording.

The recorder captured comments by Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) members of the IEP team (Procedural Support Liaison Program Manager Angelina Prestipino, Procedural Support Liaison Jean Massie, Dyslexia Resources Regional Point of Contact Tracy Puckett, and Assistant Principal Heather Bousman-Stanczak), which they started making immediately after I left the room.

They wasted no time.