Hello,
Most of you are wrapping up and getting ready for a much deserved break! For those who have just completed year one as an evaluator or ARD Manager - Congratulations! You made it to the finish line. For those who have been at this job awhile thank you for your continued dedication! Finally, to our retirees- THANK YOU! For the time given to make sure the job got done and more importantly for the countless lives you have impacted over the years. Best wishes as you start the next chapter of your lives!
Check out the upcoming summer learning opportunities as well as some dates to save for the fall. Fall workshop dates will open for registration July 15th
Amy
NCLD White Paper: What a Specific Learning Disability is NOT: Examining Exclusionary Factors
written by Meghan Whittaker, Esq. Samuel O. Ortiz, Ph.D.
"The definition of the term “specific learning disabilities” (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes a set of exclusionary factors. These factors must be ruled out as the primary cause of a learning challenge before a child may be determined eligible for special education under the SLD category. Among others, these factors include “environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.” A major reason for including such terms in the list of exclusionary factors is the disproportionate identification, placement, and discipline rates of students of color in special education. Indeed, disproportionality is and must remain a top concern for parents, educators, school professionals, policymakers, and advocates. It is imperative that the evaluation process is free from bias and discrimination."
Summer 2022
June Webinars
TEA Standards Based IEPs for Evaluation Personnel (3 hour course)
6/13/2022 Session ID: 2648262
Language Difference vs Disorder (3 hour course)
6/23/2022 Session ID: 2643153
Evaluations for Dysgraphia (3 hour course)
6/27/2022 Session ID: 2648263
Sessions Recommended for New Evaluators
Essentials of the FIE
The following series is designed for educational diagnosticians who are interested in developing or deepening their skills as an evaluator. These may be taken as a group or individually. All three are going to be repeated in the fall semester.
Part 1: Planning for the FIE from Referral to Consent for the Educational Diagnostician
(7/12/2022) 9:00-3:30 Session ID: 2648169
Part 2: Selecting and Administering and Interpreting Assessments for the Educational Diagnostician
(7/22/2022) 9:00-3:30 Session ID: 2648194
Part 3: Writing Impactful FIEs for the Educational Diagnostician
(9/16/2022) 9:00-3:30 Session ID: 2648194
Eval 101- New Evaluation Staff Meeting
(8/26/2022) 9:00-3:30 Session ID: 2644228
Upcoming Fall 2022 Sessions for Evaluation Personnel
SAVE THE DATE!! Registration for the following courses will open by July 15th with more courses to be added!
Essential Elements of the FIE (repeat of summer series)
The following series is designed for educational diagnosticians who are interested in developing or deepening their skills as an evaluator.
Part 1: Planning for the FIE from Referral to Consent for the Educational Diagnostician
(10/19/2022)
Part 2: Selecting and Administering and Interpreting Assessments for the Educational Diagnostician
(11/7/2022)
Part 3: Writing Impactful FIEs for the Educational Diagnostician
(11/14/2022)
Additional In Person Sessions to be added...
Legal Session for Evaluation Personnel and ARD Managers with Elvin Houston
(10/14/2022)
Autism and the Brain with Layne Petrick
(10/17/2022)
Autism and the Brain with Layne Petrick
(10/17/2022)
Collaborative Child Find: Evaluating for Dyslexia in the FIE
(10-19-2022) 9:00-4:00
The How and What of Comprehensive Evaluations for Dysgraphia
(11/3/2022)9 :00-12:00 or 12:30-3:30
Who Should Conduct a Comprehensive Evaluation for OHI due to ADHD? with Ashley Arnold
(11/9/2022) 9:00-12:00
Administering and Interpreting the DASH and Leiter with Ashley Arnold
(11/9/2022) 12:30-3:30
Virtual Lunch and Learn Series
The Virtual Lunch and Learn sessions will be offered from 11:30-1:30 and will focus on a topic that will deepen the understanding of the evaluation process. These sessions will include an optional activity designed to inform the evaluator’s practices and knowledge of the topic discussed. Activities may be completed synchronously or asynchronously. Credit for the session is dependent on the completion of the activity.
9/7/2022
10/5/2022
11/2/2022
12/14/2022
1/11/2023
3/22/2023
4/5/2023
5/17/2023
All families in Region 10 LEAs have access to the following network. Contact information for this organization is shared typically on the back cover of your procedural safeguards along with the contact information for your special education director and Region 10 Special Populations Director, Dr. Estrada. Take some time to explore their website and the specific services and supports offered to parents.
The PACT Project is one of four federally funded Parent Training and Information Centers (PTI) serving Texas parents of children and youth with disabilities ages 0-26. We serve families living in ESC regions 7, 8, 10, and 11.
PACT Regional Coordinators are here for you! We can help you understand your child’s disability, understand your rights and responsibilities under IDEA, obtain and evaluate resources and services for your child, and fully participate as a team member with professionals in planning services for your child.
