Ugh... I'm back again with more questions...
School starts Monday and we are still trying to come up with an appropriate solution to the math situation. We have not been able to locate a math specialist certified in spec Ed (DD's spec Ed OOD doesn't have one). We thought we might be able to use the strong math specialist at one of the district's elementary schools but she resigned over the summer. Thought we might be able to use the district's new K-12 math director but he begged off saying he doesn't know anything about special Ed math. District is trying to contact neuropsych who first identified math disability 3 years ago but has so far been playing telephone tag. Did I mention school starts Monday and we still don't have a plan in place for math?
So I went back and reread this thread in its entirety and now need to formulate a plan. While we work on getting an appropriate person to administer an appropriate test we need DD to be getting appropriate math. Right? The school is proposing 2 math "groupings" (probably both would be 1:1 since class size is so small) Targeted math intervention would start at pre-K levels and work to identify and fill any gaps. I'm on board with this as it seemed to be the logical next step from the latest evaluation showing problems in DD's foundational skills. But they also want to do a "guided" group "at her instructional level." From what I can tell based on what was said during the IEP meetings this will entail presenting grade level math and is intended to meet common core standards. My first thought was its ridiculous to "expose" DD to grade level math if she is not prepared to do grade level math just so the school can check off some box about meeting common core standards.
So... Early in the thread someone mentioned doing 2 math groups - one for remediation and one to focus on higher level math concepts. Can someone help me understand what this second higher level math should look like in this case? Presenting 5th grade math to a kid who is operating several grade levels lower just doesn't make sense to me. Couldn't the extra time be better spent on any one of her many challenges? The intervention program should get her to function at grade level but she's not there yet. What am I missing? Unlike reading comprehension higher level math requires a firm grasp of the lower level materials so I don't understand how she can be expected to do 5th grade math while foundational skills are being addressed.
Secondly I still need to figure out about the math assessment. Rereading the thread made it seem like redoing a Key Math eval may be a good idea but it needs to be done in a way that it provides useful information. Ideally we would have an aeh clone available to do the test with all the correct procedures, accommodations, tests of limits, analytical software, etc. Barring that possibility what do I need to ask for? I am confused about the calculator accommodation. The school told me it is not used but folks here seemed to indicate it would be an appropriate accommodation in this case. Or do I request 2 versions of the test one with and one without a calculator? I assume I *may* be able to get either the district or the school to see the wisdom in owning the analytical software, I also assume if owned they could then go back and reassess the test from a year and a half ago and see what progress has been made (or more importantly not been made). But I need to know what testing conditions and criteria to ask for. Otherwise you know the old adage "garbage in, garbage out."
So my questions:
1. Is 2 different math groups a good idea or should we just focus on the intervention group at this point?
2, if we have a second group is grade level material appropriate or just being done to accommodate common core standards? What would be the best way to determine appropriate level for this second grouping given the fact that school and 2e expert's test results were so vastly different?
3. Do I let them readminister the Key Math eval as long as I can be assured it will be analyzed properly this time?
4. What criteria do I need to request to make sure the data being analyzed is "good"?
5. If I request "TOL" using a second version of the test will that negate its use again if we find someone who knows what they are doing and they want to test her with it themselves?
6. Assuming neuropsych agrees to test her himself or points us towards the correct person to do the evaluation for math should I push for the PAL-2 math or is it ok to stick with the more familiar, readily available tests?
Did I mention school starts Monday and we still don't have a plan in place for math? Ugh...
