How to Assist Kids Who Are Having Behavioral Difficulties (at Home and School)…

Have you ever wondered why some students just can’t manage their behavior in school? Some kids act the way they because of what they’ve experienced in their home life and because of how they are “wired”. A combination of factors; genetic, environmental, and temperamental are involved in influencing behaviors.

Some children have experienced abuse (both verbal and/or physical), are raised in an environment of poverty and/or drug and/or alcohol use at home, and may be neglected. While there still may be others that have experienced the extreme emotional pain of loss of a close loved one or a trauma than can trigger them behaviorally in school. The behaviors school personnel can witness may be manifested in a variety of ways – some external and some internal (students being exceptionally withdrawn while others can lash out behaviorally).

How can parents and teachers help? Unfortunately, when students enter some classrooms, they find a teacher who has fallen into the punitive method of maintaining the classroom environment. Methods of changing behavior, such as yelling, reprimanding, and dressing-down, only increase students’ anxiety. They do nothing to change behavior in the long term. And when the child returns home the home environment of chaos the cycle starts again.

To influence students positively, classrooms should be the “safe haven” in the center of the chaotic lives of the neediest children. How does a teacher establish that? And how can a parent support that at home? Consistency, common language, specific expectations that are established and clearly explained AND demonstrated (and practiced without fear of being punished while in the practice phase), smooth transitions, and clean, organized, accessible classroom environment—which is a physical representation of the order and control so many students may not have in their own home environments. It has a calming effect that makes them feel safe, wanted, and valued. If this is done correctly, students will immediately relax when they enter the classroom and their seat will become a “safe haven”. They will then become prepared to do their very best both behaviorally and academically. If this is communicated with the parent, the same environment, language and techniques can be used at home!!

A Note To Teachers – YOU MUST BE CAREFUL NOT to take any misbehavior personally. You should be the students’ anchor! You MUST establish a personal connection. The students need to feel safe and wanted.

MMMMM….Bet you are saying what if the students misbehave? Well, if you take the time to establish the environment and your connection to the students, you will have some powerful clout when it comes down to influencing their behavior choices. When they do act out you must be consistent in holding them accountable for their actions BUT without causing anger or bitterness. There should be no “blaming”. With this kind of plan in place and an established communication plan with parents, a three way team can begin to restore chaos to children’s lives and help with classroom management and home life as well. Next blog will deal with if a child has an IEP or Chapter 15/504 Service plan and is dealing with behaviors, what should a parent do???

A Visual Follow Up...

Here's a visual to help readers to distinguish the difference between an IEP and a Chapter 15 (in PA) or what's referred to in other states as a 504 Service Plan:

Table is courtesy of www.ncld.org which is a great website if your child has learning disablilities (and may help kids with other issues as well). However, keep in mind that "specific learning disabilities" is only one of 13 categories of disabilities in Pennsylvania and does not refer to children who may be covered under Chapter 15/504 Plans.

