Special Education Action's 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

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.

Office for Civil Rights Releases New Guidance Document: “Equal Access to Elementary and Secondary Education for Students Who Are English Learners with Disabilities”

Office for Civil Rights Releases New Guidance Document: “Equal Access to Elementary and Secondary Education for Students Who Are English Learners with Disabilities” November 12, 2024, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released the new guidance document…

The Problems with Quarterly IEP Measurements

Whether it is a functional or an academic goal, waiting a quarter is waiting too long, because the goal might need to be adjusted sooner. Why not assess whether the goal needs narrowing or expanding as soon as possible?

I’ve never understood why Individualized Education Programs (IEP) include goals for quarterly measurements. As a parent, if my kids failed to do their chores for a week, I wouldn’t wait until the end of the quarter to assess the situation. Why wait an entire quarter to address a problem that’s clearly getting worse? Why not assess sooner and narrow the goal until it can be expanded in full—or expand the goal if the student achieves the goal sooner than expected?

Office for Civil Rights Releases FAQ Guidance Focused on Privacy and Filing Complaints with OCR

November 14, 2024, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released the new guidance document “Frequently Asked Privacy-Related Questions About Filing a Complaint with OCR”.

OCR states the document “is intended to respond to questions frequently raised to the U.S. Department of Education (Department), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) by individuals who file complaints and/or contact OCR for technical assistance.”

Office for Civil Rights Has “Serious Compliance Concerns” with St. Johns County School District’s (FL) Restraint and Seclusion Practices; School Division Enters Into Resolution Agreement with OCR

One St. Johns County School District (FL) student was restrained 119 minutes. However, the restraint summary the division provided to U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for the student stated “restraints he experienced lasted as long as 35 minutes” even though the incident reports “recorded a restraint lasting five times longer—119 minutes.”