This article written for Colorín Colorado suggests some ways to communicate productively with diverse families during the special education referral process and emphasizes family and student assets and strengths rather than deficits.
Video bonus: See Lynn, Dr. Alba Ortiz, and Dr. Debbie Zacarian discuss the importance of including ELL families in the special education referral process in the videos below.
Ability-Achievement Relations Chart
This chart which is available on the LDA website was produced by Dr. Flanagan, Dr. Mascolo, Dr. Ortiz, and Dr. Alfonso in 2021 as part of the Intervention Library: Finding Interventions and Resources for Students and Teachers. Copyrighted by authors and reproduced with permission.
Virtual Lunch and Learn Series
Dates and Topics Coming SOON!
The Virtual Lunch and Learn sessions will be offered from 11:30-1:30 and will cover a variety of topics critical to your success as an evaluator and will include interactive activities and group discussions. Attendees may opt to participate during the live session or asynchronously during the week following the live session.
11/29/2023- Session ID: 2657721 The Write Stuff: Effective Evaluation of Written Language Skills with Ashley Arnold from WPS
2/14/2024- Session ID: 2657905 Integrating Multiple Sources of Data in the FIE
4/17/2024- Session ID: 2657723 Legal Updates with Taylor Montgomery from Thompson & Horton
TEA Sped Support Resources
The new TEA Sped Support website is your one-stop, for all TEA-created resources. Previously these resources were housed across multiple websites. I encourage you to spend some time reviewing the options available to you that might be helpful when supporting ARD committees in making decisions for students.
Here are some fabulous resources to support you in understanding the ARD process that are found on this landing page of the website.
Prior Written Notice Quick Guide
Link to Sped Tex: Notice of Procedural Safeguards
Access more information from TEA about House Bill 4545 and accelerated learning resources
ON Demand TEA Course: Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee Manager Training
This professional development session is a self-paced, online course that is intended to provide participants with best practices to ARD committee managers for local education agencies (LEAs) that choose to use this model. This course is intended to provide information, guidance, and best practice for successfully achieving the expectations, roles, and responsibilities of an ARD committee manager, including scheduling ARD committee meetings, preparing and finalizing required ARD committee paperwork, facilitating the ARD committee meeting, and supporting families and school personnel with the ARD committee processes. Participants who complete the course will receive 12 hours of professional learning credits.
Virtual Lunch and Learn Series for ARD Managers
The Virtual Lunch and Learn sessions will be offered from 11:30-1:30 and will cover a variety of topics critical to your success as an ARD Manager and will include interactive activities and group discussions. Attendees may opt to participate during the live session or asynchronously during the week following the live session.
Registration NOW OPEN!
1/31/2024- Session ID: 2657904 Oh the Places you WIll Go! Using the Transition Supplement to Build the Bridge to Life Beyond High School
3/20/2024- Session ID: 2658084 Keep Clam and Carry On: TIps for Managing Difficult ARD Meetings
Child Find Evaluation and ARD Supports Network: Updates and Resources
TEA Updates
Updates to HB 3928 FAQs as of 11/15/23
Take time to review the just-released updates to HB 3928 FAQ.
HB 3928 became effective on June 10, 2023, when Governor Abbott signed the legislation. The bill applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year. This means that LEAs began implementing the bill on the first day of instruction of their 2023- 2024 school year. There are two provisions in HB 3928 that require actions and decisions of the SBOE. One relates to a requirement that the SBOE’s Dyslexia Handbook no longer provides a distinction between SPDI and other types of direct dyslexia instruction, including SDI. The SBOE has until June 30, 2024, to update the Handbook. The SBOE must also determine training requirements and credentials for a person with specific knowledge in the reading process, dyslexia and related disorders, and dyslexia instruction to serve on an LEA’s multidisciplinary team (MDT) who completes evaluations and an ARD committee when determining a student’s eligibility for special education and related services. The SBOE will likely incorporate its determination of training requirements into the next edition of the Handbook.
REPRINTED FROM JIM WALSH’S “DAILY DAWG” WITH PERMISSION FROM THE WALSH GALLEGOS LAW FIRM.
THE FOUR QUADRANTS….
HB 3928 and the move of students with dyslexia into special education is a good reminder of “The Four Quadrants” of students that we serve. It’s a simple way of thinking about the various special programs we have for students. The Four Quadrants are based on the two factors that establish a student’s eligibility for special education. The student has to 1) have a disability as that term is defined in IDEA; and 2) need “specially designed instruction” as a result of the disability.
With two factors, kids fall into Four Quadrants as follows:
QUADRANT ONE: They don’t have a disability and they don’t need specially designed instruction. Most, but not all, of the readers of this blog were in Q1 as students. Most, but not all, of your top 10% graduates are here. But they are not all Honor Roll or Advanced Placement students. Kids in Q1 may struggle in some courses, or may plod along with a pedestrian C average across the board. They might fail a course or two. They might need a little extra help from time to time. Overall, these are students with strengths and weaknesses, but nothing that amounts to a disability. Give them decent teaching and they will move through the system successfully.
QUADRANT TWO: They have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits them in a major life activity. This impairment requires accommodations in the school setting—but not any form of special instruction. They do not require changes in what they are taught, how they are taught, or how the instruction is delivered. These students should have a 504 plan outlining the needed accommodations. The most obvious examples of 504 students are those with a physical impairment, an eating disorder, or asthma. Most of the time, those types of impairments require accommodations, but not any special form of instruction.
QUADRANT THREE: These kids need special types of instruction, but due to a condition other than a disability. The umbrella term here is At Risk. Emergent bilingual students who are not yet fluent in English need changes in how they are taught. If they are just tossed into regular classes with no special assistance they are unlikely to be successful. We provide these students special forms of assistance—but not “special ed.” They are not eligible for special education because they do not have a disability as that term is defined in law. Students who struggle with the STAAR test due to below average cognitive ability are generally in Q3. Being below average does not equate with “disability.” But it often requires changes in how we teach or how we deliver the instruction. There are also many students who come to the classroom each day after dealing with poverty, violence or dysfunction in the family. Those conditions require special help from the school district, but none of them are “disabilities.” I call these kids WBFWR: Way Behind For Whatever Reason. If the school does not adapt in how it serves those students, they will fail. They will drop out. But the underlying condition is not a disability—that’s why they are in Q3 rather than Q4.
QUADRANT FOUR: Special ed. Students in Q4 need specially designed instruction due to a disability that is recognized by IDEA.
The Four Quadrants are not divided with precise lines. The classification of students into one of these Quadrants is a matter of judgment, based on evaluation data. Moreover, some students occupy more than one Quadrant. A student may have a disability that requires special instruction in one subject (math) but not the rest of the curriculum. That’s a student with one foot in Q4 and one in Q1.
I find the Four Quadrants a helpful way to think about how each child is served. I hope you find it helpful as well.
DAWG BONE: TWO FACTORS GIVE US FOUR QUADRANTS.
Got a question or comment for the Dawg? Let me hear from you at jwalsh@wabsa.com.
Amy Smith, Evaluation Consultant
Email: amy.smith@region10.org
Website: https://www.region10.org/programs/evaluation-special-education/overview/
Location: Region 10 Education Service Center, East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: 972-348-1784