Component of the Law	IDEA (Special Education - IEP)	Section 504 (Chapter 15 in PA)
Purpose	Is a federal statute whose purpose is to ensure a free and appropriate education services for children with disabilities who fall within one of the specific disability categories as defined by the law.	Is a broad civil rights law which protects the rights of individuals with disabilities in any agency, school or institution receiving federal funds to provide persons with disabilities to the greatest extent possible, an opportunity to fully participate with their peers.
Who Is Protected	Covers eligible students ages 3–21 whose disability adversely affects the child's educational performance and/or ability to benefit from general education.	Covers all persons with a disability from discrimination in educational settings based solely on their disability. Section 504 defines a person with a disability as: ·         Having a physical or mental impairment which limits one or more major life activity; ·         Have a record of such an impairment; or ·         Are regarded as having an impairment.
Services	Provides individual supplemental educational services and supports in addition to what is provided to students in the general curriculum to ensure that the child has access to and benefits from the general curriculum. This is provided free of charge to the parent.	Requires schools to eliminate barriers that would prevent the student from participating fully in the programs and services offered in the general curriculum.
Requirements for Delivering Services	Requires a written Individualized Education Program (IEP) documentation with specific content addressing the disability directly and specifying educational services to be delivered, mandating transition planning for students 16 and over, as well as a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) for any child with a disability that has a behavioral issue. “Appropriate Education” is defined as a program reasonably calculated to provide “educational benefit” to the student. Related services are provided as required for the student to benefit from the educational process and are aligned with specially designed instruction (e.g., counseling, speech, transportation, occupational and physical therapy, etc.)	Does not require a written IEP but does require a documented plan. “Appropriate Education” means comparable to the one provided to general education students. Section 504 requires that reasonable accommodations be made for the child with a disability. Requires the school to provide reasonable accommodations, supports and auxiliary aides to allow the child to participate in the general curriculum.
Funding	Provides additional funding to states for eligible students	Does not provide additional funds. Additionally, IDEA funds may not be used to serve children found eligible under section 504 only.
Evaluation Procedures	A full Multi-Factored Evaluation (MFE) is required, using a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional and developmental information, including information provided by the parent that may assist the team in determining whether the child has a disability and how it affects the child's educational program. Multiple assessment tools must be used to assess the child in all areas of the suspected disability. Written consent is necessary by parent or guardian before an initial evaluation is conducted Requires a reevaluation every three years by IEP team to determine if services are still needed to address student disability unless the parent and other members of the IEP team agree it is not necessary. Reevaluation is not required before a change of placement.	Evaluation draws on information from a variety of sources in the area of concern. A group decision is made with persons knowledgeable about the student, evaluation data, and available educational placement options. Written consent is not necessary before completing an evaluation; however, notice must be provided to parent or guardian. Requires yearly reevaluations or periodic review.
Independent Evaluation	Allows parents to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) at the school district’s expense if parent/guardian disagrees with the evaluation obtained by the school district. The Independent Evaluator must meet the same criteria as the district requires for their employees and must be approved by all parties.	Does not allow independent evaluations at the district’s expense or the ability to request an independent educational evaluation.
Procedural Safeguards	Requires written notice to parent/guardian prior to identification, evaluation and/or placement of child. Changes of services or placement must have written notice before any change can take place. Requires due process rights to be followed at all times and manifestation determination hearing for discipline procedures. For any child with behavioral concerns a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) must be completed and a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) written to assist student in learning appropriate behaviors and providing supports to enable student to be successful in their learning community.	Does not require written notice. Requires notice before a “significant change” in placement—requires due process rights if referred for formal evaluation under IDEA, and the team determines not to evaluate.
Placement Decisions	Requires district and schools to use information from a variety of sources. Consider all documented information and use a team approach to make eligibility decisions. Team members are identified under IDEA and must be knowledgeable about the child, evaluation data, and the continuum of placements and services available. Requires that student receives a free and appropriate education with his/her non-disabled peers in the least restricted environment. IEP meeting is required before any change in placement or services is made. Students are eligible for a full continuum of placement options including regular education with related services as needed.	Requires district and schools to use information from a variety of sources. Consider all documented information. Use a team approach to make eligibility decisions, with team members being knowledgeable about the child, evaluation data, and the continuum of placements and services available. The student must receive a free and appropriate education with his/her non-disabled peers. Meeting is not required for a change of placement. Students are served in general education with or without modification. Possible accommodations under a 504 plan could be: ·         Structured learning environment ·         Repeated or simplified instructions ·         Behavior management or intervention strategies ·         Modified testing procedures-small group; oral testing; extended time; test read to student. ·         Tape recorders, spell checkers, calculators, computers, word processor, etc. ·         Modified or adjusted homework, workbooks, second set of textbooks. ·         Textbooks on tape ·         etc. (many accommodations and modifications used on an IEP can be included in a 504 accommodation plan)
Due Process	Requires district to provide resolution sessions and due process hearings for parents/guardians who disagree with identification, evaluation, implementation of IEP or students Least Restricted Environment (LRE) placement.	Requires districts to provide a grievance procedure for parents, and students who disagree with identification, evaluation, implementation of IEP or students Least Restricted Environment (LRE) placement. A grievance procedure must be provided to parents and employees to follow and a 504 coordinator identified in the district to assist individuals as needed. Due process hearing not required before Office of Civil Rights (OCR) involvement or court action unless student is also covered by IDEA. Compensatory damages possible.

In the next several blogs, I will talk about discipline and behavior and what you can do to communicate with the school in these areas and what you can do at home to help your child.

IEP...Chapter 15...What's the Diff?

A lot of times, educators get questions about the differences between an IEP and a “Chapter 15” which is also known as a 504 Service Agreement. If your child has one of these documents through the school or school personnel has discussed this with you and you are confused, they are not the same thing. There are differences. Both are, however, designed to help your child. Here are some ways they are different.

Individualized Education Program (IEP). An IEP is a written plan for the provision of services for the education of students who are disabled or gifted (a GIEP). The school district has a responsibility under “Child Find” for children “thought-to-be” eligible for special education services and/or accommodations. This responsibility includes locating, identifying, and evaluating all students with suspected disabilities, including but not limited to evaluating students for whom a request (either by school personnel or by parents) for an evaluation has been made.

Two criteria exist for an IEP, both of which must be met:

- The student must meet one of the 13 disability categories defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004 (IDEA).

