Whether changing schools or staying in place, advocacy may be needed from time to time. Some environments are open to advocacy, and some are much less so. Ongoing research on the environment/audience and advocacy skills, continued gathering of information, and practice may all help yield positive results through advocacy.
For example, when a school representative states in a meeting that your DC may move ahead upon proving mastery, you may wish to inquire for details as to
how they define mastery, for example:
cut scores or activities which will be utilized, timetable for these assessments or activities,
redo opportunities, etc.
This provides a transparent process. At the end of the meeting you may wish to recap and document the agreements, understandings, and next steps from the meeting. Then if it appears any of the agreements are not being followed, you have a basis for initiating a follow-up meeting.
This holds the school accountable for their process. At this point you may wish to request a meeting to essentially recap understandings from the prior meeting, inquire as to progress and any actions taken, seek details, and then document these understandings and agreements.
You may also wish to keep dated written records at home. This will be largely for your own use, and will provide a factual framework for future efforts.
Other posts which may be of interest
here and
here.
A list of advocacy resources in this
thread.
