Education Short List

Part 2

3. What have you been doing about these issues so far?
If you didn’t ask this during your discussion of Question 2, ask it now. Make sure you take notes of the things that have already been tried, how long they were tried for, and whether or not they are at all successful. This is important because you want to make sure that if a strategy is not working for your student, it doesn’t end up being tried again, or continued if it is unsuccessful.

4. What does the school want to do now?
If you have been called to a meeting to discuss testing your child for Special Education, the school district is required by law to provide you with paperwork that explains exactly what your rights are and what the entire process of testing, identification, and placement will look like. They are not legally allowed to do any official testing without your permission, so if you do not want to give it right then, DON’T! Tell them that you need a few days to read through the material, talk about it with your spouse and with your child, and just time to think. It is important to remember that you do not have to make any major decisions at this first meeting. At the same time, if the school has explained their concerns you and you understand them and agree that more testing might be a good thing, don’t be afraid to proceed with the testing – even if the testing comes back and indicates that your child qualifies to receive services, the school district can not do anything without your permission.

5. How long will the testing take? This is a very simple question. Most states have a 30-60 day time-limit on how long a school can take to test a student from the moment a parent signs the permission to evaluate form to when they have to meet with parents to review the testing data. Make sure you find out if the time-limit is for “school days” or “calendar days.” Have an idea of when you should be hearing back from the school with information.