- The student must need special education; that is, the child requires specifically designed instruction to receive educational benefits

The 13 categories are:

- mental retardation (pending language change to "intellectual disability")

- hearing impairment

- speech or language impairment                                             deafness

- visual impairment (including blindness)                                  deaf-blindess

- emotional disturbance                                                           multiple disabilities

- orthopedic impairment                                                          autism

- traumatic brain injury                                                           other health impairment

- specific learning disability

504 Service Agreement/Chapter 15 (in PA). A student that does not qualify for special education services under IDEA (an educational law) still may qualify for services under Section 504 (a civil rights law) if the disability is shown to substantially limit his or her educational performance.

A child with a disability is one who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities, such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. Accommodations often refer to building accessibility, classroom adjustments and curriculum modifications and may be updated or revised as the need changes. Examples may be children who need access to water and unlimited bathroom access because they are diabetic or children who need an inhaler before physical activity such as recess or gym class because of severe asthma.

Keep in mind that these two plans are never done in isolation and nothing should be done without s parent as part of the team. If your child is having difficulty in school or has a medical condition that you think is impeding his/her progress in school, the first step is always to communicate with your child’s teacher.

 

                                                            

What to Do if YOU Think Your Child Isn't Making Progress in an Intervention or School in General!

I will continue from my last blog where the RED FLAGS were waving fiercely!! My concerns with Reading Recovery constant as my data team continually came up against independent data that did not support that it was working with students with whom we were working. We also noticed that the students who had received RR in Grade 1, still needed some sort of support in Grade 2!!

After giving the intervention sufficient time and using multiple measures of progress, students were moved to another intervention that seemed to fit their needs better. That is called targeted instruction – instructing students where their deficits are. For example, if the student can’t sound out words, a teacher would use another intervention that highlighted letter sound skills. AND if the students respond to that intervention (RtI), then you have seemingly targeted what you need to remediate and accelerate students’ progress in order to get the students NOT to the average of their peers BUT to GRADE LEVEL standards (as measured by a norm referenced assessment)…

So…What can a parent do to help their child if they believe the child isn’t progressing in an intervention such as RR (or any other intervention) OR in the school environment in general?

•         Contact your child’s teacher.  Normally you can get their email and phone number right off the school’s web site!
•          It might help to jot down your concerns about your child’s lack of progress in school (or in the intervention) PRIOR to contacting the teacher. That way you don’t forget anything important. You can even ask your child what he/she finds hard about school if you see him/her struggling or frustrated.
•          Ask what you can do at home to help.   
•          Ask if you can schedule a meeting with your child’s teachers. If it involves an intervention, be sure to ask that the meeting includes the intervention team or IEP team working with your child. In most elementary schools, if your child receives an intervention, the team may be called the IST or (Response to Intervention) RtI team. If your child has an IEP, call an IEP meeting. Include your child in a meeting whenever possible (if appropriate).
•          Perhaps you need to ask the school counselor if your child should be tested to see if your child qualifies for special education services (or if your child already has an IEP, your child may be in need of additional services – in that case, contact the case manager and request an IEP meeting or request additional testing). DO NOT WAIT or let ANYONE TALK YOU OUT OF THIS. If you believe your child has an issue that need to be explored, put it in writing. There is also the option of outside testing with an independent evaluator. If you decide to go that route, share the results with the school. This link will take you to a guide for parents in terms of special education and advocacy in the Commonwealth of PA.

 http://www.elc-pa.org/pubs/downloads2010/2009A-TheRighttoSpecialEducationinPennsylvaniaGuideforParents.pdf

•          Request daily or weekly progress reports from your child’s teachers. This should include all progress monitoring data collected on your child (this is done by the intervention team).OR If your child’s school posts a student’s progress on their website and you have access to the internet, get your personal password from the school, and check progress reports weekly.  
•          Use a daily planner to record assignments and check the assignments off when they are finished. The daily planner needs to come home every day and be checked every day.
•          Folder(s) to keep “To Do” and “Done” work separated.
•          Folder(s) to keep corrected and returned work separated from current assignments that need to be turned in. (Keep/Take Home) – the folders need to come and be checked every day as well.
•          Keep a supply of paper, pens, pencils, etc. at home so your child is prepared for each class.
•          Identify a quiet place that will be the spot your child will use to complete homework.

Most of all, communicate with your child. When he/she comes home and you ask, “What did you do in school today?” Do not accept the answer, “Nothing.” 

                                                                 

So What Are Those Red Flags?

Yesterday I began blogging about a reading intervention called Reading Recovery.  So…What is RR? It is an intensive reading intervention intended for first graders who have been identified as “at risk” in reading. RR was developed by Marie Clay in New Zealand over 30 years ago!    A little dated don’t you think?

(RR) provides intensive, one-to-one, daily reading intervention time for first graders (no other grade) who are having trouble in reading. Students who are targeted for RR are the lowest performing students in the school as determined by the program’s Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (which, mind you, is not a norm referenced test…) Ah! So…the red flags are raising!

