Where to begin
Are you looking for support from others who have walked in your shoes? Look to your local area agency for contacts, Yellow Pages for kids with disabilities, or parent to parent support groups.
Do you have a gut instinct that is telling you something is wrong. Something just doesn't make sense with your child. Follow your instincts. You're probably right, but where do you begin? If you have a young child, a good place to begin is speaking with your pediatrician, your local area agency or Parent Information Center. Another source is your local school district under child find.
If you child is school age and exhibits some of the following symptoms (even though you hear that your child "is doing just fine"), you may want to have your child evaluated by the school district: Write out your concerns. Then make a referral request in writing because if it’s not in writing the clock isn’t ticking. Document, document, document!
Now that you've written this letter and sent it off to the school district what happens next? Parent Information has a guide called the “7 Steps in Special Education”.
The school district may decide to try Response to Interventions before referring a child to special education. If the child does qualify for special education, the IEP Team, which includes the parents, will develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
New Hampshire Rules for the Education of Children with Disabilities- June 30, 2008 maintains the rights and protections that NH's children and their families have come to expect which exceeds the federal law. for more information contact Parent Information Center
(603) 224-7005 V/TDD
(800) 947-7005 (N.H. only)
Download your own copy of the NH Rules for the Education of Children with Disabilities - June 30, 2008
Pre-referral: The First Step in Addressing Your Child’s Learning Difficulty
by SchwabLearning.org
If your child is struggling to learn, take time to find out about how the pre-referral process works at your school. When you become involved in planning with her educational team, your child will benefit.
Purpose
The purpose of the pre-referral process is to ensure your child tries reasonable accommodations and modifications before she’s referred for special education assessment. Often, a change in the classroom can turn her performance around and make it unnecessary to consider special education services. Using strategies that draw on your child’s strengths and meet her educational needs may be all it takes to put her back on the road to academic progress.
The pre-referral team goes by different names in different places. In some schools, it’s called the Student Study Team (SST) while in others, it’s the Student Intervention Team, Child Study Team, Teacher Support Team, and Student Success Team. Regardless of its name, the purpose of the team is to:
- work together to identify your child’s learning strengths and needs,
- put strategies into action, and
- evaluate their impact so your child can succeed in the general education classroom.
Team Members
There are no rules for membership on a pre-referral team. Generally, the team includes general education teachers, who are most familiar with the general education classroom and curriculum, and a counselor or administrator. The team may also include a school psychologist, special education teachers, and related service personnel, such as speech and language pathologists. Each school selects team members depending on what works best for them.
As a parent, you’re a key member of this team. Although law doesn’t require a pre-referral meeting and parent participation isn’t guaranteed, most schools include parents in this process. You’re the one most familiar with your child’s health and development, family environment, academic history, special skills and talents, and learning and behavioral needs.
Process
Although the steps may vary by school, here’s what often occurs:
- Your child is referred to the pre-referral team because there’s a concern about her academic skills or behavior. Although anyone who knows your child can refer her, usually it’s you or the classroom teacher who makes the referral. You’ll be asked to identify specific area(s) of concern, such as not turning in assignments, earning poor grades in a subject area, not paying attention, having trouble understanding homework assignments.
- The team meeting follows these steps:
- Review your child’s strengths, interests, and talents.
- Discuss reasons for referral, overall performance level, and behavior in the classroom.
- List interventions previously tried and their rate of success. (School interventions may include accommodations, modifications, and behavior plans. Home interventions may include follow up with health concerns, behavior plans, and help with homework.)
- Brainstorm interventions that address concerns.
- Select interventions to try.
- Develop a plan for carrying them out.
- Agree on a time to meet again to discuss progress.
- Put the intervention into action and evaluate it over time. The timeline can vary greatly — from a couple of weeks to a school quarter or trimester, depending on the type of program set up.
- The team meets again to discuss the success of the intervention. As a result of the intervention, did your child’s performance improve, remain the same, or decrease?
Outcomes
If the interventions are effective and your child seems to be back on track, schools generally continue with the plan and hold future meetings as needed. This suggests your child doesn’t need a special education evaluation at this time. Most likely, she will benefit from instruction in the general education classroom with continuing interventions.
If the interventions don’t bring about desired change, the team may decide to:
- try another intervention or alter the current one, starting the process again, or
- refer your child for special education evaluation to find out if she’s eligible for special education services as a student with a disability.
Letitia’s Story
Letitia was failing her seventh grade science class. Her mom worked with her to complete assignments and study for tests, but she still got very poor grades.
Her mom went to school to discuss Letitia’s problems with the science teacher. They decided to refer Letitia to the pre-referral team. Together, they filled out the form, listed their main concern — Letitia’s failing grades in science — and what her mom and teacher had already tried — reading tests to her, outlining the chapter at home, providing in-class time for review prior to tests.
Her mom met with the pre-referral team who brainstormed other interventions that might help — supplying copies of the teacher’s overhead notes and outlines, providing a study guide with key information to learn, using graphic organizers to show main concepts and ideas in a visually, getting extra time on tests. The team agreed to try the first two interventions.
With help from other school staff, the science teacher wrote brief study guides for each chapter of the textbook and made copies of overhead notes and outlines. He provided them to any student, including Letitia, who requested them. Her mom promised to use these tools when studying with Letitia.
At the end of four weeks, the team met again. Her mom reported Letitia was finding it easier to study now because she knew what information was important. Her mom liked the study guides, notes, and outlines because they helped her ask questions to prepare Letitia for tests. The science teacher reported Letitia’s assignment grades improved from a D- to a C+ and her test grades went from F to C-.
The team decided to continue the accommodations to see if, over time, Letitia would continue to meet her goal of better grades in science. They agreed it wasn’t necessary to have Letitia evaluated for special education services because the interventions were helping her succeed in the classroom.
Collaboration
The pre-referral process helps you ensure school staff members are aware of all factors that affect your child’s learning. It allows you to collaborate — work as a team — with educators who teach your child. Whatever the outcome of the process, your involvement will impact your child’s educational program in a positive way.
© 2001, 2002 Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation Created: 10/12/2001 Modified: 02/11/2002
http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=370
E-ssential Guides from SchwabLearning.org
E-ssential Guides put you on the fast-track to information! Each guide focuses on a specific topic and includes articles and expert interviews written especially for SchwabLearning.org along with suggested resources.
Developmental Milestones
Learn about the sequence and timing of a typical child's earliest development and access resources to learn more.
Area Agency of Greater Nashua Early Supports and Services (459-2775)
Birth to Age 3 - Evaluations & services for children with concerns in their development.
Planning Children's Transition from Part C to
Questions Often Asked by Parents About Special Education Services
A Parent's Guide to Special Education
New Hampshire Family Voices ( NHFV) Resources
Parent Guide to Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA 2004)
Parent's Role in No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
New Hampshire Yellow Pages for Kids
Protecting Students from Harassment and Hate Crime - A Guide for Schools
Uniquely Gifted Resources for Gifted Children with Special Needs (ADD/ADHD, Learning Disabilities (LD), Asperger Syndrome, etc.)
NICHCY's Building the Legacy: A Training Curriculum on IDEA 2004
Great Schools - has evolved into a national, independent nonprofit organization committed to helping parents like you choose schools, support your children's education and improve schools in your community.
