This school year and last I have had at least a half a dozen cases of high school students who had not been evaluated by the school district and who were failing or struggling mightily to pass classes . A few had IEP's, one had a 504 Plan and others were at risk of dropping out of high school because of repeated failures in their classes. The students with the IEP's - one a junior and two seniors - had not been formally evaluated since middle school. Their 3 year re-evaluations consisted of a records review. Regrettably, the high school was reluctant to evaluate the students and in two cases the principal suggested that the student consider dropping out of high school and get a GED. The parents hired a lawyer.
In each of the cases, the school reluctantly agreed to evaluate the student, using a combination of private evaluators and school based psychological and related service personnel. The results of the evaluations allowed everyone to identify the problem accurately, design interventions and appropriate transition services. It shouldn't have required an attorney to make it happen.
Advice for Parents:
Insist on data based evaluations for your child.
The evaluations are critical to thoughtful accurate educational and transition planning.
Request an independent evaluation if the school won't or can't do the evaluation.
If you can afford to do so, hire an independent evaluator (e.g. psychologist, speech therapist, psychiatrist ) to evaluate your child.
Share the results with the school.
Put your request for an evaluation in writing to the school.
Recent Comments