There are daily 30-minute intervention sessions that each highly trained RR teacher conducts with one student at a time (those of you budget conscious tax payers, DO THE MATH…this is a one-to-one intervention). AND the highly trained teacher must continue to train to keep the RR instructor status (this takes time and money)…another red flag!

What goes on during RR? Well, the teacher carries out a number of activities (reminder, they were designed 30 years ago) that are related to texts selected for the student’s reading level. These activities, such as: re-reading one or more previously introduced texts, identifying letters and words writing a story, hearing and writing sounds in words, cutting the story up and then reassembling and reading it, introducing a new book, and reading the new text are all skills that are hard to do if the student’s deficit is phonemic awareness)….red flag again!

Well, what about the data? Students are discontinued from RR when they are able to read texts that an average reader in the child’s class can read (remember this is not a standardized measure), can write a few sentences, and are “predicted to make progress without further individual instruction”. Predicted by whom? And what happens if the prediction is incorrect?...FINAL red flag!!

You can read for yourself the reviews.

Here’s a link to the WWC – the What Work’s Clearinghouse. Educators use this website to determine many things such as how good interventions are compared to others. In the VERY first sentence of the report, it states that RR has had positive effects on GENERAL reading achievement. But while most literature focuses on that, they usually inflate the fact that RR only has “potentially” positive effects on the other areas of reading.

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=420

From the Report - Reading Recovery® was found to have positive effects on general reading achievement and potentially positive effects on alphabetics, reading fluency, and comprehension for beginning readers.

Reading Recovery® 21 (+) 46 (+) 14 (+) 27 (++)
Sound Partners       21 (++) 19 (++) 21 (++) 9 (0)

http://www.readingrecoveryworks.org/pdfs/Reading_Recovery_Proven_Success.pdf

In examining the data in another chart, in comparison to other programs, one will find that while RR does have the highest rating in terms of general reading achievement potential, the others may have more potential in the other areas. For example, take Sound Partners (which I used as a principal in my first grades AND had much more success) which has POSITIVE(++) results across the board for all areas except general reading achievement – Let’s be honest here…What’s to recover anyway if the kids can’t read in the first place?

In the next blog, I will write about what you can do, as a parent, to advocate for your child if you feel as if your child is in an intervention such as RR and is NOT making progress.

Yesterday's Election - Time for a Change

Yesterday’s election has prompted me to begin blogging about a topic that I have wanted to write about and document for some time now. The time has arrived for me to weigh in on it. The question about Reading Recovery’s effectiveness has been debated for quite a while. There are two sides to every story. In reviewing the data as a school principal when my students were failing miserably, I found studies that claimed that RR was wonderful. Most of these studies were completed, it seemed, by researchers that were involved intimately with RR’s success – they had a stake in it. Other studies, on the other hand, revealed data that showed that RR did not out-perform other reading interventions for a variety of reasons. These reasons raised some red flags for me and my data team. Here are some of the red flags. In the next several blogs I will expand upon these in terms of advocacy for children.

One of the weaknesses of RR is the heavy use of subjective decision making in determining who (it’s only designed for Grade 1 students) will have RR.  Subjective decision making, not independent data, also determines when the child is removed from RR, or who stays for the full 20 weeks. Students with deficits such as phonemic awareness, have great compensatory skills, such as word memorization because they cannot sound out words. Those students often don’t qualify for help but need it the most.

RR may look like it helps in the short term, but data reflects a different story. The gains students make are not sustained. There is no tracking of students who receive RR unless your school district tracks students.  And when the district tracks students, often times, the students who have received RR need subsequent help later anyway.

“Reading Recovery lessons include all five essential components of reading instruction identified by the National Reading Panel (2000). The panel cautioned against making phonics instruction the dominant component in a reading program, either in the amount of time devoted to it or in the significance attached. They acknowledged that learning to read and write is a complex process. Within a comprehensive approach, Reading Recovery teachers understand the importance of phonemic awareness and phonics for beginning readers and writers. During lessons, teachers attend to letters, sounds, and words and incorporate learning about letter-sound relationships during the reading and writing of extended text and as explicit, direct instruction.” From the RR website…
http://www.readingrecovery.org/reading_recovery/phonics/index.asp

The purpose of RR is to bring students up to average readers IN THEIR CLASS. The problem with that is that from one class to another class, average is different. This STANDARD is not standardized! Think PA school funding equality issues….

And with those red flags I will leave the blog for today!!

My First Blog Post

I'm so excited to begin my blog. I started with good news (of a sort) from my dissertation committee that the process is moving forward. I'm making headway with the paralegal certification and I have made many contacts in the world of Education Law. My foray into the world of formal education advocacy has begun. I'm excited to finally be sitting on the "other" side of the table.