Special Education Action is a 501(c)3 nonprofit publisher covering special education.
Its mission is to ensure parents, educators, and students have the information and tools necessary to fully understand, address, and safeguard the unique needs of all students who require special education.
Recent Articles
For Students, Virginia’s “Bridging the Gap” Program is a Bridge too Late & to Nowhere
FCPS’s ARP funding failed to address the needs of students from the classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022, who graduated or dropped out of school before funding could benefit them. Recent announcements from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Virginia Department of Education, and Governor Glenn Youngkin’s office indicate that this trend will continue.
In Virginia’s case, this follows a downward trend in academic performance that started before COVID.
Accommodation Breakdown: Testing to Completion
Seems like a straightforward accommodation, right?
Student is given the test.
Student is given as much time as is needed to complete the test.
How could it possibly be interpreted any other way?
What could possibly go wrong?
It’s the Law: Confidentiality and Access of Student Records
Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) there are additional confidentiality and access protections.
This article includes a few examples of noncompliance, with which you might not be familiar, as well as your go-to regulations should you need them.
The Language of IEPs & 504s: Just When You Thought You Knew the Definition of “Assessment”, Wrong Again
In IEP and 504 Plan worlds, assessments are interpreted as differently as a person might interpret a piece of poetry. Whereas one person might interpret Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” to be about being an individual choosing a different path, marching to a different drummer, and so on, there are others who point to this understanding as nonsense, as the incorrect interpretation.
Who knew assessments could be the same way?
Fairfax County Public Schools Withheld Records from Office of Civil Rights; FCPS Didn’t Provide Full Response to OCR’s Investigation Data Request
January 12, 2021, OCR launched an investigation into FCPS, for civil rights violations related to the COVID pandemic.
May 4, 2021, OCR submitted an “Initial Data Request Letter” to Superintendent Scott Brabrand, which has a focus on “what the Division has done to address any denial of free appropriate public education (FAPE) that has occurred for students with disabilities while the Division has offered remote learning in response to the pandemic.
FCPS failed to provide a full response.
