Hello,
Happy Educational Diagnostician Week! The Region 10 team celebrates you and sees the 'heart' work you put in EVERY SINGLE day for students and families! I know firsthand the HOURS you spend collaborating with others, gathering data, assessing students, analyzing data, and crafting FIEs. Thank you for the continued dedication you show every day! Check out our video below celebrating all of you!
I know being recognized privately or publicly for the work you do is always a plus! So if you are not a diagnostician then I encourage you to take some time to give one that you work with a shout-out for the work that they do. But to my fellow diagnosticians, I believe it is equally important we celebrate ourselves and each other. None of us made it to where we are today without leaning into others who have led us, mentored us, or just shared in the journey as fellow evaluators.
Consider taking some time to reflect on your gifts and talents and then send a quick text, email, or handwritten note to at least one of those people on your list to let them know how thankful you are for their support and partnership in helping you to become the diagnostician you are today.
Let's celebrate together and make it a great week!
Amy
Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) had its annual conference recently. During this conference, the following document was highlighted as a NEW resource guide for evaluators to use when conducting evaluations for culturally and linguistically different learners. Keep in mind that this is not a TEA-driven organization or document and should be used in reference to federal and state law requirements.
Virtual Lunch and Learn Series
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.
3/29/2022 Session ID: 2649610 - Evaluation Personnel: ECI and ECSE Evaluation Considerations
5/17/2023 Session ID 2649611 - Evaluation Personnel: Utilizing the Cultural LIngustic Interpretive Matrix
UPDATES!
The TEA has updated the Technical Assistance: Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development document. The updated document has “Updated February 2023” on the cover.
Technical Guidance: Individualized Education Program (IEP) Development (February 2023)
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.
ARD Managers: How to use the FIE to guide ARD Committee Decisions
4/5/2022 Session ID: 2649610
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.
Child Find Evaluation and ARD Supports Network: Updates and Resources
Registration is now open for the Aligned Conference! Participants will register through Region 4 and need to create an account in their system in order to sign up for the conference. Please note the conference is FREE to all attendees.
REPRINTED FROM JIM WALSH’S “DAILY DAWG” WITH PERMISSION FROM THE WALSH GALLEGOS LAW FIRM.
OSFAA: PARTS THREE AND FOUR….
This is the third Daily Dawg entry this week about the One Size Fits All Answer—the proper response to any parental request about the content of the child’s IEP. So far we have mentioned two parts of the OSFAA. Today, we introduce parts three and four. Here’s the entire OSFAA with an emphasis on parts three and four:
Let me take that to the ARD Committee. The ARDC will review your child’s evaluation data TO DETERMINE IF THAT IS SOMETHING THAT YOUR CHILD NEEDS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education).
The third component of the OSFAA is NEED and the fourth is FAPE. If the evaluation data shows that the requested service is needed for the child to receive FAPE, the ARDC should incorporate it into the IEP.
So let’s consider what happened in Minnesota. Recall the facts: the case involved a 15-year old student who is non-verbal, has a significant cognitive impairment and functions in the range of an 18-month old. She has seizures continually and is particularly unable to function in the morning. Everyone agreed that her school day should start at noon but there was disagreement about when it should end. The district proposed 4.25 hours per day, which was less than the 6.5 offered to general students.
The court held that the shortened day offered to this student was not “appropriately ambitious” and thus failed to satisfy the FAPE standard. The court affirmed the hearing officer’s order that the school provide instruction in the home from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.
You might think that this was a simple matter of equality. The general education students got 6.5 hours of instruction a day, and the district offered this girl only 4.25. But that was not the basis for the court’s decision. Instead, the court thoughtfully considered the reasons for the shortened day that the district offered, but noted that:
None of these reasons is based on an individual assessment of AJT’s needs as required by the IDEA, under which extended days “are appropriate in certain circumstances and their location is not confined to the school day or a school setting.”
What were those reasons? The court described them as “shifting explanations” that revealed that the school prioritized its staffing schedule over the needs of the student. The school’s first explanation was: “we’ve never before provided both homebound and in-school services to a student.” This comes under the category of “we’ve never done that before.” To which the proper response is “So?”
The second explanation was that state law did not require the district to serve the student beyond the normal school day. Maybe so. But IDEA is a federal law.
The third explanation was the district’s fear of “setting a precedent.” In other words, if we do this for this student, we will have many more making similar requests. I’ve heard school officials express this fear often. But it’s mistaken. If the district had granted the parent’s request, the only “precedent” it would be setting is that it followed the data to provide what this particular student needed in order to provide FAPE. In other words, the “precedent” would be that the district complies with the law. That’s a good precedent, not a bad one.
I hope you can see how the OSFAA fits this situation. I’m sure the folks in Minnesota felt that they were basing their decision on the needs of the student, but the hearing officer didn’t buy it and neither did the court. The court applied the OSFAA, and concluded that the evaluation data showed that the student needed the extra hours of service in order to receive the FAPE to which she is entitled.
Keep in mind that parents and schools will often disagree about the response to the OSFAA. “Need” and “FAPE” are ambiguous and subjective terms. But if we employ the OSFAA properly, we are at least approaching the issue in the right way.
The case is Osseo Area Schools, ISD No. 279 v. A.J.T., decided by the federal district court for the state of Minnesota on September 13, 2022. It’s cited in Special Ed Connection at 81 IDELR 256.
DAWG BONE: THE OSFAA: ARDC. EVALUATION DATA. NEED. FAPE.
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