What kind of assistance does PACT offer?
- Individual assistance over the phone and in-person
- Workshops and webinars on a variety of special education topics
- Access to resources such as printed publications and online courses
upcoming sessions for ARD Managers
Courses Recommended for NEW ARD Managers
ARD Manager 101 Part 1: Preparing for and Managing the IEP Process
This session is intended for new personnel assigned to the role of ARD manager or facilitator. In this session participants will receive an over view of the IEP process including systems for organizing and preparing for ARD meetings, ARD membership, parent participation, how to write meaningful deliberations and determining when a revision to an IEP is needed.
(8/1/2022) Session ID: 2648259
ARD Manager 101 Part 2: How to Stay Cool When Conversations Get Heated/ARD Facilitation
Ever dreaded going to an ARD meeting that you knew was not going to go well? How about having conservations you knew not everyone would agree with? In this interactive session, you will learn strategies for changing the course when a conversation during an ARD/IEP meeting begins to get heated.
(11/8/2022) 9:00-4:00 Session ID: 2648257
SAVE THE DATE! (Registration will open July 15th)
Legal Session for Evaluation Personnel and ARD Managers with Elvin Houston
(10/14/2022) 9:00-4:00
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.
Network 1 updates and resources
REPRINTED FROM JIM WALSH’S “DAILY DAWG” WITH PERMISSION FROM THE WALSH GALLEGOS LAW FIRM.
TOOLBOX TUESDAY: THAT VERY BRIGHT STUDENT WITH EMOTIONAL ISSUES….
I would guess that every district in Texas has a student like C.B. She sailed through elementary and middle school with high grades, was identified as “gifted and talented” and took a number of advanced classes in high school. But there was another side to her story. She was seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication as early as second grade, and the diagnoses advanced through the years from ADHD to Generalized Anxiety Disorder to Major Depressive Disorder. A very bright student with significant mental health issues. What is the role of special education for a student like this?
During her 10th grade year, C.B.’s parents placed her in a residential facility in Hawaii for three months, followed by a second placement in Utah for two months. This was based on “self-injurious thoughts and suicidal ideation.” The local school district was aware of this. But based on the student’s strong academic performance, the input of the teachers who knew her, and her robust intelligence, the district did not initiate an effort to evaluate C.B. for special education services. Was that a violation of the district’s Child Find obligation?
The administrative hearing officer said that it was, and the federal district court has now affirmed that decision. This turned out to be a harmless error by the school district, for reasons I will explain later. For today’s Daily Dawg, and in light of it being Toolbox Tuesday, we’re just going to focus on how the court handled the Child Find issue.
Loyal Daily Dawg Readers know well that a student’s eligibility for special education turns on two factors: the student has to have a disability AND the student has to show a need for specially designed instruction. In this case the school was well aware of the possibility that the student had conditions that might meet the definition of one or more of IDEA’s categories of disability. But there seemed to be no “educational need.” Here’s how the court addressed that:
NEISD contends any failure to suspect C.B. should be evaluated is excused by evidence of her superior intelligence and high academic achievement and performance. Because C. B. always possessed superior intelligence and always maintained high academic performance, even with ADHD, her increased anxiety, and her extended absence due to treatment, NEISD contends it did not have reason to suspect she needed evaluation for special education services.
The Court finds no merit or support for this contention.
Really??? “No merit” to this argument? There is plenty of merit to the contention that a student has to demonstrate a need for special services. But this court emphasizes two factors that we all need to remember when we think about Child Find. First, it’s not all about academics:
These Child Find and FAPE obligations are not relieved or obviated by a student’s high intelligence or high academic performance.
The school district must not focus solely upon the student’s academic performance, but upon a holistic view of the student’s behavior, academic performance, and other indications.
Second, the focus should be on this particular student’s history:
Of particular importance, the more accurate barometer to respond to a student’s unique needs is to determine whether the student is experiencing academic decline or academic difficulties unusual for that student. (Emphasis added).
This is the type of court decision that likely drives special education directors up the wall. My guess is that if this same fact situation was presented to ten federal judges, they would split right down the middle, half throwing a penalty flag for a Child Find violation, and half not doing so. We lawyers can always play it safe by suggesting that “when in doubt, offer an evaluation.”
That is the safe approach. And I am a lawyer, so I’m going to say it: when in doubt, offer an evaluation.
Despite this ruling against the district, the case turned out just fine for the district. To understand why, tune in tomorrow!
It’s C.B. v. North East ISD, decided by the federal court for the Western District of Texas on February 16, 2022. It’s reported in Special Ed Connection at 122 LRP 6123.
DAWG BONE: “EDUCATIONAL NEED” IS ABOUT MORE THAN ACADEMICS.
Subscriptions to the Daily Dawg are available at www.edlawdawg.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