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
Know This About FAPE
FAPE is an acronym for Free Appropriate Public Education.
Free Appropriate Public Education is not the definition of FAPE.
If you don’t know it already, it is time to learn the definition of FAPE.
In order to know if the school division and its teachers are providing FAPE, you need to know what it is.
Fairfax County Public Schools Failed to Comply with Federal Regulations; Continued to Deny IEEs
Virginia’s Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) regulations will be changed to align with federal regulations.
Local educations agencies (LEA) are required to follow the federal regulations (even before the state regulation change) or they will be found in noncompliance.
However, seven months passed before Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) presented this information to special education lead teachers—even though it was already found in noncompliance for failure to comply with federal regulations.
IEP Progress Reports: What Should Be Reported Vs. What Is Reported
What should be in Individualized Education Program (IEP) progress reports and what actually is in IEP progress reports often are two different things.
Imagine it is time for your annual work review. Your employer presents a report that states you didn’t make progress, or didn’t make enough progress, toward your goals for the year. However, when you read the report, there’s no data backing your employer’s decision, nor is there a performance plan for moving forward. You don’t know why you didn’t progress and you don’t know what you need to do in order to progress.
The same issues occur with IEP progress reports.
Second Virginia Hearing Officer Rules Reading Program Inappropriate for Student with Dyslexia
The law firm Blankingship & Keith represented FCPS in both cases, too. Although the first hearing officer ruled “Just Words” to be inappropriate for a student with Dyslexia, FCPS continued to enroll students with Dyslexia in it, and FCPS and Blankingship & Keith continued forward in the second hearing, arguing “Just Words” to be appropriate for a student with Dyslexia.
Action Alert: Dyslexia Legislation Support Needed
If you reside outside of Virginia, please contact Decoding Dyslexia chapter in your state to learn about – and support – their advocacy efforts.
View Fairfax County Public Schools’ “Concurrent Instruction Professional Development Guidebook”
Documents, images, and videos noted within the guidebook are included as well.